The men of the Columbus Crew recognized that a tie is more of a Father's Day thing. So on Mother's Day weekend, the Crew went out and did their mommas proud, winning their first game of the year, 3-2, over the Kansas City Wizards.
After three otherwise convincing home performances that fell apart in the closing minutes, the Crew finally delivered the steak instead of just the sizzle. They couldn't have picked a better time. Saturday featured perfect soccer weather, an excited crowd and Crew Stadium's 10th birthday. (Observed.)
As usual, here's a collection of notes, quotes, observations, research and general oddity from my notebook...
Highlight Heels
The Crew's first goal of the evening, in the 38th minute, was the rare goal built upon three back heel passes. It started with Gino Padula's heel pass to Robbie Rogers along the left sideline. Rogers accelerated inside and played the ball to Schelotto in the box. Schelotto heeled the ball to Alejandro Moreno, who heeled the ball to a streaking Rogers. Rogers got tangled up with some defenders before he could get a shot away, but the ball squirted free and Emmanuel Ekpo came sliding through traffic to knock the ball in. It's a crime that despite three back heels, the break-up by K.C.'s defense made it an unassisted goal.
The goal was Ekpo's second goal in as many weeks. "We had too many touches in the box," Ekpo said. "I was on the other side of the field, but I knew that for the ball to go into the net, it was going to have to come toward my side of the field, so I came in and looked for a loose ball. It came to me and I am very happy that I got it."
The goal was but one of many highlights for Ekpo, who dazzled the crowd with his wizardry on the right flank. Paradoxically, pinning him against the sideline seemed to be a defender's worst move, as that's when Ekpo would bring the fans out of their seats with another trick from his flash-footed Nigerian Houdini routine.
Crew coach Robert Warzycha was pleased with what he saw. "Especially in the first half, I thought he was really active," said the coach. "He got behind a few times and served some good balls. The goal was a loose ball in the box and he was very quick to put it in the net. I think he had a very, very good game."
The Hammer's Howler
Kansas City equalized the game in the 51st when Crew goalkeeper Andy "The Hebrew Hammer" Gruenebaum produced what is technically known as "a howler." Claudio Lopez took a free kick from the right sideline. He swerved a ball into traffic, and Gruenebaum came charging off his line. And then ... well ... the ball went into the net, completely untouched by anyone, including Gruenebaum.
"I just misjudged it," said Gruenebaum. "I made a bad decision. I am very disappointed in myself. I want to kick myself in the butt for that. I went out because I wanted to take control of the situation and not have a weird deflection in the box, and sure enough, the weird play is actually through me and into the goal. That can't happen. Thankfully we still got the three points."
It would take the Crew all of four minutes to pick up Andy and reclaim the lead.
(And what is it with all the goalkeeping howlers in Crew games this year? First there was William Hesmer's mis-hit clearance to Robbie Findley in Salt Lake, then there was Jon Busch's wayward adventure on Moreno's goal against the Fire, and now the Hammer whiffed on a free kick service. That's three combined goalkeeping howlers in eight Crew matches. As long as they keep alternating, it appears that the Crew are due for a gift goal sometime soon.)
Guillermo's Cabeza
For the first time all year, the Crew reclaimed a lead after squandering it. In the 55th minute, Frankie Hejduk sent a dangerous bouncing ball toward the back post. Schelotto came flying in to nod the ball home with his head before crashing into the goal post.
"Credit to Frankie Hejduk," said Wizards' coach Curt Onalfo. "That was very intelligent ball to the back post."
"It was a shot," declared Danny O'Rourke.
"I was just trying to shoot it across to make it a dangerous ball where it could get in the mix there," said Hejduk. "Fortunately, I whipped it in there and it bounced, and it was kind of an awkward ball for Hartman. It was in between the defenders and the goalkeeper, which is something Bobby (Warzycha) wants us to do. Fortunately, Guillermo was there at the back post. He's a special player and he always knows where the ball is going to go. Fortunately for me and the team, he was there on that one."
A Goal For Gaven
When it comes to snake-bitten goal-scorers, nobody on the Crew has more fang marks than Eddie Gaven. Woodwork, great saves and narrow misses have been his trademark. In many ways, his travails have mirrored the Crew's in that he has played well but hasn't had much to show for it.
On the same day the Crew's luck would change, so would Gaven's. Coincidence? I think not.
In the 78th minute, a mere two minutes after Andy Gruenebaum made a terrific stop of a Josh Wolff shot to preserve the Crew's 2-1 lead, Alejandro Moreno chested down a ball in the box and played it wide left to Robbie Rogers. One juke later, Rogers sent a left footed cross into the box that went over Ekpo but fell perfectly for Gaven. Decisively, Gaven lined up a first-time shot with his right boot, nutmegging defender Michael Harrington and beating goalkeeper Kevin Hartman.
"Eddie has been an unsung hero all season," said O'Rourke. "I'm so happy he scored. He's been very unlucky. I told him one of my old high school coaches used to talk about the pickle jar, and how when you first try to get one out, it's really difficult, but once you take one out, it's really easy. Goals will start coming left and right. So Eddie opened up the pickle jar, and now let's hope that he keeps taking them out. He's been playing very well for us, so it was very deserved tonight."
In fact, O'Rourke was impressed with all three Crew goals. I think they were Danny's kind of goals.
"Manu (Ekpo) laid his body on the line for his goal and Guillermo laid his body on the line for his goal," said O'Rourke. "Eddie's goal was a class finish, but the first two goals were from guys scrapping and laying their bodies on the line for the team."
Hammer Gets a Yellow
Kansas City answered Gaven's goal with a perfectly executed goal of their own, so for the fourth time in four home games, the Crew attempted to defend a one-goal lead in the final minutes.
This time, the Crew did all of the right things. For example, Gruenebaum picked up a delay of game yellow card in stoppage time. Knowing that he is good friends with ex-Crew and current-Fire goalkeeper Jon Busch, who may be the most maddening time waster in the league today, I asked Gruenebaum if his yellow came straight from the Jon Busch school of goalkeeping.
"It's engraved in every single goalkeeping school, not just Buschy's," the Hammer said. "It's just smart. I knew I was going to take a card there for time wasting. I was trying to kill the game, you know? You have to be able to close it out."
"W" Stands For "Whew!"
"We won a game!" Danny O'Rourke exclaimed from his locker a good hour after the final whistle had blown. "It's like a huge monkey off our backs. People have been questioning the team, and questioning the new coach... it's hard to tell people what's going on when they are not behind the scenes. People just see the result and make an opinion, but this team is working even harder than last year. To get the win today is a huge relief."
"It's been a grind, but every team goes through a grind at some point in the season," said Hejduk. "Unfortunately for us, it was the first few games of the season. Now hopefully this win will get us over the hump and get that monkey off our back so we can start fresh again. Last year we concentrated on taking it game by game, and now we can do that without the pressure of having to worry about that first win."
"I think this win will take us to a higher level because now we can relax and do our thing," said Ekpo. "This win has given us the confidence that we can do better."
"These guys just needed a win to take off," said Warzycha. "From this moment, I think it will be easier to play because it was tough not to win in the first seven games and everyone was questioning how many games we would go without a win. Today we got this win and now we can go on from there."
"I am very happy for the goal and the win," said Schelotto. "It was very important for us. I hope that we can continue to improve so we can do the same thing as last year."
Look out MLS. The Massive slumbering giant may have been awakened.
The Reclaimers
As mentioned earlier, Saturday marked the first time that the Crew had reclaimed a lead. They had erased three different 1-0 deficits, but they had never reclaimed a lead after allowing any of their four equalizers.
"Last year, we would always go down a goal and come back and win, and then this year, we would go up and then tie, so it's been sort of the opposite," said O'Rourke. "Obviously, we want to hold every lead, but to be able to fight back and reclaim a lead and then hold it, that's good."
Mo' Guille
As has been the case all season, Guillermo Barros Schelotto was a sight to behold. He was involved with two of the Crew's goals. He leapt to block long clearances. He hounded balls into the offensive third. He won second balls. He did that thing where he slows the game down then abruptly changes pace and direction to the astonishment of the defenders in the vicinity. Basically, he was himself.
"As you can see, Schelotto has his hands in everything," said Wizards coach Curt Onalfo. "He showed the class that he is tonight. He scores a crucial goal right after we tie it up and have a little bit of momentum. He stays alert and follows up when we fall asleep. That first goal was his little flick-on. He causes issues all game long."
"I think he is playing better than last season," said Warzycha. "See how many goals he has. He has four goals, he is very active and he is always one of the best players on the field every time he steps on it. Even late in the game you see him making tackles and chasing the ball."
Welcome Back Frankie
For the first time since the season opener, the Crew were with their captain and starting right back, Frankie Hejduk. The heart of the team had been sidelined with a hamstring injury suffered while with the U.S. National Team.
"When you get back in the lineup after five weeks and you get to be out there with the boys again, battling... Being in the stands watching the game, it's tough to do that," Hejduk said. "No player wants to do that, but unfortunately it happened, so I was happy to get out there and help out any way I could."
Hejduk not only helped by assisting on Schelotto's goal, he helped by sending messages. One such message earned him a yellow card in the 68th minute. K.C.'s Roger Espinoza chucked Ekpo to the ground with a hard, hip-check of a tackle. Hejduk came in with a harsh tackle of his own and then got into Espinoza's face. Hejduk was eventually booked for dissent after giving the referee an earful, although most originally assumed it was for his tackle.
"Just to have Frankie back there, it's great because of his leadership," said O'Rourke. "Not only did he have a great cross, but he got in for a tackle that got him a yellow card, which was his way of saying, 'If you try to push our guys around, then I'm not going to tolerate it.' Little things like that are what we have been missing."
"You saw it today," said Warzycha. "He brings attitude and leadership. That's what your captain is supposed to bring. It was great to have him."
Word Surfing With Frankie
Sometimes when Frankie gets going, you just have to ride the wave...
"I was pumped up, man," he said. "It was the stadium's 10th anniversary. We had a good week of training, and there was a real positive vibe around the team, so we felt like we were going to win this week before we even stepped on the field. That's important. I talked earlier about creating positive energy around the ball, and you do that by winning tackles and battling a little bit harder and helping each other out, and I think we did that tonight. That's why the ball bounced our way a little more often. And whenever you have a guy like Guillermo, who is a magician on the ball, he's going to make some special things happen. I think all the guys stepped up tonight.
"I don't feel that we've deserved some of the (disappointing) results that we've gotten, but that's sports. That's what's so great, and what makes it so exciting for the fans. You can dominate a game for 89 minutes and still lose 1-0. That's soccer. That's what makes it an exciting sport. People say 0-0 is boring but sometimes those are very exciting games. Tonight was 3-2...what more can you want? Maybe we should count goals as seven points, then it would have been 21-14, you know?"
MLS-It's Tie-rrific! (Update)
First off, I must apologize for an error in the previous Notebook. At the time of that writing, MLS only had 15 ties for a tie percentage of 33%. What had happened is that I had done a "worst case" scenario to see what it would look like if that week's Sunday games had ended in draws. When I went back to my spreadsheet the next day, I forgot I had done that, so I used the wrong numbers, citing 17 ties and a 37.6% rate. My apologies. Regardless, at 15 ties and 33%, the larger point remained in that MLS is seeing a record number of draws.
This past week saw five more draws, including a crazy game in Utah that was tied, untied, and re-tied, all from the 90th minute on. And with three East vs. East matchups ending in draws this week, that made the Crew's three points even huger.
An updated calculation shows that there have been 22 draws in 61 matches this year, meaning MLS' tie percentage has increased to 36.1%. Again, for reference, the all-time MLS record is 30.7% in 2004, and only one other season has eclipsed 27.5%. (That was 2006 at 29.2%.)
How out of control is 2009's plague of ties? The Crew travel to L.A. this weekend to play the Galaxy. The two teams have a combined record of 2-3-11.
Kansas City Karma
Remember the Crew's painful loss to the Wizards late in the 2007 season? You know, where they gave up two goals in stoppage time? And how the game swung when Kerry Zavagnin reached out to kick a stationary Stefani Miglioranzi before falling to the ground to "earn" K.C.'s game-altering penalty kick? And how the result flipped three points from the Crew to the Wizards, and how the Wizards eclipsed the Crew by three points to make the 2007 playoffs?
Well, since that day, including the playoffs, the Crew have gone 4-0-2 against Kansas City, outscoring them 14-7 in the process. Just sayin'.
Nordecke Delay
The match was halted in the 56th minute during a Kansas City corner kick when the Wizards' Claudio Lopez and the assistant referee were pelted with bottles and other objects flung from the Nordecke. Referee Jorge Rodriguez halted the game for two solid minutes to both check on their condition and then make his way to the technical area to request more security for the corner. He made no comment or warning to Crew coach Robert Warzycha.
This was the second match in a row that the Nordecke has bombarded a corner kick taker with debris. In the prior game, Chicago's Cuauhtemoc Blanco was on the receiving end of a bottle barrage shortly after he had drawn the game-altering red card call against Gino Padula.
Now, to be sure, nobody outside of Toyota Park, Azteca Stadium, or a Marrufo family cookout would argue that Blanco is a sympathetic figure, even as he gets pelted with trash, but the larger point remains - stuff got thrown, and it was unacceptable. Yes, it's still unacceptable even if the target was as inviting as Blanco.
The thing that made this week's outburst so strange was that, well, there was no apparent motive for it. With the Chicago game, emotions were running high due to a controversial call involving a despised player. It's not an excuse, but one could at least pinpoint the cause of the stupidity.
But Claudio Lopez? In a game the Crew were winning? Really? That's just idiocy for idiocy's sake.
Even worse, the delay made the Crew fight to maintain focus at a crucial juncture of the match. Frankie Hejduk, unquestionably the Nordecke's No. 1 Fan, had no idea what caused the delay, but said it had an effect.
"I didn't understand what was going on, and I told (the officials) to hurry up," he said. "That was a time where we needed to stay concentrated, and a delay like that can take you away from the game for a little bit, so I was just trying to keep all of the guys into it."
Worse yet, the delay contributed to five minutes of stoppage time as the Crew tried to close out their first win of the year. The worst crimes are those that are both senseless and stupid. Saturday's bottle-fest certainly qualifies.
I happened to be standing next to Crew President & General Manager Mark McCullers when the bottles started flying. He was furious as he called for additional security. Before the game, he had spoken to the supporters and had made two simple requests. First, he had asked that the Nordecke eliminate the organized chanting of profanities. Second, he also reminded them, in the wake of the Blanco incident, that the tossing of anything except post-goal streamers would not be tolerated. So here it was, maybe two hours later, and McCullers had been listening to an earful of profane chants, and then witnessed the unprovoked launching of bottles. One could have fried an egg on his reddened face.
That was hardly the time to talk to him about any of that stuff, so I touched base with him later to collect his thoughts after the heat of the moment had subsided.
"Those actions (organized profanity and bottle throwing) show a disrespect for the club," McCullers said. "It damages our reputation and makes others not want to attend games. It does nothing to support the team and help them maintain a home field advantage, which has been one of the key positives that the Nordecke has achieved. It's all compromised with this behavior. Furthermore, my position has been that these types of incidents have been tied to specific game situations, such as referee issues, and are not indicative of the Nordecke in general. (After Saturday's random event) I can no longer take that position."
McCullers said the Crew could be fined for the fans' misbehavior, although that precedent has not yet been set in MLS, and that the league will continue to apply pressure until the issues are resolved.
The Nordecke is unquestionably a vibrant and vital part of the Crew's home field advantage, and McCullers feels that neither of his requests would do a single thing to diminish the corner's electricity or its lifeblood link to the players on the field.
"The players feed off the energy of the crowd and this provides us a home-field advantage," he said. "The authentic soccer atmosphere is unique to us and cannot be found anywhere else in Columbus. Throwing debris and chanting profanity doesn't contribute to either of these, so the line of acceptable behavior is clear and should not be an issue. The section has gotten too big for self-policing. The security of the players and refs is paramount. The impact on other fans, particularly children, and the reputation of the stadium are also serious concerns. The home-field advantage and positive energy and atmosphere are important, but the unacceptable behavior is counterproductive and offsets the positives."
Judging by message board posts, it seems that many Nordecke denizens are equally appalled by the bottle-tossing and expect much tighter security going forward. Online suggestions have ranged from simply barring food and drink in those sections, all the way to something as extreme as installing a net or a fence to keep objects off the field. If it ever came to the latter, it would be a sad day, as the Nordecke group hug has become a standard tradition for Crew players after they score a goal at the north end.
McCullers made no mention of anything as drastic as a net or a fence, but one should definitely expect to see some changes for the May 27 home game against San Jose.
"We are discussing the situation and considering several options to address it," he said. "No decisions have been made at this time, but I expect a much greater security presence, eliminating the items being thrown from entering the section, and additional means to identify violators. The (organized) profanity is coming from the section at large, so identifying violators is difficult. Should it continue, we will be forced to take action in the form of reducing certain aspects of club support and other privileges."
Given that 99.9 percent of the Nordecke is there to support the Crew, I would hope that these changes will happen rapidly and with little fuss. Sure, it's fun to swear and throw things, but neither action has a single credible argument on its side.
Bottle throwing, on its face, is unacceptable. Many of us were appalled in March when Toronto fans tossed objects from the south end like they were reenacting a monkey poop fight at the zoo, so there is absolutely zero moral standing for throwing objects at players and officials.
And while profanity doesn't personally bother me, that doesn't mean that many others in the stadium aren't offended by it. And since the organized swearing serves no real purpose, there's nothing to cling to except the teenager-esque "No matter how many times you ask nicely, I should be able to swear because I want to" argument.
The two main sources of group profanity, as far as I can tell, are the "YSA" chant when the opposing goalkeeper takes a goal kick, and the "GTFO" addendum to the "This is our house" chant.
The YSA chant is easily amended, and in fact could be made more personal and effective, by simply inserting the goalkeeper's name or nickname. So for San Jose on May 27, it becomes "You suck, Cannon!" And for Chivas on June 14, it becomes "You suck, Thornton!" You get the idea.
And a poster who goes by "Tyneside4life" on BigSoccer has already come up with a much more meaningful rendition of the "This is our house" chant. Instead of shouting "GTFO", which especially makes no sense when there is, like, one Wizards fan in the entire stadium, "Tyneside4life" suggests replacing "GTFO" with "Thank you Lamar."
I think that's brilliant and wish I would have thought of it myself. It's meaningful to the club, its supporters and Crew Stadium's unique, trailblazing place in league history. What more could you ask for? And anyone who would forsake honoring Lamar Hunt for the cheap thrill of an f-bomb...wow...I don't have the words. So let's make this happen.
Gosh, I hate to sound like a mouthpiece for The Man, but really, McCullers' two requests have absolutely zero credible counterarguments. I, like many others in Columbus and around the league, have been blown away by the growth and performance of the Nordecke. I want it to continue to grow and thrive and be a source of inspiration for the players in the Massive banana kit. The Nordecke can be all that without synchronized swearing. And life in Crewville is much more fun when the Nordecke can rightfully claim the moral high ground over those Labatt-lobbing cup-chuckers from Toronto.
Okay, enough heavy stuff... Let's move on to some silliness...
Goofy Guillermo
Guillermo Barros Schelotto was full of goofy charm after the game. Before speaking with the press, sans translator, Duncan Oughton noted the Guille's English has gotten quite good. Guillermo was happy to share the source of his English prowess.
"Duncan," he said. "I need more time with Duncan on the field."
The Kiwi's eyes lit up. "Awwww," he said. "Gracias amigo!" (That's right-Spanish in a New Zealand accent!)
Guillermo was obviously joking, however, because if he were really learning English by spending time on the field with Duncan, most of his vocabulary would not be suitable to print.
Schelotto also had fun when addressing his recent (36th) birthday, saying that with the win, the team can now have a party.
When asked if he was getting better as he got older, Guille said, "I am smarter, but I do not know about better. I am more experienced. I feel good. I do not feel tired. I do not know how you see me on the field..."
A reporter, I couldn't make out who, chimed in, "Very fast."
Guille was delighted by the compliment. Beaming, he said, "Very fast? Thank you!"
The Secret Signal
Later on, Hejduk and Schelotto joked about their goal.
"Dude, I totally picked you out at the far post," Hejduk said. "It was just like we worked on in practice, remember?"
"Yes, yes, in practice," said a laughing Schelotto.
"I gave you the secret signal," Hejduk went on. He then said "Guillermo" while doing that move where you point two fingers at your own eyes, then rapidly alternate pointing at your eyes and your partner's eyes.
Guillermo cracked up and returned the signal.
Oddball Oughton
Duncan Oughton came back into the locker room long after it had pretty much emptied out except for the usual stragglers, Frankie and Danny O. Since Duncan was back, I asked him for his official comment on the Crew's long-anticipated first victory of 2009.
He leaned into my recorder and made a very bizarre noise. Then the same noise echoed from the sink around the corner, where Frankie was. Duncan then emitted another strange sound. Then came another echo.
I just stood there, baffled.
Finally, Duncan leaned in one last time and softly said, "And it was a good win too."
Okeydokey, then.
Meanwhile, as Duncan put the finishing touches on his postgame sandwich, Crew VP of Operations Scott DeBolt remarked that the sandwich looked very tasty.
"It's bloody outstanding," Oughton confirmed.
DeBolt then sidled next to Oughton, holding his mouth agape like a baby bird waiting for a regurgitated worm. Oughton obliged by stuffing the remainder of his sandwich into DeBolt's mouth.
"That was the best part, too," the Kiwi said as DeBolt munched away. "I was saving that part as a treat for the very end. You should feel honored."
DeBolt later confirmed that the sandwich was indeed delicious.
Story Time With Jason Mathews
Crew trainer Jason Mathews has told me that he has a wealth of stories, so maybe "Story Time With Jason Mathews" will become a regular feature. This week's story comes courtesy of our postgame tent conversation with Tracey, the wife of strength and conditioning coach Steve Tashjian. Mathews spoke of going to a bar with a mechanical bull, and he asked Tracey if she had ever ridden a mechanical bull before. She had not.
"I have," Mathews said. "It was back in my Fire days, so this would have been 2004 or 2005. It was in Jackson, Mississippi. It got to be really, really late at this country bar, and that's when I decided to ride the mechanical bull. I woke up the next morning and hurt all over. I looked down and wondered why the heck the insides of my thighs were all bruised. Then it dawned on me that the mechanical bull ride wasn't just a weird dream. It had actually kicked my butt in real life."
Tune in next Notebook for another exciting edition of Story Time With Jason Mathews! (Maybe.)
Today's Fun Fact
One of the best things about going to Crew Stadium is that I get to interact with so many intelligent people. Take, for example, the Crew's VP of Corporate Sales & Broadcasting, Chad Schroeder, who once took some sort of meteorology class in college and couldn't wait to share the knowledge that he had no other useful outlet for.
"Do you know what virga is?" Schroeder asked.
"Yeah, I met her once," said DeBolt.
Turns out that was not the correct response. Thanks to Chad Schroeder and his Cliff Claven-like knowledge, I now know that virga is precipitation that evaporates before it hits the ground. It shows up on radar, but that's it.
I thought it was a fitting metaphor for the Crew's season thus far. They have fallen from really high up, but they never hit bottom and splattered. After a seven-game winless streak to start the season, the Crew are only six points out of first with a game in hand.
Superstition
As promised in the last Notebook, I grew my beard back, since I had it for all of last year's championship season, but none of this year's winless start. For good measure, I came to Saturday's game dressed in the exact same lucky clothes that I wore on game days through the Crew's playoff run, including MLS Cup itself.
I had called upon Chris DeVille to do his duty and re-grow his beard. He showed up with straggly hairs all over his face, so while it hadn't come in fully yet, the beard was clearly underway. We were on the same page. And it worked.
Since Tucker had told me he was happy that the media types had taken responsibility for the Crew's winless start, I went to him after the game, expecting praise for our efforts to finally put the Crew in the win column. (Obviously, what happens on the field is directly impacted by our facial hair and what clothes we wear.)
Tucker refused to give credit. I called him a nasty name. He said the real reason the Crew won was because of this ... and then he fished his hand around in his front pants pocket for an uncomfortably awkward length of time. He eventually produced what he said was the true good luck charm.
In his hand, he held the Lamar Hunt commemorative coin.
Who could argue with that? Who am I to claim to bring good luck when Tucker brought Lamar onto the sidelines with him on the stadium's 10th anniversary?
"That's okay," Tucker said. "You and Chris and your beards can claim an assist if you want. I'll let you have an assist. But we all know who the real good luck charm is."
Yup. For what must be the millionth time... Thank you, Lamar.
Steve Sirk is a contributor to TheCrew.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs. Questions? Comments? Feel that the ultimate success of the 2008 Columbus Crew has given you the ability to trust in the similarly tight-knit and talented 2009 Cleveland Cavaliers? Feel free to write at sirk65@yahoo.com.
