COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Columbus Crew announced today that Steve Sirk and the popular "Notebook" column he has authored after home matches for the last eight years return to TheCrew.com this season after a four-year hiatus. Sirk has covered the Crew since 1998 for a variety of outlets, including TheCrew.com from 1999-2003.
"It is a pleasure to welcome Sirk back to TheCrew.com," said Crew communications director Dave Stephany. "To its many devotees, his Notebook column has become part of the club's fabric and lore by creating and developing - in his own witty, entertaining style - a rich universe and cast of characters that helps illuminate our players' personalities. I look forward to enjoying his unique perspective and clever observations - and the laughs that come with them - throughout the season."
Sirk enters his 11th season covering the Crew overall, having started in 1998 as a Michigan Soccer News correspondent. He then spent most of the next five seasons writing for TheCrew.com, joining the club's official site midway through the historic 1999 season and continuing through the end of the 2003 season. It was during that tenure that the Notebook column was born and built a loyal and devoted readership.
"They say you can't go home again, but when it comes to the Crew, Dante Washington has proven that you can come home again and again and again," Sirk said, tongue in cheek. "I am happy to be returning to TheCrew.com for a second stint, and like Dante, I look forward to returning many more times in the future, if necessary."
A "Notebook Hall of Famer," as Sirk has designated him, Washington played for the Crew in 1996, 2000-02, and 2004, and became a Crew television analyst in 2007. Washington is joined in the Notebook Hall of Fame by current Crew midfielder Duncan Oughton and former defender Brian Dunseth.
Sirk is also writing an alumni profile entitled "Where Are They Now?" in each of the four issues of "FreeKick" magazine, the official game program of Major League Soccer. Longtime Crew midfielder Brian Maisonneuve is featured in the first issue.
Founded by American sports pioneer Lamar Hunt, the Columbus Crew is Ohio's Major League Soccer club, anchoring a diverse sports and entertainment enterprise. One of the league's Charter Members and U.S. Open Cup champion in 2002, it opened its 13th season overall and 10th in first-of-its-kind Columbus Crew Stadium on Saturday, March 29.
