All Time Crew XI

With the return of Brian McBride to MLS, many Crew fans have been discussing how it effects his legacy. Ive made my position clear that I dont think it affects his legacy at all and he is still the best player we have ever had. One poster on BigSoccer went so far as to say Brian McBride would not be on the his All-Time Starting XI for Columbus. This got me thinking: What would my All-Time Columbus Crew Starting XI be? When compiling my Roster, I wanted to include guys that played very well in Columbus and were important parts of the team for long periods of time. I want to emphasize players who were integral parts of the club and strong contributors. Since I was 7 years old when MLS and The Crew started up, my recollection of some of the earlier players is a little fuzzy compared some more seasoned Crew fans. Here is my list.

Goalkeeper: John Busch

I was between Friedel and Busch on this, but Busch gets the nod for playing for Columbus longer than Friedel

Defenders:

Frankie Hejduk, Thomas Dooley, Chad Marshall

All of these guys were US internationals. Marshall might be a point of contention but I feel that he is the most solid defender we have had and would be a much bigger name if it wasnt for all the concussions

Midfielders:

Robert Warzycha. Brian Maisonneuve, Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Kyle Martino

The first 3 are obvious. Martino might have fallen off, but he was MLS rookie of the year and did have a couple really strong seasons in Columbus

Forwards:

Brian McBride, Stern John, Jeff Cunningham

This was the easiest to pick. McBride and Cunningham are the all time leading scorers, and Stern John was a goal machine when playing for the Crew.

What do you think of this lineup? Who do you think should or shouldnt be on the list?

McBride to Chicago: How should we react?

At Thursday night's MLS All Star game, commissioner Don Garber said that a deal between Toronto FC and Chicago Fire had been agreed to sending former Crew Forward Brian McBride to Chicago to finish his MLS career. While people are happy that McBride is returning to the league, many folks have serious mixed feelings about McBride returning with Chicago. On Bigsoccer, various ideas have been discussed about crowd actions when McBride returns to The CCS. One poster suggested "McJudas" for a sign, and another opined that the Nordecke should turn its back in defiance to Brian McBride. 

I for one feel this is the completely wrong thing to do. During his time with Columbus, Brian McBride WAS the Columbus Crew. Brian McBride was and still is the only Crew player that gained wide recognition in Columbus not just from soccer fans, but all sports fans in general. In his 8 years with the club, McBride scored 62 goals which is the club record. Brian McBride was also the first ever draft pick in the MLS draft. In 2005 he was named to the MLS All Time Best XI. While McBride did leave Columbus, he left to fulfill a dream of playing in the English Premier League and left the club on good terms. Not once did McBride disparage the organization, cause trouble in the locker room, or voice displeasure of playing in a smaller market like Columbus. Brian McBride embodied the "Hardest Working Team", bringing his lunch pail to work every day and litterally leaving his blood on the field. Brian McBride is the greatest forward the US has ever produced, and the prime of his career was spent in Columbus. Whenever McBride returns, he should get a standing ovation for the service he gave the club in the formative years of the team. While he may now be playing for a rival club, that does not take away the great things he did for Columbus and all the sweat and hard work he gave to the club. 

If you as a Crew fan want to be upset at somebody, be upset at the front office, who came close to signing McBride last season to a new deal. HSG as usual was too cheap to close out the deal, so now we have to watch our greatest player of all time play on another team in MLS. When McBride returns to Columbus, it will be a sad day. But dont forget that we had the chance to resign him and decided to not pull the trigger and pay the extra money that he deserved. If the front office was serious about bringing Brian McBride back, they would have got the deal done. Instead, they did nothing and we now get to watch McBride play for Chicago. Hopefully when watching McBride, fans will remember the time he gave us and the fact that we were too cheap to bring him back.

New Single Table Feature

I have added a MLS standings feature to the site. The standings are presented in a single table, which is more useful because many things (Superliga, Champions League) are determined by the standings of the team in the overall standings, not just the Eastern or Western Standings. This shows a more accurate picture of how teams are fairing in their season instead of teams claiming to be "First Place" but actually have the 3rd best record (RSL). The table can be found at the top right of the page. If you still want to know how teams are doing in relation to the conference, in parentheses are E or W and the corresponding place in the conference standings. 

TFC gets Bounced from Champions League!

TFC tied Montreal Impact 1-1 at BMO field tonight, eliminating them from the CONCACAF Champions League. In two games at BMO, Toronto got 1 out of a possible 6 points, also losing at home to Vancouver. I guess this competition was not prestigious enough for Toronto, since they invented MLS and CONCACAF. They are saving energy for booing the MLS in the upcoming All Star game since MLS has the gall to "force" Toronto to host this event. Have fun cheering with West Ham fans. You guys deserve each other.

For all of the noise TFC talks, they dont back a whole lot up. Congratulations to Montreal for exposing this fraud of a Europoser club in the so called "Toughest place to play" in MLS!

Nordecke video Part 2

Here is the Nordecke doing another cheer during the West Ham game. This one is in Spanish, so if anyone knows what it roughly translates to in English it would be greatly appreciated. This cheer and "Yo se la voz...." are quickly catching on in the Nordecke for sure.

MASSIVE vs West Ham Pictures 7/20/08

These are my pictures collected from the Nordecke against West Ham United on Sunday. I have a fairly cheap Digital Camera so the pictures arent the highest resolution, but I did what I can. Overall there was pretty strong crowd of around 7000-9000 for a meaningless friendly where we started all of our reserves. 

DEFEND COLUMBUS

A wise man once said:

"We are the masters of disaster. We are the Terror Lords of MLS. We are the #1 Hooligans. We are the "Novios de las Vacas". The NLV will defend our house against all comers. We will sell you used office furniture against your will. You will learn to fear the yellow and black as you have learned to fear the greasy ringlets of Frankie Hejduk."

I vote we change "Americas Hardest Working Team" to that :)

What happened in Columbus would happen anywhere else where the fans are passionate about their team and the visitors are trying to stir up trouble. I would expect no less of DC or Toronto. We protected our house just like anyone else would. There is no shame for Columbus in this act.

WE LOVE YOU WE LOVE YOU WE LOVE YOU

CAUSE WE SUPPORT COLUMBUS COLUMBUS COLUMBUS!

Rogers Selected to US Olympic Team; McBride selected as Overage Player

Columbus midfielder Robbie Rogers was selected to represent the United States at the upcoming Beijing Olympics. Rogers hopes to parlay his strong league form into a successful Olympic experience. Former Columbus Hitman/Legend/Superhero Brian McBride was also named to the roster as an Overage Player. I am extremely happy to see McBride on the roster for one last hurrah which will hopefully end on the podium in Athens. McBride leads the roster with 95 caps and 30 goals, which ranks only behind Landon Donovan and Eric Wynalda on the all-time list for the US. He also leads the US in alltime cuts and abrasions to the face. The Olympic roster is strong on MLS talent in the ranks. The Roster is as follows:

Goalkeepers:

Brad Guzan (Chivas USA/Aston Villa)

Chris Seitz (Real Salt Lake)

Defenders:

 Patrick Ianni (Houston Dynamo)

Michael Orozco (San Luis-Mexico)

Michael Parkhurst (New England)

Nathan Sturgis (Real Salt Lake)

Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC)

Midfielders:

Freddy Adu (Benfica-Portugal)

Michael Bradley (Heerenveen-Holland)

Maurice Edu (Toronto FC)

Benny Feilhaber (Derby County-England)

Stuart Holden (Houston Dynamo)

Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA)

Danny Szetela (Brescia)

Forwards:

ROBBIE ROGERS (COLUMBUS)

BRIAN MCBRIDE (FREE AGENT)

Charlie Davies (Hammarby IF-Sweden)

Jozy Altidore (Villareal-Spain)

Overall 10 of the 18 players are in Major League Soccer and all but Feilhaber, Davies, and Orozco are former MLS players. McBride is joined by Michael Parkhurst of New England and Brad Guzan of Aston Villa as the overage players on the US roster.

The lineup I would like to see:

Altidore McBride

Adu

Rogers Kljestan

Bradley

Ianni Parkhurst Orozco Wynne

Guzan

From my perspective, this line up gives the US the best options going forward. Overall this looks like a very strong lineup for the US and hopefully can get on the medal podium once the competition starts. The US will start with Japan August 7, followed by The Netherlands on August 10, and ending with Nigeria on August 13.

Supporters Summit Brings Groups Together

After tonight's Supporters Summit at The CCS, a new optimism for the Nordecke is spreading throughout the three main Crew supporters' groups. Supporters from Crew Supporters Union, Hudson Street Hooligans were present in the Huntington Club to listen to coach Sigi Schmid, Chris Keeney, Assistant Coach and Spanish Radio Broadcaster Eddie Carvacho, and assorted players including Frankie Hejduk, Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Danny O'Rourke, and Alejandro Moreno. The main message of all of the Crew representatives was to reiterate the importance of the Nordecke to the team morale and the overall Stadium atmosphere at The CCS. Alternating between English and Spanish, Crew Frontman Alejandro Moreno stressed the importance of unity in the Supporters Groups. Moreno wanted to stress that rather than worrying about which group you are a part of, it is more important to remember that you are all cheering for the same team and the same goals. To quote "Malibu's Most Wanted" character Gov. Bill Gluckman's campaign ad, 'Instead of worrying what sect your in, or what crew your rollin' with, why can't you just be brothers?"

Coach Sigi Schmid told stories of his youth attending games in the Bundesliga and how the supporters of the club form the backbone of the crowd and how important it is to have a vocal cheering section in the home ground. Coach Schmid also said that the current atmosphere in The CCS is by far the strongest and most supportive since he has been coming to games in Columbus as far back as 1999. Schmid wants the Supporter's Groups to know that the unity in the section created by the building of the infamous stage in the North End has made a huge difference in the intensity and the overall noise level of The CCS.

After listening to the various speakers praise diversity and unity for the Nordecke, members of the various Supporters Groups got to ask questions of the panel. Concerns of banner placement, safety of families in the Nordecke were discussed. Keeney told the group that additional uniformed security will be added to the Nordecke to make sure that everyone is able to enjoy a safe atmosphere at The CCS. On a slightly lighter question, a fan asked GBS how he keeps his sleeves rolled up. (Rubber Bands) It was also revealed that former Crewman Dante Washington will be joining the Hudson Street Hooligans at Ruby Tuesday's before thursdays game and will take part in the walk over to the stadium.

Questions were also asked about the overall Team Fitness. Sigi Schmid revealed that Eddie Gaven and Ezra Henderson are close to returning to action for The Crew. Gaven is unlikely to play until after West Ham, but by the way Sigi talked it sounded as if Ezra is closer to returning. There was no mention or question about the mystery Nigerian striker thought to be joining The Crew in the near future.

At the end of the proceedings, Chris Keeney rewarded the loyal fans who attended the summit with FREE TICKETS to the game on Thursday. Keeney also offered extra tickets to people as long as they promised the extra tickets would be used to add to the Nordecke. This generous gesture was definitely appreciated by the fans and allowed me to use my ticket money on a White Castle run :) Overall, the Supporters Summit helped CSU, HSH, and LTA come to a common ground. It doesn't matter what our different backgrounds and groups are, because we are all Columbus fans and that is what really matters. 

Columbus vs Real Salt Lake- Where Everything is Real except the field!

^^^^^^^^^

Maybe in 1975

Last night the Crew went down 2-0 to Real Salt Lake on goals by Javier Morales and Robbie Findley. The Crew looked really flat throughout the game and never really got going. I believe a large reason for the offensive struggles was the green concrete also known as astroturf that RSL plays on. Hopefully RSL gets their new stadium open as soon as possible so visiting teams no longer have to put up with that nonsense. The Crew seemed to be content with just packing it in and taking the loss from the tactical awareness we showed with our second half subs. In the second half we subbed out Junge (shouldnt have started), Schelotto (had the only legit chance of the game to that point) and Ekpo, who is always dangerous. Why didnt we sub out Junge for Lenhart or Jason Garey, instead of Miglioranzi? The move that really bothered me was when we subbed Ekpo for Duncan Oughton. Granted Ekpo wasn't having his best game, but Duncan Oughton has as much chance of scoring as Gilbert Godfried at the Playboy Mansion.We needed more offense, and Sigi decided to sub one of our attacking wingers for a defensive midfielder. Duncan Oughton works extremely hard, but he is not an offensive threat. 

Last night's game was honestly one of those "Worst Case Scenario" games for MLS on TV. From the empty stadium, to the football lines and the Astroturf, and the low level of play from both teams, this was a game I would rather put behind us as soon as possible. I think MLS should not allow National Broadcasts (ESPN Thursdays, FSC Saturday nights and so forth) in cities that have football lines and Astroturf for fields because it makes the league look like Garbage. The league would never do this because it would Eliminate the the Red Bulls from ever hosting games on TV, but I think it would do a lot for the aesthetic of the league to do away with National Broadcasts of Stadiums with Football lines and turf. Since these facilities tend to be Football Stadiums as well, even a decent crowd of 15k to 25 k looks like a complete joke in these stadiums. Teams such as Columbus, Chicago, Dallas, Colorado, LA/Chivas and Toronto should host the majority of the National broadcast games because they do not have Football lines on the field, and they have their own stadiums with a more intimate feel for MLS crowds. MLS is past having to look like a bush league pseudo-professional outfit on TV like we are the Major League Lacrosse or Pro Beach Soccer or some other nonsense.

On the bright side, the game was only one of 30 in a long season. The Crew can put all of this behind them with a win on the "Worldwide Leader" on Thursday. A few positives I can take from the match is Steven Lenhart looked very composed on the ball and did a good job holding up the ball for the offense to get into the attack. In the future I would like to see a Lineup such as this for the Crew:

Moreno Lenhart

GBS

Rogers Ekpo

Carroll

Danny O Marshall Iro Hejduk

I think another striker will add to the offense and Brad Evans no longer needs to be starting as an attacking midfielder until he can score a goal or at least look like a threat to score. Overall, this was a night to forget for Columbus, but Columbus still has the 2nd best record in the league and a National TV appearance on Thursday. Hopefully Columbus shows more offensive knowhow and ability in the confines of The CCS

Hejduk and Rogers to represent Columbus in MLS All-Star Game First XI; Toronto FC snubbed

Captain Frankie Hejduk and Midfielder Robbie Rogers were named to the MLS First XI today that will take on West Ham United in the annual All-Star game at BMO Field in Toronto on July 24. While the First XI will not necessarily be the starting lineup against West Ham, the honor of being recognized as one of the eleven best of the first half of the season is a worthwhile achievement. Most likely, Robbie Rogers will miss the game due to Olympic duties, but Hejduk most likely will be in the starting lineup for the game. The rest of the First XI are as follows:

Forwards: 

Kenny Cooper-FC Dallas

Landon Donovan-Los Angeles Galaxy

Midfielders:

Robbie Rogers-Columbus Crew

David Beckham-LA Galaxy

Sacha Kljestan-Chivas USA

Cuauhtemoc Blanco-Chicago Fire

Shalrie Joseph-New England Revolution

Defenders:

Frankie Hejduk-Columbus Crew

Michael Parkhurst-New England

Jimmy  Conrad-Kansas City Wizards

Goalkeeper:

Matt Reis-New England Revolution

I dont have many qualms with these selections, but I would have liked to have seen Chad Marshall make the First XI over Conrad. I think Conrad has lost a step and Chad Marshall has been a rock defensively all season for the Crew. I also could see an argument for Guillermo Barros Schelotto in the First XI, but all of the midfielders on the list have had solid seasons and deserve to be recognized for their play so far. The Bench has not been released yet, but according to Soccer by Ives a bench could look like this.

The Bench

Jon Busch-Chicago Fire-GK

Gonzalo Segares-Chicago Fire-D

Dwayne DeRosario-Houston Dynamo-M

Steve Ralston-New England-M

Luciano Emilio-DC United-F

Commissioners Picks

Guillermo Barros Schelotto-Columbus Crew

Jim Brennan-Toronto FC

Overall, 2 Crew players make the lineup, with the only player getting snubbed being Chad Marshall.New England Revolution and LA Galaxy also have 2 members of the First XI.

 In a cruel twist of fate, Toronto FC, the host club, has no picks as of now. I would expect a Commissioners Pick to be a notable TFC player such as Jim Brennan or Maurice Edu. 

From this group of players, my lineup would be this:

                 Cooper----------Donovan

Rogers Blanco Joseph Beckham

Segares Parkhurst Conrad Hejduk

That is a really strong lineup and should be a good match up against West Ham United.

MASSIVE vs Independiente

Despite constant bizarre trash talk online (cheering on the Soviet Union and Saddam Hussein, 9/11, and referring to me as a N*****) Independiente was dispatched 2-1 on goals by Jason Garey and Robbie Rogers in the second half. Maybe we won't need Pat Noonan if Jason Garey can translate this form to goalscoring for the senior team. If Moreno and Steven "The Equalizer" Lenhart can continue their goalscoring ways and Jason Garey can contribute to the Crew Frontline, suddenly Columbus has a servicable frontline. I was not in attendance for this game because I did not feel like paying an inflated ticket price to watch essentially a reserve match, but I can tell you I wore my home-made C-BUS 614 Crew shirt around the house. (Thank you to Roush Sporting Goods in Westerville!) Independiente did not have many of the regulars and their manager was not at the match. Overall, this game does not really mean a whole lot, but it is always to win at home against a somewhat respectable opponent, even if their fanbase are a bunch of internet retards that dont realize the USA did NOT fight Argentina in the Falkland War, the Soviet Union has collapsed, and Saddam Hussein is dead. The lesson for Independiente and  their supporters is: Talk shit, Get Hit

Cant We all get along?

Following a rousing display on saturday vs Chicago, there seems to be infighting in the Nordecke. On everyones favorite soapbox Bigsoccer, rumor has it that La Turbina is thinking about moving to another section of a stadium due to feeling unwanted by the other supporters groups. I stress that this is NOT  A SURE THING and is RUMOR at this point. I really hope this problem can be resolved, because all three sections are important to the Nordecke experience. 

On the other hand, I feel we need a greater level of collaboration between sections on gameday on chants and songs. On gamedays, it seems as if the HSH and CSU songs are competing with the drums and percussion of La Turbina. La Turbina's drums drown out the songs and chants of the other sections on many occasions. Intentional or not, the competition between sections creates a muddled mess.

Due to this I propose a solution: How about we have one representative from each section on field level on the PA system to organize the chants and drums into one functional unit. We can alternate between English and Spanish chants and have the drums complimenting the chanting. I feel this is much better than having random drumming interfering with the songs of the other sections. La Turbina and the drums are an asset to the Nordecke, and I really hope we can resolve these possible disputes and have better organization in the section

Crewmen of the week

The inaugural Crewmen of the Week award goes to two individuals. The first recipient of the award is Crew GM Mark McCullers. McCullers has drawn criticism in the past from Crew fans, but in the last week McCullers managed to nearly aquire Aalesunds FK hitman Pat Noonan, as well as pissing off MLSLIBEL.com through his podcast interview. Last but not least, while addressing the Nordecke before the game, McCullers told the crowd to "Drown those Assholes out" referring to the traveling Section 8 supporters from Chicago. MASSIVE week for Mark McCullers.

Secondly, I award Crewman of the week to the masked Luche character who stormed the field after Steven Lenhart's equalizer. The shirtless fan ran onto the field before being rugby tackled by CSC security. This display really excited the crowd and made me laugh. MASSIVE week for luche masked crew fans.

Fun with Pictures

These are some images I have played around with that can be used as Wallpapers and have been loaded onto facebook as bumper stickers as well. Tell me what you think. Feel free to add suggestions for future pictures

Columbus vs Ch*cago 7/5/08

These are photos from Saturday's match versus visiting Shitcago Fire. Unlike years past, Columbus would not lay down to the visiting Fire. Showing a lot of mettle and endurance, the Crew came back from an early 2-0 deficit to fight back to split the points with their eastern conference rival. The Crew find themselves on 27 points, 6 back of New England but with two games at hand. MASSIVE effort from the Nordecke and the rest of Columbus as well. This was the highest attendance of the season so far. Who says Columbus is only a Buckeye Football Town?