Columbus: No Longer A Soccer Town

It's very disappointing to look at the history of Crew Stadium and think about all the great events that have taken place there, and then look at what it's become today. I remember the first season of MLS in Crew Stadium very well - May 15, 1999 was the beginning of what I had hoped would be the rennaissance of soccer in the city I'd adopted as my own.

That night, the Crew played host to the New England Revolution in the first game to be held in the first soccer-specific stadium in the country (I don't include Fort Lauderdale's Lockhart Stadium because it's a high school football stadium). They won, 2-0, in front of a standing-room-only crowd of great soccer fans.

Fast forward to February 28, 2001. Columbus played host to the top-draw game of the World Cup qualifying season when Mexico and the U.S. came to our fair stadium to battle it out. The U.S. won, 2-0, and no fan dared leave early.

Fast forward to later that same year: MLS Cup at Crew Stadium: Los Angeles versus San Jose. A pathetic crowd didn't even come close to filling the stadium that day, but it was argued at the time that because Columbus wasn't in the game, no one in Columbus cared all that much. To that, I say "Feh." A true soccer fan would go just to see the best two teams in the country duke it out for the championship. And it was a very exciting game - went into extra time and won by the 'Quakes on a great Dwayne DeRosario goal.

Now, let's look at the Crew's first championship match in Crew Stadium. Perhaps as a nod to the Crew after screwing them in their FIRST championship match, against the Chicago Fire at Soldier Field. The game was originally to be held in Virginia Beach, but a hurricane caused the game to be moved. U.S. Soccer, in its infinite lack of wisdom, sent the game to Soldier. Not exactly fair, especially since the game was to be at a neutral site. Anyway, apparently that rule went out the window after that because Columbus held the 2002 U.S. Open Cup final game at Crew Stadium on Oct. 24, 2002. The crowd was pathetic. I had invited my brother, sister, and cousin to the game and despite it being a well-fought match, the crowd was tiny and missed seeing the Crew win its first title ever.

Finally, let's look at last Sunday's World Cup Qualifying match. Less than 10,000 people, a good percentage of them Grenadians, took to the seats of Hunt Park to watch the U.S. open its Germany 2006 against the island that Ronnie Reagan made free. That's less than 50% of capacity, folks. And the U.S. looked good - it's not like this was the 2003 Crew playing, it was the best that U.S. Soccer had to offer, in a game that was the beginning of the team trying to return to the World Cup.

But... should Columbus be ashamed of itself? I say "yes" and "no." Part of the blame has to lie with the Crew Stadium staff, and beyond that, Hunt Sports Group. I've seen ticket agents for the Crew come and go with more frequency than some migrant workers. HSG needs to learn that if you want a good, experienced, and loyal staff, you have to pay for it. The Crew pays their employees very poorly, to the point where the talented people leave.

But Columbus, for all its posturing about being a "soccer town," has proven itself to be nothing more than an event-driven town. If a big thing comes to town, then it's certainly worth going to, at least a couple of times. That was proven by the good crowds in MLS Year One and in 1999 for the opening of Crew Stadium. But now, the soccer fan in Columbus doesn't feel the need to go any more. I call those people fake. If you are a soccer fan, you go watch pro soccer in Crew Stadium. I won't lie, I can totally understand skipping college soccer events - that's some pretty poor soccer and it frustrates me to watch it. But when the U.S. team can't draw 20,000 people from a city of over a million... then that town no longer deserves to call itself a soccer city.