Casey133: 2011 Real Salt Lake Away "Fortress Broken"

Summary: We had a great time, ECS crew were friendly and fun, the game was just as cold and windy as it looked on TV. No hooliganry, but did get reprimanded by the UTA transit police (offense: Singing disrespectfully - or off-key, not sure which). Flew home with the team and sat next to Fitness Coach, Dave Tenney. Montero was not on the plane. Reason: he's flying to Portland to play with the reserves. Lamar Neagle earned a spot on the flight home with the starters to SEA, so one of the team administrators lost his seat and had to go standby (last one on the plane).

Pre-funk at Squatter's Brew Pub

KB5 is about to lose his head

KB5 DOES lose his head - wait for the line "I don't want to be weird but...."

Waiting for the TRAX train

ECS sold 100 tickets for the match. We met fans from Reno, Idaho, and recent local transplants.

Just before the transit cops joined us:

One female passenger with her two kids expressed her dismay with a profanity-laced tirade. Must be the worst person in SLC, everyone else were super nice. A few stops later we were joined by the transit police.

Nobody knows how those ECS stickers got there

Sandy PD and stadium security greeted our friendly mob at the train station and walked us the quarter mile into the stadium without incident. Pre-game, the host supporters were very nice and helpful. Saw one Timbers fan. Food was surprisingly good. Fan demographic reflects the populace: large families and lots of kids. Fans sit during the game and bring blankets (tarps?) for protection. The wind blew 12-15kts through out the game. Cops and security were super cool. They held us for 30 minutes at the end of the game, we sang from a mezzanine above the concourse and we got plenty of "birds" from the locals. Police escorted us back to the station, even stopping traffic twice for us - again, really helpful and considerate. They said the worst crowd was the 15 or so from L.A. that decided to throw gang signs at the local skinheads. Colorado only brings about 100 supporters like we did.

View from the away supporters section, upper level, and mercifully (ironically?) we were protected from the rain. Aluminum flooring made for great stomping. SSFC coaches said they could hear us just fine.