So I finally remembered to take a look at the draw for the Open Cup, and I saw this: Aug 3 - FC Dallas (MLS) at Columbus Crew (MLS) Jesse Owens Stadium; Columbus, OH - 7:30pm CT OR Aug 3 - Columbus Crew (MLS) at Wilmington Hammerheads (USL-2) Legion Field; Wilmington, NC - 7:30 p.m. ET Being from Indianapolis, I'm not familiar with Jesse Owens Stadium. Is that a small stadium on the campus of OSU or something? Also, should I take that to mean that the Crew expect such a small crowd for this match that it would be too expensive for them to open up their own stadium? They figure they'll lose less money on this match if they play elsewhere? If that's true, thats just mind-boggling! And frankly, it's a sad testament to the sorry state of our franchise. Or is there some scheduling conflict that prevents us from using Crew Stadium that night? Does it usually take more than 2 days to clean up after Artistry In Motion? And by the way, don't worry about that "at Wilmington" possibility. Every single MLS team will be on the road against any lower tier squads that advance (except, bizarrely, for Kansas City). I guess they finally realized that the Open Cup is more attractive to Rochester and Wilmington fans than it is to fans of the Crew and Metrostars. The Dallas/Wilmington game is July 13.
Jesse Owens is the OSU soccer and track stadium. The Crew play an annual charity match there each spring. It's a nice college field and should accomodate the crowd. On Matchnight, Jeff Wuerth said the match would probably be a joint Crew-OSU charity event. All this depends on how seriously Dallas takes the cup. They have a realistic shot at a double this year so they might play their starters vs Wilmington and us.
That's right... major connection We're getting reamed just like Prof. McGinty reamed us on that bio test yesterday! Man, I can so relate to Crew now.
You could hold it out on the damn Oval and they wouldn't care unless there was free beer. And maybe a wet T shirt contest.
The State Fair doesn't start until the 4th or 5th but that probably is a factor. And, FWIT, the Jesse Owens field is 100x better than where the Hammerheads play (field quality, capacity, parking), although they probably sell beer.
If an exception isn't made (non-OSU stuff at the Schott has beer), then we'll just have to drink more in the parking lot.
Actually, the 3rd is opening day for the fair. The real question about a home Open Cup game that should be answered: Will the Crew Organization make the US Open Cup game their Special Game B but your seat designation means nothing? Or Will the Crew Organization take the chance and designate Special Game B as our 1st Home Playoff game and pretty much know they will be refunding those at the end of the season? As a result, US Open Cup tickets have to be bought separately and we end up with an attendance that makes the Catolica game look like a sell out.
If they make Special Game B the alleged playoff, they just get to keep the money for most people, since they insist you actually return the physical tickets to get the refund, and most people don't go to the hassle.
Just watch out for Karen's goon squad, we're not going to look very convincing as fat cat alumni.......
Yes, after literally millions in improvements to field and stadium a couple of years back our pitch still holds onto water like a sponge, limited paved parking, capacity is okay since even with 4,000 fans last week we were still just half full but we do have plenty of beer taps flowing and that alone makes our stadium better...Best of luck through your season and who knows maybe we will knock out Dallas again (remember Wilmington 4 Dallas 1 in 2003) and see you in the next round!