#SEAvCOL Takeaways: When ownership cares more about real estate than real quality on the pitch

And so the Colorado Rapids 2018 season comes down to this: a large portion of the supporter base doesn’t expect the Rapids to gain even a single point for the rest of the year. After a 4-0 drubbing at the hands of the Seattle Sounders, we are on:

• Another losing streak (six games).
• Being outscored 19-1 in that streak, with the only goal coming against the Columbus Crew the previous Saturday on a quick kick by Shkelzen Gashi.
• Only having 14 shots on target in that span. That’s right, the Rapids have given up more goals than they have shots on target.

Blah, blah, blah.

Our illustrious editor penned what seems like a yearly diatribe from someone at the Burgundy Wave asking for answers to way-too-many questions that arise from the club in regards to the way-too-many problems that seem to create way-too-many more problems.

All of this you know.

Recently on Twitter, I asked a question, as I’m prone to do. The obvious reason is because I want to know where the supporter base stands and why. The not-so-obvious reason is because these questions help me know a bit about the history of the club that Wikipedia or the Rapids website does not (indeed, cannot) capture.

This arose from hearing and reading about so many who have been faithful to the Rapids over the years but are now either re-considering or bailing altogether. David Hamer is staying with the Rapids “through thick and thin”:

I can imagine that many Rapids supporters are like this. Being a supporter means being a supporter, no matter what comes. I’m glad to hear from David (given that, as he noted, it wasn’t the question asked). Anyone else like David, staying through thick, thin, and thinner?

Here’s another, now that you mention it:

A Sad Result

What’s sad is how this season seems to be dividing the supporter base. On the one side is those who will stay by the Rapids’ side no matter what. On the other side are those so frustrated they are ready to walk away.

The issue? Whether or not to support the club with your money. You’ll see a pattern. If supporters aren’t careful, a line of demarcation will be drawn due to those who love the team and, yes, spend money at the games—thus aiding and abetting the ownership responsible for the struggles; and those who, on principle, are withholding money that goes toward the ownership.

Christian Kinsley is relatively new to Colorado and wants to pull for his new hometown team, but ...

Kinsley brings up another sad result about the current state of Rapid-dom: a group of people who live in the city who want a team to support, but cannot due to a lack of strategy and direction.

For some, it’s about coaching

Longtime reader and Rapids supporter @cinhosa will wait until a particular event happens:

Ownership needs to take ownership

Back to ownership and KSE! From where we sit, the matter that most frustrates fans is that of ownership, namely Kroenke Sports Entertainment—as Spencer succinctly noted:

Martin was a season ticket holder for ten years...

And @ibvanmat...

Another from @CapTied96 which takes the frustration of ownership to another (frightening) level.

Here, we see that the struggles of the Rapids’ supporters: what needs to change is that very thing that will likely not change in the near future. Coaches come and go, front office personnel come and go—but with a lack of apparent care from the ownership, the dismay does not end.

Frightening?

Suggesting KSE move the team is a frightening thought! Almost unthinkable, yet, what I hear @cinhosa saying is compelling: a different ownership based here in Colorado where the community (from ownership to front office to supporters) embrace the team as something ‘Colorado’ because the owner embraces the team as ‘Colorado!’

Rapids supporters do not want to be a part of a real estate venture by an absentee owner. We want to be valued. It’s Kroenke Sports & Entertainment after all—is it so much to ask for the best people to be put in the best positions to provide entertaining soccer because ownership values the supporters?

In closing, the saddest tweet received was from former Colorado, now Pennsylvania, resident Mark Goodman, a.k.a., @soccer_rabbi.

The team Mark refers to is the Pittsburgh Riverhounds (USL).

This is a four-alarm crisis!

Does KSE even care about the Rapids?