New Update...

Well, I'm still alive so that's good right?

I know this is late coming, but I'm still excited about the Columbus Crew. What an amazing year they've had. And after 13 years, it was due! But really, you can't argue with the their success this year. They had an amazingly offensive team, which is something I didn't think I'd see when Sigi first started changing the team in 2006. But I admit it, I was mistaken. That's not to say we didn't have a strong defense though. With the Defender of the Year, Chad Marshall on the team, surrounded by the captain, and US International vetern, Frankie Hejduk and Padula, the defense was definitely one of the toughest in the league. At the start of the year, though I did anticipate an appearance to the playoffs this year, I did not anticipate the success and the dominance that the team would have. The team won the Supporters' Shield for the second time (and in much more dominating fashion that the previous Supporters' Shield that the team won in 2004), and also had the league Defender of the Year, Chad Marshall, coach of the year, Sigi Schmid and MVP of the season and the playoffs, Guillermo Barros Schelotto.

Now let's hope we can keep the team together next year.. The team has already lost Brad Evans to the Seattle Sounders in the expansion draft, and rumor is that Sigi Schmid will soon be leaving to coach the Sounders. My biggest Christmas wish is that we keep Schelotto though. I think that as long as we keep him, Robbie (please don't go to Europe yet!), the goal keeper Hesmer and Frankie, we will be good to win it again next year!

I watched the game at Fado's. There were a number of MLS parties that I was invited to, but I decided to go to a pro-soccer pub with some friends. It was awesome. I arrived 1/2 hour early, and could not get inside at all. It was THAT packed! Great news for Crew soccer... We actually took the last seat outside, and let me tell you, it was pretty chilly out there. Fox news stopped by at the end of the game and took a lot of footage, but only like 2 seconds were actually shown on the news. it was fun though. Hopefully next year, when we win it all, I can actually fly out to wherever it is going to be held.

The reason for this post (Finally) is that I was actually at the store today and saw a car that still had its Crew flag on the car, so I was inspired. I even took a picture of it, so enjoy.

Crew Win

It was such a busy weekend.. I just finished watching both the Euro 2008 and the Columbus Crew - Coloroda Rapids games.

The Crew won their 8th game of the year and have the best 2nd record in the league still. It is amazing (that they are doing so well; not the game especially ). But I did think that the game was good overall. Robbie Rodgers was his usual outstanding self. He plays better each week. Ekpo had a great game as he had that beautiful pass to Moreno and the game winner. I thought it was a good substitution when Sigi put in Lenhart toward the end of the game. He had some great energy; the Crew looked pretty tired in the last 10 minutes and barely held off the Rapids. I really don't like Danny O in the back line. The defense left too many people open tonight, and we probably got lucky a couple of times.

I didn't see a problem with the PK called. It was a little weak, but clearly Moreno's leg was kicked out from under him and he had the potential to still get to the ball, so I don't agree with the announcers that were saying it was not a PK.

But I'm happy with the win. I have missed the last couple of games due to a busy summer and some vacationing, but I will be at the game this Saturday as the Crew play Chicago.

PK in Columbus Crew - NE game

As you can clearly see, Kheli Dube (top right, in blue) crossed the
line before the actual PK was taken, which explains how he got ahead
of Ezra (that, and the fact that Ezra is old and slow). The goal
really should not have been allowed! Oh well, it's a long season.

Columbus Crew lose first home game

I went out to the game last Saturday and had an awesome time. It was our biggest crowd of the season and the Supports groups were very loud and energetic (a little too energetic though as some people sitting in the Supporters' section were throwing beer and supposedly other items at the opposing team during corner kicks). I'm currently re-watching the game on tv though, as you can't see much of the finer details of the game from the corner.

Sadly, the Crew lost in the 87th minute (i believe). There was a very ticky-tack foul called against Ezra in the box. i've seen the replay of that game and I'm not sure if it was really deserving of a PK. I've seen worse PK's called though, as I'm sure most people have, so I'm not really that upset about it. I'm more upset with the defense for not rushing in after the goalie (Hesmer) stopped the shot (BTW, I believe it is Hesmer's 3rd stopped PK of the year; great stat (out of 4 PK's he's faced). I've heard that the New England player that scored the rebound came in too early, but I haven't seen video that shows that side of the field when the ball was kicked, so I really can't comment on it. Overall, I thought we had many great chances and some superb movement of the ball at times. I'm still really excited about this season, and hope that we can can start to put some balls back into the net.

[Edited: note - I did just see the PK again, and it does look like the NE player did get into the box before the PK was taken, so that really should not have counted! Argh]



As a group though, we really need to stop people that are about to throw crap on the field (streamers are cool, and honestly, i don't mind the smoke bombs, as long as they aren't on the playing field, or aimed at a player). But batteries, beer, etc reminds me of Sam Wyche's famous speech to Cincinnati, when he said "You Don't Live In Cleveland; you live in Cincinnati" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTpuCIT9rZg).

But I hope that everyone that went there had a great time, and I'll see you all there for some more game...

First MLS Road Trip

Yep, I'm doing a road trip this weekend to watch the Columbus Crew play Toronto FC. I can't wait for this game. Toronto brought 2,500 fans down to Columbus Crew Stadium opening weekend and I really wish I could say we were bringing 2,500 up there, but hopefully we'll have 50 - 70 people there. There was suppose to be a bus trip up there, but due to lack of communications, lack of funds or whatever the bus trip was cancelled. This really sucks as it would look much better if we could fill all of the 100 tickets that Toronto reserved for the Crew fans. But it'll be fun anyways, and hopefully we'll extend our winning streak. We are on a 5 game win streak (currently first in the league). Toronto is on a 4 game non-beaten streak though and is a much different team than when we beat them 2 - 0 in the first week. But I trust in Robbie Rodgers, Moreno and Schelleto to bring home a victory. I think we'll win by 2. :-)

Columbus Crew are now 4 -1 and in 1st!

The Crew have added onto their win total by beating Houston. It was a great game. Our defense still had some scary moments, but Moreno continued his amazing goal tally and Schelotto looked great as usual. One of my newest favorite players is Robbie Rogers. He's quick and has some very good ideas when he has the ball at his feet. Let's hope the winning continues!

Go Crew!

Columbus Crew are at the top of the league!

True, it is very early in the season, but right now, The Columbus Crew are 3 - 1 and in first place. When is the last time they've started out so well? (if you know, tell me, I really don't know)...

The game against DC last Thursday was great. Plus, it was on ESPN2 HD, so the victory looked even better. :-) We looked great. Moreno really fought hard, Frankie had one of his best days as a Crew (which is saying a lot), Schelotto had some beautiful passes (as well as a couple stray set pieces). I loved to see Robbie Rodgers when he had the ball at his feet, but he looked a bit lazy a lot of the times (rumor has it he had a cold, so I'll try to not be too harsh, but he did look like he didn't really want to run much). I'll be at the next home game on the 26th, against the defending champs, Houston Dynamo. Interesting, Houston is only team in the league that hasn't won a game yet. They have 1 loss and 3 ties. Let's hope their first win doesn't come next weekend!

Columbus Crew versus Chivas

I was at the Columbus Crew game tonight (3rd game of the season). It was a great game. We won 4 - 3. I can't really complain about a win, and I don't know of the last time we scored 4 goals in a game, but we had a 3 - 1 lead for about 30 seconds and then Chivas scored one to make it 3 -2, with possibly 15 minutes left (i could be wrong). And then then shot a long distance rocket that evened the score. So it was good that we were able to score the 4th goal for the win. For the last 8 minutes, we had a 2 man advantage, as one of Chivas' player received his 2nd yellow and was ejected, and shortly after, another Chivas player received a straight red card for taking down Schelotto out. But Chivas still had some opportunities after that, notably a decent corner kick. So it was a lot of fun, the crowd was amazing and we pulled off a victory..

Columbus Crew lose 2nd game..

I've been too depressed to write about it.. seriously... The Columbus Crew played the NY Red Bulls and were down 2 - 0 after the 9th minute. I guess the only thing good that can be said is that New York didn't score any more after that. I wasn't really impressed with our effort. The 2nd half looked much better, but the Crew still need a scorer. Guillermo Schelotto was still pretty amazing, I thought, although he didn't finish the game, and I'm not sure why. I know a few posters on bigsoccer.com have said he isn't in match fitness yet, but I don't know if I really buy it. Our defense was not good for most of the game. Danny O'Rourke isn't a good defender. I believe this is the first year that he has been moved from a midfielder to a central defender, and I have to wonder why he was moved. I think we need a natural defender who has been playing center back for a long time. Also notable, the Columbus Crew goalkeeper, Will Hesmer, stopped his 2nd penalty kick in 2 games... Those are great stats for him, but it is not a good sign that we've given up 2 PK's in 2 games. Actually.. Danny O'Rourke has given up both PK's. Argh...

But I'll be at the game this Saturday, at 7:30. The Crew play Chivas USA (1 - 0 - 1) so hopefully I'll see you there!

Columbus Crew are 1 - 0!

I went to the home opener for the Columbus Crew game on Saturday against Toronto FC. It was a great home opener. Toronto brought down 2,500 fans in buses for the game. It was a great atmosphere. Lots of cheering and singing by the great fans from Toronto, but The Crew had the better play. They scored one goal in the first half, stopped a penalty kick toward the end of the first, and scored another nice goal in the 2nd half. Most of the Toronto fans were nice, except when they threw beer and other objects from the top section after the final whistle.

The Crew removed some seats this year from behind the North side of the stadium and put in a stage. I had heard about it, but seeing it was another thing. I really wasn't a fan of it. I can't believe they actually took out seating from what was the loudest section in the stadium (where the Supporters sat and cheered loudly) to put up a stage... Saving Jane played after the game and they were really good, but I just found it odd that we weren't even aloud in front of the stage. There was a small section between the field and the stage where you could go to actually see the band.. IF you had a wristband given by the band. And I kinda felt a little bad for the band, as there really weren't too many people that stayed for the concert, and it was a nice day and everything. I personally think The Crew could've done better advertising before the game. I didn't really hear too much about Opening Day on any of the radio stations, and I don't get a newspaper so I can't speak for or against newspaper advertisements, but I don't know.. I didn't hear too much about the soccer except for the fact that I follow news concerning them online. But I think there definitely should've been more of a push to get fans into the stands, as well as to tell people about the post-game concert.

I'm getting excited about this seson, but of course, it was only Toronto, who finished dead last in the season last year and didn't make too many off-season changes. I'm thinking of possibly joining a Supporter's group this year (see http://www.crewunion.com), but we'll see.