Blog Archives
This Crew Has Work to Do to Be(at) United Again
The memory of a 2-nil Columbus Crew SC win against the 2018 MLS Cup champion Atlanta United from March 30, 2019, seems like a lifetime ago. Although, given the ‘Waterworld’-level of water from that match (see above), most people who sat through that miserable weather in MAPFRE Stadium probably prefer it stay in the distance memory category of “a lifetime ago.”
Some of these fans are still drying out.
The Crew added a 1-nil victory against the New England Revolution the following week before a 10-game stretch in MLS competition that would see Columbus earn a grand total of four points out of a possible 30 points. This stretch is highlighted by one win, one tie and two particularly embarrassing losses against the worst two teams in MLS.
Unlike in baseball, losing eight games out of 10 is a big deal, particularly since 10 games make up about 1/3 of the MLS regular season.
Perhaps since tonight’s round 2 between Columbus and Atlanta in MAPFRE Stadium is part of the Round of 16 knockout phases of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, the Crew will be able to channel a different kind of dynamic energy to recapture its winning ways from a few months ago.
FYI – Tonight’s forecast, interestingly, is a 30-40% chance of rain.
The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup is different than the MLS regular season, especially for Columbus. Because of how Lamar Hunt worked to bring professional soccer to Ohio’s capital city, the team should prioritize this tournament above most in MLS.
And given the horrible 10-game stretch against MLS competition, the Crew has looked discombobulated in nearly all areas of the pitch. Injuries are a factor, yes, but these injuries are absolutely not an excuse for the uninspired performances on the field since early April. There is enough talent for Columbus to be winning at home and on the road. At this point, it would just be nice to see the Crew simplify its tactical objectives to (re)gain confidence.
As my old club soccer coach used to say, “let the ball do the work.”
Cohesion is simply (and surprisingly) not the name of the game for Porter’s Crew thus far in 2019, despite the team’s roster familiarity and success during the past couple of seasons.
This “Respect Your Roots” painting is located just blocks from MAPFRE Stadium. Ladies and gentlemen, there’s no greater “roots” for the Columbus Crew than Lamar Hunt. We’ll discover tonight whether Porter’s Crew will respect the team’s roots by ensuring a win — no matter the obstacles — in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup game against Atlanta United.
If there’s any year for Columbus Crew SC to respect its roots and shine like never before, you’d think it’d be the season immediately following the remarkable #SavedTheCrew movement. The new Crew stadium being built for the summer of 2021 will be special, but this season unfolding now is a once in a lifetime moment in sports, especially with the backdrop of the USMNT’s humiliating failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup and this massive soccer city specifically.
It’s long past due for the Crew — and its Columbus fans — to embrace a #ForLamarHunt movement for the man who helped put this amazing thing into motion back in the mid-90s, seeing it through with the first soccer-specific stadium in the United States of America built in Columbus, OH back in 1999.
Porter’s Crew needs to unite not only to win against a formidable Atlanta United this evening but also to show (or remind) Columbus that this team is capable of new growth beyond established roots.
Maybe tonight, Columbus Crew SC will begin the necessary process of saving its 2019 season by winning one for Lamar Hunt’s vision of soccer in America.
#ForLamarHunt
Happy Monday!
Two wins, a +16 goal differential, zero goals against and six points. I’d say the United States Women’s National Team (USWNT) has kicked off the 2019 Women’s World Cup with the right stuff with an astronomical first two games in Group F that began with a 13-nil win against Thailand.
The USWNT defeated Chile 3-nil yesterday. Here are the highlights from that game.
(Because FOX Soccer has decided to be difficult regarding seamless video playback on websites other than YouTube, please click play and then click the link for the video to pop-up in another window. Then return to Jimmy’s Daily Planet!)
The third and final game in Group F for the USWNT will be against Sweden — a team that’s also earned six points — this Thursday at 3 p.m. ET. Both teams have already advanced to the knockout round, but the third game is still of consequence because it will determine potentially favorable or unfavorable matchups for the USWNT and Sweden in the knockout round.
Have a Better Week Than Last Week.
La Coupe du Monde ne sera jamais trop riche en traditions
(“The World Cup Will Never Be Too Full of Tradition”)
Get excited because the 2019 Women’s World Cup kicks off today with host country France vs. South Korea at 3 p.m. The United States Women’s National Team (USWNT) are certainly one of the favorites in this tournament, having won the ultimate trophy in women’s soccer three times. As a matter of fact, the women in red, white and blue are the defending champions.
The USWNT’s tournament begins Tuesday for its first group game against Thailand at 3 p.m., which is when coverage will start on Jimmy’s Daily Planet.
For now, it’s impossible for the mind not to wander to the future involving the next men’s World Cup and the soccer stadiums for the 2022 FIFA World Cup hosted by Qatar. Why? Because at this year’s World Cup — hosted by France with its long, distinguished tradition — there’s a clear soccer identity for soccer fans and casual soccer/sports fans to associate with for this world-class tournament that only occurs every four years. French stadiums, ranging in 10,000 – 80,000 seat capacities, have character and history that transports fans to other times and eras of yesteryear. We’ll see this in the next month, even if only through the TV.
The same cannot be said for the next men’s World Cup in 2022 that will take place in the desert (yet crazy rich) country of Qatar.
Being built from the sand up, Qatar will be the center of the soccer universe in just a few years in November and December. The date change from the normal summer months reservation is, coupled with the sheer fact that brand new stadiums and air conditioning apparatuses are being constructed, evidence enough that Qatar can pay for anything it wants except tradition. If it wanted to host the World Cup so badly, it should have clearly established the country’s true love of soccer like every other soccer nation on Earth: Through housing world-class talent, interweaving the sport into the culture and, yes, history and time.
Like sand through the hourglass…
Soccer and tradition go together like America and apple pie. Or France and soccer.
For now, here’s a visual update on the progress being made in Qatar for the biggest stage for the world’s game.
Having visited Qatar and fully enjoyed this unique experience with family, this middle eastern country will, like the fictional John Hammond, spare no expense. And as a non-traditional country for the world’s biggest soccer tournament, Qatar and FIFA are banking on those famous words heard in that Iowa cornfield, “If you build it, he will come.” Change the “he” to “they” and that’s what will ultimately define the success of the 2022 World Cup concerning regional and global attendance.
FIFA gambled with Qatar. Moreover, this forthcoming World Cup seems like it’s being built for FIFA rather than the sport of soccer and its fans, coaches, and players. And there needs to be a real concern that all of the soccer stadiums being built for 2022, though impressive to a certain degree, will be empty in the years that follow. In other words, the post-Olympic downturn could very likely occur. In China, some of the world-class facilities from the 2008 summer Olympics fell to ruin in the subsequent years.
By contrast, the 2006 World Cup in Germany — which I was fortunate to attend with my parents and see some amazing games, stadiums, cities, hotels, players and fellow Quinnipiac soccer teammates — was incredibly unforgettable. And soccer in Germany, it seems, is even bigger now today following the World Cup due to increased global demand and interest in the Bundesliga, the German national team (2014 World Cup champions) and its rich soccer/football culture.
Will Qatar in 2022 evolve into aforementioned Germany circa 2006 or China circa 2008?
That’s a legitimate question, ladies and gentlemen. And one that should have been considered more closely by FIFA when selecting the host country for its biggest competition, specifically following disgraced former FIFA President Sepp Blatter’s resignation in recent years.
At this point, watch and enjoy the many talented teams and players in the 2019 World Cup in France. And while doing so, contemplate whether that special energy on the pitch and off the pitch with teams and fans from around the world will seamlessly translate to a non-soccer nation/Qatar in three years. Will it be the same?
While the new soccer stadiums being built in Qatar may be eye-opening through the lenses of modern design and sustainability, tradition cannot be bought.
Although, FIFA proved winning a bid to host a World Cup can, so there’s that I $uppo$e.
A Robbery Happening in Munich
So, this is what Arjen Robben and Franck Ribéry (Robbery) do for fun at the Bayern Munich training grounds now that they’re not playing for the club anymore…
I have no words, except the ones I just wrote to tell you that I have no words.
While I’m at it, thank you Arjen Robben + Franck Ribéry for making the perfect soccer superhero at Bayern Munich for the past decade who went by the name Robbery and was faster than any defender(s) on the pitch, more powerful than any team’s motive to stop them and could lift the ball into the uppermost corner of the goal.
P.S. Bayern Munich is the coolest soccer club in the world. I think it’s pretty obvious why ladies and gentlemen.
Jimmy's Daily Planet 