For Sporting KC, The Time Is Now

It’s here everyone. The final week of Major League Soccer’s regular season. So, it’s time.

It’s time to pack Children’s Mercy Park on Saturday night. It’s time to cheer like you’ve never cheered before. It’s time to put your full support behind this team. It’s time to stop with the negativity and the cheering against the team.

I want you to take a minute to think back. All the way back to April. Remember where we were as a team and a fanbase. So many fans had given up. We wrote this team off as the Wooden Spoon winner. The Cauldron was calling for sweeping changes.

Cauldron Members

As a large organization, we felt the obligation to ensure that every voice was heard and considered as we decided how to move forward

As a result of your feedback, we have sent the following letter to Sporting Kansas City and have asked for a counter statement pic.twitter.com/u2iHrUDLIT

— The Cauldron (@KCCauldron) May 4, 2023

The fans were angry. Including me and I am an eternal optimist.

Can the players at least come out after halftime and act as pissed off as the fans are?! Please?!

— Stacy Fulk (@Sfulk13) April 23, 2023

The fact that we are now in late October and have a real opportunity to make the playoffs seems crazy. However, it is a fact. A Sporting Kansas City win and a draw or loss by either Dallas, Portland or San Jose and we’re in. I mean it’s possible that we get the seven seed and even avoid the wildcard game.

This team has worked and battled and proved that everything that was said about them just wasn’t true. Since May they have turned it around and climbed and clawed their way to this place so that we get to come together on Decision Day and have it mean something!

We all know how things started. This team had zero wins, three draws and seven losses through April. It was abysmal. But then something changed. Maybe it was that team retreat. Maybe it was players getting healthy. Maybe it was a stroke of luck that led to more confidence. I don’t know what it was, and I don’t care. All I care about is that something turned things around. Since May 1st the team has won 11 matches, had five draws and seven losses.

Listen, I get it. I understand that squeaking into the playoffs where more than half of the conference has a spot isn’t good enough. I hear that argument and I agree with it. But I am tired of hearing “fans” of this team actively hoping the team loses thinking that will be the key to the organization changing things. Everything from coaching changes, a complete overhaul of the team, better food at the stadium, etc. etc. Missing the playoffs isn’t going to lead to any of those things happening. The Shades of Blue boys had a great podcast episode about this topic if you want to give it a listen.

So, stop the negativity. Save that for the off-season. Now is not the time. This is the time to rally behind those 11 men on the field and the man in charge of them. This is the time to will the team to victory on Saturday and hope for the demise of one or two or three other teams. This is the time to don that Sporting gear, get to the stadium, cheer as loud as you can and be grateful, we still have a reason to do so on Decision Day. A lot of other fan bases would love to be in our shoes!