Post by Holyjoe on Jan 11, 2005 3:30:25 GMT -5
I picked this book (by Sebastian Moffett) up recently, and it's a pretty interesting read. It's a history of the J-League detailing how it got started and how it was run.
A couple of interesting passages:
(About the Urawa Reds' supporters group, "Crazy Calls")
"Late in 1993 Crazy Calls banned women from the key support area behind the goal. Shouts of encouragement to players in 'yellow voices' had little effect on support, they reasoned; it was young men's deeper, rougher, louder voices that damaged the opposition's spirit. "We didn't really mind having girls around," explained Koichi Yoshizawa, their first leader, "but our image was getting soft.""
(about the Kashima Antlers supporters group, something that appeared in a club fanzine written by fan leader Toru Kawazu)
"To secure a basic degree of passion you need rules behind the goal, which may mean normal people can't come near," he explained. "If people come along just to savour a bit of the atmosphere, then the level of excitement drops. So it is essential to have disadvantages to being behind the goal - like having to stand throughout the match, being squashed so you can hardly see, having things thrown at you, or getting into arguments. Then the only people there are those willing to put up with this"
Nice
A couple of interesting passages:
(About the Urawa Reds' supporters group, "Crazy Calls")
"Late in 1993 Crazy Calls banned women from the key support area behind the goal. Shouts of encouragement to players in 'yellow voices' had little effect on support, they reasoned; it was young men's deeper, rougher, louder voices that damaged the opposition's spirit. "We didn't really mind having girls around," explained Koichi Yoshizawa, their first leader, "but our image was getting soft.""
(about the Kashima Antlers supporters group, something that appeared in a club fanzine written by fan leader Toru Kawazu)
"To secure a basic degree of passion you need rules behind the goal, which may mean normal people can't come near," he explained. "If people come along just to savour a bit of the atmosphere, then the level of excitement drops. So it is essential to have disadvantages to being behind the goal - like having to stand throughout the match, being squashed so you can hardly see, having things thrown at you, or getting into arguments. Then the only people there are those willing to put up with this"
Nice
;D