This morning we were here in the Chivas USA Communications office reading through the news when we saw Greg Lalas' piece on SI.com about the fans at MLS Cup on Sunday, which he titled "An ode to passionate MLS fans."
In the article, he mentioned on of the Red-and-White's fan clubs, the Union Ultras:
"Here's to the Union Ultras, fans of Chivas USA, who threw their support behind Columbus. Why? I have no idea. But they cheered as vociferously as anyone."
We had also noticed that the Ultras were cheering for the Crew, but when we got to thinking, we realized we also had no idea why they were Columbus fans for the day. So we reached out to Union Ultras member John Sandate, who filled us in.
"It was in the spirit of good sportsmanship," Sandate told Dentro del Rebaño. Apparently a member of a Crew fan club, the Hudson Street Hooligans, e-mailed Sandate with the news that their normal drummers, La Turbina Amarilla, couldn't make it out for the Cup.
"She asked if we'd drum for them," says Sandate. "I asked my fellow members about it and all voted overwhlemingly in favor of helping them out."
"Officially, we did not cheer for Columbus as a whole group, but us drummers would play Columbus songs in the spirit of the game with our big drum. We also had fellow Union Ultras stand with us in unity. We really just wanted to make a positive statement in the name of Chivas USA. Call it supporting supporters."
The Crew fan clubs, located in the Northeast corner of The Home Depot Center, and plenty of other Columbus supporters throughout the stadium, responded positively.
"Many Columbus fans said they would cheer for Chivas USA in the Western Conference because of this. Everywhere we went throughout the stadium, Columbus fans would shake our hands and say thanks. "
When asked if he met any interesting Columbus fans, Sandate responded: "All the Columbus fans were interesting. They're from Ohio and we're from Southern California!"
