The new math

A few years ago I was talking to an education major, approximately 75% through her undergraduate program. Somehow the topic of discussion wound its way to math, and how there is a change afoot in how math is taught. It is no longer enough to simply have students memorize multiplication tables. A student won't learn properly that 2x5=10 by learning tables. Rather, it is important for students to understand that 2x5=10 by learning things like, "If you have one group of 5 animals, and they meet another group of 5 animals, you will have 10 animals." I was so frazzled. I sharply replied, "Damnit, we put people on the moon using multiplication tables and slide rules. If tables were good enough then, they're good enough now!"

That introduction aside, it appears that the Crew have been partnering with Ohio State University's math department to develop some new new math (or are we on three news, now?). The new math can best be described using the following equation: 84+82+88= -6. The first three numbers represent the minute in which the Crew allowed game-tying goals at home in the first three matches. The result represents the total points lost so far by pissing away late-game leads. Instead of sitting at the bottom of the Eastern Conference table while being the conference's only winless team, the Crew could be sitting nicely on 10 points and looking down at most of the conference.

This is not the Riemann hypothesis, and solving the problem should be within the coaching staff and team's grasp. However, 20% into the season with 0 wins is not a great start for a terrible team, let alone a defending champion who returns almost all of the previous year's key components. If this problem's solution continues to elude this organization, Crew fans might have to contact the Clay Mathematics Institute to offer a Millennium Prize.

Crew home games: Game 2 v. Game 1

With the Crew's packed-to-the-rafters crowd of 7,465 for last night's home game against Colorado, BigSoccer is surely full of some people claiming that the Crew should be moved because Columbus is a terrible market, assuming of course that attendance is the sole indicator of an organization's financial health. Yesterday marks the second straight season that the season's second home game dipped below 7,500 for attendance, the two smallest crowds in Crew Stadium to watch an MLS game. Yes, we all know that the announced attendance does not equal the number of people in the stands. That fact's been stated at least 8,938 times on BigSoccer without it sticking; KKKrew gets mentioned approximately half as many times and all of a sudden foreign newspapers claim there's a Crew supporters' group by that name. Amazing.

Anyway, for reference only here is a tabulation of each season's first home game attendance, second home game attendance, percentages, and how the second game compares to the overall season average. Individual game attendances were taken from the Crew's media guide, so they're only as accurate as provided. Then again, the media guide cover states that Frankie Hejduk was an MLS Best XI selection in 2008. Season averages were taken from the MLS web site.

Year...Game 1 Att...Game 2 Att...G2/G1....Avg Att...G2/Avg
1996....25,266.......24,343......96.4%....18,950....128.5%
1997....14,485.......10,622......73.6%....15,043.....70.9%
1998....14,148.......10,121......71.5%....12,275.....82.5%
1999....24,741.......20,782......84.0%....17,696....117.4%
2000....16,095.......12,952......80.5%....15,451.....83.8%
2001....17,947.......14,488......80.7%....17,511.....82.7%
2002....18,450.......11,103......60.2%....17,429.....63.7%
2003....22,058.......12,165......55.2%....16,250.....74.9%
2004....20,356.......13,271......65.2%....16,872.....78.7%
2005....14,358.......12,449......86.7%....12,916.....96.4%
2006....20,818.......13,399......64.4%....13,294....100.8%
2007....13,782.......13,290......96.4%....15,230.....87.3%
2008....13,843........6,733......48.6%....14,622.....46.1%
2009....14,686........7,465......50.8%....XX,XXX.....XX.X%

The worst four-game start ever?

I have to admit that I quickly ran through these numbers, disgusted as I am with the Crew's four-game start to the 2009 MLS season. But as I was watching the minutes tick up, counting toward a second away defeat for the Crew this week, I wondered what defending MLS Cup champion had the fewest points after its first four games of its defending season. Assuming I read all the results correctly - no small feat when one considers (a) how quickly I reviewed them and (b) the ever-changing presentation of schedules on MLS's web site - the 2009 Columbus Crew do have the fewest points after four games. Here is the year-by-year tallies:

1997, DC United........9 points
1998, DC United........7
1999, Chicago..........9
2000, DC United........3 (so close...)
2001, Kansas City......9
2002, San Jose.........6
2003, Los Angeles......3 (note: all four were away)
2004, San Jose.........4
2005, DC United........4
2006, Los Angeles......4
2007, Houston..........4
2008, Houston..........3
2009, Columbus.........2

One fan's Crew goals for 2009

Repeating as the league champion in any sport or in any league isn't an easy task. In many cases winning the championship isn't simply the result of one over-riding factor, like merely having the league's best talent for example. Rather, championships are often the result of a confluence of a number of factors coming together at one time, resulting in something truly special. The Crew's 2008 season, in my opinion, is no different. There are too many factors to the Crew's MLS Cup victory to list, but one can quickly identify some significant factors - acquiring Brian Carroll, Guillermo Barros Schelotto's MVP season, Chad Marshall's outstanding defensive season, William Hesmer's performance in goal. Those are just easily identifiable personnel issues, and they don't begin to account for things like a reported amazing team chemistry, the first true connection between the players and the fans, and other intangible qualities that are always found in championship teams.

It took Columbus thirteen seasons to win its first title, and even though I was in Los Angeles to witness the victory it's still somewhat unreal that the Crew capped off 2008 with the victory. Even though the optimist in me sees that so far the Crew have maintained a significant chunk of its 2008 core, which bodes extremely well for 2009, the realist (maybe the pessimist?) in me acknowledges that a 2009 MLS Cup victory is not only unexpected but probably unlikely. There have been twelve MLS Cup winners who had the chance to win consecutive titles and only two - DC United in 1997 and Houston in 2007 - were able to complete the task. In addition to those two repeat winners, DC United's 1998 MLS Cup berth is the only other time a defending MLS Cup winner has advanced to the title game the following season.

With those not favorable odds in mind, I'm not punting the 2009 season, throwing up my hands, and expecting a return to the wilderness years immediately prior to 2008. Furthermore, as a fan I'm not completely writing off the Crew's chances to repeat as MLS Cup winners. While topping any championship season is difficult, I think the Crew's 2008 season will be especially difficult to top from a fan's perspective. However, as a fan, I have identified some rather modest goals for the 2009 season, goals that I think would result in an entertaining and enjoyable season should they be reached by the Crew.

• Retain Trillium Cup and not lose any games to Toronto FC
• Legitimately contend for Supporters' Shield and finish no lower than second in the Eastern Conference
• Legitimately contend for the US Open Cup, advancing to at least the quarterfinals
• Legitimately contend for the MLS Cup, advancing to at least the tournament's semifinals
• Win at least ten home league matches
• Finish in the top three of goals scored and goal difference
• Place at least one player on the league's year-end Best XI
• Place at least two players in the final three of the league's year-end individual honors
• Place at least one player on various US World Cup Qualifier game-day rosters
• Finish in the top half of the league's average home attendance
• Advance past the group stage of the CONCACAF Champions League

Other fans will have other goals, and other fans will be entertained by the 2009 Crew in other ways. For me, however, I honestly believe that the goals I've listed above could really result in a fun, entertaining, and enjoyable 2009 season. Can the MLS season just start already?

Chad Marshall re-signs with Columbus

On Friday, 12/26/08, Columbus announced that 2008 MLS Defender of the Year, 2008 MLS Cup-winning goal scorer, and 2008 bad-ass Chad Marshall answered Maurice Williams's plea and re-signed with the Crew. As usual, no terms of the deal were immediately announced, though it has been rumored that Marshall is entitled to one fine lady of his choosing after each home game, a small price to pay, really.

I would not definitively say that I am a club-over-country soldier, at least not as solidly as my good man Sedley. Then again Sedley's 2008 sports nirvana includes a Phillies World Series title, a Crew MLS Cup victory, a Notre Dame bowl victory, and an Eagles playoff berth in the same season in which their starting quarterback didn't know the NFL allowed ties, so he might be believing in and living the good life. However, I will say that I am selfish in my sports support in that I more-or-less care about what is best for my team, letting the other pieces fall where they may.

For example, I root for Ohio State in football. Once a Buckeye leaves OSU, though, I'm not all that concerned about their NFL stats unless they're plying their trade for the NFL's best team over the final three weeks, the Cincinnati Bengals (3-0, baby!). The fact that few OSU quarterbacks enjoy NFL success doesn't concern as me much as Joe Germaine winning a Rose Bowl or Troy Smith winning a Heisman (um, a national title might have been nice, though). I want Buckeyes to succeed in the NFL only so far as to continue to encourage top-level talent to attend OSU.

My soccer support is quite similar in that I am concerned first with the Crew, with the national team coming in second (and it's not a photo finish). Don't confuse such a statement with apathy or dislike of the national team, though. I take their results as hard as most sane people, but I feel more connected to the Crew in that I have season tickets, I watch them 30+ times each season. I root for the national team as hard as I possibly can, and I want it to succeed so badly.

Many US soccer fans and BigSoccer posters will contend that for the US to ever become a serious, constant contender on the international stage its best players must play in the toughest competition available, generally found in Europe. In the absence of such competition, the US players will never develop enough skill to lift the US out of its second-tier level, and any US player capable of heading overseas - take Chad Marshall, for example - who stays in the US is doing a disservice to both himself and his national team.

I'm not going to argue if that's completely accurate or not. I think that compelling arguments can be made for each side of the discussion. But what I can say is that I, the Crew fan, WANT to watch Chad Marshall play for Columbus next year. If that supposedly affects the national team, so be it. Selfishly I want what's best for Columbus, which is why I wanted Marshall to listen to Maurice Williams. It's why I can enjoy DaMarcus Beasley having an off game in Crew Stadium against Columbus with European scouts in attendance. I wanted the Crew to win, not let Beasley show off his talent for the supposed betterment of the national team at the expense of the Crew.

I will always, always pull for the national team to succeed each time it plays, in each competition it enters, and I will attend every match that I can. Selfishly, though, I want what's best for the Crew first. If that means that I put club-over-country definitively, then, I guess I'll wear the label guilt-free.

A nice soccer Christmas gift

Because of balancing time with my family and the Toledo-based in-laws, my family didn't exchange gifts until yesterday. My sister came up huge by getting me the t-shirt below. The t-shirt, and a number of other old-time club shirts, is available from the fine people at Bumpy Pitch.

Nervous and excited in Los Angeles

The life of a sports fan is rather strange, really, especially those fans who invest significant amounts of time and money supporting their team. We spend hours following Internet rumors of the next big signing, tracking down little-known players logging time in smaller, Eastern European countries. We spend hours debating team selections, coaching concepts, tactics, scouting reports, expansion draft lists, oftentimes without full knowledge of team chemistry or practice results. We get nervous - some might say ridiculously so - leading up to games where we're slightly more than an accessory to the game. Sure, home support can be a tremendous asset to a team, but in the end the game's result hinges on the performance of the players (and officials...). While the game is the players' job, and their performances has a direct effect on their livelihood, it could be argued that the fan, the supporter, gets more nervous for a game than the players he is supporting.

Following the Crew across the country to MLS Cup, I experienced this nervousness and excitement to a level I had never experienced before. I am relatively fortunate, as a sports fan, in that my teams have won three World Series titles (though 1975 and 1976 are a little difficult to remember...), appeared in two Super Bowls, and have won a national championship in college football. Ignoring MLS Cup, I have watched my teams contend for the "ultimate" title six times, though with only two wins to show. However, in each of these six tries, I was never as nervous before them as I was before MLS Cup. While I support the Reds, Bengals, and Buckeyes, I support the Crew to a much greater level and have a much greater emotional (and financial) investment. This investment, being so close to the team and feeling more connected to the team, was the oxygen to my nervousness fire. I noticed this nervousness while in Los Angeles, but upon looking back I realized little things showed exactly how nervous and excited I was.

The day before MLS Cup I attended the Hollywood United FC charity game at the Home Depot Center and, completely through my friendship with Sirk - little known gateway to the stars - I attended the postgame party in the stadium club. I needed to call my Crew Stadium neighbor Nate, who with his wife Steph, was in Los Angeles, too, to coordinate the next day's activities. While talking to Nate I watched as the Home Depot Center staff readied the field for the final. The grass was being attended, the matrix sign boards were being tested, and the lights were on. Looking across toward the northeast corner, from where I'd hopefully watch a Crew victory, increased the excitement. Standing in a fairly quiet stadium, surveying the surroundings, was strangely enough almost too much. I couldn't believe that in less than a day my team, yes MY TEAM, would fight for themselves and for its supporters, fight for its title. Thankfully, Nate shared similar feelings so at least I knew I wasn't the only oddball.

The clincher, though, the moment I realized that the nervousness and excitement was greater than expected was when Sirk and I went to In-N-Out after the postgame party on Saturday night. Whether it be a serious discussion of the game's events or me dicking on somebody or something, Sirk and I always easily slip into conversation. In-N-Out, though, was a completely different story. The conversation was a series of starts and stops with most stops leading to some variation of, "I can't believe that the Crew are playing in MLS Cup tomorrow." We tried to discuss the game, how we thought it would play out, what we thought the Crew needed to do to win the title. But really, in the end, the only thing we could say was, "I can't believe that the Crew are playing in MLS Cup tomorrow." It was like two kids talking on Christmas Eve, trying to discuss the newest Star Wars toy, but really just filling dead air as they think about the next day.

Is it ridiculous to get so nervous, so excited about something over which you have no control? Probably so, but I wouldn't change it for anything. And, the Crew's victory in MLS Cup made it all worthwhile. Honestly, I'm not sure if the Crew's win would have felt the same, felt as satisfying. Strange, huh?