Is it akin to the Rolling Stones allowing ‘Start Me Up’ to be used by Microsoft for a Windows rollout? That is to say, have some of the most spirited and freethinking supporters stooped to a sell-out?

That’s a question raised by the peers of Portland’s Timbers Army after they participated in some shtick on IFC’s Portlandia. This Friday’s show on IFC will feature a segment where the revolving characters played by stars Fred Amisen and Carrie Brownstein join the ranks of the TA.

Sounds like a hoot, and it seemed to be only a matter of time until this quirky comedy sketch show would deal with the Timbers’ most faithful following.

The spot should be fun and it’s heartening to know that at least 50 or so Timbers Army members were game for participating because that’s not always the case.

Supporters groups have done a great deal to add color, sound and atmosphere to MLS matches. They have the ability to give games much of the same look and feel of soccer’s longstanding hotbeds, like Europe and South America.  However, they can also be serious-minded.

Supporters groups, those in MLS included, have a reputation for being independent, non-conformist, non-commercial to the core.  Recently, when seeking to record some promotional audio, ESPN asked at least one group and received a chilly response.

Initially the TA members may have struggled with the notion of staging a matchday-like scene, but ultimately they recognized this was for a greater good, and rightly so. The game is still growing and supporters clubs are still establishing themselves.

If a comedy program wants to have some fun with the pretense of newbies awkwardly infiltrating their ranks, so be it.

So, by heeding the casting call during the taping last August, by showing up in full voice and full gear and giving the sketch some degree of authenticity, did the Timbers Army violate any Greater Supporters Club oath? Naw, they were just having fun. 

by Frank MacDonald

Washington State Youth Soccer Association has been keen on using custom soccer scarves as a replacement for medals for the past few years. They have recognized the scarf as an important part of soccer culture, and realize that there is an additional branding opportunity for their organization by customizing the scarves with their association and tournament logos.

Below is a recap from the most recent tournament where the scarves were presented to the finalists and champions.....

WSYSA Founders Cup Recap

 Some tight competition and high quality soccer led to quite the eventful tournament at Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila, WA.

The Founders Cup, formerly the Commissioners Cup, was renamed in 2011 in honor of those who built the organization to what it is today. The perpetual trophy, the Karl Grosch Trophy, is also a namesake for a founder and the man who started the girls’ youth soccer league in 1974. His trophy is awarded to the Girls Under-14 Champions, along with a custom Ruffneck Founders Cup Champion scarf.

The first four games in the tournament went into overtime, with three of those games going all the way to penalties. That makes a statement about how well the teams were matched and paired in the tournament, an important element often over-looked. Fans and families were out in full force, sipping hot drinks to keep their cheering voices from tightening up, making for an all-in-all incredible atmosphere.

by Coyle Briggs

If you hang around sports long enough, you’re bound to cross paths with a collector.

Just in our office we have folks who collect Chelsea kits, University of Washington memorabilia and player jerseys of various sports. Never mind the non-sports related stuff they seek to acquire.

I confess: I’m a collector as well. The soccer stuff alone is almost enough to fill an attic. It began with game programs in my youth. However the accumulated tonnage proved to be an issue, so when Seattle pro soccer went on hiatus in the early Nineties it was a mixed blessing.

I’m not sure when worldwide pin collecting became all the rage, but I first encountered it firsthand at the 1994 World Cup. A friend who served on the host committee gave me a handful of pins. No sooner did I wear a BBC Sport pin badge and I began fielding trade offers in the media compound.

By the time I left Pasadena I probably had two dozen pins. That sum has since swelled. Thankfully, pins are relatively small and my entire collection can fit in the space of, say, 30 programs.

Of course I would be remiss if I didn’t mention collectors of soccer scarves. Online I found an American collector [http://kennysfootballscarves.yolasite.com/&91; with more than 600, along with an impressive page dedicated to Ruffneck Scarves, and a Dutch fan whose trove exceeds a thousand scarves. [http://www.footballscarves.nl/welcome.php&91;

A photo of his collection (which appears to be housed in an attic, no less) could easily be confused for a snapshot of the Ruffneck inventory. More impressive is the fact that this individual, Utrecht supporter Rob Vonk, explains his addiction and his methodology. With regard to ‘Why scarves?’ he rightly cites the accessory’s roots in soccer history.

I would add that the best fringe benefit to collecting is the stories and people associated with each piece. Those World Cup pins sparked conversations with fans and journalists from all over the world, and Vonk has friends and acquaintances who bring him scarves from wherever they go. As the saying goes, you can never have enough friends.   

I will leave you with one of my favorite comedic quotes. Says Steven Wright, “I have the world’s largest seashell collection. You may have seen it; I keep it spread out on beaches all over the world.”

by Frank MacDonald

Welcome Aboard – The Naval Academy

It’s always nice to welcome a new partner to Ruffneck Scarves but this one is special because it is one of our armed services.

Ruffneck Scarves is now licensed to design and sell scarves for the United States Naval Academy.

The USNA has a long and proud history. As the second oldest of our service academies officers are educated here before being commissioned primarily in to the Navy and Marines. The Academy has been in existence since 1845 and has 4400 underclassmen known as “Midshipmen”. Their tuition is funded by our government in exchange for an active service duty obligation upon graduation.

I think we will be able to design some fantastic scarves that USNA students and alumni can raise with pride.

by Erin O'Brien

Not often do we see custom scarves and robotics going hand-in-hand, but Benson Polytechnic High School’s Robotics Team wears their scarf and colors proudly! A recent addition to the Ruffneck Family, Benson Tech, competes through the FIRST program, a national organization promoting science/technology in the nation’s youth. One of the school’s three teams will be attending the State Championships on February 25^th and winners will attend the International event in St. Louis, MO.

The club was formed in 2006, under the direction of John Delaney, Jeff & Elizabeth McBride, and Tara Bowen-Biggs. Hardware is just as important in robotics as it is in soccer, and Benson Tech has one of the most highly respected pieces, the Inspire Award. This award is given to the team with the most professionally built, innovative and well documented robot. Their success has brought interest from all over the school, from health care students to football players and cheerleaders. Ruffneck is proud to be involved with such a "tight-knit" community.

Scarves Up! Tech Pride!

by Coyle Briggs

Time to Join the Crowd

In making the recent move to Ruffneck Scarves I find myself once again returning to my roots. This marks my first week at the Soccer Scarf Capital of the World, headquartered in Seattle’s industrial neighborhood known as SODO. 

Geographically, I am back working in the downtown area for the first time since my career began with the original Sounders. Their offices were a few floors above F.X. McRory’s and across the street from our hulking home venue, the Kingdome.

Figuratively, I find myself in a place I haven’t experienced since boyhood. My insatiable teenage appetite for soccer drove me 80 miles up the freeway on a fairly regular basis, to see the likes of Micky Cave, Mike England, Steve Buttle and the lads work wonders under the Dome.

For my entire professional life I have worked in sports, rarely paying to see a game but paying a certain emotional price by keeping my partisan feelings under wraps for the sake of professionalism. See, there’s no cheering in the press box, and besides, there’s a job to do.

Now I am a fan once again, free to scream and shout, free to join the throng that throws such strong support behind the Sounders. I’m also entitled to sulk if the situation warrants, yet I’m an optimist who foresees mostly sunny days and celebrations in our collective future.

I’m excited. On match days I will be trading in my suit for a scarf, swapping my credential for a ticket and lending my voice to an ever-growing chorus. It feels good to be home.

by Frank MacDonald

Ruffneck Scarves has 3 new Philadelphia Union scarves in production and will soon be shipping to Philadelphia in time for the 2012 season. The new Doop scarf now features a checkered background, along with a new extended length (72") scarf with sewn in Union crest tag and the Secondary kit scarf to match the new kit the Union players will be wearing this season.

Look for these new scarves to be available at stadium concessions and online at the Union online shop

by Jeff McIntyre

US Youth Soccer - Volunteer Dependent

In a recent survey done by Korrio, a sports communication developer, it was found that Youth Soccer in the United States is increasing in size, quality and involvement every year. Amongst its findings were encouraging numbers from the Leadership perspective. 42% claimed that sportsmanship had improved over the past five years, with only 2% claiming its worse. A positive sign when, lately, the professionals have not been setting the best example on and off the field.

Also, 80% say parent involvement has increased over that same time, with 75% being "Committed to Highly Committed". More importantly, parental behavior on the sidelines has also drastically improved with two-thirds of respondents reporting "Good to Excellent behavior". Unfortunately, over 50% of those who were surveyed still had at least one minor incident with a parent.

It is because of this growth in the Youth Soccer Movement organizations are putting heavy loads on their volunteers, 37% of which were putting in 31-60 hours a week in administrative work. Due to this intense work-load, volunteer turnover is a major issue for these organizations, as less than half stay longer than 1-3 years. Furthermore, training and recruitment are difficult when there is no platform on which to communicate and announce updates and information. In the end, the survey shows that 90% of US Youth Soccer Organizations are volunteer dependent. Largely, this is because of the growth and success that these volunteers have fostered in their free time, but they also pay the price. Be sure to thank your local volunteers for all they've done for Youth Soccer, and all Youth Soccer has done for our youth!

by Coyle Briggs

Welcome aboard!  

 We’d like to announce (officially) that we’ve gained a new intern! Meet Jose Cruz, he’s majoring in Business Marketing at Evergreen State College, Olympia WA. He’s an ideal fit to be an intern with us not only due to his major, but he also brings a long history of love and passion for soccer. Jose, has played soccer since the young age of 4. He played forward and right mid at River Ridge High School in Lacey, WA, sweeper, right mid and center at South Puget Sound College and right center back at Evergreen. Although he loves playing soccer, he’s recently picked up Rugby the past couple years, playing winger and full back for Bud Bay Buffalo’s. He started interning with us mid- January and the Ruffneck family is excited to have him with the projects he will be executing with us. Jose is working on putting together some video documentation of his months here as an intern. It will also be capturing a little of each of us here at the office, which should be humorous if anything. Currently he is helping us research sports administrators, coaches, and other sports related faculty of colleges and even some military to expand our circle. We’ve also given him the lovely task of modeling all of our scarves to spruce up our website a well as give you a real life view of what our scarves look like on and help up! So be on the lookout for those pictures in our Scarf Shop, coming to our website soon. I’ll spare Jose with NOT sharing the intern hazing he had to endure and just end this by saying with all sincerity, “It’s great to have ya!”  

 Cheers!!

Tina Cruz 

Since starting Ruffneck Scarves in 2007 there is one area that we have consistently received positive feedback. That is in the area of corporate promotions.

Prior to my life at Ruffneck I spent years in the corporate environment. Companies of all sizes are constantly on the lookout for customer gifts, items to motivate employees, trade show gifts, and the list goes on. Larger companies like Google, Microsoft and Boeing have large employee stores full of logo items.

Custom scarves fill a nice void in a world full of t-shirts, back packs and coffee mugs. Here are some examples:

• Swedish Medical opened a few new campuses in the Seattle area last year. During the grand openings key personnel were given a custom Swedish scarf that had a consistent design, but also the name of the campus location as a subtle differentiator.
• Sloan Valve has ordered from us twice. Company branded scarves were used for employees, and also for key attendees at trade shows.
• Raleigh America came up with a great scarf design that they distributed at an event. Some of their custom scarves were given out to participants and the remainder were offered for sale.

We even did a custom scarf order for a power association. Shocking, I know.

At Microsoft during company meetings (when I worked there) we had good natured competition between product groups. It would be fun for the XBOX group to all raise scarves when they are mentioned and drown out all that noise from the Office group.

If this is something that sounds interesting to you for your company send me an email. We will get some designs together for you quickly and at no obligation.

by Erin O'Brien