Columbus Crew to Austin Texas?

Maybe they thought it worked for the FIRE (2002), it might work for them. We moved into Cardinal Stadium in Naperville while SF was being renovated. We started out with 9k capacity because of the Cardinals track and field was still going on. It wasn't until the third game the temp seats were installed (15k capacity).

 

This has to be one of the top 10 douche bag moves of all time.

 

Actually it's really cool. They want to be fans of MLS. They're trying to be uber respectful. How is this in any way, shape, or form douchebaggery?

 

It's a shame that they're forced to attend a game almost incognito, as a result of being put in the middle of a fight between the Crew fans and PSV/MLS.

All avoidable if Precourt had just been encouraged to pursue an Austin expansion team.

 

Has the term backhanded respectfulness been coined?

 

Bill Archer's take (from the Columbus forum):

With this ATXFan trip to Dallas, the real Austinite neckbeard motivation is revealed;

Look closely at what they're saying; it's not about soccer. They don't give a fart about soccer. If they did, two different USL teams would not have failed about 30 seconds after the first ball was kicked. I'm not going to wonder how many of these guys ever attended an Aztex game. We know the answer.

They say this is a "scouting mission". Which is nonsense talk. None of them is Dave Sarachen,andnone of them would know a soccer game or a soccer player if they fell over them in the bathroom. They're going to "scout" Harrison Awful? Jonathan Mensah? Justin Meram? Do they even know who these guys are? Of course not, and they won't know afterwards either.

"Gosh,that guy would be much more effective if everyone didn't know he has to go to his right foot to shoot" or "that defender always bites on the first move" are not phrases you're going to hear. "Scouting mission". Ridiculous.

If they were so interested in "scouting" the team they'd have turned on the TV long before now. What are you going to learn about the team sitting in Frisco that you can't figure out listening to Dwight Burgess call a game?

No, the whole entire thrust of the mission and the message is to "introduce themselves" to Dallas supporters and start to get acquainted with "other sg's".

Read it closely. What they want, what they've always wanted, what all of Austin seems to be about, is hanging with the cool kids. "Scouting mission" my sweet white ass. They think they've just joined a really neato club, part of the national fraternity of groovy guys who drink and sing together at MLS games.

It's all they've ever wanted.

I don't recall Nashville fans hitting the road to Chicago in order to "introduce themselves to other sg members". Atlanta fans didn't rent a bus and head to DC so they could let Barra Brava in on how cool they are.

On the other hand, the whole thing - like pretty much everything the wonderful, loyal but oh-so-sad Crew employees who are running this fraud - is simply copying something that Crew fans do, in this case, NorOnTour. Except that Crew fans kick in for the bus. These guys think Greeley is Santa Claus.

The difference being that when the Crew fans show up they're wearing stuff that they themselves paid for. Then again, that's one thing we have in common: Austin fans are wearing stuff that Crew fans paid for too.

Bottom line, the soccer doesn't matter. It never has. It's about being hip. Cool. Sitting at the cool kids table for the first time in their lives. Losers finally thinking they belong to something.

Their chief concern seems to be to assure each other that "fellow SG's" already love them and are just waiting to hug and kiss, and welcome them into the cool kids section, just like the fans of....well, I can't think of anybody.

This is one sad, pathetic bunch of clueless geeks.

https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/crew-to-austin-in-2019-maybe.2075321/page-1221#post-37101458

 

They aren’t forced to do anything. They could go watch a game and go home, that would be a fan of the sport.

Instead, they try to make it like a scouting mission for a team that will never play in Austin.

They also know if they went in loud they would be further ostracized by the FCD fans.

There is literally nothing “cool” about this cry for attention.

 

At this stage of MLS expansion (and relocation), this take has proven to be largely false and really needs to be put to bed. Support for lower division teams in the area has NOT proven to be a good indicator for how well an MLS team will be supported and it is, largely, an attempt to de-legitimize the fans in an expansion/relocation as soccer fans.

If MLS/Precourt get their way, then Austin is going to have a MLS team in the near future, whether that is because Columbus relocated to Austin, or because they get an expansion team is immaterial at this point and it behooves Austin's future fans to start repairing the damage that MLS/Precourt have done to their reputation.

 

You misleading quote me as the source of what Bill Archer said.

In other words, "don't shoot the messenger."

I will say, while I don't fully endorse Archer's colorful characterization (especially that the Austinites don't care about soccer), I do think the tweet from Austin fans is tone-deaf and disagreeable. There's no assurance any players on the 2018 Columbus side will play in Austin next season, and the implied suggestion otherwise is offensive. I also think that Archer's charge that these clowns' overarching desire is to be "cool kids" is on target.

Wait for your team and then support it. And don't covet someone else's team. I believe that's among the Ten Commandments.

 

If USL attendance was some sort of predictor of MLS success then Toronto and Atlanta wouldn't even be in the league right now. No need to read anything else. This is clearly just a rant from a bitter fan.

 

Fair point, I've updated my quote to include the portion that it was from Archer.

Meh. It comes off as Archer being bitter and overly judgemental of a group of fans that had absolutely nothing to do with MLS/Precourt's desire to move a team to their city. It might be cold and insensitive of them to start showing up at Crew games now, but it by no means supports Archer's broader attempt to denigrate them as fans.

Unfortunately, your belief does not match up with reality.

 

I didn't say it was about attendance.

The financials were up in the air. No one really knew if even getting your own stadium was going to work.

So you are right, it was about squeezing pennies, which at the time was pretty much par for the course ofr everyone in MLS as they tried to hold the teams and league together.

I believe they also might have said that it would help them prepare for having a smaller venue.

It was all bad and a horrible decision, but at the time it could be understood.... until you finally saw a game in Dragon Stadium.

I was a season ticket holder for 2 seasons before and the Dragon Stadium debacle. I think I went to like 3 or 4 games in total there, because it was so bad.

 

It's classic Archer, spending 99% of his mental energy on motivations and 1% on actions. It's all about telling us what other people think and not what they do.

 

Atlanta had a NASL team that drew well.

 

They drew ok. Particularly in the NASL era when they spiked up to the 4k range. Prior to that they spent a decade in the 2k-3k range, certainly not too shabby by D2 standards at the time, but not to the extent that drawing 40k-50k would be predicted from that total.

 

I'm just saying, it's a shame that this approach to putting a team in Austin has turned what should be an exciting event, into one fraught with tension and animosity.

It's normally fascinating when a new team is announced. As it stands, if it's at the cost of the Crew, I have to hope Austin doesn't happen.

Even if it does happen and the Crew remain, it's only going to be through fighting the league and PSV for the privilege.

 

That's really the crux.

Every other expansion team was met with excitement and anticipation league wide. Expansion in Austin is getting almost league wide disdain.

Who's fault is that?

First, AP, Garber and MLS. They should have known relocation for no reason other than vanity wouldn't be accepted by the vast majority. If they didn't know that, they don't know their audience. (That is a distinct possibility)

Second has to be the astroturf Austin fans that would put out that garbage letter. They knew exactly how that would be received and I think they enjoy the attention being the villain brings.

If they truly want to be accepted as a legitimate SG, they could have waited until everything was finalized, their expansion was announced by MLS and everything was set.

Instead they continue to be either tone deaf or as*holes, you pick.

 

Which is something Bill, himself, has noted and is aware of.

And somehow conflating a relatively small group of prospective supporters group fans of an Austin MLS team with the failure of two Austin minor league teams is ridiculous.

As important as SGs like to think of themselves, the vast majority of fan revenues in MLS and other sports is generic bandwagon - major league - fans, not supporters groups.

The closest any MLS team is to relying on supporters (Portland) could probably replace their SG seating with generic fans from their waiting list for season tickets.

 

What team would that be? It wasn't the Silverbacks or the Ruckus before it.

 

I'm going to go with "tone deaf".

If they wanted to be a*holes, they could do that without all the trouble of attending a game and sending a letter.

I get why you're riled up and my position initially was that Austin shouldn't accept this team. I still think there's merit to refusing to accept relocated teams as a matter of course. I think it would force owners into a whole new approach. However, I also accept that it's unrealistic and to a point, is asking a lot of an entire locale who may not get a team any other way.

But I digress.

My take on this is that this group of supporters are simply excited about having a team, can't wait to see them play and this was the closest they were going to get for the time being.

Now I certainly see the gripe. To use a dramatic analogy, the patient is still fighting for their lives and these guys are checking out the bed to see if it'll look good in their spare room.

They're also mindful enough to say "Grandma hasn't quite pegged it yet, so please be discreet...".

But I'd go with ignorant and heavy-handed, over openly trying to be pr*cks. In fact, I suspect they thought they were being considerate and respectful in their own cringey way.

 

I get your point.

I disagree, considering I have been watching this group and know how they operate, but I can understand how someone in your position would be willing to give benefit of the doubt.

 

Sums things up.

https://sportsday.dallasnews.com/soccer/soccer/2018/09/14/thoughts-could-crews-final-game-texas

 

Apart from the fact that it whitewashes the relocation of the San Jose Earthquakes to Houston. I don't care to hear about the MK Dons, when there is a precedent much closer to home.

Maybe if there had been more of an outcry about San Jose, this wouldn't be happening in Columbus. And maybe if there is sufficient outcry this time, it won't happen to anyone else.

 

Atlanta Chiefs--NASL Champions in the league's inaugural season (1968).