Walking over to Toyota Park early Saturday morning, I couldn't help but think I was forgetting something – camera . . . check . . . Fire jersey . . . check…Fire flag …check. What was it I'm missing? Oh yeah, pants. I had the bright idea to wear shorts, and at 8:00 A.M. on an October day in Chicago it was freezing. Why didn't I wear the pants? But there was no time to worry about it. The bus was minutes away and I was about to head to Kansas City for my first away game in Kansas.

First, I had to find my two roommates who had offered a complete stranger a room to share at the hotel - Jenn, whom seriously bursts with personality 24-7 and was arguably the most fun person on the trip, and Ethan whom I only knew from talking on the message board once. I had met Jenn once before but only for a few minutes so I had a little idea of who I was looking for, and Ethan showed up a skinny 18 year old on his first Section 8 road trip and completely surprised me when he said he was taking the trip himself.

“He seems a little shy, or maybe he's just quiet. I'm sure he'll open up once he gets a few drinks in him,” is what I thought when I first met him but I quickly learned he was 18 and couldn't drink. “That's ok,” I thought, “He's here supporting the FIRE and that's that matters.”
Eventually the bus arrived, a little later than scheduled, everyone quickly boarded and we pulled out of the Toyota Park parking lot. Almost immediately the back of the bus broke out in song and we were off on our trip with the smallest crowd I've ever seen on a bus. Twenty-two people made the trip on the bus, but rumor had it more would join us once we arrived in Kansas City. The ride was a lot quicker than expected. Every stop brought the soccer ball out to be kicked around and with so few people it was easy to gather everyone back on to continue.

Arriving in Kansas City was something else. The field was a converted Minor League Baseball field and was in the middle of a huge shopping center with many bars, restaurants and Section 8's hotel right in the parking lot. Almost immediately Jenn, Ethan and I trekked two Kansas City blocks (Chicago half mile) to the closest Arthur Bryant's, arguably the most famous BBQ in the world. Each of us gorged on about a pound of the most tender, delicious meat ever. I was the only one who couldn't finish, so my manhood took a shot but I didn't care. If I took one more bite my Boulevard Pale Ale was going to end up on the table. The three of us then walked through the parking lot again and met up with the other Section 8er's to help celebrate Liam's soon to be 25^th birthday by watching RSL vs. New England. For a few minutes it looked like RSL was going to pull off an upset after Andy Williams found himself on the receiving end of a beautiful Javier Morales chip over the New England defense. Andy volleyed the ball out of the air and Matt Reis could do nothing but pretend to try and save it. A few minutes later New England scored two quick goals and the game ended a 2-2 draw. We were all hoping for an RSL win but the draw helped us as well and made us even more anxious for the next day's FIRE game.

The rest of the night was filled with soccer in the parking lot, finding Liam his birthday present, drinking Jenn's Sailor Jerry’s Rum and Guapo's secret cider.

Sunday morning I woke up sore from soccer and in need of water. We were supposed to play the Kansas City fans in a supporters match but the field they picked was about 20 minutes away and we had no ride to get there. I made my way downstairs to find a few Section 8er's enjoying the hotel's free breakfast and decided to join them. I could tell the anticipation was building as a few people were already changed into FIRE jerseys.

Breakfast ended at 10:30am and slowly everyone checked out of their rooms and made their way to tailgate near the bus until game time. A few people found a grassy field and started up a soccer game, I opted to just hang out by the bus and have some beers and talk to all the new fans that were starting to show up. From all corners of the parking lot people in red made their way to our bus. It was a meeting of the Midwest as people from Iowa, Missouri, Chicago, Kansas City and Nebraska all met with us to support the FIRE and have some fun.

It was here that I learned what it meant to be a Section 8er. When I first got on the bus at Toyota Park I had known two people in the entire group, by Sunday morning I knew every body we came with and everyone who had met up with us. Our group had turned into 22 fans on a bus to over 40 Fire fans, with many more Blanco fans interspersed throughout the stadium. The camaraderie I felt through this group was unbelievable. We all had one goal in mind - to yell, cheer and scream for 90 minutes and help the FIRE bring home three points.
A little before kickoff we all paraded into the stadium and you could see a lot of the Kansas City fans were surprised and a little startled at the passion we brought and traveled with.

We were herded into what could best be described as a holding pen above and behind the player's bench. Section 8 was ready to go and we immediately kicked it off with Guapo on the trumpet and the rest of us following along and using our voices to project a wave of passion to the players on the field. The players immediately recognized we were in the house and all gave us a wave. It was a beautiful day and both we and the team were looking for a beautiful result and three points to go home with. We went through a lot of songs but without a drum it was difficult to keep them going for more than a few minutes. Liam and Marcin both encouraged us to be louder but the person who really set off our whole section was Ethan. This kid with no alcohol in him was arguably louder than all of us combined and wouldn't stop even when the rest of us were silent. He moved back and forth throughout the section filling in when parts of us were quiet and at times it seemed like he was almost singing by himself. Ethan really stepped it up once we got into the stadium and the kid who I was having difficulty getting any words out of was now leading the group in song after song, practically creating the entire atmosphere of the group by himself.
This isn't to say everyone else wasn't cheering, we were going nuts. We easily drowned out the Wizards fans and there's no doubt the players could hear us and feel our passion as Sarah Kustok, the My50 sideline reporter kept looking up in admiration and giving us a smile and a wave whenever we called out her name.

The person who really blew my mind though was Ethan. I realized that what I took as trepidation and maybe a little intimidation (I know I felt that way on my first Section 8 trip) wasn't shyness or fear it was conservation of energy. He was simply saving every thing he had to let loose at the game and was determined to single-handedly support the Fire to a win. I was awe struck and I wasn't the only one. Every person I talked to was amazed at the amount of passion Ethan released at the game and I can honestly say it inspired me to go stronger and louder than I had been all season.

The game ended, as we all know, in a 1-1 tie and besides the section having two people ejected for some b.s. reason, we all thought we'd be out of Kansas City shortly with out any real incidents. We waited with security until most of the stadium was cleared out but then some Wizards fan's came up to the fence behind us and starting yelling and taunting from behind the fence. These fans were clearly way too drunk and no one really put much thought into their antics until one of them, a girl no less, threw half of a broken brick into our crowd. It was unbelievable; the utter lack of class and sportsmanship shown by those few fans really left a bad taste in our mouths and we were anxious to get out of there. For the most part the fans we met before the game were kind and intrigued by our trip, but this group of assholes really showed that a few fans in Kansas City have a lot to learn about supporting their team and being good supporters. The same group followed us to the bus and seemed a little perturbed that none of the section 8ers wanted to fight. They seemed fixated on fighting someone or something and just wouldn't let it go. I'm sure had we just let Ethan loose on them, the entire problem could have been resolved quickly but Ben coaxed us onto the bus with promises of more beer and our journey to Kansas City was over. It was 5:00 P.M. and nine hours of driving were ahead of us. We got back to Toyota Park tired and hoarse around 2:30 A.M. Monday morning. A lot of us had work in a few hours and some were lucky enough to be able to sleep because of late classes, but all of us were changed in just the fact that we had all gained a bunch of new friends and a lot of great stories which seems to be a recurring theme on Section 8 road trips.

martygroark@gmail.com

Thanks to all the fans that traveled from all corners to join us, and thanks for everyone on the bus. This trip was one of the best yet and I can't wait until Toronto, which last year was the most fun memorable trip Section 8 has taken.

GET ON THE BUS PEOPLE!!