The crowd WAS horrible. Where the hell was everyone?? They should have made it buck-a-brat, buy one ticket, get one half off, or something.
i dont think youre going to draw many people if nobody knows about it. hell, *I* didnt know that columbus had the match until like, late last week. also keep in mind the fact that its a tuesday night, we drew about as well as kansas city does for regularly scheduled games that people have known about for months
they don't pay to come in... it's each person holding up a colored card and when they're all up a flag is made or something...
He actually worked it in pretty smoothly. He was analysing and you could hear the music through the TV. I don't remember the song, but it was classic R&B/Funk. A good groove, most def. I was thinking the same thing when he suddenly stopped and said it in a surprised voice and then continued on with his previous point.
Sorry if somebody replied...they had an 800 person American flag there...I thik before the US womens' match Sunday. It marked where they stood. Our idiot announcer said something about preparing for winter in Ohio...hear that one? yea, we are in a drought, let's get our grass ready for the snow. who was that idiot?
Good point...we needed fresh legs...but at least it wasnt' the 80th or later! i wish he had them in earlier...McBride was dead. And our subs are who we needed.
Surprise her with a perfect gift in the car while you stop on the side of the freeway...on the way to CCS. she'll be ok with that.
i was wondering why andrulis did wait so long. we were down 1-0, playing some very uninspired soccer, and we had nothing to lose. if we lose, were out, if we win, we get to host the final. im glad he did lay it all out on the table, but it took a while, or so it seemed when youre pissed as hell.
They should have made it tomorrow night. Dumb schedulig. Every kid in town plays soccer on Tuesdya nights. The parents usually attend. that is a huge huge part of our fan base. that means from fourth grad through 12. Bad timing on their part. If it was tomorrow...I know an awful lot of people that would have been there.
Can I vote for Buddle even if I just saw the second half? He looked totally fresh. His defense blew me away. i say Buddle if the first half was as bad as you all say.
GREAT shot of the VA boys when Pelusa nailed the winner. Hope somebody had a VCR going. And does anybody know who the guy in the new gray jersey is? They had a closeup just before the last KO and he looked like he was hyperventilating, screaming at the top of his lungs. And who are these guys "Awton" and "Cunningum" that Bretos kept referring to? Don't need to apologize about BMB. The Crew has never known what to do with him, and the Arena influence has worn off. Can't wait until the 24th. And Andy, please don't go looking to play smack with Topper, OK? He's WAY out of your league, and none of us feel like having to extricate your ass from the humiliation in order to avoid having all Crew fans look like idiots. And what's with West? If he's healthy, why isn't he starting, and if he's not why did he go in late? I thought Andrulis handled the subs very well tonite. Complain all you want, but it WORKED boys and girls; we won.
And so was Buddle for all but a couple of the first 75 minutes.... ...why? Because there was no one on the field who could get either one of these people the ball... ...and another poor showing by our pal Jeffy, who after six years still doesn't get it...he passes when he should be attacking/shooting and tries to shoot/dribble around 3 or 4 people when he should be passing.
Who the ************ said I was going to RUN smack with Topper? I just happen to appreciate his writing style. He's not a complete jackass like you. Dangerous for you to assume, Bill. I may go ahead and play around with him a "little bit", and I could care less what YOU think about it. Are we clear? Jackass.
In defense of Cunningham - and all our forwards - for the first 70 minutes or so it was a bad day to be a Columbus front-runner. Nearly every time a Crew forward had the ball he faced a 2 v. 5 or 2 v. 6. There was, for long stretches, absolutely no support for the attackers. Most instances no pass was even possible as all the passing lanes were clogged by the boys in blue so the man with the ball was left with little option. And, although far too few will notice most likely, Cunningham was busting his ass getting back to break up Kansas City possessions in our defensive third. It's amazing how quickly this match turned from one of the worst I'd ever watched in person to one of the best. A three goal outburst can do that, I guess. I'm not annointing Buddle the second coming or anything, but he's really stepping up as of late. Hopefully this is what we can expect from him rather than false hope towards which we'll always point.
Anyone else up for playing a 2-3-5 formation? One of, if not, the best games I have ever witnessed. After the 75th minute, of course. And just think, MLS Detroit could hang to watch the rest of the match. He missed the best parts. Now, I just have to work to get the kitchen pass for the 24th.
Exactly Bill. Perhaps Fitz (I don't believe I'm about to say this) was right all along. Because no one on the club can provide service to BMB, he might as well play as a withdrawn forward/midfielder, where he can get his foot/head on the ball and make things happen - such as a quality pass to a teammate (unlike Jeffy). I disagree about the Arena influence wearing off. BMB playing as he always has, except the rest of the club not responding. I WILL complain...the first 75 minutes was pure crap. It gets back to having no one on the field who could pass the ball for the first 60+. I was about to leave when Buddle made it 2-1. Andrulis handled the subs very well because - in my opinion - it was Warchyza who made the suggestions (and Andrulis followed). I also think the only reason it "Worked" was because of KC's (Gansler's) stall tactics.... they went into the shell after minute No. 2... which resulted in five minutes of stoppage time in the second half (about the only thing the ref got right all night). The V-Army had it right... "typical Wizards, always cheating." I think any other official (even Uriah Rennie) would have red-carded their No. 14 by the 65th minute. I also want to know where the assistant referees came from...certainly not an AYSO league...very few of their offside calls was correct.
Re: - The Crew had 5 weeks to promote this game.. they sold 62 tickets a day. They'd better do one hell of a lot better for the CUP FINAL.
Re: Re: - There are some interesting dynamics here; part of it is that Tuesday is a big Youth Soccer night, and another part that nobody outside of us hardcore lunatics has a clue what the Open Cup even is. But a BIG part of it is that, as a poster was complaining elsewhere last night, these games are NOT MLS games but rather are "owned" by US Soccer, who insist on handling promotion and advertising themselves. This is because they don't actually live in the real world and see themselves as some sort of soccer marketing geniuses instead of the clueless morons they are. And of course a BIG chunk of the gate goes to US Soccer, not to the Crew. I may be mistaken here but I think that, essentially, they RENT the stadium from us for "their" match. That being said, they'd be one hell of a lot better off to give a guy like Smith a budget and let him promote the match. It's what he does. With over a month to educate people on what this thing is, I'd bet you could raise a crowd. Unfortunately, I doubt it's gonna happen. The US Soccercrowd are control freaks, and incompetent ones at that.
Re: Re: Re: - Exactly. The Crew were participants in their own stadium, but this was not a Crew or MLS event. WHY, WHY would anyone schedule a game on tuesday night in Cbus. Virtually everyone HS and below had a game/practice etc. Tonight (wed 9-11) would have been a great night as a memorial game following the people's Flag event @6pm. Opportunity lost... What great heart by the Crew. What great courage by Andrulis to put our entire offense to work and force Gansler to completely bunker. Exciting Soccer vs. the bunker ball boredom.
Last night it appeared to me, and several others in the Northend, that in addition to getting a lack of quality service, and unlike in most past games, McBride just wasnt trying. Or, that he was out of sync with where the ball was going to be played, or he would run under a header instead of getting to a position with which to gain an advantage. But, in fairness, and like all of you have said, everyone in the stadium was frustrated and unhappy those first seventy minutes. Also, I'm sure that most of you have already forgotten the spark in offense that Perez and Garcia supplied coming in off the bench, and its probably certain that Perez will be called a slothlike worthless self-oriented player again, as early as Friday.