I am not a Columbus Crew supporter.
I am a Columbus Crew fan.
I am not, nor have never been a season ticket holder but I have been to a few matches here and there.
I do watch the matches on television, and had Time Warner Cable when it was the only local way to see them. This season though, unless ownership changes its mind, or changes so the team remains in Columbus, I will not be watching any of the Columbus Crew matches.
I have an old, 2009 edition jersey. I got a t-shirt with the latest logo on it for my son.
I am not invested in the team the way many supporters are. They are followers in a way that determines some of their social lives, good for them.
If the team were to leave Columbus, I would not be happy about it and I understand a lot of lives here would be effected by the move. Yet, my life would go on.
If the team were to leave Columbus, my small interest in Major League Soccer would end. Completely.
I am not a supporter of a sports franchise holding a city hostage to get what it wants.
I am not a supporter of a franchise whose owner is a liar and whose league commissioner is complicit in the moving of the team. This is not about Austin, although they should be warned it can happen to them.
This is about honesty, and the ownership of the Columbus Crew is not honest. Nor is upper management of Major League Soccer.
I’m not a supporter, but a casual fan on the couch, who has watched this team for about ten seasons.
Until now.
Keep the Crew in Columbus.
Showing posts with label fandom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fandom. Show all posts
Friday, March 9, 2018
Saturday, August 16, 2014
The Tim Howard Effect
Today marked the official start of the English Premier League season. With MLS in full swing and the World Cup over the anticipation of the new year from abroad was high. My team, Everton, made a very bold and expensive move in signing a genuine permanent striker in Romalu Lukaku, who had been with Chelsea, but who played with Everton last season. Expectation are high for the Toffees, can they break into the lauded top four of the league?
When I walked into Fourth Street Bar and Grill this morning to watch the match with a crowd of people, I had no idea what to expect. There were already fans of Manchester United in barstools as they watched their team lose their match to Swansea. Their fans exited quickly after the final whistle and fans of the other matches began to show up.
There were a few dozen people in the bar at 10AM on a Saturday morning. Truth be known, mostly white men, but we were all trying to be awake, and were quite civil with each other.
In my six years of being a soccer fan, I have never seen a supporter of Sunderland in the flesh. Somehow, there were half a dozen Sunderland fans in Columbus. It was unreal. Also representing were Leicester, Aston Villa, West Ham, and Tottenham (along with the Columbus Crew). Quite a broad number of jerseys that were not the big four of English soccer. People were paying attention to all of the matches, even Hull vs. QPR.
As for the Everton support. At first it was myself and another guy. Which is not surprising. I've only met three people in town who are fans - a guy named Corey and a gal named Rebekah. It's usually Corey who is the only person showing support for Everton in a bar full of people. But then another person showed up, then two more, and another. All told there were eleven people who were there to see Everton, enough to field a team!
So we introduced ourselves, talked about the Ohio Toffees Twitter account, the availability of Kone and Orviedo, the injury to Barkley, which got a horrible update later in the day, and getting older Everton shirts.
The result was not what we wanted, a 2-2 draw with newly promoted Leicester, but we're hopeful for the season. It's only one match, and there are thirty seven more.
When I walked into Fourth Street Bar and Grill this morning to watch the match with a crowd of people, I had no idea what to expect. There were already fans of Manchester United in barstools as they watched their team lose their match to Swansea. Their fans exited quickly after the final whistle and fans of the other matches began to show up.
There were a few dozen people in the bar at 10AM on a Saturday morning. Truth be known, mostly white men, but we were all trying to be awake, and were quite civil with each other.
In my six years of being a soccer fan, I have never seen a supporter of Sunderland in the flesh. Somehow, there were half a dozen Sunderland fans in Columbus. It was unreal. Also representing were Leicester, Aston Villa, West Ham, and Tottenham (along with the Columbus Crew). Quite a broad number of jerseys that were not the big four of English soccer. People were paying attention to all of the matches, even Hull vs. QPR.
As for the Everton support. At first it was myself and another guy. Which is not surprising. I've only met three people in town who are fans - a guy named Corey and a gal named Rebekah. It's usually Corey who is the only person showing support for Everton in a bar full of people. But then another person showed up, then two more, and another. All told there were eleven people who were there to see Everton, enough to field a team!
So we introduced ourselves, talked about the Ohio Toffees Twitter account, the availability of Kone and Orviedo, the injury to Barkley, which got a horrible update later in the day, and getting older Everton shirts.
The result was not what we wanted, a 2-2 draw with newly promoted Leicester, but we're hopeful for the season. It's only one match, and there are thirty seven more.
Saturday, February 1, 2014
Wide right in one case, the crossbar in the other
Got to the Schott today to see the Ohio State Hockey team take on Penn State. It was also an afternoon in which the program celebrated 50 years of Ohio State Hockey, which has been operating my whole life now it seems.
Before the game, the team honored a couple of dozen of former players by bringing them out to center ice. It was cool to see them all, but hard to hear all the names due to the muffled sound system. In a perfect world, it would have helped to have the player named, then the years they were in the program, for additional historical context, but that may have taken more time.
It was very nostalgic to see former players Ryan Jestadt, Craig Patterson, Lee Spector, Jeff Maund, and a few other players from the mid-nineties represent. This was the time I started following the sport.
Between the first and second period the All Buckeye Team was named. On the team are goalie Jeff Maund, defensemen Greg Kostenko and Jim Witherspoon and forwards Hugo Boisvert, Paul Pooley and Paul Tilley.
Most of these players were a bit before my time in Columbus but not Maund and Boisvert. Those two were an key part of the Buckeyes only Frozen Four appearance in 1998. I have Hugo's game-worn jersey from that year and wore it today.
The game itself had Penn State jump out to a 2-0 lead after the first period. There must have been some words said in the locker room since the Buckeyes scored two quick power play goals early in the second period and added a late period goal to take the lead for the rest of the game. Final score was 5-2.
In other nostalgic Hall of Fame news it was great to see Andre Reed finally selected to the Football Hall of Fame. Reed was one of the best wide receivers of his era for the Buffalo Bills as he helped his team to that four in a row Super Bowl run in the early nineties. He would have been in sooner if they won, just one.
That brought back a flood of memories on a day in which was filled with bittersweet things. Back to a time when the Bills were probably just a little too important. Which was followed by a time where college hockey was also a little too important.
Before the game, the team honored a couple of dozen of former players by bringing them out to center ice. It was cool to see them all, but hard to hear all the names due to the muffled sound system. In a perfect world, it would have helped to have the player named, then the years they were in the program, for additional historical context, but that may have taken more time.
It was very nostalgic to see former players Ryan Jestadt, Craig Patterson, Lee Spector, Jeff Maund, and a few other players from the mid-nineties represent. This was the time I started following the sport.
Between the first and second period the All Buckeye Team was named. On the team are goalie Jeff Maund, defensemen Greg Kostenko and Jim Witherspoon and forwards Hugo Boisvert, Paul Pooley and Paul Tilley.
Most of these players were a bit before my time in Columbus but not Maund and Boisvert. Those two were an key part of the Buckeyes only Frozen Four appearance in 1998. I have Hugo's game-worn jersey from that year and wore it today.
The game itself had Penn State jump out to a 2-0 lead after the first period. There must have been some words said in the locker room since the Buckeyes scored two quick power play goals early in the second period and added a late period goal to take the lead for the rest of the game. Final score was 5-2.
In other nostalgic Hall of Fame news it was great to see Andre Reed finally selected to the Football Hall of Fame. Reed was one of the best wide receivers of his era for the Buffalo Bills as he helped his team to that four in a row Super Bowl run in the early nineties. He would have been in sooner if they won, just one.
That brought back a flood of memories on a day in which was filled with bittersweet things. Back to a time when the Bills were probably just a little too important. Which was followed by a time where college hockey was also a little too important.
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