Mar 11, 2018
Columbus Crew vs. Montreal Impact
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Columbus Crew vs. Montreal Impact
#columbuscrewsc #columbuscrewsc #columbuscrewstadium #ohiosoccer #ohiostatesoccer #clubsoccer #soccerskills #bexleysoccer https://www.instagram.com/p/ByqCWNYBoZj/?igshid=smgutk00vjl6
It's a battle of the birds tonight. LOONS vs Chickens? #mnufc #columbuscrewsc #rubberchicken #mls #soccer #funny #minnesota (at Allianz Field) https://www.instagram.com/p/BxoFbp5nMu9/?igshid=ei0e7br3z6sn
Finally got to go to a @columbuscrewsc game! Rainbow before the game must have been a sign of good luck. @ali.gale #victory #savethecrew #columbuscrew #crewsc @columbuscrewsc #columbuscrewsc (at MAPFRE Stadium) https://www.instagram.com/p/BnNbFPFnmvP/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=5eazoeerl1cq
#AtlantaUnited beat #ColumbusCrewSC #UniteAndConquer https://www.instagram.com/p/Bms2pPcBDz3/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=nonq6ynbgliy
The Passion of the Nordeke vs. The So-Called Supporter
I wrote a controversial or should I say a scathing article on my blog post called “To The Nordeke: Grow Up or Cheer in an Empty Stadium.” I make no apologies for what I wrote. Part of my job can and will offend you at times. If I believe it to be the truth, I will speak my mind, stand at the bow, go down with the ship, and salute while it is sinking. However, there were some people who did make a few good points. “Where are the rest of the fans that support Columbus Crew SC?” “We are the most passionate Crew SC Fans in Columbus!”
I described The Nordeke in my last post as “The loud bunch of rabble of Crew SC supporters sitting in the northeast corner of Mapfre Stadium.” Do I agree with the chants, songs, cheers and behavior that has come out of that part of the stadium? I will answer with a huge resounding “No!” I find it disgusting and childish. However, these people are the most passionate sports fans I have ever seen up close and personal. I grew up going to the Showtime Lakers and Los Angeles Kings games at The Fabulous Forum. I went to Dodger games during their World Series winning season in 1988. I have been to three Olympic Games; 1984 in Los Angeles, 1988 in Seoul Korea, and 1996 in Atlanta Georgia. I also went to the Rose Bowl when Los Angeles held the World Cup in 1994. Never, and I mean never have I ever seen a small group of passionate fans from any other sport.
These people spend their hard earned money on Crew SC paraphernalia, cheer in the rain, sleet, snow and blistering humidity despite the underhanded dealings of Anthony Precourt. They are the loudest bunch of fans at Mapfre Stadium. They sing songs such as “Columbus Til I Die” in support of their team every soccer Saturday. These are the people who stood on the Statehouse steps in defiance of Precourt’s decision to move the team to Austin, Texas starting a league wide movement to keep the team in Columbus where it belongs. I salute their efforts and their passion. As a photographer who has covered the team over the past four years I have many great shots of these supporters cheering a goal scored and rooting their team on. They give great impact to the story of the match.
“Where are the rest of the fans that support Columbus Crew SC? Why are you not blasting them?” A fair and valid question. Now it’s their turn!!! We have had three games in an ice cold and rainy March. The Nordeke is always full with screaming fans, but where are you? People in the Nordeke spend thousands of dollars on tickets and you sit at home watching the match at home or in a bar? Sure you buy Crew SC gear, but watching the game on TV does not give the team money or any reason to stay in town. You too are at fault if the team moves. You are the kind of hypocrite that calls himself a Christian, but never goes to Church or reads their Bible. That is pathetic. If you dare to call yourself a supporter of Crew SC and don’t show up when things get tough, are you really a fan?
I have lived in Columbus for two decades. We don’t have much as far as any other sport save Ohio State Buckeye Football. It is a miracle that we still have the Columbus Blue Jackets in town considering that Buckeye Football takes precedence over everything else. I have seen many Buckeye fans mock the fact that Crew SC is even in town and were howling with laughter as the Austin move was announced. That got me as mad as largemouth at a Catholic fish fry during lent. Are you going to sit idly by as a snake like Precourt takes the first original MLS team out of town? If you don’t start showing up, Anthony Precourt will have that cheesy grin as he waves goodbye while driving his moving vans out of Mapfre Stadium. Sure he doesn’t live in town, but you get my point.
To The Nordeke: Grow Up or Cheer in an Empty Stadium
The Nordeke is the loud bunch of rabble of Crew SC supporters sitting in the northeast corner of Mapfre Stadium. They are Crew SC’s most die-hard fans who remind me of the Oakland Raider’s Black Hole. They are clad in black and yellow, don the scarfs, and are the loudest fans at any Crew SC match. I am all for supporting your club or team. I am not for drunken, dangerous activity, and profanity in the chants and songs being sang. As a man who is family oriented, these people need to grow up, quit being selfish, or cheer in an empty stadium with no players playing “The Beautiful Game.”
Sport is, has been, and always will be a family outing here in America. We live in a country where parents can take their kids to any sporting event and enjoy a day or an evening of family fun. Major League Soccer recognizes this fact. In the fan code of conduct it states;
MLS fans have a right to expect an environment where:
· Fans are encouraged to cheer, sing, and otherwise support their team while remaining respectful and courteous to their fellow patrons, referees, opposing team fans and players.
· Fans enjoy the soccer experience free from fighting, thrown objects*, attempts to enter the playing field, political or inciting messages, and disorderly behavior, including foul, sexist, racial, obscene or abusive language or gestures.
· Fans conduct themselves in a lawful manner to avoid incidents in the stadium and in the parking lots.
Sing, chant, and cheer all you want. You are supposed to do that at any sporting event. I support that. What I don’t support is the profanity, disrespect, and disregard for other fans in the stadium who are offended by it. Who has more money, the Average Joe in the Nordeke or the family with three kids who play soccer? I have no statistics, but common logic would say the family of three kids. What kind of responsible parent would bring their kids to any sporting event where the biggest fan base can be heard using abusive language throughout the whole stadium? Speaking of which, I was photographing a match one night near the Nordeke. All of a sudden I begin to hear a kid’s voice screaming profanities that would make a sailor take notes. I look back behind me and there was a boy who couldn’t have been more than eight years old shouting this garbage while adults just sat back knocked back a few beers and laughed. So much for parental responsibility.
Every Crew SC fan remembers the debacle that was the 2015 MLS Cup. Alvas Powell of the Portland Timbers touches the ball out of bounds. Darlington Nagbe takes the ball down the sidelines and passes it to Rodney Wallace who makes the header into the net. The Timbers celebrate right next to the Nordeke who promptly throw beer bottles and other objects at them for the whole world to see. It was a bad call, but that is irrelevant. What is relevant was the pitiful display of classless hooliganism made by the Nordeke. I don’t care if someone scores off a bad call in the MLS Cup, nobody deserves to have objects thrown at them even if they are doing the conga line right in front of you. It is also a crime.
On an even more dangerous note, about a month ago, I was photographing the home opener against Montreal. I looked down toward the Nordeke and there is a woman being led away by security as she passed me. A fellow photographer said that she was so drunk that she fell about ten feet out of the Nordeke. This wasn’t the only time an incident like this happened. I was shooting near the Nordeke one night when a drunken fight broke out and a guy fell out of the stands too. There is no need to get so drunk at a football match that violence and dangerous conduct happens.
I took my girlfriend, who is now my wife, home to meet my family who lives in the Los Angeles Area. One night we went to watch the Dodgers play their big rivals, The San Francisco Giants. Back then Dodger Stadium had a reputation of people getting into fights, violence, and cars broken into. That night there were some Giants fans in the crowd who were drinking and causing trouble. The back and forth between these guys and the Dodger fans got ugly. Finally some Dodger fans began beating the snot out of these guys. Cops were called and the people involved were escorted out of the stands. There were people with kids who were hoping to watch a nice rivalry game. That experience was ruined for everybody. The conduct in the Nordeke is no different.
Nobody wants to watch a match or a sporting event in a slaughterhouse. The people in the Nordeke are acting like knock offs of European hooliganism. Hooliganism is nothing new, but the culture of soccer in America is. The MLS does not have the fan base that the NFL or Major League Baseball has where incidents like this has hurt the attendance of games. As I look out across Mapfre Stadium, the Nordeke is filled to the rim with screaming fans. The rest of the stadium is a few patches of fans and very noticeable empty yellow seats. Could it be that since the announcement of the possible move hurt fan attendance? Yes. Could it be that we have had three matches in a cold March that has hurt attendance? Absolutely. Those are things that can’t be helped. What we can do is stop the idiocy, stupidity, and childish behavior amongst the Crew SC faithful called the Nordeke. Like I said before, grow up, or you can curse the name of Anthony Precourt as his moving vans leave Mapfre Stadium for Austin, Texas.
491 pictures, photos and videos of Rock on the Range Festival - Sunday at MAPFRE Stadium - Columbus, OH on May 21, 2017 https://www.crowdalbum.com/album/59213a9d7574697ab4000002/Rock-on-the-Range-Festival---Sunday_20170521