There was a time, not so long ago, when Real Salt Lake was more than just a soccer team. I can still remember the feeling of walking in to the hallowed RioT, and taking my seat in Section 4 among thousands of fellow supporters; all of us knowing that when our players took the field the game was ours to win or lose. We were the team that played the beautiful game, week in and week out, the way it was supposed to be played. We controlled our own destiny. We were a team to be feared by lesser squads. Although we were small, and our resources slight when measured to the bigger fish, our resourcefulness, and our commitment would surely see us through. There were none too powerful to receive our well-defined brand of justice.



The spotlight of Major League Soccer most often shone far away from our small-market corner. The bigger teams, with their deeper pockets, and bigger stars always seemed to get the accolades, and the rewards that we felt were our due. But if one listened closely to the right kind of people, you could tell that there was a deep respect for RSL, and for what it did on the field. Among league pundits, and opposing coaches, and players it was clear that RSL had something worthy of admiration, something to be desired. We were the proof not only that big spending wasn’t the only path to success in this league, but that maybe it wasn’t even the best path. We didn’t always win, but by always competing toe-to-toe with the LA Galaxy, and the Seattle Sounders of the world we earned a place among the MLS Elite. And for the other rank-and-file teams we were the team to beat. We were the goalpost by which a smaller market team’s success was measured, and among the fans of those teams we were held in a level of contempt that only great success, over many years of greatness, can buy.



Those days are gone now.



Bit by bit some thing has been picking us apart. We no longer control the game, or our own destiny. We no longer play attractive, positive soccer. We fans no longer take our seats at the RioT with confidence. We still show up. We still sing the songs of our people. We still bring the noise and the energy that our stadium is known for. However, a lot of the belief is gone.



I think that most RSL fans are not as fickle as one might suspect if one goes too deeply into the rabbit-hole that is social media. Most of us will continue to support the good, the bad, and the ugly. But I can not argue with, nor criticize those whose hearts are filled with bitterness, and anger for what has happened to our team. I have no argument against one who might say that they are not going to renew their season tickets for 2016. Many of us were brought up into the light of RSL, and became fans of a playing style, and a philosophy that no longer exists. Many of the same players are still here. We still believe in them. And every now and again you might catch a glimpse of the old RSL fighting through the darkness of this foul season. But those games, such as our 2-0 defeat of Seattle Sounders on August 22, only make the rest of it that much more painful to bear. Those fleeting glimmers of our older, truer colors, only remind us of what we have lost, and further bleakens our view of the future.



There is no reason to believe that we can’t get back everything we have lost. Although new rules supporting bigger and bigger spending among the haves of MLS has many prognosticators spelling doom and gloom for the have-nots, I don’t believe the sport has fundamentally changed. There is still room for hard work, and dedication, and a Team-Is-The-Star philosophy. I believe in this. It is why I became a fan of this team. It is just harder, and harder to believe that the current management is capable of taking us in that direction. It doesn’t take a soccer genius to see that what we are doing, tactically and strategically, is not working. And it will not start working next week, or next year, or ever. The sooner the front office acknowledges this failure, and begins to change it, the sooner we can get back to the RSL Soccer we are all dying to support.



Res Ipsa Loquitur