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Rivalries in sports are fierce. Fans and teams from Boston and New York are pitted against one another across all major league sports (Revolution-Red Bulls, Celtics-Knicks, Bruins-Rangers and of course, Yankees-Red Sox). The teams don’t like each other; the fans don’t like each other; the rest of the country has an opinion on all of it.
But, in the wake of the Boston Marathon tragedy, the rivalry dissolved, revealing a deep amount of respect between the two cities. Fans laid down their differences, and the New England Revolution supporters and New York Red Bulls supporters marched together.
WATCH: #NERevs & #RBNY supporters march together at Red Bull Arena this past Saturday #BostonStrong nerevs.us/kjvPX #mls
— NE Revolution (@NERevolution) April 22, 2013
Yankees-Red Sox is one of the most heated rivalries in all of sports. It makes for exciting baseball when the two storied franchises meet. But when faced with adversity, the teams laid down their differences and the Yankees stood in support of the Red Sox.
We stand united with the @redsox: twitter.com/Yankees/status…
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) April 16, 2013
New York isn’t the only city that stood up for Boston. Outpourings of support came from all over the United States, including Chicago.
Well done, Chicago. twitter.com/WayneBrant/sta…
— Wayne Brant (@WayneBrant) April 16, 2013
A number of teams played Sweet Caroline as a tribute to Boston, wore black armbands, held moments of silence and showed their support in creative ways, including a touching tifo from FC Dallas fans.
Awesome tribute from the Beer Garden #BostonStrong #TexasStrong vine.co/v/bUUT5jFlgOF
— FC Dallas (@FCDallas) April 21, 2013
Tonight #FCDallas will wear two armbands in honor of the people of Boston, Mass. and West, Texas.… instagram.com/p/YV92WkLCNZ/
— FC Dallas (@FCDallas) April 20, 2013
Local teams stood behind the city in a number of ways.
Boston you're OUR home #BostonStrong twitpic.com/cjupur
— Boston Red Sox (@RedSox) April 16, 2013
Here's a peek at the new adidas #BostonStandsAsOne warm up shirts the @celtics will wear today vs. the Knicks: bit.ly/14EEnu9
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) April 20, 2013
Pats, Revs & Kraft Group employees stand as #OneBoston: twitpic.com/cl86rk #BostonStrong
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) April 22, 2013
Coach said it's overwhelming to see how much teams have done to show support for city (FLA wore local police hats during warm-ups today)^CS
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) April 21, 2013
The entire world of sports turned its heart to Boston, from runners of the London Marathon to athletic gear rivals who stood as one in support of victims of the tragedy.
Author Golden, in Memoirs of a Geisha, said “Adversity is like a strong wind. It tears away from us all but the things that cannot be torn, so that we see ourselves as we really are.” With that in mind, the show of strength and togetherness is nothing less than inspiring.
The countdown for some started before last season ended. For others, it began after MLS Cup, the day of the SuperDraft, or when the schedule was announced.
We're now less than four weeks away from the opening match at FC Dallas on March 2. And, we're even closer to the 2013 home opener against Philadelphia on March 9.
When did you start looking forward to the 2013 season?
Get excited. It's coming up.
It might not be quite fair to appoint 2012 as the "Year of the Soccer Bar" in Denver, but it's definitely a year in which these establishments have stood out. 
And now there's word of another bar about to open.
In the downtown Denver area, soccer fans have been regulars at The British Bulldog, The Three Lions, and the Celtic Tavern, and other locations like Fado or GB's have also welcomed fans of the beautiful game.
The latest soccer bar, The Armoury (Arsenal fans will like the background of the name), is shooting to open in the ballpark neightborhood on New Years Eve at 2048 Larimer Street. There's also already talk that they, too, hope to one day bus fans to Rapids games at Dick's Sporting Goods Park as the other pubs did this past year.
Here's the link to story on the new place, from The Westword.
After finishing his drills at Wednesday's training, which took place inside the stadium, Drew Moor went up to the locker room. A few minutes later he walked back out and approached three fans that were watching the session from the first row. Holding a match ball under his right arm, Drew told these fans how the players had come across this autographed ball sitting in Wells Thompson's locker. Collectively, they wanted to give it to Allan.
Joan, Mark, and Allan are season ticket holders that have been to every open practice so far this season. The only sessions they have not attended are the ones on the day before home games, which are closed to the public. They have become such a staple at training that the players even know their birthdays.
So, having given Joan and Mark a jersey and ball earlier this summer, Drew today presented Allan his birthday gift on behalf of the team!
Re-Posting MLS WORKS' Blog Post from MLSsoccer.com...
Join Gatorade, MLS, and the soccer community in supporting young female athletes to stay in the game.
Did you know?
- In 1971, one in 27 high school girls participated in sports.
- In 2012, one in 2.5 high school girls play sports!
In 1972, Title IX gave women and men equal access to federally funded programs. That means your mother, your wife, your sister and even YOU have seen equal opportunities to be a young athlete.
However, while we have managed to gain young girls equal access to sports, they're still dropping out at twice the rate boys do by age 14.
We want to help change this trend.
Why?
- A girl who participates in sports is more likely to get better grades and graduate high school with scholarships to college.
- A girl who participates in sports is less likely to get involved in drugs.
- A girl who participates in sports will have greater confidence and self-esteem keeping her from depression and eating disorders.
- A girl who participates in sports is less likely to engage in risky sexual behavior or become pregnant.
How can you help?
Support the cause by changing your profile picture to your 14 year-old self (or a special female in your life like your daughter or wife) playing sports. Tweet about how playing sports helped you get to where you are today using the #KeepHerInTheGame hashtag. Most importantly, continue to encourage your daughter, granddaughter, niece, sister and friends to keep her in the game.
For more information, visit www.womenssportsfoundation.org.
En Español: http://www.mlssoccer.com/blog/post/2012/06/21/%C3%BAnanse-al-mls-y-apoyen-keepherinthegame
Like soccer fans around the world, our offices have been buzzing in the mornings with the sounds of the EURO 2012 Championship on various TVs. Friday afternoon, shortly after England defeated Sweden 3-2, there was another round of excitement in the air when we learned that the Colorado Rapids were represented at that match.
Emily Kilcoyne, our Manager of Group Sales, received the photo above from Rapids season ticket holder Haim Lensky. From left to right: Mike, Vicky, and Haim hold up the Rapids' MLS Champion flag at Olympic Stadium in Kyiv (Ukraine), with the Sweden-England scarf above.
"It's been a great experience," Haim wrote via email. "We met people from all over Europe and we have loved being at every game screaming and cheering for the teams."
Haim is from Russia and won the ticket lottery last year to attend the tournament. The family is of course supporting Russia, but also England, Spain, and Ukraine. And if you're ready to be jealous, read on...
So far, they've attended the England-France (T 1-1), Netherlands-Germany (GER 2-1), and today's England-Sweden matches.
"The games have been crazy and the fans have definitely been dedicated to their respective teams" he wrote.
The Lensky's will also be attending: Sweden-France, and the Quarterfinal matches in Donetsk and Kiev, the Semifinal in Kiev, and the 2012 Final in Donetsk.
"We are definitely having fun," he concludes.
Glad to hear, and thanks for bringing a little bit of Colorado and the Rapids with you!
The 2012 European Championship starts on Friday and long-time MLS partner ESPN will broadcast all the matches through their various outlets. We've set up a EURO Predictor Challenge Bracket through ESPN.com so that fans, staff, and players can go head-to-head in a just-for-fun contest.
Drew Moor, Andre Akpan, Tony Cascio, and Chris Sharpe have signed up, as has some members of the staff.
All are invited to join our group. Here's how:
Click on this link: http://games.espn.go.com/euro-bracket-predictor/en/group?groupID=3845
Set up an account if you don't have one.
Join our team / private group: Rapids EURO Challenge
Password: EdsonTheEagle
Pick which teams will finish first and second from each of the four groups, the winners of the Quarterfinals, the Semifinal winners, and who will win the Final.
You have until the Friday's first game between Poland and Greece to submit your picks!
(Note that all rules for participation are governed by ESPN.com).
A collection of Colorado Rapids players with their moms and grandmas. Happy Mother's Day to all the mom's out there!
The Class VI supporters group has been hosting an online podcast for the past four years called, " Six Questions with Class VI." In the first installment of 2012, Craig de Aragon talks to defender Drew Moor about the first game, new teammates, and new season. Give yourself about 17-18 minutes to hear Drew talk to Craig by CLICKING HERE.
One of the common conversations heard among the players after Friday's game was about seeing the Rapids colors in the stands at Aloha Stadium. It was a welcome surprise to the players, especially since these are preseason games being played so far away from Colorado.
We knew that Kosuke, Pablo, and Kohei had friends and family in the stands, and we also heard fans calling out players names from the stands both before and after the game. Unfortunately we didn't get to find out who these fans were.
But we did get to talk to eight Rapids season ticket holders that are here for the games. The photo above shows Brandi and Bruce Mahaffey, Pamela Houpts, and Art, Ana, and Joddy Shipley, who ended up moving over and sitting right behind the team bench.
I also met third-year season ticket Stephanie Adams, who timed her busines trip just right to catch Friday's game before flying back to Colorado that evening. And some of you may have followed the tweets from Richard Bamber, a member of the Bulldog Supporters Group that flew out and posted photos and videos on the Bulldogs twitter account (@BulldogSG).
Finally, we met this group (below) of fans from Hawaii that have taken the Colorado Rapids as their team, mostly because of their interaction via twitter with Drew Moor and Eddie Ababio. They brought signs for both players and got to meet them in person. They then helped keep fans in Colorado updated on the game by tweeting their thoughts from inside the stadium. On Friday they stopped by at the hotel and met and got autographs from a bunch of the players.
And finally, we also want to thank and recognize the fans that stayed up late throughout the country late Thursday / early Friday following our tweets.
