Is this Seattle Sounders tifo the worst ever? The internet thinks so
When the Seattle Sounders and the Portland Timbers face off, it's always one of the biggest matches both teams will have all year. They are bitter rivals, which means the games matter more and the fans up the ante with the atmosphere.
But on Sunday in Seattle, the Emerald City Supporters group decided to take the night off from the spectacular tifos that have come to define the rivalry. Instead, they did this:
Video is uploading, but here's the stills.... #rickrolling #EBFG pic.twitter.com/wRAa7y0zcQ
— PNW Medium Format (@PNWmf) August 22, 2016
That's a tifo I guess #RCTID pic.twitter.com/NLGw3kTIVl
— Jamie Goldberg (@Jamiebgoldberg) August 22, 2016
Yep, the Sounders fans went with a "rickroll," the meme of surprising people with Rick Astley's hit song "Never Gonna Give You Up," that swept the internet in 2008. Although the Sounders won, 3-1, the internet, including both Sounders and Timbers fans, was largely not kind in their reaction to the tifo:
BREAKING: @MLS disciplinary committee has deducted 2 pts from SoundersFC on the weakness of their Tifo game.
— St. Snark (@efilnikufsin) August 22, 2016
What was with the tifo tonight #ECS? My 9 yr old thinks the paint is all saved up for next week. How can we help? #SoundersFC #EBFG #SEAvPOR
— JoLin (@JoJolinp) August 22, 2016
Withholding judgment until somebody explains ECS tifo to me.
— Portland Timbros (@PortlandTimbros) August 22, 2016
Jk that was wack. #RCTID
@timbersarmy @WeAreECS I mean come on ECS, the away tifo looked better than that mess. pic.twitter.com/RPApJH5BHk
— Ben Meaders ⭐️ (@QuesoCaliente) August 22, 2016
Uh. @WeAreECS are about 10 years late with their references... spend more cash on tifo and less on beard paint. https://t.co/7wPSPXuWg2
— dodgy nova (@stephonova) August 22, 2016
Last night, Seattle Sounders fans came up with the worst tifo in the entire history of football. pic.twitter.com/a8HtjY6OMh
— Ben Dudson-Kanu (@BenDudley88) August 22, 2016
The Emerald City Supporters later posted an explanation of the tifo display, describing it as a protest of MLS's "attempts to push the false hype and to monetize" the rivalry. Even though Sunday was the only time the Timbers will come to Seattle this year, unless the teams face off in the playoffs, the supporters group complained the rivalry games were being scheduled too often lately for marketing purposes. That explanation got mixed reviews:
So the Tifo disaster was actually a protest, @WeAreECS? All I saw was us getting outclassed at home by the away supporters. Disappointed
— Yensen Dubrovich (@dubrovichy) August 22, 2016
The "tifo" tonight was awful, but the @WeAreECS explanation is inexcusably daft and self-important. Come on guys.https://t.co/u5f4GF3qc2
— Kenji Droullard (@kenjidroullard) August 22, 2016
The best jokes are the ones you have to spend several paragraphs explaining in depth, right? https://t.co/o3mc2a6Vdo #RCTID
— Paul DeBruler (@misterpdb) August 22, 2016
The teams met at least 3 times every season from 01-08. In 2003 they played 6 times incl matches on b2b days twice! https://t.co/xKXGjSc8ZR
— Mike Donovan (@TheMikeDonovan) August 22, 2016
Whatever the intent of the tifo was, it will certainly be remembered in the tifo back-and-forth that Sounders and Timbers fans have engaged in over the years.
For perspective, this is what the Timbers Army did a month ago when the Sounders came to Portland:
"Legends never sleep" #RCTID #MLS pic.twitter.com/LwMt0RGBle
— Jamie Goldberg (@Jamiebgoldberg) July 17, 2016
That "Nightmare on Elm Street" tifo was a response to a tifo done by the Emerald City Supporters back in 2013:
ECS tifo: Welcome to Your Nightmare pic.twitter.com/NhW3imxwXQ
— Joshua Mayers (@joshuamayers) November 3, 2013
Now, the Sounders head to Portland next weekend in an unusual bit of scheduling that caused back-to-back rivalry games this year, so we'll see what the Timbers Army decides to do.
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