"it takes three minutes to get the corner off." Danny O'Rourke of the Columbus Crew.
That's as damning a statement as can be found that the streamers affect the run of play - MLS admins need to first admit that, and then do something about it. It's not merely atmosphere when it holds up the game.
Streamers are basically like streakers at that point. People may think they're cool, but it's still illegal and not allowed, and certainly not condoned the way Garber and a few other people did at one point.
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I'm hoping this Crew Stadium incident will open his eyes. Not just the racism, but also the throwing bottles along with the streamers. This has got to stop now.
Yeah, I've flip-flopped on the streamers issue. Score one for AC. It's one thing to throw them for goals, it's another to take up time during a match because a bunch of numb-nuts are throwing streamers at the ck taker. And yes, those who were surmising that it would be just a matter of time before bottles, batteries etc. accompanied the colorful paper look like forward thinking geniuses right about now.
As a member of ACB I love that Garber defended our right as fans to exert passion and noise at games, but it's a different story when it interferes with game-play.
So Garber,
Streamers on goals? YES
Any other time during the game? NO
Yes, but Andrea, your quote is a bit misleading here. I expected to see a quote complaining about the use of streamers and how much of an inconvenience the "3 minutes" were.
The full quote, however, reads a little differently:
“The streamers are great. I love when you go over there, it’s the first corner kick, and it takes three minutes to get the corner off. They’re loud and we love going over there and supporting them.”
A smart way to deal with streamers would be to run over and take quick short corners. Not only would it limit the streamer throwing, it would also catch the home team's defense off-guard. Work something from the training ground. Scramble as if you were calling a play from the line.
I think it's even more telling that the quote came from someone who likes the streamers, and has no agenda to misrepresent how much time they take off from what should be actual soccer.
I wasn't being misleading with the quote, because I linked it to the original statement so whoever wanted could easily read it in context - I was pointing out the most troublesome aspect of what could have been an inadvertent admission.
Also, taking quick corners probably wouldn't work - players have to wait for the ref's ok on kicks. It only takes a sec to throw a streamer, and left unchecked, fans could start throwing them even before the ball arrives to be placed in the corner.
@ The Hammer: So you're saying that home fans should be able to physically force the other team to change tactics?
Throwing streamers on the field physically requires a delay in taking a corner kick. I'm not sure that's much better than stadium security allowing a fan to rush onto the field, grab the ball from the opponent's corner spot, and punt it as far as possible. A good way to deal with that kind of interference would also be to take short corners.
Or to prevent it from happening in the first place.
(And, yes, singing and screaming is also "physical," but for me there's a huge difference between unamplified human voices and physical objects.)
"quick corners," I meant
Andrea, I didn't suggest that you were being intentionally misleading but the quote as you posted it read a completely different way.
I understand your concerns and your examples, but I still don't think it's a huge deal. What I'm trying to suggest is that there are intelligent ways to get around the streamer situation. The way to do it is to take the fun out of it for streamer-throwers.
It only happens once or twice per game, as only one or two corner kicks per game end up in the supporter's corner, so taking a quick kick or going about those corners differently will hardly require a huge change to your tactics.
Hammer, I'm sorry, but there's no way a delay of game by fans of minutes at a time is acceptable. That's not atmosphere, it's interference.
The Hammer says: "It only happens once or twice per game, as only one or two corner kicks per game end up in the supporter's corner, so taking a quick kick or going about those corners differently will hardly require a huge change to your tactics."
Sure, but it's precisely because teams don't often get a lot of corner kicks that they can be really important, especially for teams that rely more on deadball situations to score. I mean, penalty kicks only happen maybe once every other game, but would you argue it's not a big problem if supporters (with good throwing arms) clogged the field with streamers on PKs?
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