If you are a northern Ohio Crew fan, who will you root for? I'm a Crew fan, but from NE Ohio, so Cleveland is my #1 team in all sports. I will still root for the Crew, except when playing Cleveland. I figure some (from NE Ohio) will stick with the Crew. I figure some (from NE Ohio) will disown the Crew. And there are some who never latched on to the Crew in the first place. There are also figure that there are many displaced Ohio people throught the country, like me, who will make Cleveland MLS their first or second favorite team. And of course those who will root for them both.
The gospel of BigSoccer probably hasn't travelled to those who don't support teams yet. I don't think you need to worry about local support.
I'll defect in a heart-beat. It's not like I had any particular reason to support the Crew, just lived there for a couple of years before I moved up to Cleveland. Since I'm moving back to Cleveland, I'd gladly support the local team. As long as they're in Cleveland (downtown) though, not in Akron. Might as well just continue to drive down to Columbus rather than going out there. Much prefer being able to hit the Warehouse after matches. That would rock.
Forget you buddy. I'm a NE Ohioan, and if I had a friend who left the Crew to support Cleveland, I'd disown them. Hell, I'd disown my own brother if he did that. I know I've stated this before in other Cleveland threads, but honestly people, the town of Cleveland sucks. Their teams suck. The people there suck. Even their roads are f-cked up. To go support some new Cleveland cracker box team over the Crew is just silly.
I still don't understand how people don't pay attention to populations, number of cities, etc.... Cleveland's metro is a decent sized one... and Ohio has plenty of large/medium sized cities.
I'll follow the Cleveland team, likely even go to a few matches particularly if the Crew is on the road, but the Crew is my team and always will be.
If Cleveland gets a team I will most likely have season tickets and the lot. Hard to say though. I'm waiting for the team to actually happen before I worry about it too much. Hell, had thise gone through a few years ago it would have been easy to leave the Crew. (in the middle of the GA era) But, I tell ya, now that they have potential it will be difficult. But, then again I used to like the F!re back in '98, now I can't stand the bastards. (Don't know what that has to do with anything, though)
Chelsey, you've just lost a whole lotta respect in my eyes. I love the Crew, but Columbus is a town full of yuppies, drunken frat boys and Republicans. I'll always remember the Crew and V-Army, but when Cleveland FC becomes a reality, I know where my loyalties lie.
While I appreciate the sentiment, most likely both teams will have a few road games to start the season to let the weather settle in. This is more likely to be the third or fourth match of 2008. Score looks about right though.
Over the years, I have been much too close to the Crew to abandon them. They'll still be my team. But being from Cleveland, it would be damn near treasonous to root against a Cleveland team. So I will definitely follow them and root for them the other 28 games per year. I'll definitely attend games on Crew away weekends, especially if the Tribe is in town the same weekend. I am not one for sports bigamy, but there's no other way in this situation. I just can't drop the Crew. It's like I am an adopted kid who may get to meet his birth parents or something. The Crew raised me, so they are family, and Cleveland's blood, and so they are family by default. If Cleveland had a team first, this wouldn't even be an issue. I would unquestionably love the Cleveland team with all my heart and the Crew would be nothing to me. But Cleveland wasn't around and the Crew took me in, so I can't suddenly turn my back on them if Cleveland gets a team. A decade counts for something. So the Crew would very much still be family, although I would be excited to have my "birth parents" in my life as well. Or something. Sirk