Crew Season Review

The Crew's beat writer, Shawn Mitchell, did a fair assessment of the team's season, in which they once again failed to make the playoffs. My comments are below each section.

Top performers

Alejandro Moreno (seven goals, seven assists), Guillermo Barros Schelotto (five goals, 11 assists), Eddie Gaven (five goals, seven assists)

Agreed on all counts. Moreno and Schelotto were the no-brainers here, but I was impressed with Eddie Gaven this season - he has given his all since coming to the Crew, and it was nice to see him produce this season. I'd be interested in seeing how his numbers improved after the arrival of Schelotto - that obviously took a lot of pressure off him to be "the man" after his fantastic start in the league at the MetroBulls.

High point

Juiced by a healthy Schelotto, the Crew reeled off three consecutive wins June 20 through June 30 and was 5-1-3 from June 16 through Aug. 4. On July 27, Schelotto scored twice and Columbus dominated Toronto FC in a 2-0 victory in Crew Stadium. It put the Crew three points out of first place, and it would get no closer.

"It's just like them to do real well and give us hope!" (paraphrased from Colin Firth in Fever Pitch)

Low point

The Crew looked to be playoff shoo-ins midsummer but fell hard after the all-star break. It blew a late lead and lost at FC Dallas on Aug. 11, beginning a stretch in which it went 1-6-2 and gave up a tying or winning goal in the 75th minute or later five times.

So much for that hope. The temporary loss of Schelotto was too much to overcome.

Point of order

The presence of expansion Toronto probably kept Columbus from finishing in the Eastern Conference basement for the third consecutive season. To be fair, Columbus played much better soccer than it did last season and had higher totals for wins (nine), points (37) and goals (39) despite playing two fewer games. In 2006, the Crew had eight wins, 33 points and 30 goals.

And you could see the improvement on the field, too - especially after Schelotto took over things. It was much more fun to go and watch these guys than it was last season. Last season, I think I uttered my famous (among my friends) quote: "So, this is what it feels like to be a Browns fan.

In and out

Longtime keeper Jon Busch was waived in the preseason, Joseph Ngwenya was traded to Houston for Moreno, and Danny Szetela departed to Racing Santander of Spain. The arrivals of Moreno and Schelotto, who more often than not were a potent offensive pairing, overshadowed the absences.

I thought losing Busch would be harder on us than it was. Ngwenya wasn't nearly as much of a loss, I think - his penchant for being offside wasn't ever overcome by any sort of goal-scoring ability, IMHO. I feel bad about this... but I didn't even know Szetela was gone. Chalk that up to having a kid part way through the season, I guess - my attention was elsewhere at that point.

Hurting kind

Winger Jacob Thomas was supposed to be the Crew's speediest threat, but a calf injury kept him out of the first 13 games, and a variety of other injuries limited him to a total of nine games. Andy Herron, projected to be the Crew's top scorer, started only 10 games and missed most of the season because of injury or suspension. Brandon Moss started 17 games as a rookie in 2006 but suffered a season-ending knee injury in the preseason.

I missed Thomas. I love watching that guy play, and I hope he'll be around and healthy next season. Herron was fun to watch, but I never saw much enough of him to form an opinion other than he runs hot and cold. Moss always struck me as a hack - good as a defender, but not so much as a player who's supposed to make the transition from defense to offense.

One for the team

After starting 16 games the previous two seasons, keeper Bill Gaudette did not play a single minute. Kudos to him and fellow backup Andy Gruenebaum for remaining stoic in their roles after Will Hesmer took the starting job from Gruenebaum in June.

Gruenebaum and Hesmer were both good - I felt solid (not fantastic, but solid) about our keepers this year. Gaudette was too tentative, IMHO.

Helpers

Ngwenya's trade to the Dynamo for Moreno helped both teams, but the Crew might have come out ahead. Unless Ngwenya lights up the playoffs, Moreno's seven goals and seven assists were worth more to the Columbus than Ngwenya's seven goals and three assists were to Houston.

Houston didn't need the help as much as we did, I think. And I already mentioned that I think Ngwenya's offsides frustrated things more than his goals ever helped.

World class

Storied Aston Villa looked impressive in its 3-1 exhibition win on July 28 in Crew Stadium, but Schelotto conducted a skills clinic all season long. Starting with his home debut May 12, he almost always was the best player on the field.

Schelotto was the story this season. End of story. Who gives a rat's ass about the Villa game? It was just a friendly.

Odd but true

The Crew was one of three teams to score more goals on the road (22) than at home (17). Only Kansas City (23) scored more road goals.

Perhaps a commentary on the negative nature of Columbus sports fans? I know that Crew fans are among the most negative bunch I've ever encountered. I stopped visiting the Crew forums several years ago because of this and it's only gotten worse, especially in the section I'm in at the stadium.

I actually sat and listened to one guy say "why do I pay money for this shit, every season?" over and over. And yet, he was back the next game.

Hey, if you don't like it, don't come. But spare us your complaining.

Blue Jackets fans seem similar, though not quite as bad. And OSU fans do nothing BUT complain (mostly about how they get no respect). But this isn't about OSU or the Jackets, so here endeth that rant.

Odd but true, part 2

It took 364 games and more than 11½ seasons, but the Crew finally won a game on the road after trailing at halftime. On Sept. 22, Toronto took a 1-0 lead in the second minute, but second-half goals by Jacob Thomas and Jason Garey helped Columbus to a 2-1 victory in BMO Field.

At least we're not paying attention to when we win or lose at RFK any more.

Healthy Hejduk

Defender Frankie Hejduk should be the Major League Soccer comeback player of the year. After missing most of last season because of a torn knee ligament, he re-established himself as one of the league's top two-way players at right back. He scored against Canada, his first international goal since 2000, and helped win the Gold Cup.

Hejduk had, the past couple of seasons he was active, not impressed me. He had a tendency to think that playing harder and running faster was enough. This season, though, he slowed down but played smarter. Absolute kudos to Frankie this season.

Busy bodies

The Crew front office had a hectic year. It secured Glidden paints as a jersey sponsor, made plans for a suburban training facility and soccer park, expanded its juniors program and began work on a concert stage in the stadium. It also has to secure a postseason exhibition to fulfill ticket-package requirements. Expect the Crew to play Nexaca of Mexico in November.

All good point... though I wish the jersey sponsor thing hadn't been as big a deal. That's just a personal thing, though: I hate advertising.

And it's Necaxa. C before X.

Digital

16,770: Average MLS attendance, the highest since the 1996 inaugural season

15,230: Average Crew Stadium attendance, the highest since 2004

93: Fouls suffered by Moreno, most in MLS

65: Fouls suffered by Schelotto, second most in MLS

5: MLS games played by David Beckham

18: MLS games in which Beckham was eligible to play

-- Shawn Mitchell

smitchell@dispatch.com

I'm surprised average attendance was so high. It never seemed to be that many folks. And Moreno should talk to McBride about getting fouled so much... let's just hope it never leads to him having a robot face like Bake did.

Beckham? Much ado about nothing... though I wish he'd kicked Jesse Marsch's face in after that stupid foul.

What Political Leader/Classic Movie Are You?

I'm sort of surprised at mine... never pictured myself as a Kennedy.

What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

Now THIS is a little more like it...

What Classic Movie Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

The Best Argument I've Seen for Taking Action Against Global Warming

I've put forth a few arguments in favor of taking action against climate change. I've mentioned that any action we take to fight global warming is a positive action elsewhere as well, whether it fights pollution, reduces the obesity rates, increases the health of our populations, etc.

But here's an argument that I can't believe hasn't made the rounds yet. Well, it will now.

CAFE Standards: Going at It the Wrong Way?

Many of you probably know about the fight over CAFE standards in automobiles. CAFE stands for Corporate Average Fuel Economy, and basically it's the average fuel economy rating in miles per gallon for all the cars in a company's lineup. A great explanation of it can be found here.

If you read this, you can see that the standards are sort of flawed - they only count cars up to a certain weight, which most certainly doesn't account for ALL the cars on the road, only the more fuel-efficient smaller models. SUVs, trucks, etc. all get ignored.

But that's neither here nor there for the purposes of this post. My thought is this: instead of trying to govern the mileage of various car companies, but not do anything to improve road safety, why not kill two birds with one stone by installing some sort of mechanism that would set a maximum speed at which motorized vehicles can travel?

This would do a couple of things: 1) people wouldn't be able to waste gas by going too fast, and 2) roads would be safer because people would be going at a more reasonable speed.

I know that many people will say that this is fascist rubbish, but is it really? I would say that the greater evil is continuing to allow for (and even subsidize) a road system that allows 43,000 deaths per year for the sake of going faster.

Obviously, emergency vehicles would be allowed to go faster, but if no one else could go faster then you wouldn't have many of the issues that emergency vehicles have when trying to get to the scene of an incident quickly.

Anyway, it's a thought, what do you think?

Finally...

Best National Anthem Ever

This is almost enough to make me want to be a Red Sox fan.

If you've ever stood near me at a sporting event, you know that I'm a connoisseur of singing the the National Anthem of the US. I'm a firm believer that if you're going to have a live singer or singers performing the Star Spangled Banner, or ANY country's anthem, you should sing it in a way that allows the crowd to sing along. Not everyone has operatic voices, nor the ability to hold a note for ten minutes.

And it's not a song that you should be experimenting with bizarrely styled ad-libbing of the notes, either. It's a song that means a great deal to our country and its citizens. No matter whether you're a Democrat, a Republican, pro- or anti-war, etc., you can sing the anthem and it means something to you. America is a place of which to be very proud, as is just about every country for different reasons (yet, for some reason, the same reason when you get right down to it).

I have been known to heckle singers who play around with it and make it impossible to sing along - they have no business leading the crowd in singing a patriotic song. It's not meant to be a performance, it's participatory. You SING ALONG.

I also have no time for people who stand there and look around at everyone else, or talk, or just don't even try to sing during the anthem. We sing the anthem to honor our home. Get on the stick and be proud of where you live.

That being said, here is possibly the GREATEST singing of the Star Spangled Banner that I've ever experienced. And I wasn't even there. The description of the clip on YouTube reads:

It was Disability Awareness day and the folks at Fenway did a lot of great things for kids with challenges..here is one who sang and when he got nervous the Fenway Faithful helped him out

And help him out they do. Simply fantastic.

Nerd Tests

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New Addition!

Jennifer and I added a new member to the family over the weekend. Moira Torunn Fellrath was born on Friday morning at OSU Hospital. She's in great health and is cute as the dickens.

She's 7 lb. 6 oz., 19 1/2" long, and did I mention she's cute as the dickens? :)

Moira is an anglicization of the Gaelic Máire or Mary. Torunn is Scandinavian and means "Daughter of Thor" (and no, this does not mean I have delusions of grandeur).

Mom is also doing well, she came home from the hospital a day early.

I may be scarce for a while on the old blog, for obvious reasons. I'll catch you up later.

Ne'er Forget, Me Hearties...

Talk Like A Pirate Day is nearly upon us! Arrrr!!!

Here's Duncan talking like a pirate during breakfast on TLAPD last year. Cute guy.

Tax the Gas, Lose the Ass

A great post on the Sierra Club's Compass blog about how to push the results of the study regarding gas prices and waistlines. I had to share...

Worst Movie Trailer Ever

If you're wondering what Wolfpack's comments are about on this post, here's the story.

Wolfpack (my wife) and I were at the movies and this trailer came on. Keep in mind, I'm a HUGE Batman fan. And after Batman and Robin, I was feeling pretty betrayed.

The trailers came on, and this one starts with the Warner Bros. logo, and it started winding up through this creepy house, and the voice over was something like this (heavily paraphrased - I can't find the trailer online anywhere): "For decades, he has protected us from the forces of evil. He has prowled through the night, searching for evil and exposing it wherever it was found...." Meanwhile, the camera's still going up stairs, around corners, until it gets to an open window with the moon outside. And the camera stopped behind this very familar silhouette - what looked like a head with two bat-ears coming out of the top.

I was sitting on the edge of my seat, getting totally geeked out. I hadn't heard about any new Batman movie being in the works! How did this one get past me? Would it fall into the cartoony crap-trap that the original Batman movies did? Who was playing Batman? WHEN WAS IT COMING OUT? Meanwhile, Jenn was sitting next to me and shaking her head.

The voiceover continues: "And now, after years of waiting, to bring his justice to the night!" And then, just as you're expecting the Batman music to start, or something like that, the figure turns around... and it's FREAKING SCOOBY DOO!

I seriously let out a howl, right there in the movie theater! A soul-wrenching "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" Meanwhile, my wife, who's a big Scooby Doo fan, let's out with a "YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

So there's the story of the worst movie trailer ever. And now you're in on the joke.

Edit: "Thanks" to Matt: Here's the stupid trailer.

Scooby Doo - Batman Trailer
Uploaded by Leeowen

Makes Me a Little Bit Weepy

I don't even know what to say about this. It's absolutely beautiful. I'm already agog.

Save the Haka!

The NCAA is sticking its nose where it doesn't belong... AGAIN. This time it's in reference to the University of Hawai'i's practice of performing a Polynesian Haka dance before the game.

You may know if you've been reading this blog for a while that I love the Haka. I don't know how long Hawai'i has been doing it, but I love the New Zealand Rugby team's performance of it. They do it before every match, right in front of the opposing team, and it's a real great show of spirit and pride.

That being said, the NCAA wants to get rid of it because apparently someone got offended. Well, that person needs to shut up. No one has the right to not be offended in a land where we have a freedom of speech. You can dislike it, and not go to games where it's performed, but you can't ban it because you're offended. That's simply immature and ridiculous.

Keep up the Haka, Hawai'i! I hope you guys play ND soon so I can see it too!

Iron Man!

You know, I was never really a fan of this comic, but this looks really freaking cool!

Amazon.com's Mental Leaps

Here's the text of one of those "if you liked this, you'll like..." messages I got today.

James Fellrath,

As someone who has purchased or rated books by Alexandre Dumas, you might like to know that Finance for Sport and Leisure Managers: An Introduction will be released on September 21, 2007. You can pre-order yours by following the link below.

Finance for Sport and Leisure Managers: An Introduction Robert Wilson Price: $48.95 Release Date: September 21, 2007

Book Description

Sport and leisure managers need to understand the financial side of their industry in order to offer the most cost-effective facilities and to make sound business decisions. However, to the non-expert the language and practice of finance is often bewildering and perceived as complicated, difficult and impenetrable. This textbook guides the reader through the maze of financial terms and concepts, illustrating theory with examples drawn specifically from sport-based contexts to make this the most relevant, transparent and helpful handbook for students of leisure management available.

Written by experts in accounting and sport management, this book enables readers to work through the subject at their own pace, with case studies, ... Read more

Um...

Ah...

Er...

What exactly does my appreciation for The Count of Monte Cristo have to do with managing sports? I suppose there's some sword-fighting in it, which is sort of like fencing... which is a sport... no, even that's too much.