Since we're getting some Boca fans here, I thought we ought to have a general facts thread about the Crew. Feel free to ask any questions about the Crew, or post some knowledge you think would be helpful for our friends from Argentina. As was stated in the "Crew gets no coverage" thread, the primary thing any new fan of the Crew needs to know is that our main rival is DC United. They are like River: they have sex with their sisters, they cheat and complain more than any other team in MLS, and their fans are a bunch of criminals, thugs, and degenerates. If you are new to the Crew, hating DCU is a good start.
I don't think we have a main rival. Nobody considers us thier main rival, just most of us have a special dislike for DC United because of the playoffs in the late 90's.
RIVALS The rivalry between DC and Columbus started back in 1996, the league's first year. We were something like 0-13 at their stadium before we got our first win. In 1997, 1998, and 1999, we lost to them in the Eastern Conference Finals. The 1999 series took 3 games, with Columbus winning the second one at home 5-1. Compared to what it once was, this rivalry has cooled off in recent years. When DC was considered the main rival (it still is by some), it seemed to be more between the teams, and less between the fans. The rivalry with Chicago started in 1998 (their first year). We were scheduled to play them in the 1998 US Open Cup Final (I don't know what the Argentine equivalent is, but the English equivalent is the FA Cup.) The final was scheduled to be at a neutral site, at a time when Columbus was playing good soccer and Chicago wasn't at their peak. The game was set for a Tuesday night, but a hurricane caused a postponement to the next night. On Wednesday night, the game was postponed "to a later date." There were rumors abound about the situation of the game, one of which would have seen it played at a city about halfway between Chicago and Columbus. Ultimately, this game was set to be played in Chicago, at a time when Chicago was hot, and Columbus had cooled off. Chicago ended up winning the match (and their second title of the season) in golden goal extra time. Flash forward to the last game of the 1999 season. Columbus was at home, to which Chicago brought a lot of fans. Add to that the fact that the two supporter's sections were very close together, and tensions were raised higher. I don't know when it started, but every time Chicago comes, they bring a group of hooligans who's apparent mission is to deface Crew (or Crew supporter's property), or flat out steal it. It should be noted that these activities aren't participated in by everyone wearing Chicago colors, just a few of them. Needless to say, they usually attract the attention of stadium security, some ugly situations may take place, and they may or may not end up spilling over to the message boards in the week after the game. One year (I forget when it was), we had been eliminated from the playoffs before the regular season ended. On the last day of our season, we were playing Chicago at home. Chicago was winning 2-0 at halftime, when they put in a reserve goalkeeper and made some other changes. We responded by winning 6-2, scoring all 6 goals in the second half. Even though it didn't matter any, this was still a very fun game to be at. Some Crew fans think of Chicago as the main rival, while other Crew fans think of DC as the main rival. I suppose, it all depends who you ask, and perhaps even when you ask them. There's a few more "rivals", which i'll sum up quickly: New England Revolution - We beat them in 1996 to advance to the playoffs, while they ended their season early. Then, for a long time, not much happened between these two teams. In 2002, they also were victorious in the semifinals over us. After we won the league's regular season title a few years after that, they bounced us from the playoffs in the opening round. More recently, the past few meetings have been very physical. Red Bull New York - This team has been called by a few names. They originally were known as "New York/New Jersey MetroStars", as they played in New Jersey, but were known as New York/New Jersey. A few years later, they were known as "MetroStars", then when the Red Bull energy drink company bought the team, the team became known as New York Red Bulls, while the organization became known as Red Bull New York. There's not too much history between us and them, but we still hate them. WEBSITES www.crewstadium.com - A lot of information about the stadium, and both soccer and non-soccer events that are held there. www.huntparkinsider.com - This fan-run website has been around for a few years, but over the past few months, has developed into the main (if not only) fan site for the team. www.thecrew.com - This is the official site. It used to be run by a group of fans, but the league took it over, in their acquisition of most of the team websites.
Wouldnt it be great if we got so many Argentine fans that we needed a sub-forum for them? Might gin up interest
F**k S**tcago and F**k DC. Who cares which they are both nothing more than a collection of talentless hacks and thugs.
Didn't some Crew fans get assaulted at a match in Chicago? Also, I remember going to a match in Chicago and our section had their drums, noisemakers, etc. confiscated while other parts of the park were allowed to keep theres.
Good, I look for more of a reason to hate you F*re imbred kielbasa-dildo using sh!theaps. Xen, and all other Boca fans, as I said in the other thread, here are the 3 basics: 1. DC U*nted fans are a liars/cheaters and sleep with their sisters (ala River). 2. Chicago F*re fans are thieves and molestors, never let them out of your sight. 3. Columbus Crew is a MASSIVE club with global support, all are welcome to join in following this club. To add on to points 1&2: 1a. I hate DCU mostly because of the players, the coaches, and their style of play (crying, cheating, begging the ref, diving, breaking legs (no joke), cocky, arrogant, self-righteous bastards). 2a. I hate the F*re mostly because of their fans (I used to hate their team a lot more back in the 98-02 era when their team was a lot more like DCU has always been) as their fans all emerge from the sewers of Chicago and the bottom of the boats entering Chicago from unspeakable hell-holes. I hope this has helped to inform you of the basics of our club and following the Columbus Crew.
This was in October 2003 IIRC; my first season following Crew. Also, at some point during the 2nd half of the match, 3-5 Chicago hooligans came down into section 137 and tried to start a fight. Hang fought back on behalf of the group, and one girl in our section grabbed a drumstick right out of my hand and got some nice whacks in on a F!re hooligan's body. Dickhead deserved it . Police and Crew security restored order between the 5-8 total persons involved in the incident, and 137 was left with a F!re scarf that had been knocked to the ground. Forget who it was, but one of our supporters had a lighter, which he promptly used in an attempt to set said scarf ablaze...it didn't work, but it was still pretty cool. Evidence to item #3: After leaving Columbus for Fairfax, VA to start the next phase of my life at the start of summer, I plan to start UNION 103: CAPITAL CITY CREW SUPPORTERS CLUB with buckeye5 and 2 other die-hard Crew fans.
Then I say Bring on the Argies! Us Crew fans LOVE being hated. The more the better. Heap it on, can't get enough. We're damn proud of being hated. They say you can judge a man by the caliber of his enemies, and I suspect the same applies to soccer teams. And both DC and F*re fans are so VERY "low caliber" that it's a point of pride when they hate us. So if Argentines will ensure that we are hated even more, then welcome to them all.
Well, officially (sorta, at least according to the crest) the group is called, Crew Supporters Union: Local 103 Columbus... so you can keep in that vein with Crew Supporter Union: Local 103 Washington DC (or capital city, but that gets confusing since people refer to other cities as the capital city - for instance they do that with Indy sometimes). Once we get a foothold out here, I'd like to officially have Crew Supporters Union: Local 103 Indianapolis
Same happens to us, if you're not Boca then you're anti-Boca, thats the only 2 teams there are coz all the rest just hates us and that just makes us bigger. So go on hate us DC and Chicago, good luck with Blanco and all the red cards youre gonna see
I'll go ahead and state my hatred for New England (in addition to the Scum and the F*re). Matt Reis, their goalkeeper, is a complete and utter douche who magically has the ability to save PKs. Their former captain, Joey Franchino, was recently in rehab for alcohol I believe, and he's a hack. Jay Heaps, their oh-so-athletic defender, played basketball at Duke University, and he's a hack. Jeff Larentowicz is a second year midfielder who falls to the ground quicker than the French at war, and he's a hack. Khano Smith is one of their forwards who is only able to play with his left foot, and he's a hack. Taylor Twellman is their leading goalscorer who is actually pretty good in MLS, but can't do much of anything for the US team, and he's a hack. Steve Nicol is their coach. He played at Liverpool a while back. His team usually plays high scoring games, but they're all hacks. They've been to the MLS Cup Final (I think) three of the past four years, and lost every time. They play like the pansy hacks that they are. I hate them.