Special Feature:
The Drumsticks of The Pod
by Loretta Pirozzi
From the editor: A special place is reserved here for the history of drumsticks. If you have to ask why you have never heard the drum(s) noise coming from the Pod at a Sounders match. Below Drum "Major" Loretta Pirozzi describes the sticks in the picture. They have quite a history behind them...
From left to right
(1) Our earliest pod drumstick, this one was wrenched out of my hand at a
Vancouver match by the Looney Bird, Vancouver's mascot. He returned it to me
after he wrote, "Vancouver 86ers are #1." We felt that they actually
weren't #1 so we simply appended the prepositional phase, "in Canada." Its
origin was a towel rack in my bathroom. It has since been retired to that
same towel rack with its message intact.
(2) This stick came with the, now missing, drum that the Sounders provided
to us in 97 (I think). It had many mishaps before it had to be retired. It
appears in the picture of the Sam's Army/Pod photo taken in Denver. It
originally had a nice padded leather end on it, but constant beating broke
through the covering exposing bare wood that was beginning to damage the
drum. Using the handyman's best friend we repaired it and continued its
productive life for another year with its sturdy duct tape covering. But
alas we took it to Vancouver and once again disaster struck. A Vancouver
fan, enraged by the amount of noise emanating from our staunch group of 4
people which was apparently drowning out the 4000 Vancouver fans and the
fact that they were losing to us, chose to confiscate the stick, break it in
half and toss it over the back of the bleachers. My complaint to security
resulted in them asking me to come outside and discuss the situation. "No
way," I said, "I came to watch a soccer game and I intent to do so. After
the game I will press assault charges." We compromised by having the
offender ejected from the game.
The break was ragged but repairable. I fitted its ragged edges together,
glued it and bound it in some sturdy string - a two-inch wrap I learned from
my marlinspike days. But the weakness eventually resulted in another break
that was not repairable. This break was from natural causes, but the stick
was permanently retired. A new stick was pressed into action, one I had
brought home from Guatemala. It is now in some unknown location with the
missing drum.
(3) This drumstick was purchased at Lark in the Morning in Pike Place
Market. It was a cool two-sided stick that Roberto successfully used for
quite a while. Eventually our overzealous activity broke it in two and
yet-another stick was retired.
(4) Having destroyed so many sticks we were reduced to using whatever was
available. This wooden spoon served us well, however briefly. After it was
split it became a hazard to the drums but we used it anyway for a while. It
still makes cameo appearances now and again.
