4/1/09: Crew vs. RSL, More on TFC Fallout, & Other Related News

Warzycha is so fly. (Pic by: Bartram/Getty)

**Warzycha Calm Through Winless Start by Craig Merz

Excerpts:

Robert Warzycha will wake up Thursday morning and go for a run from the team hotel in downtown Salt Lake City. While he's pounding the pavement for five or six miles, the Columbus Crew's new coach will also ponder the starting lineup for his winless team's match that night against Real Salt Lake in Rio Tinto Stadium....

When asked if the seemingly indefatigable Hejduk could play Wednesday and Thursday, Warzycha said, "You know Frankie. There's your answer."....

Padula on his own goal had to say, "I never had one before in my entire career," he said. "I hope the next one I score is for the Crew."

Warzycha was still pleased with the performance against Toronto, "In the second half we defended a little too deep but we still created three chances," he said. "We were defending well. We were sharp in front of our box. They didn't create any chances, a couple of shots outside the box, that's all. Overall, I was happy about the team's performance. We were just a little bit unlucky at the end. There wasn't a time we were disorganized."

**Real Salt Lake has a way of taking the possible inclement weather for tomorrow's game and making it a non-issue for fans. Excerpt:

If it rains or snows at Rio Tinto Stadium tomorrow night between 6:00 pm and 10:00 pm, any game ticket that is scanned at the gate for the game automatically becomes a voucher for a "bounce-back" ticket to the Saturday, August 15 game against the Houston Dynamo.

"What we are calling 'Ticket Insurance' option is a fun way to take the weather out of the equation," said RSL President Bill Manning. "We extend to the general public an option normally available only to our loyal season ticket holders. Our team is excited to kick off the season, and we want our fans to have every opportunity to make Rio Tinto Stadium as loud and electric as it was last November 15 during the Western Conference Final."

**According to the Weather Channel, The forecast is looking like anywhere from 47 degrees to 53 degrees with isolated T-storms.

**Home Opener spotlights what might have been for RSL. Excerpt:

"We wanted to be there," goalkeeper Nick Rimando said. "It was really hard watching that game from the sideline as a spectator. And to play against a team that's mostly going to be what their team was last year, to go up against them and see how we compare. ... I know it's a new year, but there's still a little remorse from last year."

**RSL Goal Is Becoming Better Than Average

**Frankie Hejduk Keeps Going Strong For US

**Toronto FC Fan Say Melee Not Hooliganism. I have to agree, spot on comments for the most part. Nothing was out of control until the police lost the plot.

**Clark Hunt Fired Up For Possible Repeat by Shawn Mitchell, Although I didn't really like this excerpt:

Hunt also addressed the end of negotiations with California businessman Mark Noorzai, who was interested in acquiring a minority stake in the Crew and placing an expansion team in Las Vegas.

"He is still very interested in Major League Soccer and specifically in Columbus," Hunt said. "But the economy has been tough for a lot of folks. I wouldn't be surprised at some point if he comes back and wants to be a minority investor in the team."


(Pic By: Chris Hough/Toronto Star)

**More on TFC after game, Riot that never was.

**TFC Owners Express Concern Over Away Fans:

"For the most part, our fans are terrific," Anselmi said yesterday, adding the fact that so many go on the road with the team is "great; the players love that.

"But they've also got to behave. You get a couple of guys on the fringe there that don't and it reflects on all of us – our city, our country, the sport, our franchise."

**TFC Fans: Oh Behave

**Columbus Kerkuffle Hardly A Sign of Hooliganism

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Police at least to have a tactical plan for next time Toronto comes to town. Excerpt:

Columbus Police Sgt. Rich Weiner said police didn't have a tactical plan for Crew matches as it does for football games involving Ohio State and Michigan universities, where more than 100,000 people attend.

"We weren't expecting any problems," Weiner said.

"But we will take every game on a case-by-case basis. We're going to be looking at this one, I think we're going to play you guys again in July and by doing so, we'll probably be writing a tactical plan just based upon on the incidents we had on Saturday."

Video uploaded onto YouTube show Ector being hit with a stun gun by a group of white-capped officers.

"Without going into specifics of the case," Weiner said, (Ector) was told at least twice "... that a friend of his was being escorted out" of the stadium, "and he was interfering with that escort and he got to a point he attempted to fight" the escorting officers