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#SaveTheCrew is What We’ll Do
The man, the myth and the legend.
(Columbus Crew winning 2002 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup with Lamar Hunt in attendance, pictured above in the center. Photo courtesy of thecup.us)
Lamar Hunt, American sports business icon, and Columbus Crew Founder is crying in heaven right now.
As you probably know, Crew SC owner Anthony Precourt bought the Columbus Crew back in 2013 with every discreet and sleazy intention (as has been reported in recent days) to move the team to Austin, TX in 2019. A previous blog post this week on Jimmy’s Daily Planet gave my first extended impression of this equally heartbreaking and infuriating news.
And the snake in the grass incarnate responded via Twitter last night. Let’s just say his message accomplished the seemingly impossible feat of failing to meet even the lowest standard of decency and self-awareness.
I really do feel for you Crew fans. Its an uncertain time I recognize, and I take full responsibility for the situation I have put us in.
— Anthony Precourt (@APrecourt) October 19, 2017
Then this.
Put you all in, not us.
— Anthony Precourt (@APrecourt) October 19, 2017
Anthony Precourt does not “feel for you Crew fans” because his intent all along was to move the team to Austin behind our backs while lying and, in the process, rip the heart out of this city, longtime Crew fans and the soccer capital of the United States of America. He knew exactly what he was doing from the moment he arrived in Columbus.
It’s an “uncertain time” because Anthony Precourt made it uncertain with his deceitful behavior whilst in concert with Don Garber from the beginning several years ago, who is another snake in the grass and opponent of professional soccer in Columbus.
The “I take full responsibility” is simply another over-sanitized and lawyer-approved line of PR nonsense. How is Anthony Precourt taking “full responsibility”? He’s cowardly hiding behind a Twitter account…and being quite terrible at it. Funny, I didn’t see the words “I’m sorry” or “I lied to everyone from the beginning” or “I’m going to sell the Crew to local investors ASAP to keep the team here at home, as they’ve requested multiple times, and leave Columbus, Ohio immediately in disgrace” or “I will meet publicly with Crew fans to see and listen to them, no matter the humiliation I’ll feel during this event.”
And then there’s the “correction.” Anthony Precourt consciously tweeted, “put you all in, not us.”
That said it all.
Recent reports locally are that major Columbus investors will be meeting with the Anthony Precourt of the MLS head office (Commissioner Don Garber) today.
Concerning next steps, it’s important to know that the fight to keep the Crew in Columbus is not over and I have a feeling that the Black & Gold will be staying. I’m a glass-half-full kind of guy, plus there are positive signs that are pointing towards moving professional soccer out of Columbus (the soccer capital of the United States, with “Dos-a-Cero” for starters) as a massive mistake.
The movement (online and in-person) is called #SaveTheCrew and the website is savethecrew.com. Join the effort and stay tuned!
The USMNT has devastatingly lost its identity and, if Garber’s MLS allows Precourt to have his way, MLS will lose its identity, and beloved home and history, as well.
Saving the Crew is what we must do.
Breaking AP News: He’s an A$$hole
Heartless, conniving and only out for himself without any regard for people not worth millions of dollars.
Fitting with the times we live, Crew SC scumbag owner Anthony Precourt has all but finalized a deal to move the Charter member of Major League Soccer (MLS) away from America’s soccer capital in Columbus, OH westward to Austin, TX in 2019. There’s even a report that Mr. Precourt will be in Austin tomorrow. And the only way to prevent this disgustingly greedy and despicable move is, according to Precourt, for Columbus, OH citizens to fork over the money for a new stadium closer to downtown…or else!
When Anthony Precourt arrived with his venture capitalistic mojo, it was presumed that he would use this business mentality to take the Crew to the next-level. Apparently, his plan all along was to buy an MLS club (the very first one in league history), concoct a contract with a sneaky escape clause (he wouldn’t move the club in 10 years unless that destination was Austin, TX), pretend to care about fans and, behind their backs surely support the registration of two names for an MLS club in Austin.
Earlier this year, Major League Soccer registered “Austin FC” and “Austin Athletic” as trademarks. MLS executive vice president Dan Courtemanche told the Statesman that Austin would not be considered for one of the four remaining expansion slots but did not respond to a question about relocation.
–Kevin Lyttle, Austin American-Statesman, October 17, 2017
Then there’s this.
On the call, the Crew owner said no one from the city had stepped up with a “serious” offer to keep the team in Columbus.
That was disputed by Alex Fischer, CEO of the Columbus Partnership, an organization of top city business leaders.
“We offered to buy, literally, 50 percent of the team,” Fischer told me.
–Laura Newpoff, Columbus Business First, October 17, 2017
And this.
“No investor presented an offer,” Precourt said. “We must begin strategic alternatives to secure long-term vitality.”
Again, Fischer disputes that.
“We won’t let emotions override our primary resolve” for the team to remain in the city, Fischer said. “We have specifically asked the owner to propose to us what would work.
“He hasn’t done that yet but we would hope and expect he would. In the meantime, we stand with the members of the team and fans who are very emotional today. We share that emotion.”
–Laura Newpoff, Columbus Business First, October 17, 2017
Does Anthony Precourt remind you of anybody?
The Columbus Crew has won championships (Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, MLS Cup and three Supporters’ Shields). Columbus Crew fans have paid their hard-earned money and supported the club since its debut in 1996 against D.C. United in the Horseshoe. It was a momentous 4-nil win for the Crew. And I should know as I was there with my dad. Fans in Columbus pack the stands beyond capacity to cheer on the red, white and blue with unrivaled pride. Crew Stadium has hosted the most memorable games against That Team Down South (my trademark is still pending) with many iconic “Dos-a-Cero” victories.
If there are business struggles with the club, it’s Anthony Precourt’s job to fix them. Period! That’s why he’s paid a huge salary and has the prestigious title of owner of a storied MLS club. That’s why bought an MLS club, right? To support the club and its city? Wrong.
He’s supposed to care, but he doesn’t.
He doesn’t care about the dedicated fans spanning several generations who will no longer have a professional soccer team to cheer for, support and make cherished memories with Columbus and its iconic Crew Stadium. He doesn’t care about the stadium workers who will be out of a job. He doesn’t care about the storied history of soccer in Columbus, OH, ranging from the Crew to the USMNT to its elite youth club soccer programs. He doesn’t care about Lamar Hunt’s amazing mission and success story in bringing MLS to Columbus. He doesn’t care that he pretended to admire this city and its people. He just doesn’t care.
The problem with all that is that everybody in Columbus cares. A lot!
It’s actually quite difficult to express all my feelings in a single blog post, but this is a mere start (at 1,000+ words). There are more than 20-years of emotions and memories to reflect on, including my trip to Los Angeles to watch the Columbus Crew defeat the New York Red Bulls in the 2008 MLS Cup.
After waiting for more than a decade, with superstars like Brian McBride (MLS’s first overall pick), Brad Friedel and Stern John and many others have proudly sporting the Black & Gold over the years, the Crew finally hoisted the MLS Cup in triumphant glory! I was with my parents and it was truly a surreal and amazing moment. Unforgettable.
The Columbus Crew were, in fact, the MASSIVE champions of Major League Soccer.
I remember the joy, the celebration and the feeling of being a champion because every fan of this club feels like they are part of it, right there on the pitch with the players. And the players and coaches make (made?) sure the fans felt that way. Being a fan of the Crew is a unique experience. We have always been one with the club and the club has always been one with the city, regardless of the no-nothing suits of MLS (cough cough Don Garber) and no-nothing big city critics.
As I mentioned, I watched the Crew win its first MLS Cup in the Home Depot Center in Los Angeles. And while that stadium is newer than Crew Stadium, it looked and felt like every other cookie-cutter MLS stadium you see being built around the league these days. It’s generic. There’s no great story or lineage there. It’s not unique. Now, the Crew winning MLS Cup for its city and its citizens was unique and special. Moreover, Crew Stadium is the first soccer-specific stadium in the United States of America. The USMNT’s best accomplishments are defeating That Team Down South (my trademark is still pending) by “Dos-a-Cero.” Crew Stadium has hosted multiple World Cup qualifying matches, MLS Cups, an All-Star game and women’s World Cup games. Columbus, OH has earned the title as THE soccer capital of the United States.
Columbus’s story is a perfect encapsulation of America’s soccer story in that nothing comes easy and it’s constantly viewed as unable to rise to the occasion. And yet, when that moment arrives, guess who is there to stand tall and deliver unforgettable results with passion, skill and memories unlike any other? That’s right: Columbus.
Columbus’s soccer story is America’s soccer story; one of an underdog that rises to be a champion.
If that first ballot, hall of fame a$$hole Anthony Precourt can’t see that, well…once again, he doesn’t care.
History will show that Columbus’s soccer story has been proud, distinguished, innovative and unrivaled whereas Anthony Precourt’s soccer story is one of failure, deceit, sleaziness and deliberate tragedy that can be found in the gutter of American sports alongside the USMNT that failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup.
Somehow, someway, the Crew and its fans need to rise to its fiercest challenge ever:
Extinction.
Much like the Crew’s original logo, it’s time to put on the hard hats and for the city to get to work.
P.S. Want to buy a soccer club, Les Wexner? With a net worth of $5.7 billion, you could continue to support and define the evolving story of Columbus in the only way you know how:
With massive intent and delivery.
The Minions Experiment: Part II?
Columbus Crew SC owner Anthony Precourt’s Twitter:
“The colors Black & Gold also feel stale and dated after 21 years…#CrewSC”
This is the same person who approved (and possibly initiated) the mind-boggling “City of Columbus”/Minions kits with the light blue shorts and a jersey with strange looking yellow streaks down the middle. Mr. Precourt has certainly made some good decisions for the club. That’s a fact. But he also continues to make recent error after recent error. For starters, he didn’t appear to firmly stand up to LAFC for literally stealing the Crew’s signature (and MLS exclusive) Black & Gold color scheme. The Crew is even nicknamed, “The Black & Gold.”
Fans certainly had strong reactions to the new soccer kits for this season, which inspired a Jimmy Kimmel “Mean Tweets” video segment.
With that being said, there is one thing that’s for damn certain with his latest tweet!
He might finally understand the genuine backlash over whimsically changing the Crew’s beloved branding identity.
Well played, Mr. Precourt, well played.
That was a good April Fools’ joke, except for the fact that half of Crew Nation probably has just cause for suspecting he’s not altogether kidding. We’ll find a little more about whether he considers himself an owner of an MLS club or if he is indeed a convert to the history, spirit and embodiment of the Columbus Crew SC. How will he react when LAFC officially unveils its black and gold kits? When LAFC plays its first game at MAPFRE Stadium?
Until then, it’s okay to joke about this on April Fools’ via Twitter. However, it’s what he does after today that will reveal whether he’s a real favorite among fans. Mr. Precourt has done many good things for Crew Nation and Columbus, but it’s time he starts defending his (and our) Columbus Crew SC and its defining colors with the tenacity of Mike Clark or Todd Yeagley.
And like the old #3 and #6, fans would be just fine if Anthony Precourt earned a yellow card (so-to-speak) for unequivocally defending The Black & Gold.
Happy Monday!
Life can change in a matter of seconds.
The same goes for sports, which includes the beautiful game. And the Columbus Crew proved this sentiment with authority last night in the first leg of the MLS Eastern Conference Finals against the New York Red Bulls at Mapfre Stadium.
Blink and you might have missed it.
Justin Meram scored the fastest goal in MLS Playoff history. He blazed the back of the net just 9 seconds after kickoff. Plus, he’s #9 on the Crew. It was meant to be.
Have a Record-Breaking Week!
P.S. When it comes to the MLS Cup, the Red Bulls will not deny the Columbus Crew (Remember the 2008 Final)
Jimmy's Daily Planet 