mfosterftw

We have them at all levels over here.  They tend to not be used in baseball (despite their origin being born out of necessity when they built Houston''s Astrodome then had to paint to glass ceiling to reduce the glare), but pro, college, and high school football teams have them, as well as a number of MLS and other soccer clubs.  I''ve walked on the one at my kid''s HS, and it absorbs a lot more impact than they old types.  If they need more absorption, you just spread more rubber into the base - it''s a lot like sanding a green - something you have to do every few years anyway.

My entire life I''ve observed/rooted for teams in all sorts of sports, all different levels, and of various quality.  Not to go too deep into sports fandom psychology, but in my experience you do look at your teams differently depending on how good they are.  My baseball team (Kansas City Royals) ends a 29 year postseason drought when it hosts Oakland tomorrow.  That is/was the longest drought in the four major North American sports leagues.  I certainly have looked at the team differently the last couple of years than I did when they were losing 100 games a season, and even getting back in the postseason I look at this team differently than I did in my childhood when they made the postseason seven times in ten years with two World Series appearances and one win.  In general, as the team quality goes up my criticisms become less focused on the administration of the team and more on the manager/coach and players themselves.  It makes sense, really - if the team is doing well you can''t hammer on the the folks responsible for the "big picture" because hey, on the whole the team is good...  but rather the day-to-day or game-to-game or even play-to-play minutiae.  This is even more so apparent with my college football team, which happens to have seven national titles and over 40 conference titles.Back to NCFC... do I see little things that need improving?  Sure, we all do.  But while I don''t want to be all "sunshine and lollypops" and ignore them, I am not about to allow them to detract from what have been some very, very nice results thus far this season.  Every morning I wake up with us at the top is a good morning.I will say this though... if a team in any sport in any country is good or poor, the fans calling in on the postgame sound exactly alike... so listen for entertainment value, not for gaining insight.  Just my 2¢...

Have y''all decided what the prizes are going to be?  Just sorta curious, but there''s nothing but a "coming soon" on that page.  It''s not because I''m sitting in third place or anything. [:O]

You might want to relax the required fields on the locations and postal codes too, as there are a few Global Canaries here.  So far there''s someone from Australia, one from Lake Orion, Michigan (by coincidence I graduated from high school there), and myself (Fort Worth, Texas).  I just stuck in Norfolk for the county and NR1 1JE for the postal code.

[quote user="OnTheBallTexas"]Hey guys and gals, I live in Austin and I''m looking for someone to watch the match with tomorrow. I was thinking Fado''s but Haymaker is also open for games now and I wouldn''t mind dong that. I hope someone from Austin is on here! OTBC[/quote]There was one but we''re not sure if she''s still around.I am trying to get a Texas-based supporter group organized.  Right now there''s two of us in DFW and one in Houston.  I''ve got a Facebook group going at https://www.facebook.com/groups/827606653932473/Hope to see you there!

I''m not an expat.  Born and spent most of my childhood in Kansas.  Family is from Oklahoma going back to the late 19th century land runs, and from Texas (where I currently live) before that.So, why Norwich?When I was about 12 years old my paternal grandmother gave me her family lineage book (Balderston).  Open it up to page one and everything is traced back to Norwich.  In fact one ancestor was mayor in the early 18th century.  There I am reading the sports page on Sunday and there''s the First Division standings.  Hey, there''s Norwich City... I guess that''s my team!Been that way ever since.

Lone Star Canaries saw a 50% increase in membership last night.  Of course that makes the total count only three, but from little acorns, as the saying goes.

[quote user="mfosterftw"]That''s not a club the Canary is on, but a cannon... even more non-PC, but hey this IS Texas we''re talking about.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Gonzales[/quote]Nevermind... I see what you''re saying... misread it.

[quote user="TexasCanary"]Like the first one and your avatar the best. Come and get it would be lost on most outside of Tejas. And the club might see it as a little non PC I''m in. How many do we need to get a group recognized by the club?[/quote]That''s not a club the Canary is on, but a cannon... even more non-PC, but hey this IS Texas we''re talking about.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_GonzalesI don''t know because NCFC''s webpage on the matter doesn''t provide a whole lot of guidance - http://www.canaries.co.uk/fans/global_canaries/I almost get the sense it''s as informal as "Let us know about your group and we''ll recognize it."

I''ve put together some thoughts for imagery and flags for a Texas-based supporter group:I''ve mocked up a Texas-themed badge, replacing the battlements and lion with the Alamo and an armadillo: http://imgur.com/FqZmwFm and I''ve taken the Gonzales Flag from the Texas Revolution and planted the canary on it: http://imgur.com/E0aJlib and I''ve taken the Texas flag, recolored it, and replaced the star with the Texas-themed badge (common among sports teams in the state): http://imgur.com/JvaY214 and finally, I''ve mocked up a supporters flag using the St. George''s template the other groups seem to be using: http://imgur.com/9pK1U9h The St. George''s template flag is a little busy IMO. Texas has tons of imagery to draw on so what I went for were elements that were simple and easy to identify. If I had my druthers I''d replace the longhorn (symbol of my college team''s hated rival) in the lower left with bluebonnets, but the silhouette is simpler and I can just change the colors to neutralize the reference to the University of Texas mascot. The longhorn is also featured prominently as official City of Fort Worth iconography, appearing on vehicles, letterhead, buildings, street signs, etc... it even has a name (we call her "Molly")... so as I explained to my kids, it''s a longhorn, not THE Longhorn. So for now my goal is to get a decent enough sized group of people by the start of next season to get recognition by the club...

[quote user="mfosterftw"][quote user="Houston Canary"]Then there''s another Texas-based fan on here with a Texas-based name. I thought I was the only one on here from Houston. Nice to know I''m not.[/quote]I haven''t posted here in awhile, so maybe it''s me (the "FTW" being Fort Worth).That said, I''m trying to put together a Texas based supporter group for anyone interested.  There''s two of us from DFW so far.  https://www.facebook.com/groups/827606653932473/Home to hear from anyone else in the Lone Star State![/quote] Upon further review, it appears the other Texas person here might be "Yellow Rose of Texas," who is from Austin.

[quote user="Houston Canary"]Then there''s another Texas-based fan on here with a Texas-based name. I thought I was the only one on here from Houston. Nice to know I''m not.[/quote]I haven''t posted here in awhile, so maybe it''s me (the "FTW" being Fort Worth).That said, I''m trying to put together a Texas based supporter group for anyone interested.  There''s two of us from DFW so far.  https://www.facebook.com/groups/827606653932473/Home to hear from anyone else in the Lone Star State!

Yeah, the Stars Ice Girls aren''t too bad...  Makes living in Fort Worth-Dallas (I refuse to call it Dallas-Fort Worth) that much more tolerable.  Here''s their page with more to look at.http://stars.nhl.com/club/microhome.htm?location=/icegirls I''m watching the video trying to figure out which lake it is... Lewisville or Grapevine would be my guess, as they are fairly close and the water levels are decent.  The lakes further up the Trinity Basin are really low due to our drought.  I live near Eagle Mountain Lake (down a good 6-8 feet) and spent last weekend at Lake Bridgeport (down 15-16 feet), and I''ve never seen either lower.

Ummm guys, MLS teams have cheerleaders too... http://bleacherreport.com/articles/647135-the-mls-hottest-cheerleaders

I don''t disagree about Texas being hot, I''m mostly just wishful thinking... but Kansas City can be just as hot as Texas and doesn''t have any indoor options, such as Reliant Stadium in Houston, the Alamodome in San Antonio, or the Death Star (Cowboys Stadium) in Arlington.  Unfortunately, those venues are probably too big for an NCFC game unless they''re playing the Mexican National Team.