2017 Game 3: DC v. CLB 3/18/2017

I don't have much to talk about this week. Gregg changed the lineup and formation, and I don't think it was any more effective as previous weeks. I got a lot of feedback that said, "That's because Finlay didn't start," and it really has nothing to do with that, so I wish people would stop with the ignorant statements that all of my opinions are based on Finlay, just because he's the greatest soccer player in the world. (end rant)

Player rankings

Jukka - 7 

Artur - 7 

Kamara - 7 

Meram - 7 

Trapp - 8 

Steffen - 8 

Naess - 7 

Crognale - 9 

Williams - 6 

Afful - 6 

Higuain - 7 

Finlay - 7 

Abu - 6 

Jahn - 6 

Ref - 9 

Gregg - 8

WELCOME BACK TRAPP & PIPA! And my word... Crognale. I am so happy for him to have such an incredible start and Man of the Match designation. Well deserved. I watched him on BTN while Chris Doran announced Maryland games, and I was really excited about him. And even though DC looked terrible, it will be a great boost of confidence to have such a great first start!  

 
We won that game on two penalty kicks. Don't get me wrong, I'm very excited to get 3 points on the road!! This is much earlier in the season both for a win and road win as compared to last season! But I couldn't figure out which was worse: DC United's playing or the pitch at RFK. Crew had a lot of chances again... and didn't finish. I'm getting really sick of the dumb "expected goals" stat... all that matters is the score at the end of the game, which was a 2-0 win!

Both PKs were great calls, and I'm happy they were called, because Columbus doesn't seem to get those calls. Ted Unkel is one of the best refs in the league. He's ranked as high as  third in my MLS Referee Power Rankings. I liken him to Mike Dean in the English Premier League, if you happen to watch that league. He loves PKs and red cards, but he's not often wrong. Let's take a moment to appreciate his form in calling PKs:

It does appear that on the second PK, the ball is off the spot, but Ola did move it once and it may have just been the crappy pitch condition. 

Again, I'm happy with a 2-0 road win, but I was disappointed to see some more of that "killing off of a game" when we were up 1-0. The aimless passing and the bus parking that usually leads to a goal. Luckily, this time didn't happen, and I'm hoping it improves team morale and allows us to beat Portland on Saturday.

And while I have this outlet to write, let me address my opinion on capos. No, I don't stand in Nordecke. There are a few reasons for this, and the primary reason is that it seems like the vast majority of people who are in that section don't really care about the game as a result of the FO's trying to fill the section, and that takes away my personal enjoyment of the beautiful game.

I don't know much about the disorganization of the Nordecke and I never notice that two different songs are being sung simultaneously, but I do know it goes quiet for a long period of time (The 105 Ultraz were starting chants during the 2015 Cup Final). I also hate the sweary chants (which I get criticized for criticizing). "If I had the wings of a sparrow" is a really, really dumb chant. Let's be pro-Columbus in our chanting.

I think having capos would improve these things. It will probably improve communication, and it would probably stop the sweary chants, as I'm assuming a capo would be sanctioned by the FO, thus every chant and tifo must be approved by the FO. This would be a welcome change.

So I'm not personally opposed to capos, but I'm personally opposed to being a capo. I enjoy the game and I don't want to turn my back to the field. In my honest opinion, it's not about soccer, it's about the crowd. If that's what you want to do, be my guest. But don't let it turn into something where you're power hungry and have to have it your way or the high way. A really cool thing those pushing for capos to do would be to bow out and say, "I will organize this, but to show I'm serious, I am not putting my name in consideration." That would be really cool.

Another cool idea would be if someone wrote an app where there would be display screens that showed what the next song/chant would be with a countdown. It could be like Apple's iTunes version that allows users on the network to select songs for the queue. That way all supporters can be a part of selecting songs. Capos would have an override account in the event of a goal or other relevant incident.  

Finally, safe standing. For those who say people outside of Nordecke should not be allowed to have an opinion on support, I believe I adequately outlined why that is not necessarily the case. I would consider being a part of a supporter section with safe standing. As a lawyer, I've been advocating for safe standing for years. It can be done fairly easily. Here's a great video made 4 years ago:


You can even use rail seats like in Germany. Orlando's new stadium has safe standing. It's pretty cool, and I'm slightly jealous, to say the least.

And I want to make one more comment while I'm rambling on. How are Dwight & Neil still not going to away games? Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems like they're announcing off of a video feed. The home calls are so much better as a result. To use last week as an example, they were showing a replay while Penso showed Mensah a red, and they didn't know to announce it until well after it happened. That's a small example, but stuff like that happens all the time. Spectrum needs to work on its replay placement.