Why I'm Both Skeptical and Sympathetic to the KSEOut Movement

After hearing that my first article on KSEOut and boycotts made one reader want to throw their computer out the window (or was it in the trash?), and that the reader just wished I'd say what I thought of the boycott.  Well, here you go.

Boycotts have mixed results.  Sure, you may take issue with the ownership and decision makers and want them gone, yet you have no guarantees who the next decision makers will be.  They could improve, much like what's happened with Columbus Crew SC.  New branding, new ownership, new vision--and they now sit 3rd in the Eastern Conference table. Yet, you also run the risk of having ownership and decision makers whom you like even worse.

So, be careful what you ask for.

I'm sympathetic to the boycott movement because every Colorado Rapids fan feels the frustration.  And not to belabor the Fan Forum Fallout, but that frustration escalated because (to some) the Rapids did not communicate a connection to the reality of what many Rapids fans observed.  When, from our vantage point, we see an ownership disengaged, therefore having little accountability, along with the aforementioned issues of what came from the Fan Forum--I understand completely that someone organized voice is needed.

The skepticism? Many have given voice to this as well, so I'll add mine: I'm not convinced that a change in ownership is the answer.  The level of change would come closer to the action: the front office and coaching.  The front office in regards to player selection, and the coaching for knowing how to use the players selected. Basic kind of 'duh' observations, I realize.

But a wholesale housecleaning would bring about more instability in the Rapids situation, and who knows how long that transition would take to stabilize.  New owners, new front office, and new coaching could be a solution, but this has to come in stages.  But in what way?

• Would Pablo Mastroeni thrive under a new front office--one that could supply players and coaches to help him succeed?
• Would the front office succeed in getting a new coach to put the players you have in a better position tactically and motivationally to succeed?
• Are these men (the FO and Pablo) truly aligned in their vision and goals, or is there dysfunction?  While the fan forum conveyed an alignment, was this just to put the fans' minds at ease?  (We'll never know until a headline comes out about someone's ouster, but one does wonder.)