In the Footsteps of Ohio Pioneers (and, ahem, some previews)

By: Jeff | March 28th, 2007

Big Feet to Fill Welcome to The Offside’s Columbus Crew blog. Now, some of y’all might be looking at my name and saying, “hey, isn’t that the cat who used to write on the New England Revolution blog?” Well, yes. So, what gives?

I hinted at the motivation for the change elsewhere, but thought I’d expand on my credentials here. Like John Glenn, William Howard Taft, and Mark Mothersbaugh, I am a son of Ohio. I’m hoping this will make up for the fact that I’m sorta, kinda, really a fan of the New England Revolution.

For all that, I’ve got a hell of a soft spot for the Crew. It started last year when Real Salt Lake moved out of Major League Soccer’s basement and invited in Columbus. The thing is, I’m a sucker for perfection, which doesn’t always need to be positive to be real – e.g. I find as much pleasure in total failure as I do pure success. The Crew didn’t come all that close to topping RSL’s 18-game winless streak, but they did enough to pique my interest and affection.

More significantly, I think they’re going to be a team to watch this year; it’s not just that I have faith in Sigi, but think there’s real potential for interesting/big things. Put another way, I may root for the Revs, but I strongly suspect the Crew will provide a more engaging story line. And, in all honesty, nothing churns my butter like a good story.

At any rate, I thought I’d open this space with ESPN’s preview for the Crew’s 2007. If you look past the “crazed hillbilly” picture of Jason Garey, you’ll see that Davis made some typically sharp observations about the Crew’s strengths and weaknesses. In the former, you’ll find the “gaggle of promising talent” that will push new signing Andy Herron for playing time; the latter deals with the ongoing ‘keeper issues, as well as questions about Duncan Oughton’s long-term fitness, among other things. His overall outlook dubs the defense the key factor in the Crew’s success or failure.

By the way, I worked up a little preview of my own. I’ll do something a little more extensive and formal once the season gets closer, one that will benefit from deeper research and, hopefully, greater familiarity with the club – one that I have followed, but not nearly as closely as, um, another team.

And that’s where all y’all come in. Seeing as I’m new to this beat, I’d welcome any pointers as to where one finds good dish on the Crew. I know about their official site and The Columbus Dispatch, but would love to have more with which to work. So, feel free to drop a comment in the field here letting me know about your favorite haunts for learning about the Crew.

I look forward to yakking at you.