Crewture

New Columbus Tee's!

SKREENED.COM/COLUMBUSSOCCER

Columbus Soccer is a webstore full of merchandise for Columbus soccer fans, by Columbus soccer fans. Come here to get ready for the up coming Columbus matches and show your support for your team and your favorite players. Columbus Soccer is not part of any official supporter group and our main goal is to simply spread the word of the Massive soccer team in our very own Columbus, Ohio. Show how much you really love Columbus and that you will follow them where ever they might go! If you don't see any players you want or you have some ideas, feel free to send me a message.

Non-Crew Related!

Help the cause! In my design class we were assigned the task of making some t-shirts to help raise money for the mayor's neighborhood pride campaign. Help us out!

http://skreened.com/design570

5/22/09: Site Redesign

I'm working on another website redesign at the moment. I'm fooling around with some website design code(html) for a design I like and if it works out, I'll switch up the website. Might be slow on the news today and tomorrow. But, I'll add more news tonight.

Cheers

5/21/09: Crew Getting Prepared For The Earthquakes A Week And A Half Early

Crew get some literal experience.

From Tribalfootball:
Following a 4.7 magnitude earthquake on Sunday in the Los Angeles area, Columbus Crew players have explained the experience as they were staying close to the epicentre of the quake.

"I heard all the guys in the hotel were nervous being on the 17th floor," said goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum, who was away from the team visiting his brother in Los Angeles.

"I was nervous at first but quickly realized what was going on and that it would pass pretty quickly. It was my first quake so I was pretty excited."

Defenders Danny O'Rourke and Eric Brunner were walking to a restaurant when the quake hit.

"It was crazy," O'Rourke said.

"I felt the ground was pulling me in one direction. I wasn't walking. I was moving. It was pretty interesting. We were right by the beach and some people came running out of a hotel and said, 'Grab everybody.' Others said it happens all the time."

How to react to an Earthquake:

The Crew survived that earthquake; and, now they look to conquer the one coming into town next Wednesday.

5/20/09: Palermo Doesn't Rule Out Joining Guille, If Boca Directors Don't Renew Contract In June

Reunited and it feels so good? Keep a watch on what Boca does on June 30th.

Beginning excerpt from Sports Illustrated:
A classic target man whose best skills don't appear to be fading, Palermo hopes to end a glorious career at Boca Juniors. But he hasn't ruled out a long-rumored move to Major League Soccer, where he could team up with former Boca teammate Guillermo Barros Schelotto with the Columbus Crew.

My thoughts: There has to be some reason why this rumor just won't go away and right now with the Crew's trainwreck start, this may gain some momentum. The possibility of a Palermo move that seemed impossible at the beginning of the season with a fixed lineup of talented returning champions and no cap space, all of a sudden seems much more possible.

Especially when chewing on Shawn Mitchell's blog from a week ago:

--With July 1 (the date semi-guaranteed contracts become guaranteed) inching closer the Crew's brass has changed its tune a bit when it comes to possible player-personnel moves. To paraphrase, “if it ain't broke don't fix it" has morphed into "what can we do to improve our club that makes sense." That's no surprise considering a 1-5-2 start and the interest other MLS teams have shown in several players on the Crew's roster.

To chew on:

**Is Pat Noonan's $175,000 salary coupled with his reserve role doing the Crew any good? Could he be of more service to another team? Could the Crew, with little wiggle room under the salary cap, put that money to better use?

**Would a speedier, better-finishing striker than Alejandro Moreno be a better complement to Guillermo Barros Schelotto?

**Is the Crew's central midfield still considered as deep and talented as it once was?

Hefty questions, all, and maybe moot if the Crew can reel off a few wins in a row...

My thoughts on this are if the Crew could get their hands on Palermo. It might be the end of Noonan and Moreno in a Crew jersey, (both making upwards of $150,000, both not having the greatest of years, their salaries combined would clear over $300,000 in cap space which might be enough for Palermo to start out with). Schelotto and Palermo have had a great relationship at Boca and would get the Crew back on track, in all probability, with having a striker with a better strike rate.

However, Palermo's age is a concern. Would it be worth it to put money into a Schelotto and Palermo relationship if both could be gone at the end of the year or the next year? Maybe the Crew opens up that money for a younger striker with a good strike rate and more speed instead. Maybe Warzycha tries to tap a polish talented striker again. Warzycha almost succeeded in acquiring Celtic striker Maciej Zurawski at the beginning of 2008 to team up with Guillermo Barros Schelotto.

Or maybe they just stay with the status quo and hope for the best. If so, Moreno has to start to score soon or we need to give Lenhart or someone a run out.

But, overall, it's just not working in the final third right now. Warzycha is frustrated with the lack of finishing, especially after the LA game, and so is probably McCullers. They were interested in other strikers, like Zurawski, before Moreno's great year last year. Moreno isn't having as great of a year this year and others are not helping in the production, and therefore either we get a new striker for Noonan's salary or in a Noonan trade (might be the best move, as maybe we go to two strikers with Moreno and Noonan's replacement. Or use Moreno as first striker off the bench). Or we get a new striker by combining both of those two salaries. I just think all signs point to some new striker.

Either MLS, Palermo, or some Polish player.

From Sports Illustrated's interview with Martin Palermo:
SI.com: What do you know about MLS? Have you seen any games?

Palermo: I've seen more matches since the arrival of Guille. I follow him, and from doing that, I have been able to watch several matches -- those that are televised in Argentina, of course.

SI.com: If you don't come to an agreement to renew your contract with Boca, would a possible move to MLS tempt you?

Palermo: It is something I always speak about with my agent [Gustavo Goñi, the same person who negotiated Schelotto's move to Columbus] because there are always rumors. But right now I'm only thinking about what will happen at Boca.

SI.com: Has Guillermo told you anything about MLS?

Palermo: He is very happy and well adapted. Most of all because last year he demonstrated his quality and helped his team win the title.

SI.com: A couple of years ago, it was reported that Guille tried to convince you to join him in Columbus. What happened?

Palermo: There were some talks but nothing came from it.

SI.com: MLS has signed lots of Argentines in the last few years, players of tremendous quality and some with national-team experience. The league also has been linked to others like Juan Sebastian Verón, Ariel Ortega and you. Why do you think Argentine players are so popular?

Palermo: Because the Argentine player generally makes a difference. And Guillermo provided evidence of that with Columbus last year.

5/20/09: Seattle Fans Flood The Polls Although Some Of Their Players Don't Deserve It

Drew Carey and Sounders fans are one or two away from having a straight Seattle FC player ballot.

From the Sounders FC Blog:
As currently constituted, the First XI would consist of eight Sounders FC players. The only exceptions in the opening week of voting are veteran Columbus Crew fullback Frankie Hejduk, who holds a slim lead on Seattle's James Riley, Dwayne De Rosario, a Toronto FC midfielder, and Los Angeles Galaxy forward Landon Donovan.

My thoughts: The point of voting for an all star is to vote for the best performing team through the games that have been played, not a straight ticket. On my ballot I only voted for Guillermo Barros Schelotto and Chad Marshall. For Seattle I only voted for Casey Keller because he is the only one having an all star caliber year, so far. I didn't vote for Frankie Hejduk because he hasn't played. I didn't vote for Montero or Evans from Seattle because there are strikers like Wolff and McBride and midfielders like Schelotto, Nagamura, Blanco, Davis, and Pappa who are having way better years.

I just hate the amatuer notion of the new teams to vote all their players, even the ones who have not had anywhere close to an all star year so far. Real Salt Lake did the same a couple years back. Thank god though that the fans only make up a 1/3rd of the voting.

Be objective fans and vote for the best players so far this year. The reason why the fan voting only takes up 1/3rd is because of this ballot stuffing.

5/18/09: Crew vs. LA Post Tie Thoughts

5/17/09: Crew vs Galaxy- Shambolic Finish Once Again, Time For Some Ch-Ch-Changes.

Eddie Lewis winds up for his goal scoring tie against the impenetrable Andy Greunebaum.

**To start out with, Eric Brunner is probably 20 times the player O'Rourke is. Lets just seal the deal on the O'Rourke saga and put Brunner in central defense as the full time starter. Brunner has better height, in all probability much better speed and skills, and definitely more patience. He is also less likely to put this team in a stituation to give up late minute red cards or penalty kicks.

Oh, and we still get that hometown feel. Probably the main reason O'Rourke gets a free pass as often as he does.

**Warzycha with the ties is starting to wear out his welcome. If we are dominating a game, keep playing at that same level. Instead of bunkering once we get a goal. We played a scared last 15 minutes against a team that has one(maybe two) good players in Donovan and Ricketts.

**I'm pretty confident that each late game tie we have had, or at least all but one has come after Guillermo has been subbed out. I don't know what that means, but it almost seems like the Crew hits the off switch as soon as Guillermo hits the bench.

**We need a real striker. We dominated a very poor LA Galaxy team all game. It should have been 4-0. But, our attack has no finishing ability. Moreno and Gaven like to beat the last defender and then fall down a lot(I guess it's easier to hope for a phantom PK foul then actually try to finish a good scoring opportunity). And, Moreno just does not have any speed. If the guy had speed he would be a dream striker, he would probably be the best striker in MLS with all of his other attributes. But, he is just too slow and can't finish.

Come July we need to find ourselves a 20 goals a year striker.

**Rogers needs to get confident again and not be scared to take on glorious defenders (roll eyes) like Tony "Big Cat" Sanneh.

**How was the opportunity with Guillermo in the 84th not converted? Whoever Guillermo passed it to, I think Moreno, needs to go to finishing school.

**Overall, maybe Warzycha is just a bad coach. It's not the end of the world. We all like the guy. But, some players are just good players and don't translate into competent coaches.

It's just hard to find anywhere else to point to when the Crew are 100 times the team based on skills and overall ability then the LA team they faced today. But, they can't finish any of their opportunities, finally finish a gift, then they bunker down and cower against a sh*t side instead of going for the juggular in the last 15 minutes.

The late ties, all six of them, sort of show that maybe, just maybe the game plan after we get a lead needs to be switched up. That means not to cower, but to play the same game that got you the lead in the first place.

One could say on our previous ties, as Mitchell did, that they were all against good sides. Well, LA is not a good team at all. They are awful in just about every facet of the game. It's just unacceptable to tie a game that your side has the ability to win 4-0. It's unacceptable to cower against crap sides, because even old foggies and USL talents are going to finish a chance at some point over 90 minutes if you do so.

5/17/09: La Turbina Amarilla Website

Wasn't aware that Turbina had their website up yet. But, they have a new one up as well. Has songs, pictures, tailgate information, and more.

Check out La Turbina's website here.

5/16/09: Mitchell's 5 Questions With Manu

Ekpo definitely has a unique taste in music. No rock, no hip-hop, just some good old Dolly Parton.

From the Dispatch, Five Questions With Ekpo:

Q: What's up with that goal celebration (in which he points to his name on the back of his jersey)?

A: That first goal in Toronto -- there weren't many Crew fans to celebrate with. So it was like 'OK, are you guys going to say my name?' They were all silent because it was all Toronto fans. So I was like 'OK, you can read my name.' I'm thinking of giving a dance sometime at a home game. It's kind of tribal, kind of Nigerian.

Q: Your buddy and former roommate Ezra Hendrickson has retired and become an assistant coach in Seattle. You said once that he was an old guy, but he liked to have a good time while you were more of a homebody. Are you still that way?

A: I'm more of a homeboy. I hang out with Stanley (Nyazamba). Alex (Grendi) and Andy (Gruenebaum), too. They live nearby.

Q: You've been here for more than a year now. What stands out to you most about living in Columbus?

A: The lifestyle. The setup is very organized compared to back home. Everything is different. Driving, the food, the people. The suburbs are cool, and that's where I live but I'm more of a city guy. The city is more like where I grew up in Calabar.

Q: According to the Crew's media guide, your favorite music is country and blues. Is that true?

A: Yes. I like reggae, too. I like blues and country in the evening. Dolly Parton I really like. The reggae, I like Lucky Dube, Bob Marley. Celine Dion, too.

Q: When are going to see African supporters group in Crew Stadium?

A: I would like to see more African supporters, but I'll let the Crew take care of that. There are a lot of Somalians, Ethiopians, Ghanans, Nigerians. I need to get myself introduced to the community leaders. They need to get to know me, and then we can start from there.

5/14/09: 7 Minutes With The Nordecke- Crew vs. KC Version

Video by Zach Closson- A.k.a. "Droppingnuggets" :-)

5/14/09: Legendary Duncan Oughton

Duncan is 9th on the Crew's all time games played with 128. (Pic by Reuters)

From Craig Merz's Article, Oughton Makes His Mark In Columbus:

Duncan on Columbus-
"In retrospect, at the time of the draft it was a big move for me but now it couldn't have gone any better," he said. "I've met some amazing people in Columbus through soccer. I met the woman of my dreams, now my wife (Carly), and live in a great place.

"The people here are pretty friendly. It's comfortable. It's a very nice spot. It reminds me, besides not having any beaches or sea around, a little bit of New Zealand, the way the people are."

Duncan on his role-
"I feel like I'm playing pretty well right now. I'm battling for a starting spot. I'm pushing the guys who are in front of me. I want to be on the field as much as anybody else," he said. "Whenever I'm called on in whatever role it will be I'll be ready. I'm training as hard as I can and trying to keep everyone in front of me honest."

Warzycha on Duncan-
"In the last game I brought him in because he has leadership and knows how to close the games. Maybe I didn't do that before and I should have," Warzycha said. "He didn't have to play and you don't have to start to be a leader. That's what I'm looking for from him.

"With the schedule we have with the Open Cup and the Champions League it's not going to be possible to play the same team all the time. You're going to have to rest some guys and rotate. Who you have on the bench is going to be very important and Duncan will be needed."

Duncan with New Zealand vs. New Caledonia, September 10th 2008

5/13/09: Gaven Move To Middle Of Pitch Paying Dividends For Crew

Eddie "Shaggy" Gaven feeling it in the middle.

In a move most Crew fans saw around week 2 or 3, and has finally happened two to three weeks late against Toronto FC and now Kansas City. Eddie Gaven has switched to the middle where he plays the best and Emmanuel Ekpo has been switched back out to the wing where he plays the best. The result is a slick looking attack.

Excerpt from Craig Merz's "Gaven Thriving In Central Role":
"It's jelling. He's had good games against Toronto and the last one," Warzycha said of Gaven. "His endurance is unbelievable. He can run forever. He's always active. He's got a good first touch and he just works, works, works. That's what you need."

Warzycha said the move of Gaven to the middle was not out of desperation but inspiration.

"More than anything we were trying to put the best team on the field. With Robbie and Ekpo playing well, Eddie Gaven was also playing well so we were trying to keep him on the field," he said. "Obviously, with Ekpo being inside that didn't work as well we thought it would. That was a switch that probably was necessary."

5/13/09: First, McBride to Rival Chicago, Now Stern John to Rival TFC

The only person that seems hyped for a Stern John return is TFC captain Jim Brennan.

Stern John who voiced his interest, a week ago, about possibly coming back to the Crew and MLS in a year, and also possibly starting a soccer school on the side in Columbus, seems to be not garnering much interest from Crew fans with John's current form. There seems to be a no thanks attitude, based on his current form + his big price tag + the Crew's lack of salary cap space. It's not only the Crew fans who are not too keen on John in their kit, but English lower level sides are not enticed of late either. Especially with his form at Bristol City (2 goals in 24 appearances over the last two seasons, although John was instrumental in helping Southampton; Nevertheless, that was back in 2007). As of this week, both Southampton and Bristol City have cut ties with Stern John.

From This Is Bristol.co.uk:
Bristol City Boss Gary Johnson stated, "I was disappointed with Stern's involvement towards the end of the season and I left him out because I didn't feel he was giving us anything. Until you get to know that, you have to play him to see if he can give you the sort of game you are looking for."

However, one person seems to be keen about Stern John's return and that is TFC captain Jim Brennan:
John has had offers to return to cross the Atlantic from one player who was a genuine Ashton Gate favourite.

Canada international left-back Jim Brennan has remained a firm friend of John's since their time together with Nottingham Forest and is now with Toronto FC.
"Jimmy and myself will always be friends," said John, who scored 96 goals in 65 internationals.

"We'll always stick together. I spoke to Jimmy online and he keeps talking about me going back to the MLS. I fancy going back there, but not just yet. I want to play in England for another season or two."

Brennan to Stern on AOL: Eh, those C-bus fans in cowtown are a bunch of fricken hick losers, you ought to come up to a real winner, up here at BMO, m'kay?

5/13/09: Crew vs. KC Recap Video

All that matters is that we are back to being champions again:

5/13/09: GET IN!!

Absolutely mental near the end. Love it.

5/12/09: MLS Loosens Academy Rules

Picture by John Dorton

According to the New York Post:
Now teams can sign TWO academy players to a Generation Adidas deal instead of just one; they can ink four prospects per year, up from two; and other clubs can no longer raid their prospects, good news for talent-rich academies like New York.

"They're very positive, very welcome. The people who've invested in their academies will benefit from this,'' sporting director Jeff Agoos told the Post. "It puts emphasis on developing players, not just one, but plural. There's a plurality in this rule that's much welcomed by this club and clubs around league.''

My thoughts: Good news since the Crew has a good academy. But, bad news because there is no reserve team to put them all on. Seriously, MLS has to bring back a reserve schedule and teams if academies are ever going to work.

5/12/09: Sirk's Notebook & More On The Nordecke Delay

Picture by G.Bartram/Getty

Another solid notebook from Sirk can be found here. Also, talks about the Nordecke delay from a couple of bottles thrown. I'll give some of my thoughts real quick below and after the excerpt.

First off, I'm against GTFO, especially when it's against Kansas City with no away fans. That just doesn't make sense. Against Toronto with 2,000 of them, once in a while, fine whatever. But, against KC with no away fans? I was really confused why some were chanting that.

But, I think the reason is pretty simple and relatively easy to fix, and comes down to a lack of other interesting things for some people in the section to chant. I think it comes down somewhat to a lack of new chants, new creativity in the section, and complacency. I also think it comes down to a lack of drive from the section as a whole when it comes to new chants. Myself and a couple other guys have been trying to push a couple new chant ideas since the start of the season, with success in Toronto with at least three new chants started with a smaller group. The problem back in Columbus is that after you sing "le soy le voz" or "we love you" so many times, there just isn't anything else in the chanting repetiore of some folks in the Nordecke. And, it's much easier for a new chant to catch on with a hundred people as opposed to 2,000. I would really, rather have CAPO's(captains in charge of a section with a megaphone, that can take over chants, introduce new chants, and drown out unnecessary chants like GTFO against Kansas City). That would be an excellent solution and also would get the whole Nordecke on page with one chant, instead of multiple chants going on at once. Yet, I'm sure lazyiness and complacency will make sure that never happens. Anyways, it takes time for a new chant idea to catch on as with "We Love You" which took over half a season to catch on. But, I do expect new ones to catch on soon, especially one for sure that could be legit and pc and is currently gaining momentum. The more new and interesting things the section has to chant, the less of a chance of some resorting to the same old unnecessary profanity chants.

Secondly, throwing things on the field is flat out wrong. Just don't do it. It delays the game and hurts the team. It also hurts the Nordecke in terms of it's displays, as if you drop a smokebomb at your feet(something I don't think is a problem since it doesn't affect the game), you're more likely to get away with it. But, now with some drunk fools throwing stuff on the field. You now invite security to have to now be in our section, which means we get away with a lot less. Also, it means that if we get security on a power trip, you could be thrown out for mumbling profanities now to yourself or for standing on the bleachers. Who knows with security.

Thirdly, some of this organized swearing and bottle throwing has been going on since the beginning of last year so I don't get why McCullers and the FO are so red faced now? I know the Nordecke isn't always the most perfect angels, but I think we deserve a little more respect than this. Were always there for this team, which is more then you can say for some of the other fair weathered fans of Columbus.

Excerpt on the Nordecke Delay and the impending resolutions coming from the Front Office, from Sirk's notebook:
Nordecke Delay
The match was halted in the 56th minute during a Kansas City corner kick when the Wizards' Claudio Lopez and the assistant referee were pelted with bottles and other objects flung from the Nordecke. Referee Jorge Rodriguez halted the game for two solid minutes to both check on their condition and then make his way to the technical area to request more security for the corner. He made no comment or warning to Crew coach Robert Warzycha.

This was the second match in a row that the Nordecke has bombarded a corner kick taker with debris. In the prior game, Chicago's Cuauhtemoc Blanco was on the receiving end of a bottle barrage shortly after he had drawn the game-altering red card call against Gino Padula.

Now, to be sure, nobody outside of Toyota Park, Azteca Stadium, or a Marrufo family cookout would argue that Blanco is a sympathetic figure, even as he gets pelted with trash, but the larger point remains - stuff got thrown, and it was unacceptable. Yes, it's still unacceptable even if the target was as inviting as Blanco.

The thing that made this week's outburst so strange was that, well, there was no apparent motive for it. With the Chicago game, emotions were running high due to a controversial call involving a despised player. It's not an excuse, but one could at least pinpoint the cause of the stupidity.

But Claudio Lopez? In a game the Crew were winning? Really? That's just idiocy for idiocy's sake.

Even worse, the delay made the Crew fight to maintain focus at a crucial juncture of the match. Frankie Hejduk, unquestionably the Nordecke's No. 1 Fan, had no idea what caused the delay, but said it had an effect.

"I didn't understand what was going on, and I told (the officials) to hurry up," he said. "That was a time where we needed to stay concentrated, and a delay like that can take you away from the game for a little bit, so I was just trying to keep all of the guys into it."

Worse yet, the delay contributed to five minutes of stoppage time as the Crew tried to close out their first win of the year. The worst crimes are those that are both senseless and stupid. Saturday's bottle-fest certainly qualifies.

I happened to be standing next to Crew President & General Manager Mark McCullers when the bottles started flying. He was furious as he called for additional security. Before the game, he had spoken to the supporters and had made two simple requests. First, he had asked that the Nordecke eliminate the organized chanting of profanities. Second, he also reminded them, in the wake of the Blanco incident, that the tossing of anything except post-goal streamers would not be tolerated. So here it was, maybe two hours later, and McCullers had been listening to an earful of profane chants, and then witnessed the unprovoked launching of bottles. One could have fried an egg on his reddened face.

That was hardly the time to talk to him about any of that stuff, so I touched base with him later to collect his thoughts after the heat of the moment had subsided.

"Those actions (organized profanity and bottle throwing) show a disrespect for the club," McCullers said. "It damages our reputation and makes others not want to attend games. It does nothing to support the team and help them maintain a home field advantage, which has been one of the key positives that the Nordecke has achieved. It's all compromised with this behavior. Furthermore, my position has been that these types of incidents have been tied to specific game situations, such as referee issues, and are not indicative of the Nordecke in general. (After Saturday's random event) I can no longer take that position."

McCullers said the Crew could be fined for the fans' misbehavior, although that precedent has not yet been set in MLS, and that the league will continue to apply pressure until the issues are resolved.

The Nordecke is unquestionably a vibrant and vital part of the Crew's home field advantage, and McCullers feels that neither of his requests would do a single thing to diminish the corner's electricity or its lifeblood link to the players on the field.

"The players feed off the energy of the crowd and this provides us a home-field advantage," he said. "The authentic soccer atmosphere is unique to us and cannot be found anywhere else in Columbus. Throwing debris and chanting profanity doesn't contribute to either of these, so the line of acceptable behavior is clear and should not be an issue. The section has gotten too big for self-policing. The security of the players and refs is paramount. The impact on other fans, particularly children, and the reputation of the stadium are also serious concerns. The home-field advantage and positive energy and atmosphere are important, but the unacceptable behavior is counterproductive and offsets the positives."

Judging by message board posts, it seems that many Nordecke denizens are equally appalled by the bottle-tossing and expect much tighter security going forward. Online suggestions have ranged from simply barring food and drink in those sections, all the way to something as extreme as installing a net or a fence to keep objects off the field. If it ever came to the latter, it would be a sad day, as the Nordecke group hug has become a standard tradition for Crew players after they score a goal at the north end.

McCullers made no mention of anything as drastic as a net or a fence, but one should definitely expect to see some changes for the May 27 home game against San Jose.

"We are discussing the situation and considering several options to address it," he said. "No decisions have been made at this time, but I expect a much greater security presence, eliminating the items being thrown from entering the section, and additional means to identify violators. The (organized) profanity is coming from the section at large, so identifying violators is difficult. Should it continue, we will be forced to take action in the form of reducing certain aspects of club support and other privileges."

Given that 99.9 percent of the Nordecke is there to support the Crew, I would hope that these changes will happen rapidly and with little fuss. Sure, it's fun to swear and throw things, but neither action has a single credible argument on its side.

Bottle throwing, on its face, is unacceptable. Many of us were appalled in March when Toronto fans tossed objects from the south end like they were reenacting a monkey poop fight at the zoo, so there is absolutely zero moral standing for throwing objects at players and officials.

And while profanity doesn't personally bother me, that doesn't mean that many others in the stadium aren't offended by it. And since the organized swearing serves no real purpose, there's nothing to cling to except the teenager-esque "No matter how many times you ask nicely, I should be able to swear because I want to" argument.

The two main sources of group profanity, as far as I can tell, are the "YSA" chant when the opposing goalkeeper takes a goal kick, and the "GTFO" addendum to the "This is our house" chant.

The YSA chant is easily amended, and in fact could be made more personal and effective, by simply inserting the goalkeeper's name or nickname. So for San Jose on May 27, it becomes "You suck, Cannon!" And for Chivas on June 14, it becomes "You suck, Thornton!" You get the idea.

And a poster who goes by "Tyneside4life" on BigSoccer has already come up with a much more meaningful rendition of the "This is our house" chant. Instead of shouting "GTFO", which especially makes no sense when there is, like, one Wizards fan in the entire stadium, "Tyneside4life" suggests replacing "GTFO" with "Thank you Lamar."

I think that's brilliant and wish I would have thought of it myself. It's meaningful to the club, its supporters and Crew Stadium's unique, trailblazing place in league history. What more could you ask for? And anyone who would forsake honoring Lamar Hunt for the cheap thrill of an f-bomb...wow...I don't have the words. So let's make this happen.

Gosh, I hate to sound like a mouthpiece for The Man, but really, McCullers' two requests have absolutely zero credible counterarguments. I, like many others in Columbus and around the league, have been blown away by the growth and performance of the Nordecke. I want it to continue to grow and thrive and be a source of inspiration for the players in the Massive banana kit. The Nordecke can be all that without synchronized swearing. And life in Crewville is much more fun when the Nordecke can rightfully claim the moral high ground over those Labatt-lobbing cup-chuckers from Toronto.

My thoughts: First, bottle throwing and GTFO need to stop. I didn't expect GTFO against KC with no away fans.

But, did McCullers or the FO seriously expect YSA to stop? And, profanity to be cured, if he got on a microphone for a couple of seconds. He should have just waved a wand as well, in the spirit of playing the Wizards, and said "ah-ha profanity be gone." It's just not going to happen like that. That's probably the one chant that 100% percent of the section actually knows and it's down to a point where it's a second nature reaction. To go every week of doing YSA 30-40 times a game and then expect everyone to change up and chant "You stink Cannon." Is going to be a tough one to pull and to inform 2,000 people on.

And, what is he all red faced about? Both of these things have been going on since the beginning of last year and actually I think the worst throwing incident was in the beginning of 2008 on a Brad Davis corner(vid below), did the FO just realize it now? The fact that the FO looked the other way for over a year and a month at these incidents building, is just as (if not more so) then anything responsible for the two minute delay last Saturday. And, does McCullers think that just because he is the GM of the Crew that every single person out there is going to listen to him. I mean that would be great and all, but the world doesn't work that way for anyone. Some people are going to do their own thing no matter what. So, what needs to be done? Identify the main violaters, get some new chants going in an organized manner, comprimise instead of control(I just don't think YSA will go away and isn't that bad anyways), get rid of GTFO, have more than one security guard in front of the section, and eliminate glass bottles from getting into the section. Also, work with us and have some respect for us. Oh, and MLS, why not just bring back streamers on corner kicks because paper can't really hurt anyone. Just a thought, brillant idea to ban that MLS. Because when someone is drunk and mad at Blanco on a corner, they have either a streamer in their hand a year ago or a bottle now. Which is better?

New development? Over a year ago:

In addition, I couldn't hear a thing McCullers said on the microphone before the game. I was in the second row trying to listen attentively, and I only caught every fourth or fifth word. Would be great if the Crew could actually invest in a PA system that worked. Can't really get mad at the section, if you can't get your message across on workable equipment. If the Crew could afford a microphone that can overcome just random talking in the section, that would be a great start.

GTFO has no place. But, YSA stopping after a 15 second mic talk, man I think that's expecting a little bit much out of us all there. That's like brushing your teeth for the Nordecke.

And, look everyone, the bottle throwing needs to stop and GTFO is too dirty and needs to be gone as well. I think that notice is starting to permiate to the ones not so attuned with all the developments online. But, this whole were all troublemakers and were hurting attendance is sort of ridicoulous.

Crew Stadium was a graveyard in terms of noise before the Nordecke. And, attendance is up at least 1,000 a game from last year. If it wasn't for the creation of the Nordecke, I think there is a good chance that the Crew would be in the attendance and atmosphere tailspin that FC Dallas is in. I think the Nordecke in a way made the Crew relevant to some of the city again. I also think passion as seen with 15,000 on the edge of their seats in last year's Eastern Conference would be much different without us. Also, for how much of a detriment we are somehow? The Crew has only lost twice at home since the formation of the Nordecke. Compared to being an easy place to pick up a win before us for years.

So, if the Nordecke wasn't there to bring that passion back after a dead three years, I wouldn't like to know where the Crew would be in terms of an organization. I would say we would be averaging 9,000 like FC Dallas is today, while having not as many people out there who would be caring passionately about the Crew. Sure, less small kids may be coming out to the games because of the occassional naughty chant, but I can guarentee more adults are. I also can't see how anyone can make a Nordecke is hindering attendance argument when each game has been up over 1,000 compared to last year during our most difficult time to sell tickets. Nordecke has attracted more then it has pushed away, hence everyone wanting to sit there and myself having to share what accounts to one seat in the rest of the stadium with three people. While seeing empty yellow sits elsewhere. Really if anything they should try to apply the Nordecke to the rest of the stadium. Then our attendance would be 60,000 as everyone would be sharing a seat with two other people.

Seriously, anytime I watch on FSC, it looks like the stadium should be tipping over based on weight imbalance.

Places that embrace a soccer atmosphere (which the FO has done and then some, but may be starting to get slightly cold feet) seem to do better then places that don't. I would just eliminate GTFO and other F chants, stop the bottle tossing, and ride it out with everything else. They will be better off for it. Just don't let the soccer mom's win.

If we go back to circa 2006 it will be very sad, and might lead to worse things.

Overall, in my opinion, the Nordecke builds passion and it is starting to infect the rest of the stadium with Guillermo and other chants. It has been a hand in hand renaissance with a markedly improved team since the beginning of 2008, which I think helps build the connection as well. The Crew can't survive without it. The section isn't out of control and will work with the team. But, it's all about comprimise, instead of talking down to the section. Most of us who invest in the section tricked ourselves into thinking we were over our growing pains from last Summer. But, we still have things to tweak, we are a young section, and it will get done.

5/12/09: Warzycha Thrilled With GBS, Says GBS Is Having An Even Better Year

From CSRN, Warzycha is floored with GBS's even more enhanced production compared to his MVP season last year. “I think he’s playing better than last season,” Crew coach Robert Warzycha said. “You see how many goals he has. He has four goals and seems very active. He’s one of the best players on the field every time he steps out there for our team.

“Even at the end of the game you see him making tackles and chasing the defenders. That’s a player you want on the team.”

Schelotto's header: