During the broadcast last week of the U.S.-Mexico World Cup qualifier in Columbus, ESPN’s cameras panned the crowd, giving a few moments of air time to a banner proudly displayed by a group of fans calling themselves the SBI Mafia. Huh Is that some sort of rival to Sam’s Army, the U.S. Soccer supporters group Or is the men’s national team attracting a new sort of criminal element

Apparently, that’s not the case at all. The SBI Mafia is an unofficial collection of dedicated on the site regularly and visit SBI before most, if not all other soccer sites, then you’re a member of the SBI Mafia.

When was the first you heard of it

The name grew legs once readers started referring to themselves as Mafia members. From there it snowballed.

Is there a code

There are no official memberships or rituals, no titles although in the future I may start assigning members positions.

You make your living covering soccer, a job most fans would envy. What don’t folks know about the gig that would surprise them

Being a fan of a team isn’t necessarily a good thing for someone wanting to be a journalist covering a sport they love. That’s not just a soccer thing, but a sports thing. You would be surprised how many journalists started out being fans of teams they covered, only to eventually become jaded once they work closely covering a team. Ideally, you are not too die-hard a fan so that you can be impartial about the teams you cover and offer a clear view of what you cover.

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