Crew to Austin in 2019..(Maybe)

Because you are literate?
Because you graduated high school?
Because you shower more than once a week?

 

"Alive" seems to be aimed at, shall we say, a younger demographic than I am--more "hip", I guess. And there's nothing wrong with that, excepting the reporting gap left by the departure of the Other Paper, who were not afraid to at least question the elites here.

 

A grassroots organization of fans has done more marketing to #savetheCrew than the owner has done in the years

 

The Crew’s time in Columbus has been marked with poor ownership since the passing of Uncle Lamar.

 

True, but if the speed with which he received a bag-tag from those in power about his little thought-experiment are anything with which to gauge (a public retraction in less than 24hrs?... yikes)...

Those with the means appear to be those with the least desire.

 

It’s almost seems that if an owner was actually present in the city maybe he would have had a real connection to the community and could have utilized the same energy to his benefit.

But being absent then running away and harming everyone around him is more his style I guess.

 

In 1997, when MLS was brand-new and the Columbus Crew was playing in Ohio State's football stadium, Franklin County (which includes most of Columbus and some suburbs) held an election for a half cent sales tax to support building a downtown stadium for the Crew and an arena for an expansion NHL team the city hoped to land with the help of one of the most famous and influential figures in American sports, Lamar Hunt. The campaign was very divisive, and the issue failed. After that, Lamar Hunt negotiated a deal with an upscale suburb, Dublin, under which they would annex some land at the fringes of what was then metropolitan Columbus, acquire the land, improve the roads leading to this land and build sewers and related infrastructure. The deal had a number of features which led independent analysts to conclude it was revenue neutral for Dublin. There was no tax. Local residents got up a petition to force an election on the issue. The newspapers (even the counterculture Other Paper) expected this election to favor the stadium deal.
Dublin had voted 61% in favor of paying a tax for downtown facilities, and voted 61% against a soccer stadium with no tax in their back yard.

 

Around the same time Les Wexner offered to build a soccer stadium at Easton, and the preliminary plan was stunning. It would also have had 30 or so fields for practice and local teams.

Nobody was interested. The pols were sure that they would get voter approval for their plans which would not involve Wexner who they didn't much like. Plus Lamar was in bed with McConnel and that crowd in a deal to bring in the NHL team and figured he didnt need Wexner poking his nose in.

In the end, McConnel screwed the Hunts, the voters refused to approve a build and Wexner walked away pissed.

Which is why wondering whether L brands won't get involved now is a waste of.time. He tried to build us a stadium once and got kicked in the nuts.

You tell me: how cool would a stadium up there be now?

 

There are so many wounds that could be healed with local ownership.

 

And so much ugly history, like the Hunt lawsuit and all of that. So much bad blood.

People want to talk about how the local power elite isn't interested on the Crew, but I think the problem is long standing issues and resentments

They ask why they didn't buy the team from Clark Hunt when Fratass did but nobody knew it was for sale including Hunt. He was looking for a minority investor and nobody in town wanted to have anything to do with anyone named Hunt.

 

I was making a very different point. Stadium elections are very chancy things, and even expert expectations about how they might turn out are quite unreliable. NIMBYs are powerful. Anti-tax activists are not the only people against stadiums. Watching how this turns out is not a slender thread of hope Precourt's plans in Austin may fail. At the very least, an election will ruin his timing.

 

Fratass.

 

http://www.thisweeknews.com/sports/20171121/soccer-crew-move-would-have-ripple-effect

It’s been an emotional few weeks for those in the central Ohio soccer community such as Dublin Coffman High School senior Emeka Eneli.

The announcement by Columbus Crew SC owner Anthony Precourt on Oct. 17 that the team is exploring the possibility of moving to Austin, Texas, after the 2018 season sent shockwaves throughout the club’s fan base.

The potential departure also has left many wondering about the future of Crew SC Academy, where might the OHSAA hold future state championship games and what sort of effects it could have on youth who no longer would have a local team to follow.

Eneli began playing for Crew SC Academy when he was 12 and did so through his junior year before helping the Shamrocks reach a Division I state semifinal this fall in his only season playing at the prep level.

“It’s been truly sad for me, actually,” said Eneli, who will play for Cornell University. “I basically grew up with the Crew and they developed me. The Crew has definitely had a major impact on soccer in central Ohio. They can sign homegrown players, they sponsor multiple events and, most importantly, give kids something to look up to and strive to be.”

 

Not to be nitpicky but I believe the proper term is Saint Lamar.

 

Really, someone wanted to put the stadium in Goodale park? That never would have a chance of happening. It's not important to me to build a new place at all or downtown but if we do get a new field, it will either be replacing some blighted area, or a vacant lot, or squeezed in to an undeveloped parcel. It won't be in a major city park. Might as well propose Schiller park for it.

A spot I haven't seen mentioned that I think would be viable is the area bounded by Sunbury road, Rt 161 and I-270. It's currently woods and brush but seems large enough for a stadium, parking, and some development. It has good highway access and is near Easton. That wouldn't satisfy the downtown or bust folks but otherwise checks the boxes.

 

Not just insane. Criminally insane.

 

St. Lamar and Uncle Phil.

 

No no no.

Over the past few years, Comfest has run into a slowly growing number of NIMBYs when it comes time for them to get signatures for the various permits they need...and that's just three days each year. Of course, it's two different things, but no way would the neighborhood be for it, especially when the same area was largely against Issue One due to traffic/noise concerns.

Even if the fans would still be walking from the arena district, they'd still need an area for team buses, player/staff parking and parking for disabled fans.

I know that map is just an idea...but the southeast corner would be much better while still a terrible idea.

 

Goodale Park?

How about next to the new Vet, on what was the parking lot west of the old memorial auditorium. It's county owned property.

 

Easton is the devil according to some around here.