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Keeping Austin Weird Means Keeping Austin Original
As you’ve read throughout the past couple weeks, the ongoing situation with the Columbus Crew and the shockingly bold and unrepentant deceit from scumbag Crew SC owner Anthony Precourt and scumbag MLS Commissioner Don Garber and the #SaveTheCrew movement are much more than a “huh, that’s interesting” moment or mere hashtag and rallying cry.
This is all deeply personal and this leads me to the next chapter in this winding, unfolding saga:
Authenticity.
More specifically, authenticity in Austin, Texas.
“Keep Austin Weird” is the signature slogan that personifies the culturally weird city of Austin, Texas. And that weirdness is viewed as an affectionate label internally and externally. Moreover, it’s important to understand not only what makes Austin weird, but who makes Austin such a weirdly fun place to live.
Rick Smith, a current resident of Austin who used to live in suburban Columbus, recently spoke with news outlet MyStatesman located in Austin about a critical difference between the sports fanbases of Austin and Columbus in an article titled “1 team, 2 cities: Columbus fans ponder possibility of Crew to Austin.”
“A lot of people in Columbus are from there so they associate themselves in my eyes more with the Crew,” he said. “Here, everyone is associated with Dallas, with California, with the (New England) Patriots, Green Bay — with everything else. There’s so many more transplants here that if you bring a soccer team here I don’t think it will be noticed.”
–Chris Bils, MyStatesman Correspondent
Perception (cough cough Austin) versus reality (cough cough Columbus) isn’t always a tricky quandary to navigate, especially when the reality is a wonderfully historic and storied place when not actively sabotaged through horrific TV deals, a mountain of lying and a complete lack of presumed investments to fix small problems that are easily fixable (cough cough improved parking spaces and traffic patterns post-match).
I think I need to get some cough medicine; it’s that time of year.
Let’s always remember the tragic deception involving secret backdoor deals betraying the Columbus Crew and its faithful fans, including innocent Crew staff, for the past four years all began with the inauthenticity of Anthony Precourt and the inauthenticity of MLS Commissioner Don Garber towards Crew Nation and MLS followers as a whole.
BTW: Inauthenticity is putting it very lightly.
If Austin wants an MLS club, then build one from the ground up like Columbus did and work your ass off to make it your own. Being weird, which is literally what defines Austin, means never copying anyone or anything and being unique to your city’s famous rallying cry. In other words, being authentic. If (key word here) Austin wants an MLS club, it needs to evolve the right way like Columbus with Lamar Hunt and his group of admirable business leaders in the mid-’90s. Any other scheme (key word here) to get an MLS club in the image of/literally from another city would be a form of stealing and just flat-out weird…
and not in a good way, Austin.
#SaveTheCrew
Rage Against the Machine’s Lying Scumbags (Or MLS for Short)
(Please click play and the “Watch this video on YouTube” link AND THEN RETURN to Jimmy’s Daily Planet to read this blog post!)
Columbus Crew 4 – 1 NYCFC
Crew fans are feeling good today after their team produced an exciting and necessary goal-fest against the offensively potent NYCFC in the first leg of the 2017 MLS Eastern Conference Semifinal. The second and final game in this series will be played in Yankee Stadium (that’s a soccer-specific stadium with a full-sized field, right?) this Sunday afternoon. As an added bonus last night, Crew fans let their immoral owner Anthony Precourt hear how they feel about him and his despicable actions that continue to be disclosed from the very moment the snake in the grass (Precourt) arrived in Columbus.
Once again, those chants won’t be repeated on this blog. As an attendee last night, these aforementioned chants were bold, unequivocally clear and fitting and will surely be communicated throughout message boards, social media and to MLS fans across the country, plus Canada. Equally important, MLS owners will surely get the message of the indisputable deceit and sleazy events that have been occurring for at least four years that not only rise to the ownership desk of scumbag Anthony Precourt in Columbus but also to scumbag MLS Commissioner Don Garber.
What officially transpires with the Columbus Crew’s potential move to Austin, Texas will define the true, underlying character of MLS and U.S. Soccer, for better or worse.
Let’s just see what happens.
Interestingly, MLS claims it wants to mirror the system and success of Europe’s biggest football leagues. On that note, one of the most valuable assets in England (EPL), Germany (Bundesliga), Spain (La Liga), Italy (Serie A), France (Ligue 1) and other leagues is history. Therefore, if MLS is constantly trying to evolve as the next Europe, why in the hell are they trying to erase its most storied history that set the very foundation of its league and identity of its national team?
There is absolutely no good answer to that question, which just adds to the gut-wrenching frustration for Columbus Crew fans.
Pivoting to the incredible atmosphere at Crew Stadium last night, an estimated 15,000 men, women, and children showed up on a frigid Halloween to cheer on their beloved Columbus Crew. Seemed like there were more people and I was there. Some fans arrived wearing fun and imaginative costumes, which was a great sight. After what has been happening the past couple weeks in Columbus, the sight of Black & Gold supporters at a home game was genuinely heartwarming. Jerks like Precourt and Garber, who only care about and understand money and spreadsheets, are incapable of understanding or appreciating what it means for someone to show up to a soccer game, let alone the sport of soccer, which they don’t understand. Don’t forget that nobody is required to show up and support the Crew, or any team for that matter. But we do. And last night, Crew fans, as they have since 1996, showed up not only to cheer for and #SaveTheCrew but to save the proud, ever-evolving legacy of the club and its beloved Columbus, which are one in the same.
In a word: Massive.
Sometimes in life, the battle between good and evil can be blurred, requiring an understanding of both sides. However, the ongoing battle of scumbags Anthony Precourt and Don Garber versus the Columbus Crew and its faithful supporters will never be classified with any degree of blurred nuance. It’s clear-cut. One side is bad and the other is good. Pure and simple. Focusing on the good right now, the Crew players and its supporters will not go quietly into the night.
Speaking of an epic adventure with sheer existence on the line and the notion of not going quietly into the night…
The Crew and its dedicated, proud fanbase aren’t done working for Columbus.
#SaveTheCrew
Tonight’s Halloween was a Massive (and Fun) Sized Treat for Crew Fans
(Moments after the Columbus Crew score their first goal in 4-1 win against visiting NYCFC in the first leg of 2017 MLS Eastern Conference Semifinal on Halloween)
Tonight was one of those nights for the Columbus Crew that will be told for many, many years and I am proud to say I was there with my parents, who I’ve seen countless games with since the inaugural 4-nil victory against D.C. United back in 1996. The Crew’s emphatic 4-1 win this evening against visiting NYCFC was a statement in more ways than one.
First, the second consecutive impressive win on national television in the 2017 MLS playoffs against a big market team was massive and unbelievably critical for the quest towards MLS Cup and the very survival of the Columbus Crew. Second, Crew fans came out in force tonight on a frigid Halloween and passionately chanted throughout the 94-minutes sporting their team’s black and gold, as well as many dressed in fun costumes, young and old alike. Third, scumbag Crew SC owner Anthony Precourt was surprisingly in attendance to “cheer” on the team he’s been sabotaging for four years with fans he’s been lying to for the same amount of time. Unsurprisingly, this snake in the grass was treated to a couple personalized chants heard throughout the stadium (and possibly the city) that won’t be repeated on this blog post.
Hey, Precourt did have the distinct honor of hearing his name chanted on ESPN during primetime, except that the sentiment was unmistakenly dishonorable. Just several moments of choreographed humiliation and public scolding on national TV, but I’m sure nobody noticed everybody across the country and those in MLS offices heard it loud and clear.
More reflection will follow tomorrow concerning the incredible first-leg of the MLS Eastern Conference Semifinals between the Columbus Crew and NYCFC, as well as the positive, heartwarming moments from tonight that occurred off the pitch. For now:
#SaveTheCrew and Happy Halloween.
#MassiveCrew
The past week has been very difficult for Columbus Crew fans. And tonight, the Crew traveled down to Georgia to play Atlanta United for the opening game of the Eastern Conference playoffs inside the Mercedes-Benz Stadium on artificial turf.
Let’s not get started on the turf issue in the year 2017…
Much has been said about the #SaveTheCrew movement in recent days, locally and nationally, as should be the case. However, right now, actions really can speak louder than words.
That is what a massive COLUMBUS Crew can do on national television with their backs completely against the wall, put there by Anthony Precourt and Don Garber’s MLS. The Columbus Crew will host the first leg of the MLS Cup Eastern Conference Semifinal against New York City FC on Tuesday, October 31, 2017, at 8:00 p.m. on ESPN.
#SaveTheCrew
Jimmy's Daily Planet 