TFC Bus Trip, 100 Going This Time

I emailed Allen, the guy in charge of the bus trip, and this is what he sent back to me, thanks for the Info Allen:

Ryan,
Wow - lots of questions... no problem - I'll try to answer them for you.

Did you get the flier at Ruby Tuesday's? I joined Hooligans on Thursday. I've spoken to Grant, Shawn and Blake a few times prior to Thursday about the trip. They are supportive and excited about it. So as not to show favoritism, I'll probably join Crew Union as well. And, I know several of the Turbina members although they are not yet as organized as Hooligans and/or Union.

What website do you run? You refer to "crewture" but that doesn't ring any bells.

Ouch! Lol. J/k.

I've received reservations for about 15-20 seats so far. Shawn (of the Hooligans) has stated that he has about 20 that are going on the trip. That puts us near capacity (it may be a 47 passenger bus). I am just now accepting deposits. I had requested the deposit ($150) by the 25th but if you can only send half ($75) then I'll accept payments to get you in. Will the other 3 on your room be able to send in their deposits this week?

AND - if for any reason the trip gets cancelled then there is a full refund for everyone. But, and I'm sure you understand this, if someone reserves a seat/ticket/room with a deposit then backs out - I won't be able to refund their money - unless I can find someone to replace them.
There are a total of 100 tickets in a block at BMO Field. I've spoken to Toronto team staff. They "may" but not likely be able to dig up a few more seats. But, the last time they gave us 100 we only used about 40 so they don't have a lot of confidence in our ability to use 100+. I'm trying to change that. Of the 100, I've been allotted as many as I can use to fill up a bus (up to 54). But, I'm not trying to usurp tickets from other groups that had planned on going - I'm not trying to step on someone's toes.

Background - my son, a high school varsity soccer player, and I have been to a few games this year and some in the past. We both have become serious Crew fans. We were at the Toronto game when they brought 3,000+ of their fans to Columbus. It was impressive and sad. Those fans were all very friendly tailgating in the parking lot. Then New England had a large turnout and they too were friendly tailgating. After the Chicago game the Toronto game came up and my son and a couple of his friends wanted to go. Then some fans in the parking lot wanted to go so I got drafted into making it happen. That snow-balled into this tour bus. I'm working very closely with the Crew office and team management (Brad Kessler, Chris Keeney, Tucker and even Sigi). They are all behind this group and have endorsed it as much as they can. Chris even worked out a deal with two hotels in Toronto to get my group the MLS negotiated rate - the same as the players. It's looking like we'll be staying at the same hotel as the Crew team and at the same rate. And, Chris is speaking with Mark McCullers to try to get the team to throw in some money towards the cost of the bus to subsidize the cost for the true Crew fans. As those two things (hotel and bus costs) get sorted out, then I will pass on the savings to the group.

What else...

Some of the Crewzers are (according to Shawn Kelly of the Hooligans) going. I'm providing a box lunch and "some" beer for the trip up. It's not a "all you can drink thing though... I'm plan on bringing some soccer movies - Green Street Hooligans, Goal! And Goal II for displaying on the TV's on the bus.

I plan on putting together some information of local attractions and nightlife - possibly with discounts or free admission (to bars and/or strip clubs) for those interested.

The game is at 3:30 so I estimate the group to get to the hotel around 7:00. That leaves plenty of time to clean up and relax before heading out. Assuming we stay at the hotel with the players - I would expect some of them to be hanging out in the lounge at the hotel.

The Toronto game is the same day as the OSU / USC game. That game comes on at 8:00. I'm going to try to get the hotel to setup a big TV or a few medium ones in an open suite or small conference room for those interested in watching it.

My thoughts: So there you go. Should be no reason why 54 of us can't scrounge up 200 bucks if we bring three buddies. I'm going up this way. And, will start making deposits this Thursday. I believe there should also be about 20-30 tickets for people who want to go up alternatively, do their own thing. Then the FO probably has the rest for their people. I told Allen that I would make an image for his trip to the right on my scroll bar and then people can click on that with all the info for his Bus trip. If that's cool with him. I'll put it up either tonight after work or tomorrow morning.