“We Need You…”

…This was the message of Defender Captain Frankie Hejduk last night when the Columbus Crew and the Nordecke came together for a Supporters Summit.

The team and staff members in attendance were Head Coach Robert Warzycha, General Manger Mark McCullers, Director of the Hispanic Developement Francisco Terreros, Defender Frankie Hejduk, Defender Danny O’Rourke, Midfielder Brian Carroll and Senior Director of Event Management Ryan Smith.

During the opening comments Mr. McCullers stated that Columbus Crew Stadium is the most talked about in the league because what we have here is pure and original. The Nordecke is making CCS a tough place to play and the players really do feed off that vibe. Both Carroll and O’Rourke stated that if a bad play is made the Nordecke makes their voice heard. Warzycha also said that during the Eastern Conference Final against Chicago the intensity from the Nordecke made it difficult for The Fire and it energized the Black and Gold to victory.

When the CONCACAF Champions League starts on August 18th the club needs our support. The team is pretty pumped up for it and Mr. McCullers wants to be the first MLS team ever to advance to the Club World Cup. How will this be done? Simple answer: NORDECKE. They need that 12th man in the stadium to win matches at home. How do we get the word out? Easy: Inspiration.

I think pulling those “part-time” Crew fans in and showing them that CCS is a wonderful place and that the Nordecke is a beautiful thing will prove to everyone, especially the league, that this small market has done big boy work. Columbus doesn’t need a club such as AC Milan or Real Madrid to come to the city and “promote soccer” because, quite frankly, The Crew have done a wonderful job. Yes, time is limited for them to get a decent crowd out on Tuesday night but like Hejduk said: “We Need You.”

We all go to school and work, why not take time out and come to a match? The support that is given to these boys really does motivate them. An interesting point was also made last night about the Toronto FC match that was held on July 25th: when The Crew was down 2-1 and then came back and scored the second goal, the Nordecke went wild and that’s what motivated the team to keep fighting and the players thanked the Nordecke for the win.

It was interesting to have the Director of Event Management, Ryan Smith, taking questions. This guy is the one to talk to about anything regarding security or other issues in the stands. He had some interesting points to make. Although the Nordecke went through some issues in 2008 Mr. Smith worked with the leaders of the supporters group’s and sorted them out. He has gotten a bad reputation but really, why blow things out of proportion without talking to him or hearing him out? We honestly didn’t discuss many security issues last night but some ideas were brought up that he is willing to work out, such as different ways to use streamers. He did say that the section has done a wonderful job cleaning up the foul language in the chants.

After the summit I briefly talked to Mr. Smith about some other issues and he made a suggestion that instead of saying YSA why not target the keeper personally, for example a former Crew keeper (insert name), making fun of his height or calling him a reject. Hmmm, maybe “You Suck Reject” could be used to throw former Crew keeper Bill Gaudette off his game when he comes to town with Puerto Rico next week.

Overall the summit was a great way to open the communication line between the Supporters and the team. We are fortunate to have a club willing to listen to and work with its Supporters. I really encourage people to come out on Saturday for FC Dallas and on Tuesday night for Puerto Rico to see what the Nordecke really is about.

If you want to contact Ryan Smith about any issues regarding security or other things you can email him at rsmith@thecrew.com or call him at 614.447.2739. He will get back to you either way.

MLS Forums

Columbus Results

Category: Team News

Tags: Team News

Subscribe   The Offside RSS Feeds

Print

Share