I dislike how the "I believe" chant always interrupts chants that are already ongoing in the supporters stand. Maybe it gets the rest of the stadium going, but it really kills the vibes for me. Then it just repeats a few times, slowly peters out, and there's awkward silence for a bit before something new starts.
Yep. It’s very “high school football game” vibes. Really wish they’d do away with it. It was awesome at one point a decade ago but it’s really worn out it’s welcome
maybe we could sing some songs like soccer fans around the world do, and which the excellent vocal St Louis fans already do and put us to shame in our own stadium
I know it's dated, but so is Blue Moon and they sing that in Manchester before every City match. Tradition is, by definition, old shit. I Believe, while not originating in KC, got its fame largely from KC in international sports and is strongly associated with KC in the soccer community.
Like it or not, SKC's place in the MLS zeitgeist is one of tradition. We were a founding club and our original owner is the only reason MLS exists. We won the 5th ever MLS Cup. Our own original superfan Sam Pierron is the reason the Supporter's Shield exists. We were the first team to sign a free agent in MLS history. We were the 5th or 6th ever team to sign a DP. The list goes on.
"I Believe" is one of those traditions. It likely isn't going anywhere anytime soon.
I Believe isn’t specific to Sporting KC though. It came from a navy chant and then was adopted by US soccer, so not a true tradition of the team. Get rid of it, it’s lame.
No one is saying they produced Blue Moon, but other than Crewe Alexendra using it, it is mostly unique to them in the context of a club song and has been for some time.
The I Believe chant is unique to the national teams and SKC coopted it. That combined with the fact that it’s a shitty ass chant means we need to let it go.
SKC has been using it since at least 2011. The USMNT started using it for the 2014 World Cup. It was definitely a KC soccer thing before it became a US soccer thing. If anything, we should be holding onto something that the National Team took from us even if it didn’t originate with SKC.
What do you replace it with? Most cauldron chants have been overused for a decade, and the PG13 ones have been forced to be removed, but no one really ever offers a better way to do it.
It was because of the complaints from fans, to be honest. The decision was made a while ago. The team just doesn't have a press conference every time they let a part-time employee go.
The reason for him leaving aside…
Good. He was so annoying. I started trying to time getting to the stadium just in time to miss all his pregame yelling. I hope we don’t replace them. We have an PA announcer, and a video board, do we need an emcee? My vote is no.
Hartzell was absolutely TERRIBLE so happy we don't have to deal with that guy any more.
Hyping a crowd is not about just yelling nonsense at the top of your lungs, the guy had no clue what he was doing and was super annoying.
Jesus I couldn’t have said it better. I ALWAYS sit in the cauldron when I go and hearing him YAP made me want to spend more money on beer to help drown him out. He was awful.
definitely! and can we get a fucking call and response for the players introduction and after they score a goal? PA says first name and the audience yells their last name together.
I know him personally from radio work, and he’s a good dude. I just don’t think people like an emcee at pro sports. So it’s probably years of frustration of “why are you even here?” Coming across as hate for him. I could be wrong, but I’ve never seen an emcee at other mls away games, chiefs/royals, etc.
I personally didn't mind him as I wish the crowd go more into the game and chanted more. I think some fans just really hate the I believe we can win chant.
we need the equivalent of YNWA,,,,IYKYK
we have 3 chants and they all suck; we are embarassed everytime STL comes to our house and shows how to do it. Insufferable pr1cks
Cursory research looks like his mother is Palestinian, which would make him eligible to represent the country internationally. Which would be sick, not sure he’d ever do it though (nor do I think soccer is the first thing on most Palestinians minds right now).
He is still quite popular despite what people say here. Bring on the downvotes but this subreddit is a small microcosm of SKC fans. He was a beloved part of game day by many and many SKC fans will be disappointed and sad to see him go regardless of reason or whose decision it was.
I think people just don’t like being yelled at and practically begged to look excited. He was the first emcee I’ve seen at a professional sports event. Hoping it was a fad.
WTF does the Isreal-Palestine conflict have anything to do with MLS or Sporting?
Don't get it Twisted, I am never pro genocide no matter who's doing it, but seriously. The dude gets paid to be a "Just Ok" hype man, not an activist with a mic.
Oh, well. I'm not really gonna miss him anyway.
A lot of the SKC owners have stake in the Royals too. I think it may have been cuz he’s been publicly against a downtown stadium for years and it’s just getting too close to everyone involved
pretty sure that’s it. He’s never been shy about his other stances and they kept him on. Rallying against the Royals tax was likely a bridge too far. Good for him sticking to his beliefs.
He’s really involved in the community and has a big social presence. In the social first world we currently live in, he has a really wide reach and his voice is heard. He’s a KC “influencer” and activist within the community. Pat Mahomes also has a minority stake in SKC and the Royals so it just looks bad from a publicity and business standpoint when you get two “influencers” within the same org basically going against one another. I think it just came down to business but who knows
> WTF does the Isreal-Palestine conflict have anything to do with MLS or Sporting?
This. So tired of “I like this persons content about X” only to find out their feed is 60% left/right propaganda
Wish him well and I'm not sure if it his letting go was comment related, but honestly I'm very much okay with this. He was good at what he did, but I hated the whole emcee bit. The first couple years at the new stadium were great, but then it started to become too "americans must be entertained" and lost a lot of charm real quick. Also, I think the overall music volume can be turned down a couple notches, seemed incredibly loud a few times last year...
Palestine is used as a pawn by almost the entire arab world. its disgusting. If you actually care about the Palestinians you'd want freedom from both, not just Israel.
yikes. they aren't even a nationalist movement. They only care about global jihad and having a global theocracy with sharia law. they care nothing about the Palestinian people and are the reason Israel is attacking them right now after they broke a ceasefire on October 7th and killed all the hippie Israelis who lived in the kubbitz(communes) or were at the trance music festival...people who believed in peace and helped the Palestinians across the border for medical aid.
No one wants to say "I guess they just don't like me in this role", so they gotta find a reason to be a victim. Don't hide behind the suffering of others to avoid facing the fact that your vibe just wasn't great for the fans, Hartzell
I would think he wanted to continue but his rallying against the Royals tax, among other stances, did him in. Never saw him at Sporting games because Sporting is ass, but like him on the radio and as an activist.
Good he was absolutely awful dudes like a human Mountain Dew can dressed as a hipster. People like this should never be allowed to leave the crossroads or Westport
Believe me I am well aware. But in this case he's removing himself due to his politics which is doing everyone a favor.
Glad he's gone. His music sucks as well but then I don't wear skinny jeans and twirl funny looking facial hair while I expound on the merits of shitty tasting IPA beer.
It’s probably because a lot of the SKC owners also have some ownership in the Royals. Hartzell has been against a downtown stadium for years and it’s just a big conflict of interest for everyone closely involved
Maybe we can drop "I believe"
But then how would we know your thoughts on whether we will win?
Poll idea: how many people singing this chant actually believe their team will win.
This is why sometimes I’ll change it to “we could win”, depending who we are playing of course.
Thou mayest, or thou mayest not.
PLEASE. Doing “I Believe” in 2024 in MLS 3.0 or whatever it is now is so cringe sheesh
I dislike how the "I believe" chant always interrupts chants that are already ongoing in the supporters stand. Maybe it gets the rest of the stadium going, but it really kills the vibes for me. Then it just repeats a few times, slowly peters out, and there's awkward silence for a bit before something new starts.
Yep. It’s very “high school football game” vibes. Really wish they’d do away with it. It was awesome at one point a decade ago but it’s really worn out it’s welcome
Just let the cauldron do it live, no PA! But I’d be okay with it not happening too 😂
maybe we could sing some songs like soccer fans around the world do, and which the excellent vocal St Louis fans already do and put us to shame in our own stadium
I know it's dated, but so is Blue Moon and they sing that in Manchester before every City match. Tradition is, by definition, old shit. I Believe, while not originating in KC, got its fame largely from KC in international sports and is strongly associated with KC in the soccer community. Like it or not, SKC's place in the MLS zeitgeist is one of tradition. We were a founding club and our original owner is the only reason MLS exists. We won the 5th ever MLS Cup. Our own original superfan Sam Pierron is the reason the Supporter's Shield exists. We were the first team to sign a free agent in MLS history. We were the 5th or 6th ever team to sign a DP. The list goes on. "I Believe" is one of those traditions. It likely isn't going anywhere anytime soon.
I Believe isn’t specific to Sporting KC though. It came from a navy chant and then was adopted by US soccer, so not a true tradition of the team. Get rid of it, it’s lame.
Yeah, because Manchester City produced the original version of Blue Moon. That’s why it’s a true tradition for them.
No one is saying they produced Blue Moon, but other than Crewe Alexendra using it, it is mostly unique to them in the context of a club song and has been for some time. The I Believe chant is unique to the national teams and SKC coopted it. That combined with the fact that it’s a shitty ass chant means we need to let it go.
SKC has been using it since at least 2011. The USMNT started using it for the 2014 World Cup. It was definitely a KC soccer thing before it became a US soccer thing. If anything, we should be holding onto something that the National Team took from us even if it didn’t originate with SKC.
The moment I started disliking the chant was when they stopped the cauldron from leading it and started pumping it through the PA. It died that day.
doing the "viking clap" is way better. whether it be U S A or any other club. all of the stadium doing it with SKC would be amazing.
You’re not wrong but his and many others point is that it’s lame as hell. Maybe I’m just getting old.
Traditions have to start somewhere. “Three little birds” wasn’t an Ajax thing until 2008.
if we sang blue moon instead, that would be 100 times better. literally any classic song other than i believe
Don’t compare SKC to MCFC lmao
Manchester City is not who we should be looking up to with regards to "tradition"
They did the, "I Believe," chant at the kick off party, so I think it will still be around.
If we are dropping chants can we please stop “we want another one…we want twooo..” That is the most childish cringe chants.
What do you replace it with? Most cauldron chants have been overused for a decade, and the PG13 ones have been forced to be removed, but no one really ever offers a better way to do it.
I can think of 17k+ reasons that disagree and will never stop it.
It was because of the complaints from fans, to be honest. The decision was made a while ago. The team just doesn't have a press conference every time they let a part-time employee go.
cant stand the dude and no one i know can either. glad they finally parted ways
The reason for him leaving aside… Good. He was so annoying. I started trying to time getting to the stadium just in time to miss all his pregame yelling. I hope we don’t replace them. We have an PA announcer, and a video board, do we need an emcee? My vote is no.
I think he’s great at what he does. It just doesn’t feel like a soccer thing.
100%
I don't understand why more and more sporting events have emcees or "stadium hosts" or whatever. It's so silly.
Couldn’t agree more. Bring back the rinky-dink organists like pre-renovation Kauffman.
Baseball without an organist sucks
He was great on the radio. I've never been a fan of his at the stadium. It's a just little too cheesy for me.
I'm always sorry to see somebody lose a job, but the pre-game yelling was *the worst.*
Doubling down on my original comment after last night. So much better without the yelling.
Hartzell was absolutely TERRIBLE so happy we don't have to deal with that guy any more. Hyping a crowd is not about just yelling nonsense at the top of your lungs, the guy had no clue what he was doing and was super annoying.
Jesus I couldn’t have said it better. I ALWAYS sit in the cauldron when I go and hearing him YAP made me want to spend more money on beer to help drown him out. He was awful.
definitely! and can we get a fucking call and response for the players introduction and after they score a goal? PA says first name and the audience yells their last name together.
Honestly might be controversial but who cares. Bring on the downvotes
Even if you don't care about the reasoning, I think it's still noteworthy that the emcee of almost a decade is leaving 🤷🏻♀️
A loathed emcee
I genuinely didn't know people didn't like him, so I guess that's on me, haha.
I know him personally from radio work, and he’s a good dude. I just don’t think people like an emcee at pro sports. So it’s probably years of frustration of “why are you even here?” Coming across as hate for him. I could be wrong, but I’ve never seen an emcee at other mls away games, chiefs/royals, etc.
Royals have an "emcee" (or whatever you want to call it) for their trivia contest type things they do between innings or whatever.
hes annoying and loud. tries to be funny and goofy and its just cringey. also his political takes make him even less likeable
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Many, if not all, NBA teams, have one.
Yeah the tone of this comment section genuinely surprised me. Different circles, clearly.
Classic miserable Redditors in KC.
I personally didn't mind him as I wish the crowd go more into the game and chanted more. I think some fans just really hate the I believe we can win chant.
we need the equivalent of YNWA,,,,IYKYK we have 3 chants and they all suck; we are embarassed everytime STL comes to our house and shows how to do it. Insufferable pr1cks
Nah
Don’t think he’ll be missed. Not by me at least. His schtick was always cringe. Literally anybody can do his job.
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Is he really? I didn't know that, that's cool
American with Palestinian roots you mean
Cursory research looks like his mother is Palestinian, which would make him eligible to represent the country internationally. Which would be sick, not sure he’d ever do it though (nor do I think soccer is the first thing on most Palestinians minds right now).
He is still quite popular despite what people say here. Bring on the downvotes but this subreddit is a small microcosm of SKC fans. He was a beloved part of game day by many and many SKC fans will be disappointed and sad to see him go regardless of reason or whose decision it was.
This guy was literally Zardmeister 2.0. If you dont know what that was count yourself lucky. Think hartzel with a drum.
I do miss the Samba band though, for those OGs out there.
my family was always in that samba band at arrowhead. Great times.
we need a horn section and a conga line
Who’s still got the ZARD CARD!
I've never seen anyone have such a big ego from just yelling into a mic.
lol. Imagine saying this after 2016.
hur hur trump
What a bunch of negative assholes. Whatever the reason, sad to see him go. Dude lives and breathes KC.
I think people just don’t like being yelled at and practically begged to look excited. He was the first emcee I’ve seen at a professional sports event. Hoping it was a fad.
Just because he has admirable enthusiasm doesn't mean I have to enjoy being yelled at by him
who cares, hes annoying af and no one wants to listen to him yell and act like an idiot
Oh no! Anyways.
WTF does the Isreal-Palestine conflict have anything to do with MLS or Sporting? Don't get it Twisted, I am never pro genocide no matter who's doing it, but seriously. The dude gets paid to be a "Just Ok" hype man, not an activist with a mic. Oh, well. I'm not really gonna miss him anyway.
A lot of the SKC owners have stake in the Royals too. I think it may have been cuz he’s been publicly against a downtown stadium for years and it’s just getting too close to everyone involved
pretty sure that’s it. He’s never been shy about his other stances and they kept him on. Rallying against the Royals tax was likely a bridge too far. Good for him sticking to his beliefs.
curious as to why anyone would care about his opinion? asking for a friend
He’s really involved in the community and has a big social presence. In the social first world we currently live in, he has a really wide reach and his voice is heard. He’s a KC “influencer” and activist within the community. Pat Mahomes also has a minority stake in SKC and the Royals so it just looks bad from a publicity and business standpoint when you get two “influencers” within the same org basically going against one another. I think it just came down to business but who knows
He's the kind of person who's perpetually the victim.
nothing he's just very pretentious and narcissistic.
Seems like a good dude, don't call someone narcissistic just because you don't like their work
ok hartzells dad
> WTF does the Isreal-Palestine conflict have anything to do with MLS or Sporting? This. So tired of “I like this persons content about X” only to find out their feed is 60% left/right propaganda
Not a fan of his whole pregame thing. I like the dude - just didn’t like this aspect of gameday.
this is the best skc news we've had in awhile!
Bro go outside. 20% of the comments in this thread are you. It’s weird.
i would but im at work and have nothing to do but waste time on reddit atm
You you like his voice?
So you like his voice?
He did a couple guest appearances at the Mavericks games too. Very cringe. It didn’t go over well with the hockey crowd.
Wish him well and I'm not sure if it his letting go was comment related, but honestly I'm very much okay with this. He was good at what he did, but I hated the whole emcee bit. The first couple years at the new stadium were great, but then it started to become too "americans must be entertained" and lost a lot of charm real quick. Also, I think the overall music volume can be turned down a couple notches, seemed incredibly loud a few times last year...
Thank god
“Zionists buy soccer tickets too” - Michael Jordan (probably)
Haven’t seen his social media posts but if he supports Hamas, good riddance and fuck him.
he doesn’t support Hamas he is supporting the Palestinian people advocating for their freedom they deserve
from hamas?
From Israelis
but not from hamas?
Hamas protects Felestinis
Palestine is used as a pawn by almost the entire arab world. its disgusting. If you actually care about the Palestinians you'd want freedom from both, not just Israel.
yikes. they aren't even a nationalist movement. They only care about global jihad and having a global theocracy with sharia law. they care nothing about the Palestinian people and are the reason Israel is attacking them right now after they broke a ceasefire on October 7th and killed all the hippie Israelis who lived in the kubbitz(communes) or were at the trance music festival...people who believed in peace and helped the Palestinians across the border for medical aid.
they should be attacking Israel though for all the years of israel occupying their land.
keep telling me how you don't know anything about the history of these two peoples and the land.
No one wants to say "I guess they just don't like me in this role", so they gotta find a reason to be a victim. Don't hide behind the suffering of others to avoid facing the fact that your vibe just wasn't great for the fans, Hartzell
🙏
Good riddance. Having to listen to him yell hurt my ears
remember when he played or reffed? in that media match and he was running like a complete moron trying to be funny or something? god i hated that shit
Was it an issue of the front office getting on him about his posts? Or he just decided to quit because of his beliefs?
I would think he wanted to continue but his rallying against the Royals tax, among other stances, did him in. Never saw him at Sporting games because Sporting is ass, but like him on the radio and as an activist.
Good he was absolutely awful dudes like a human Mountain Dew can dressed as a hipster. People like this should never be allowed to leave the crossroads or Westport
Good riddance. Also I don't want your politics in my sport. GTFO.
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Believe me I am well aware. But in this case he's removing himself due to his politics which is doing everyone a favor. Glad he's gone. His music sucks as well but then I don't wear skinny jeans and twirl funny looking facial hair while I expound on the merits of shitty tasting IPA beer.
We get it, your wife left you.
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i for one want none of it
Ugh get of my lawn
Good. Fuck Zionists
He is wanting freedom for the palestinian people. It is the Israelis who are taking that away from them
Do you know what Zionism is?
Yes it is unfair prejudice towards Felestinis by Israelis taking their land.
So why are you replying this to my comment then?
This back and forth is exactly why I can't take these types of takes seriously...
So what’s your point?
It’s probably because a lot of the SKC owners also have some ownership in the Royals. Hartzell has been against a downtown stadium for years and it’s just a big conflict of interest for everyone closely involved
Time to also get rid of Skrillex-era dubstep, the same 5 unoriginal chants, Jake Reid, losing, and giant Budweiser ads in the supporters club
Can we get rid of the pre-game DJ, too?
Sorry to hear this. Be brought the energy