The reality is that only 4 (if FC Dallas wears their traditional strip) of the 17 home games are against traditional "red" teams (TFC - 2, Shitcago - 1, FCD - 1). Red pays homage to Mapfre (kind of important), and possibly OSU as well. I suppose they could have made them Black, but that'd be brutal during summer concerts/games/events. Can't make them yellow. Could make them Orange but that really doesn't fit any type of color coordination. Same with Blue/Green/Purple. I'm ok with it from a higher level of thinking.
Maybe this has been asked before, but when are The Crew going to get proper seats for the players on the bench, and not the high school bleacher benches? Just looks....tacky.
Most of the upgrades were good. Three things I hated: 1) No respect for the Hard Hats on the Shields on the East side of the stadium = petty and bush league. The Hard Hats won those trophies, they are a part of the club. They should be respected. Shove you stupid marketing/re-branding. I expected it, but I still hate it. That crest should be on those shields. 2) Double drinks are up to $14 from $10 (or was is $9) from last year. Seems like a ripoff to me. I won't be getting any more. Can't drink the beers, gluten free. 3) Hardly any (no) beer on tap. Unless we missed a station somewhere. No taps in the tent, for certain. That is certainly a downgrade. Plus, stop making Dwight and everyone say 'Columbus Crew SC' every freaking time. It sounds stupid. If you can't stand 'the Crew' then let's just go back to 'Columbus.' You don't see English announcers screaming "goooaallll Liverpool FC!"
I wonder if the no taps thing is an industry trend. I noticed the same thing at The Q at the Cavs games this season. Not a single tap (draft) in the upper level. And fewer in the lower bowl. Regarding the SC, absolutely love it in the logo, but not a fan of having to hear it / say it every time you say Crew, err Crew SC. Could have put it in the new crest without the forced having to say it every time.
That's probably a long way off, if you're talking about integrating them with the stands, as they'd have to redo those sections and possibly move club seat holders. However, I'm sure some people wouldn't complain, as there seems to be a few complaints every game about the covers over the benches. Originally, those were only in place for games with inclement weather. Now, it doesn't matter if it's 50 and rain or 75 and sunny...the covers are in place.
It's no surprise that not many people know of Mapfre Insurance. I didn't know of them. After all, they failed the first rule of marketing which is having a name you can pronounce properly at first glance. It's too much work to figure out how to say Mapfre properly, I certainly am not going to buy insurance from them. It's like Bimbo bread. It's just too complicated when the name has nothing to do with what is means in English. I'm a simpleton, I know.
What I don't get is that they've had a business in Columbus for many decades, but it's "aka" American Commerce Insurance Co... so it's a Mapfre Insurance d/b/a American Commerce Insurance Co? How can they say they've had a presence in Columbus for so many years, yet no one has heard of them until late last year?
American Commerce Insurance has existed in Columbus for many years and it was their HQ in Mass founded in 1972. International giant Mapfre bought ACI in 2007. http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2007/10/30/84650.htm
So it is very common in the insurance industry to have insurance policies issued on apaper with a compnay name that is different than the Brand. For instance if you have a minimum limits policy through Nationwide - it is likely on Titan Insurance Company paper - but to you it is Nationwide. This is usually the result of an acquisition. In most instances the paper stays the same after acquisition due to regulatory filings and such. Conversely another example might be someone living in Iowa they might have insurance through Iowa Mutual which is company managed by Motorists Mutual. They may have never heard of Motorists as it could be run somewhat automously. It's likely if many of you actually looked at your auto or homeowners policies the actual name on the policy will be different than the brand you thought you bought it form. It may have the brand logo on it but legally it is a differnet compnay name providing the insurance. So in this case American Commerce Insurance has been in Columbus for a long time. Mapfre acquired them. In the short term they may have let them run under the ACI brand with little mention on Mapfre but from all press I've read we are likely to see a push by Mapfre to brand their subsidiaries under one umbrella. It also appears they may likely do more acquisitions in other states (insurance filings are on a state by state basis) and become more of a national presence in the industry. So enough of the boring insurance nonsense. I'm thankful for the naming rights deal and will not criticize it nor the use of the color red in the stadium. I just want it to lead to more investment in the team by the owner not line his pockets.
I like how we get a good win over our 'rival', and one of the biggest teams (on paper) in the league, and all people can do is bitch. Bitch about Mapfre, bitch about 'SC', the new mascot, the color of the stadium staff's shirt, etc. Good god people give it a rest.
I think it's harsh to say that some of these are "bitching" when it's clear they're more minor annoyances. I don't think anyone (here) is calling for Precourt's head over the new mascot.
It doesn't need to be anything that in-depth, but maybe a tiered platform with a roof with some nicer, individual seats. I've often thought the same thing.
That's not the club bending the truth, that's just how it's done in the real world. For example, the engineering firm where I worked was purchased by a much larger firm. My official start date with my current firm is 01/08/01, which is actually my start date for the original firm; the acquisition was finalized 10/01/05. My current employer isn't bending the truth.
Just curious, is this firm in Dublin? (those dates are pretty close to when my company bought another engineering firm out).
Some of us have nothing better to do, darnit. Or we do, but don't want to (raises hand and continues to not study for Thursday's pathophysiology exam). Some of us spend the 30 minutes we saved by heating up our cheese Stromboli from Friday instead making a fancy vegan meal trolling the interwebs. Btw, I'm vegetarian and my dad was/often still pretends to be vegan. I think I'll never give up cheese. It's just too good. I'm glad to hear that there will be food options if I manage to make it to a game the next couple years.
It was the first major league SSS but built later than Blackbaud (some count Lusitano as the first, if I recall correctly).
The two were built within a month of each other. IMO being the first of its size and for professional is much more important than being the first built. Its quite a bit easier to succeed in building a 3000 seat stadium in this country than one of 20,000+.