Greetings, Columbus soccer enthusiasts! Remember me? Yeah, it’s been a while. Nevertheless, I welcome you to a special “December to Remember” Notebook, whereby I write a Notebook in December while trying to remember to type “SC” after every mention of the word “Crew.” I have 20 years of automatic thought/speech/typing patterns invested in “the Crew”, so I’m sure I’m going to screw this up. A lot. But really, those errors are mostly a concern for Tim Miller and Ryan Schwepfinger, since it will create editing work for them every time I mess it up.
Table of Contents
Mr. Numbers Nerd: The Road to MLS Cup Goes Through Columbus
Clark Wins Urso Heart Award
Mr. Numbers Nerd: Dime & Nickel Edition
Expansion Draft Blues
Hesmer's Truth about Expansion Drafts
Expansion Draft: Brad Evans Revisited
Expansion Draft: Klopas/Farrell Revisited
Mr. Numbers Nerd: Massive Champs Win Hardware Edition
Some Favorite Moments of 2014
Favorite On-Field Moment of 2014
Favorite Off-Field Moment of 2014
I figured I should get in some practice heading into 2015. Basically, I’m going to try not to be my dad when it comes to this subtle name change. My dad’s a guy who referred to the Raiders as “Oakland” the entire time they were in Los Angeles. The Raiders eventually moved back to Oakland, so I guess that worked out for him in the end, so maybe that wasn’t the best example. My dad referred to the Colts as “Baltimore” for the first dozen years they were in Indianapolis. Then Baltimore stole the Browns and he needed a way to differentiate one “Baltimore” from the other, so even that took a city-shaking betrayal to force his hand. I am convinced that if the Dodgers had moved west ten years later, my dad would still be calling them “Brooklyn.” If he followed the NBA at all, he’d probably still be calling Washington’s team “the Bullets.”
So this will be my first attempt at getting used to Crew SC. If it ends up looking flawless, it’s probably because Ryan and Tim did a bunch of edits. Sorry in advance, fellas. I’ll probably get there eventually, even if I’m accidentally my dad for a little bit.
Anyway, I have some random odds and ends to pass along before the end of the year. There’s a bunch of Expansion Draft stuff, some “favorite moments” of 2014 stuff, some stuff about Steve Clark winning the Kirk Urso Heart Award, and some other stuff about stuff. So let’s get started…
MR. NUMBERS NERD: THE ROAD TO MLS CUP GOES THROUGH CBUS
As we are all disgustedly aware, the New England Revolution knocked the Black & Gold out of the playoffs in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. It took a long time, but at long last someone has equaled D.C. United’s mark when it comes to eliminating Columbus from the postseason. United did it three straight years in the 1990s, but New England has now tied that record over the course of a dozen years.
Number of times a team has eliminated Columbus from the playoffs:
- 3: D.C. United (1997, 1998, 1999); New England (2002, 2004, 2014)
- 2: Colorado (2010, 2011)
- 1: Tampa Bay (1996); San Jose (2001); Real Salt Lake (2009)
- 0: Chicago
- Mathematically impossible: Toronto FC
The Revs then went on to lose MLS Cup to the LA Galaxy. It should come as no surprise that the Revs made it to MLS Cup, because when Crew SC makes the playoffs, the road to MLS Cup inevitably passes through Columbus. Obviously, Crew SC won it all in 2008, but in the 11 seasons they made the playoffs and fell short, five times they lost to the eventual champion, and on three other occasions their vanquisher made it to the final.
Teams that eliminated Columbus and went on to win MLS Cup:
- 1997: D.C. United
- 1999: D.C. United
- 2001: San Jose
- 2009: Real Salt Lake
- 2010: Colorado
Teams that eliminated Columbus and made it to MLS Cup but lost:
- 1998: D.C. United
- 2002: New England
- 2014: New England
Only three times a team eliminated Columbus and didn’t make it to the big game:
- 1996: Tampa Bay
- 2004: New England
- 2011: Colorado
The seven years Columbus missed the playoffs are a free for all, but if the Black & Gold make the postseason, the odds are that Columbus will somehow be involved with an MLS Cup finalist or champion.
As someone who spent a lot of time with Kirk’s family and teammates putting together Kirk Urso: Forever Massive, which you can order HERE for the benefit of the Kirk Urso Memorial Fund, I obviously have a keen interest in the winner of the Kirk Urso Heart Award. This year, goalkeeper Steve Clark was voted the winner by his teammates. He also won the club’s Defender of the Year honors.
“First of all,” Clark said from his locker after collecting his awards on October 26, “I think the Kirk Urso one is the bigger of the two awards because of my teammates voting for that and because of what Kirk stood for in his life. As for the Defender of the Year award, the guys in front of me make me look good, so I’m thankful for their work and humbled by it.”
Unlike the previous year’s winner, Eric Gehrig, Clark was not a teammate of Urso’s. That did not lessen his appreciation for the award.
“I’ve heard the guys talk about him and then after I won the award, they told me it was a huge honor and I agree with them,” he said. “One of the huge things I made important to me in my life last year was that I was going to care less about success and care more about being a good man and teammate. Winning the Kirk Urso award is a reflection of that, so for me it is a very humbling honor.”
Urso’s friends and teammates felt that Clark was a worthy winner.
“If you ask anyone, they’ll say he’s one of the nicest, caring, dedicated guys on this team,” said Justin Meram. “And he pushes all of us and keeps us all in tune during the match and in training. It’s well deserved. He’s just a great guy on and off the field.”
Ethan Finlay sees some Urso within Clark.
“Steve embodies a lot of things that Kirk did,” Finlay said. “He’s a passionate, team-first guy. You see his heart on the field, and we see it every day at training and off the field. He’s extremely passionate about this team and the guys around him, so it’s a very, very deserved award.”
Urso was somewhat overlooked coming out of college, falling into the Supplemental Draft despite his on-field success at North Carolina. Finlay feels that Clark’s path was also that of an overlooked talent. Clark didn’t play at a big-time college program and had to take an unconventional Europe-first route to even get a serious look from MLS.
“If you ask Steve where he’s come from and what he’s battled through, being at Oakland (University) and who wasn’t recognized for being the talent that he is, so he had to go over to Europe to find his way back here,” Finlay said. “You’ve seen that he’s had an excellent season. He’s probably in the top three goalkeepers in MLS right now. And he’s pretty passionate fella. He embodies a lot of what Kirk went through in terms of his experiences to get where he’s at.”
So congratulations to Steve Clark for winning the 2014 Kirk Urso Heart Award.
MR. NUMBERS NERD: DIME & NICKEL EDITION
Ethan Finlay and Federico Higuain finished tied for the team lead with 11 goals and 7 assists. In Crew SC history, only six men have accomplished a Dime & Nickel, where the stat line read at least ten goals and five assists. Those six players have accomplished the feat nine times. Finlay is a new addition to the list and he joins some exalted company. Meanwhile, Higuain became only the second Crew SC player to accomplish the feat twice, putting him one such season behind Jeff Cunningham, who did it three times.
Dime & Nickel Seasons in Crew SC history
- 1998 Stern John (26 G, 5 A)
- 1998 Brian McBride (10 G, 7 A)
- 1999 Jeff Cunningham (12 G, 5 A)
- 2000 Dante Washington (15 G, 9 A)
- 2001 Jeff Cunningham (10 G, 13 A)
- 2002 Jeff Cunningham (16 G, 5 A)
- 2013 Federico Higuain (11 G, 9 A)
- 2014 Ethan Finlay (11 G, 7 A)
- 2014 Federico Higuain (11 G, 7 A)
With the additions of New York City FC and Orlando City SC next year, we all had to endure another Expansion Draft. Despite that fact that the draft came at an inopportune time in Crew SC’s building cycle, Sporting Director and Head Coach Gregg Berhalter did a good job protecting the club’s interests through some brutally tough decisions. Josh Williams would have been an all-but-certain pick, so Berhalter traded him to NYCFC for some allocation money. Bernardo Anor would have been required to be protected, thereby exposing another player, so Berhalter dealt him to Sporting Kansas City for more allocation money. The very real fear of losing Ben Speas miraculously evaporated when Orlando took Jairo Arrieta, whose option had already been declined. This allowed Berhalter to protect Speas. Crew SC then lost heart-and-soul locker room leader Eric Gehrig to Orlando, who then flipped him to his hometown Chicago Fire, which is awesome for Gehrig even if it will be gross for me to watch him in a Fire shirt.
When the dust settled, Crew SC protected its young core but still suffered some inevitable and lamentable losses, even though the damage was mitigated as best it could be under the circumstances.
This, of course, is nothing new for Columbus fans. Crew SC has lost more players (14) to Expansion Drafts than any team in MLS history. Columbus is also the only club to lose at least one player in every MLS Expansion Draft ever held. When we correctly boast that Crew SC is a team of firsts, it apparently means more than the first MLS club, first draft pick, first training center, first major soccer stadium, etc. It also means “reliable contributor to the first roster of expansion teams.”
HESMER’S TRUTH ABOUT EXPANSION DRAFTS
Massive Champion William Hesmer had an interesting tweet in advance of the Expansion Draft:
He, of all people, should know. He was on both sides of it. In fact, he was part of it.
The 2008 Massive Champions were built thanks in part to Expansion Drafts. For example, this whopper in 2006 netted two members of the Black & Gold’s starting lineup on Massive Sunday, November 23, 2008. As part of the 2006 Expansion Draft, Toronto FC plucked Danny O’Rourke from the Red Bulls and Hesmer from the Kansas City Wizards. The Hosers then packaged both players to Columbus for a partial allocation. It’s that type of acumen that foreshadowed TFC’s perpetual level of success ever since.
A year after fleecing TFC, Columbus benefited from the 2007 Expansion Draft as well. San Jose pilfered Brian Carroll from D.C. United, then turned around and swapped him to Columbus for some guy named Kei Kamara. Carroll became the invaluable cog in the Black & Gold’s championship midfield, while Kamara… will hopefully be banging in goals for Columbus’ next MLS Cup champion. It took several years, but he’s back in Columbus and eager for 2015 to get underway. So that worked out.
Anyway, three of the Massive Eleven (27%) were acquired via the Expansion Draft, and Columbus wasn’t even an expansion team. That’s good work, right there.
On the flip side, the 2008 championship team eroded due in part to Expansion Drafts. Brad Evans was lost to Seattle just days after MLS Cup. Alejandro Moreno went to Philadelphia in 2009. Adam Moffat (and young defender Eric Brunner) was picked by Portland in 2010. Although not technically an Expansion Draft pick, Carroll was left exposed in 2010 as the Black & Gold gambled that his contract would make him less appealing. Once word got to them that Carroll was going to be a certain selection, they had to engineer a forced, last-second trade to Philadelphia to at least get something in return.
So in the end, Hesmer’s tweet is unquestionably the truth. He lived it. The Massive Champions were both built and dismantled in key ways via the Expansion Draft.
EXPANSION DRAFT: BRAD EVANS REVISTED
No Expansion Draft can come about without Columbus fans lamenting that Brad Evans got away in 2008. In hindsight, it is so easy to bash that decision. Evans has gone on to a long and fruitful career in Seattle, where he’s won four Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cups, a Supporters’ Shield and has been capped 17 times for the U.S. Men’s National Team. And the Black & Gold left him exposed so they could protect…Andy Iro. In hindsight, that looks terrible. But it was such an obvious move to me at the time that I wrote in my MLS Cup Notebook about getting a lump in my throat talking to Brad on the field after the championship game, when he said he hoped to win many more titles in Columbus, while my brain knew that he was likely a player that would not only be exposed, but also the player likely to be picked.
Remember, Adam Moffat started the season in the Columbus midfield, but hurt his knee. Evans filled in for him the rest of the way. This was a position of strength for the Black & Gold at that time. They had Moffat and Evans, both of whom did well in their pairing with Carroll. If Columbus exposed both and lost one, they were very comfortable with still having the other in that starting role.
Meanwhile, on the backline, Chad Marshall was out of contract and had plans for a European trial. He had just won MLS Defender of the Year and his stock had never been higher. There was the very real possibility that he would be gone. Iro had been Columbus’ first round pick that year and was being groomed as Marshall’s heir apparent in the Big Defender department. Danny O’Rourke was also out of contract, meaning both starting centerbacks were in limbo.
If Marshall left for Europe and O’Rourke went elsewhere and Iro got selected in the Expansion Draft, Columbus’ chances of repeating would have been dealt a crushing blow. Protecting Iro gave the Black & Gold the best chance to maintain their team for a run at a second title. They were guaranteed to have at least one of their big backs and they were guaranteed to have Moffat or Evans starting in a role each excelled at in 2008. All of their bases were covered for a run in 2009. (And remember, Eddie Gaven was left exposed as a calculated risk due to his salary. Let that sink in…Eddie Gaven was also available! And so was Steven Lenhart, among others. That team was DEEP.)
They lost Evans, so Moffat reclaimed his spot in the midfield. Marshall and O’Rourke ended up signing new contracts to stay in Columbus. The Black & Gold won another Supporters’ Shield, although they got knocked out of the playoffs by Real Salt Lake. (Iro stalled in 2009, but was pretty good in 2010 before falling off in 2011 and getting traded. He famously watched a game from the Nordecke before departing for Toronto.)
But because Iro never developed into Marshall’s long-term centerback partner and Evans has blossomed in Seattle, where he is a vital contributor to this day, hindsight shows it to be a terrible decision. But when I thought it all out at the team hotel in Manhattan Beach in the days leading up to MLS Cup, I figured Moffat and Evans would each be exposed, and Evans would be selected based on his age, his League-minimum salary, and his lack of a knee injury. Before MLS Cup ever even kicked off, my mind was made up that Evans was gone. It made sense at the time, and that’s exactly how it played out.
Then again, since it played out exactly as I thought in advance, perhaps I am too lenient on the whole 2008 Expansion Draft thing because seeing it any other way would mean that I was dumb for thinking the same way.)
Not that my overall idiocy is ever in doubt.
(And for fun, looking back at the Big Soccer discussions back in November of 2008, very few fans advocated for the protection Evans or lamented his eventual selection from a soccer standpoint. Sentiments mostly ran along the lines of, “Too bad for Brad. I wish him well, but we’re deep there, so we’ll be fine.”)
EXPANSION DRAFT: KLOPAS/FARRELL REVISITED
Losing Brad Evans is certainly lamentable, but the Klopas/Farrell Expansion Draft saga was just a bizarre moment in Columbus soccer history. Right before the 1997 Expansion Draft for the Miami Fusion and Chicago Fire, Columbus traded “Sneaky” Pete Marino to Kansas City for Frank Klopas. They protected Klopas and exposed midfielder Jason Farrell in the Expansion Draft, where he was selected by Chicago. Two months later, in February of 1998, Columbus traded Klopas, who they protected, to Chicago, straight up for… Farrell, who they didn’t protect. Eight months later, the Black & Gold’s season ended on a golden goal at Soldier Field in the U.S. Open Cup final. The scorer of that goal was—who else?—Frank Klopas.
On the surface, it’s ridiculous. Columbus traded for a guy, protected him, then traded him straight up for a guy they didn’t protect. The fact that there was no value added on the ensuing trade with Chicago rules out the theory that Columbus was protecting Klopas as a favor to the Fire so Miami couldn’t take him. The fact that Kansas City also protected Marino rules out any sort of Berhalter-like planning from either Hunt-owned team to juggle assets as insulation from the Expansion Draft. So what happened?
Well, three things. One, Frank Klopas refused to report to Columbus. He wanted to finish his career in his hometown of Chicago, where he played in high school and was a member of the 1984 NASL champion Chicago Sting. Two, Columbus really liked Farrell and was hoping not to lose him in the Expansion Draft. Exposing Klopas would have been a sure loss to the Fire, but there was a chance Farrell could have snuck through. And three, in January of 1998, the Black & Gold drafted a forward named Jeff Cunningham, who would go on to set the Columbus and MLS career goal scoring records. (His MLS mark has since been eclipsed by Landon Donovan.) Also, at the time Klopas was traded to Chicago, the Black & Gold were days away from announcing the signing of Stern John, who would become the most prolific scorer in MLS history, bagging 44 goals in just 55 league matches. He scored 26 goals for the Columbus in 1998. Suddenly, even if he reported, Frank Klopas wasn’t all that valuable to the Black & Gold attack.
In the end, it was a good trade for both teams. Columbus got a few more solid years of Jason Farrell plus cleared the way for goals galore from Cunningham and John. (1998 stats: John 26 G, 5 A; Cunningham 8 G, 1 A; Farrell 5 G, 10 A.) The Fire brought a hometown hero back to Chicago in the twilight of his career, and by contributing six goals and four assists, he helped them win an improbable MLS Cup and Open Cup double as an expansion team.
But for Columbus fans, this twisting turn of events will always be overshadowed by Klopas’ golden goal against Columbus in the 1998 U.S. Open Cup final. As a result, this caper produced my oft-told joke about how the Black & Gold were denied its first-ever trophy by a player who played for Columbus the previous offseason.
MR. NUMBERS NERD: MASSIVE CHAMPS WIN HARDWARE EDITION
As the current Crew SC squad took a huge step forward in 2014 and aims to claim some hardware in 2015 in beyond, 2014 saw some of the Massive Champions from 2008 collect more titles. Brad Evans and Chad Marshall won the Supporters’ Shield and the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup with the Seattle Sounders. Then Robbie Rogers won MLS Cup with the LA Galaxy.
Many Massive Champions won the Supporters’ Shield with Columbus in 2009, but for those who have moved on, seven Massive Champions have won a combined 15 domestic championships with their subsequent clubs.
Brad Evans (5)
- 2009 LHUSOC (SEA)
- 2010 LHUSOC (SEA)
- 2011 LHUSOC (SEA)
- 2014 LHUSOC (SEA)
- 2014 Supporters’ Shield (SEA)
Pat Noonan (3)
- 2010 LHUSOC (SEA)
- 2011 LHUSOC (SEA)
- 2012 MLS Cup (LA)
Frankie Hejduk (2)
- 2011 Supporters’ Shield (LA)
- 2011 MLS Cup (LA)
Chad Marshall (2)
- 2014 LHUSOC (SEA)
- 2014 Supporters’ Shield (SEA)
Steven Lenhart (1)
- 2012 Supporters’ Shield (SJ)
Jed Zayner (1)
- 2012 Supporters’ Shield (SJ)
Robbie Rogers (1)
- 2014 MLS Cup (LA)
That 2008 team was so special to all of us, so I’m always happy to see Massive Champions succeed. If it can’t be Columbus, I’m glad it’s one of them. That said, Gregg Berhalter has Crew SC in its ascendancy. The goal is that we will soon have a new slew of Massive Champions to celebrate forever, just like the guys listed above.
Ryan Schwepfinger already counted down his five favorite moments from 2014. Either because I lack the courage of my convictions, or because ranking them like Ryan did would cause me to stew and ponder for weeks on end, I am going to randomly list some of my favorite moments from 2014 before declaring my favorite on-field and off-field moment. So here is the random part.
* That time in D.C. on June 7 when Fabian Espindola tried to do one of those gentle chips right up the middle on a stoppage time penalty kick, so the diving keeper can only helplessly look on as the ball floats to where he stood just moments before. Except Steve Clark didn’t dive, meaning the penalty kick more closely resembled an egg toss contest at a family picnic. Clark had been prepped not to move by Assistant Coach Pat Onstad, then had to mentally commit to accept the result of his inaction, no matter what. The result was one of the most hilarious moments in club history, as Clark made the easy save to preserve a 0-0 draw. To top it off, Tony Tchani added to the legend by scooping up the game ball at the final whistle and presenting it to Espindola as if he were the Man of the Match. This memory never ever fails to make me laugh.
* That time a kid held up a sign asking for a player to swap jerseys with him after the game, so Eric Gehrig not only swapped jerseys, but somehow managed to pull on the kid’s orange youth-medium jersey. It was a ridiculous sight, but what an awesome moment for that kid.
* That time the Black & Gold scored three goals in the span of just four minutes and 22 seconds to turn a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 win at Philadelphia. Finlay in the 78th! Meram in the 79th! Arrieta in the 82nd! Four minutes and 22 seconds! Incredible!
* Any time Matt Lampson answered a question during those halftime videos. No team in MLS could have possibly topped that halftime show. One time, for the Notebook, Lampson even expounded on his top five spirit animals. You can read Matt’s hilarious explanation
HERE.
* Those times Ethan Finlay scored 11 goals and assisted on seven others. Finlay has always been a great guy and a hard worker, so it was special to see all of his work pay off in spectacular fashion in 2014. After tallying zero goals or assists in his first two seasons and not even making the bench at the start of the year, Finlay scored his first goal on May 17 at Portland and never looked back. He finished tied for team lead in both goals (11) and assists (7).
* That time Columbus unveiled its new state-of-the-art HD scoreboard by making it look like the old scoreboard, then having it appear to catch on fire before launching into an awesome intro video that showcased the new board’s capabilities. It was a hilarious self-referential nod to The Great Scoreboard Fire of 2013 and demonstrated that things are different now.
* Every time that Pipa served Pipa Chips.
* In addition to Finlay, it was great to see longtime holdovers like Justin Meram, Tony Tchani and Bernardo Anor have breakout seasons for the Black & Gold. It’s one thing for a coach to blow up a roster and fill it with his own guys, but it’s another thing for a coach to come in and take existing players to new heights. To me, that was one of the most impressive facets of Berhalter’s debut season.
* Hearing “Columbus Crew” a bajillion times during the World Cup thanks to the performance of Giancarlo Gonzalez.
* That time Frankie Hejduk got inducted into the Circle of Honor and was handed a live microphone. You can read about that night HERE.
* That time Steve Clark made that fingertip save in the late moments to preserve a crucial 1-0 win over New England in the midst of the playoff chase. It did not seem physically possible. How it didn’t win Save of the Week is beyond me.
* That time Bernardo Anor cracked long-range goals with each foot in the same game, like a switch hitter blasting a home run from each side of the plate. That was cool.
* That time the front office pulled off a leak-free brand reveal and unveiled the new Columbus Crew SC badge. The video for it still gives me chills. I’ve remarked that the brand reveal event was basically the front office version of winning MLS Cup. It should come as no surprise that many people involved with that project got promotions. Congratulations to Arica Kress (Senior Director of Marketing and Communications), Tim Miller (Director of Communications), Ryan Schwepfinger (Communications Manager), Dan Lolli (Director of Stadium Operations and Merchandise) and badge co-designer Will Bennett (Senior Brand Director) on their new roles.
* That time I got to share “Kirk Urso: Forever Massive” with the world and people bought it to learn more about Kirk and to raise money for the Kirk Urso Memorial Fund. That book was a labor of love from so many people, and all of the proceeds have gone to furthering Kirk’s memory and legacy though congenital heart defect research, so your support has meant more than you will ever know. If you don’t have it yet, you can learn more about it HERE.
* Those six times the sales staff sold out Crew Stadium, a club record. That was awesome. Congratulations not only to the whole sales staff, but also to Clark Beacom, who has been subsequently promoted to Vice President of Sales and Marketing based on leading his group’s 2014 successes.
* Those times, after every game, home or away, where Matt Lampson would meet with his LLS Heroes in conjunction with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. As a cancer survivor, Lampson gives back to the cause via his LampStrong Foundation. I always love witnessing Matt’s on-field interactions with his LLS Heroes after each game.
* That time Columbus throttled the eventual MLS Cup champion LA Galaxy, 4-1.
* All those times that #TIFOSWEAT made cool stuff and displayed it for the whole stadium to enjoy.
* That time Thierry Henry said “Wil Trapp” eleventy-billion times to explain why Columbus crushed the Red Bulls in New York.
* Probably a million other things I am forgetting off the top of my head.
MY FAVORITE ON-FIELD MOMENT OF 2014
No, question, it was The Legend of J90+4. It’s always fun to beat Seattle. It’s even more fun to beat Seattle on their horrible turf field. And it’s even way more fun to beat Seattle when Justin “J9” Meram came off the bench and pulled off the soccer equivalent of swishing a long jumpshot at the buzzer. It is easily one of the most exhilarating moments in team history. Thankfully, Meram and Josh Williams walked me through that historic moment so we could preserve its awesomeness for posterity. You can read the full “Legend of J90+4” HERE.
MY FAVORITE OFF-FIELD MOMENT OF 2014
This one was also a no-brainer. When 11-year-old Brooke Langhirt fell and broke her arm at Crew Stadium, Frankie Hejduk distracted her from the pain by giving her his 2008 MLS Cup Championship ring. He even told her to take it to the hospital, trusting that the goodness of humanity and the communal spirit of the Black &Gold Family would eventually see the ring back to his finger. His faith was rewarded. It was such a beautifully trusting and compassionate moment between an injured girl, her worried father, and a concerned Dude. I can’t even begin to recap how much it lifted my spirits as a human being, so if you haven’t done so, please read it the whole story HERE. It’s one of my favorite stories that I have ever been lucky enough to chronicle. Thank you, Brooke, Vince and Frankie.
You know, thinking about that story reminded me of a conversation I had with Josh Williams back in July. As you’ll recall, Josh was sidelined by dangerous blood clots and even had to have surgery to remove a rib in order to prevent future clots. But on July 11, Williams sat in the waiting room at the hospital, preparing to go undergo another exploratory venogram procedure because his arm kept swelling. He was scared and knew blood clots could be career (or even life) threatening. It was in that waiting room that he learned LeBron James was coming back to Cleveland. He spoke about how everybody at the hospital suddenly had smiles on their faces. He said he got chills reading LeBron’s letter about coming home. Looking back, he told me, “It was such a down moment in my life, but….I mean, you don’t think sports can have that effect on someone, but it definitely put me in a better place.”
LeBron James put Josh in a better place that afternoon. Josh undoubtedly put countless fans in a better place over the years, either through moments on the field or his interactions off of it. He’s a guy who treasured every single second of playing for his boyhood team, and it showed. He knew it took several unlikely and fortuitous flukes of fate for him to even get a shot to earn a spot on the roster, and he never forgot what it meant to be there, both to himself and to all the fans in Ohio that were just like him growing up. Like he said, sports can put people in a better place.
Frankie put Brooke Langhirt in a better place that evening when she broke her arm. Matt Lampson puts his LLS Heroes in a better place after each game. Eric Gehrig put that jersey-swap kid in a better place. Every Pipa chip, Steve Clark save, or Justin Meram meathook can put someone in a better place. Every goal, every win, every interaction off the field can put someone in a better place. We’ve all seen it. We’ve all lived it. That’s why we care.
So thank you to Josh Williams, Eric Gehrig, Bernardo Anor, Agustin Viana, Jairo Arrieta, and all of the other departing players for doing your part to put people in a better place while you were here. You’ll always be part of the Crew SC Family. (Yes, even you, Gehrig, despite now playing for the stupid Fire.)
And welcome aboard Kei Kamara (again), Ben Swanson, Mohammed Saeid, and Kristinn Steindorsson. We look forward to the better places, big and small, that you and your Crew SC teammates will take us in 2015 and beyond.
Questions? Comments? Already counting down the days until next spring’s Crewsmas? Feel free to write at sirk65@yahoo.com or via twitter @stevesirk
