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The Dispatch wrote
Crew rowdies create great atmosphere, but let’s not go too far
Monday, May 26, 2008
BY MICHAEL ARACE
Prior to this season, Crew Stadium morphed from a soccer-specific stadium to a soccer-concert hybrid. A huge stage sprouted, and it now looms like a spaceship behind the north goal, where the most ardent supporters used to sit.
After the stage went up, the Crew Supporters Union 103, the Hudson Street Hooligans and La Turbina (“The Turbine”) — three distinct fan groups once separated by rows or stands in the north end — were forced into a melting pot in one corner of the stadium. And from the first game of the season, they have combined to charge the atmosphere of the place.
Now, that section is packed to the top — and it’s tremendous. It’s making Crew Stadium one of the toughest places in the league for opponents. In this development, there is great promise. There is also potential danger.
Comments
- itinerantfoodie: Not one mention of Huntington Park or their sparse advertising. (Seriously
- Liz Samuelson: Why can't they just pay someone to do it versus a contest? I really like t
- RichLauro: Awesome! Good for Justin and best wishes!!
- Liz Samuelson: @jpizzow – Thank you for the compliment, yes lots of potential and lots o
- Taz Devil: Oh, and it should be finished soon considering that they work late into the
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Crew rowdies create great stadium atmosphere
By: Walker
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I went to my first game last night. I hate soccer. The fans make it a worthwhile experience. I was impressed. By the fans, not the game on the field.
Management is not cracking down on offensive language, nor should they. They do warn people with seats near Nordecke that it may not be family friendly however. The only people responsible for FCC fines are broadcasters. They clearly are ‘mic’-ing the aupporters’ area for atmosphere, however. They wouldn’t take that risk unknowingly. Our supporters’ section is gaining a reputation for good TV atmosphere. As for advertising revenue, I doubt the Crew is selling any ads during ESPN or FSC broadcasts. In fact, there are no commercials during a game, only some at pre-game, halftime and post-game.
If you still hate soccer after that game, you will probably never be converted. :wink: 5 goals in a 26 (?) minute span was very exciting to watch, and I only wish I had gone. Good on ya, though, for going anyway. The team needs all the paying customers they can get!
I’ve never heard of an OSU fan using a cuss at a football game. They’re much more civil folk.
True, but they also have nipples in the newspaper and IIRC, that caused some problems with sporting events here.
Management is not cracking down on offensive language, nor should they. They do warn people with seats near Nordecke that it may not be family friendly however. The only people responsible for FCC fines are broadcasters. They clearly are ‘mic’-ing the aupporters’ area for atmosphere, however. They wouldn’t take that risk unknowingly. Our supporters’ section is gaining a reputation for good TV atmosphere. As for advertising revenue, I doubt the Crew is selling any ads during ESPN or FSC broadcasts. In fact, there are no commercials during a game, only some at pre-game, halftime and post-game.
I don’t sit in the supporters section so my info is second hand. It didn’t sound mic’d (?) so if that’s the case, they are doing an excellent job of it to sound like crowd noise. The cameras were shaking during the corner kicks in the last 5 minutes, tho!
the commercials at the half were unbearable to this ben olsen non-fan. I assumed the Crew got a cut of whatever revenues there would be since the teams would drive the number of viewers but maybe not?
Management is not cracking down on offensive language, nor should they. They do warn people with seats near Nordecke that it may not be family friendly however. The only people responsible for FCC fines are broadcasters. They clearly are ‘mic’-ing the aupporters’ area for atmosphere, however. They wouldn’t take that risk unknowingly. Our supporters’ section is gaining a reputation for good TV atmosphere. As for advertising revenue, I doubt the Crew is selling any ads during ESPN or FSC broadcasts. In fact, there are no commercials during a game, only some at pre-game, halftime and post-game.
I don’t sit in the supporters section so my info is second hand. It didn’t sound mic’d (?) so if that’s the case, they are doing an excellent job of it to sound like crowd noise. The cameras were shaking during the corner kicks in the last 5 minutes, tho!
the commercials at the half were unbearable to this ben olsen non-fan. I assumed the Crew got a cut of whatever revenues there would be since the teams would drive the number of viewers but maybe not?
Sitting in the opposite (NW) corner during games, I’ve only been able to make out a few chants and obscenities a couple times. On TV it seems so clear at times that I assumed they mic the area. The always shoot from the upper deck of the West stands for game action, but FSC broadcasts usually put a booth on the North stage.
As for ad revenue, that may be the case, but I doubt it. MLS is a single entity system, so I would assume MLS collects all TV revenue for national games, with maybe a cut going to the teams. The Crew may even have to give them a cut of locally televised game revenue (not that there would be much I imagine :oops: )
BY CRAIG MERZ / JULY 17, 2008
When the Columbus Crew displaced the Hudson Street Hooligans, its largest and ballsiest supporter group, from a prime taunting location behind the north goal of Crew Stadium after the 2007 season to make way for a drab concrete concert stage, the move was met with disdain from scorned fans.
“We were pissed off,†said Hooligan Jonathan “Smitty†Smith.
Even the Crew Union supporters in section 103 on the east side of the stands were sympathetic to the plight of HSH.
“We shared the same concerns. It was their area,†the Union’s Kevin McCollough said.
What could have been a public relations nightmare—the disenfranchising of the most ardent fans—evolved into a coup for the front office.
Flash ahead to a rowdy night in late May where more than 1,500 people are immersed in a cauldron of drumbeats, smoke bombs, F-bombs and streamers in the northeast corner of the stadium now known as “Nordeckeâ€â€”German for “north deckâ€â€”in homage to the city’s heritage.
The bleachers are mere stepping stones for those who stand and scream, “You suck, asshole!†every time the New England keeper has a goal kick. The assemblage from Hudson Street Hooligans, Crew Union and the mostly Latino La Turbina de Las Amarillas (Yellow Turbines) are now collectively packed into sections 139-142. “It turned out really good. It got everybody together,†Smith said. “It was something that, I guess, if we were a little smarter we would have welcomed it. But when it first came around we were like, ‘Hey, they took out our section.’â€
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i just really like the name “Hudson St. Hooligans”. BTW, that Crew vs KC game was really good. Sort of let down by the ending, but at least we tied instead of losing.
I am just starting to get into soccer, but i am def a fan now!
But just imagine how cool Crew Stadium might be if it were the anchor of a redeveloped River South district.
Eh, I suppose.. But if they made that area more livable and walkable, I think it could be pretty awesome in it’s own right.
Not everything has to be downtown, nor should it be.
Eh, I suppose.. But how do you get to the current stadium if you can’t or don’t want to drive? :wink:
+1
I can’t drive past Hudson without thinking about that name. :D
But just imagine how cool Crew Stadium might be if it were the anchor of a redeveloped River South district.
Eh, I suppose.. But if they made that area more livable and walkable, I think it could be pretty awesome in it’s own right.
Not everything has to be downtown, nor should it be.
Eh, I suppose.. But how do you get to the current stadium if you can’t or don’t want to drive? :wink:
That depends on your starting point. From downtown, the #4 to patterson and then cross the tracks on foot would work (unless it’s illegal to do so, I’m not admitting to anything) or the #1 and come down 17th ave on foot.
Biking there is the best. Save your parking $$ and you get out of there in a flash.
We went ot the game against Colorado during Comfest weekend, and were suprised when that corner showered the guy taking a corner kick with streamers and smoke bombs and what not. It was hilarious and awesome! And when the Crew scored, that corner was even more amplified, it was great.
Just wondering…..what website do most people go to, to read about the mls and get stats? For the past 2 years I’ve been really dissappointed with ESPN.com and it’s mls coverage.
[url=http://web.mlsnet.com/index.jsp]mlsnet[/url] for news and stats, but mostly [url=http://www.bigsoccer.com/]bigsoccer[/url] (general) and [url=http://crewonespot.blogspot.com/]crewture[/url] (Crew-specific) for passionate and often hilarious forum discussions and blogs.
[url=http://web.mlsnet.com/index.jsp]mlsnet[/url] for news and stats, but mostly [url=http://www.bigsoccer.com/]bigsoccer[/url] (general) and [url=http://crewonespot.blogspot.com/]crewture[/url] (Crew-specific) for passionate and often hilarious forum discussions and blogs.
in addition to the sites suggested by Uncommon you can read up on the Crew at Shawn Michell’s blog : [url]http://blog.dispatch.com/crew/[/url]and on Sirks’s blog : [url]http://web.mlsnet.com/news/team_news.jsp?ymd=20080721&content_id=174511&vkey=news_coc&fext=.jsp&team=t102[/url]
I go to Shawn’s blog, and I really enjoy it.
I’ve got a put a plug in for my brother who does An American Game which covers the fine (and not so fine) points of US national team and Crew soccer.