Tales from the Pitch: Fanatical

While everyone is hyped about the emergence of ice hockey on Mars, I wanted to inform our readers of what has been going on during the off-season of the Mars Aero Football League. Of course, there has been some trading of players, and some new acquisitions, but I’m more fascinated by the emergence of local fan organizations throughout the settlements.

Every team has its fans, but what we saw in its infancy last season was the coming together of like minds who wished to support their team with incredible passion and overwhelming zeal. These ad-hoc groups met infrequently last season, but still enough to recognize a shared vision and during the past few months we’ve seen a solidification of club rules and the creation of local fan support groups. Wishing to know more, I decided to visit the supporters of my team, The San Olympus Titans.

Calling themselves the Cronus’s Crew, these superfans make sure that every game they are present and loudly supporting their team. The local establishment in Sans Olympus broadcasts every game and fills up with the Crew whenever they can get a ticket to one of the games. I head there to see for myself and raucous debate between fans fills the room. If I didn’t know better, I would have never suspected that MAFL was off season.

I’m greeted by three men and two women who in turn introduce me to Amzi Jones, the current President of Cronus’s Crew. They are quite the sight. Their bodies and faces are painted with Titans purple. On their heads sit a comically oversized laurel wreath in Titans gold. I was later told that they normally only dress in that fashion for a game but had wanted to give me a real feel of what the Crew can do.

Amzi tells me that they started with five or six of them meeting up to watch a game, but has quickly grown into a little under fifty card-carrying members. Whenever they attend a game, they make sure that they are the loudest, rowdiest group and that their team can hear every cheer through the spectator bus speaker systems.

It doesn’t take long for the heartache of last year’s final to come up in conversation. There are a few murmurs of how we were robbed, but the reality is that the Titans were simply too hurt, and bad luck ended an amazing inaugural season. Wanting to lighten the mood, I mention that we’ll get them this year to which the group cheered loudly and told me I was welcome back any time.

Cronus’s Crew is joined by the Golden Dragons in Huacheng, the Novyimir Dynamaniacs, and the Cometeers in Marineris. I expect more fan clubs will be popping up soon. History is filled with disturbing tales of football hooliganism, but, while Cronus’s Crew aren’t teetotallers, I didn’t get the sense that these were people out looking for a fight or would pose any concern to Mars’s security forces. These are just a bunch of fans who love their teams and who want to show it in the craziest, loudest way possible.

Tales From the Pitch: Hockey Edition

Aries 2, 2078m m249

Ice, Ice, Babies.

I know, I know, there’s no pitch in hockey. Well it’s my column and I’ll keep the name that has garnered me legions of adoring fans. I also get to start off this column by relaying huge news: football isn’t the only sport on Mars anymore. Ice hockey is here.

When we first heard rumours of a football league on Mars, it sounded like a crazy flight of fancy, but it turned out to be the most exciting sporting event on two planets. So I had wanted to keep an open mind when I first heard about a group of engineers and miners had come up with the idea of bringing ice hockey to the Red Planet. But I did keep hearing rumours that no one knew how to skate, which, historians tell me, is a key component of playing ice hockey.

I got a chance to check out out my first game this weekend, and the rumours are exaggerated. But not by much. There wasn’t much grace or style to the game. It was sloppy, it was at times brutal, and once it was borderline embarrassing. But don’t judge the sport just yet.

The matches are held on a surface covered in ice, which continues up a curved area surrounding the rink. The theory is that a fast-paced game would allow for players to skate across the ice and up the sides to weave around their opponents, but mostly I just saw a lot of athletes crashing into each other. There were moments where it was like watching toddlers play.

Now the setup is impressive. Atmosphere is pumped into the enclosed arena, so no EV suits are required for players and spectators enjoy a more intimate experience compared with viewing from Spectator Transports. 

The players have different equipment depending on their positions and though the razor sharp blades seem precarious, they are programmed with a safety feature that causes them to retract before impact. It will allow players to keep all of their fingers and toes while on the ice.

The exhibition games are to test the viability of the sport, the workability of the rules, and the interest level of the fans.

I mention all of this because I think this sport needs to be given a chance. We’ve been spoiled by the success of MAFL and now we are expecting any other sport that comes our way to operate at the same level but within a fraction of the time. That isn’t fair to the hardworking men and women that are trying to create something new. MAFL had its rougher moments as well, but we tend to forget those occurrences now that the league is a huge success. Martian Ice Hockey has a lot of kinks to work out, but I saw a diamond in the rough out there today. All the components are there for an amazing sporting experience. We just need to give them a chance.