Sirk's Notebook: Game over
As season comes to end, Crew find it difficult to depart
But the dream was very much alive for two minutes. Two magical minutes. Guillermo Barros Schelotto had just blasted a pinpoint shot into the side netting for his second goal of the night. (His first came courtesy of a long free kick that bounced in the middle in the crowded goal box and went into the net basically untouched, duplicating Gino Padula's goal at New England. Do they secretly work on this stuff in Argentina or something?) Schelotto's second goal put the Crew up 2-1 on aggregate against a team that won one road game all year and scored just nine goals in 15 road matches.
For the next two minutes, I was transported through time. Schelotto was indeed John Rambo, and I would soon be following a trail of dead bodies that ended in Seattle with Schelotto clutching his umpteenth championship trophy. I would be drinking free beers at the Hunt Family victory party and second-hand smoking Mark McCullers' victory cigar on a hotel lobby couch flanked by two or three Starbucks kiosks. And nobody would want to go to bed that night because nobody would want it to be over. For those two sensational minutes, I could see, feel, hear, smell, and taste all of it. It was going to happen.
But just two minutes after Schelotto sent my mind racing, Javier Morales scored, snapping me back to reality. Then Frankie Hejduk got whistled for a penalty in the final minute of the half, and Robbie Findley converted. Just like that, the Crew went from being firmly in control to being right back where they started at kickoff. The Crew pressed the action the rest of the way, but Salt Lake got a fluky traffic-eluding goal of their own to go up 4-2 in the series. The Crew gamely battled on, but it was over.
Salt Lake coach Jason Kreis spoke softly. Maybe it's his natural temperament, or maybe it's because his team swung the biggest stick over 180 minutes. Either way, he was more measured than jubilant.
"There's a reason why Columbus is the champion, and there's a reason that Columbus ended the season with the most points," he said. "That's because they are the best team. It's fantastic that we were able to beat the best team."
His team had been notorious for road flops, they had given up two goals to one of the best home teams in the league, and yet his players' hearts grew, Grinch-style, three sizes that day. The Royals stormed back to score the next three goals and to finish off the champions.
"Maybe a team improves," Kreis said, explaining his team's drastic and uncharacteristic display of road resiliency. "Maybe over the course of a season, facing a lot of disappointing situations, something clicks in their minds about all of the little things that they have to do to win, and to never give up. There would have been plenty of times earlier this season where, in that same situation, it would have been game, set, match. They would have packed it in."
Instead, his players wrote a new script. Rather than packing it in, they would be packing their bags for the conference final.
Robert Warzycha is not one to wallow.
"I am proud of the team," he said. "We won the Supporters' Shield, we moved on to the second round of the Champions League, and we won the Eastern Conference. Those are all of the goals that we talked about before the season, and the last one was to win the championship, and we fell short there. The better team doesn't win. That's the beauty of the sport. The team that plays attractive soccer and the team that plays good soccer doesn't always win. Like I told these guys, there is always next year."
Many would quibble with the notion of the Crew being the better team over the 180 minutes of this playoff series, but Warzycha's larger point is true, as acknowledged by Kreis. Over 30 games, the Crew were the best team in Major League Soccer. In a short series, the best team doesn't always win. Sometimes it's bad luck. Sometimes it's a bad match-up. Sometimes it's an unexpected performance. Sometimes it's just a crucial lapse in concentration. Sometimes it's a strategic decision gone awry. The Crew fell victim to all of these to varying degrees. In the playoffs, the margin for error is small.
Right or wrong, Warzycha's decision to sit Schelotto in game one will likely be the defining moment of his first year as head coach. The irony is that Warzycha was lauded by many, myself included, for his deft lineup juggling as injuries, suspensions, call-ups, and schedule congestion strained the Crew's roster. Start the Bash Brothers (Jason Garey and Steven Lenhart) against Toronto? Three goals and the Trillium Cup. Start a back line of Duncan Oughton, Andy Iro, Danny O'Rourke, and Jed Zayner in San Jose, Costa Rica? The Crew got the goose egg and became the first American team to ever win at Saprissa. And so on and so forth. Every decision was golden.
But with the Crew's offense sputtering heading into the postseason, Warzycha made his biggest tinker yet in sitting the league's reigning regular season and MLS Cup MVP. Whether or not the decision was made with sound or faulty reasoning, there is no doubting the bravery in Warzycha's choice. If the Crew lost the game and/or series, Warzycha knew he would be second-guessed to death by a torch-lit mob. There would be no way around it.
The Crew lost the game. Then they lost the series. That left Schelotto's fiery two-goal performance in the eye of the beholder. To some, it suggested that the benching ignited the Crew's biggest star. To others, it underscored the MVP's curious absence from the first leg.
"That was the Guillermo I remember from earlier in the season and from the final games last year," Warzycha said. "He's a big part of the team and if he plays like this, he is not going to give me a choice. I was very happy with his performance."
"Oh gosh is he good," Kreis said of Schelotto. "He's unbelievable. Sometimes coaches make interesting decisions. I think his decision to sit him on Saturday was because they wanted to come out and defend, and then the decision to insert him tonight lit a fire under Mr. Schelotto's rear end. He was fantastic. If they had been a little better defensively tonight, (the decision to sit Schelotto on Saturday) would have looked like a fantastic decision."
But they weren't. So it doesn't.
Such is the life of a coach.
The Crew's locker room was a somber place, but not nearly as grave and awkward as some post-elimination locker rooms I have visited in the past. Nevertheless, the disappointment was palpable.
Schelotto, of course, found himself in the midst of a media swarm in front of his locker. It's a very rare occasion that Schelotto gives a season-ending interview without a shampoo commercial's worth of champagne in his hair.*
"I was in position to get the goals, but it did not get us to the second round. We are sad for that," he said. "It was important for me to get the goals, but it was more important to get to the second round."
Despite his benching in the first game and the team's early playoff exit, Schelotto made it clear that he wants to wear the banana kit in 2010.
"I am happy in Columbus," he said. "I like the city. I like the team. I like my teammates. So I want to stay. I know I am welcome back to Argentina, but I want now to know what happens next year."
(* Hmmm...perhaps a new hair care product? Champoo-the champagne-scented shampoo of champions!)
Meanwhile, in the corner locker by the white board, William Hesmer was a source of sober reflection.
"It's disappointing," he said. "We had a dream start to it. Our attitude was right and our energy was right, then we lost focus. I think our team defending on the first goal was poor. After that, they gained a lot of momentum."
Like many in the room, Hesmer was mesmerized by Schelotto's mastery of the moment, which gave the Crew their all-too-temporary lead.
"You guys can say he had something to prove or that he had a chip on his shoulder, and that's for you guys to say," he commented. "For us in this locker room, he's a gamer. When it matters the most, he shows up and brings his best. That's why guys in here respect him so much."
Of course, Schelotto is but one of many question marks heading into next year. Alejandro Moreno, Jed Zayner, and Jason Garey are also out of contract, plus an expansion draft looms. Decisions will need to be made about the Crew's roster for 2010.
"Those decisions aren't up to me," said Hesmer. "I think there is a lot of talent in this room. But the way the league works, there's always some turnover. There's an expansion draft, so we're going to lose someone there. It's just the nature of the business. I wish we could keep this group together to go after the CONCACAF Champions League and another MLS Cup."
With the first round exit, Hesmer was caught in the awkward limbo of looking toward the uncertainties of 2010 before 2009 could even be processed.
"It's hard to step back, but a month of from, I'm sure I'll be able to appreciate our successes," he said. "We hit most of our goals. We won the Supporters' Shield, we won the Trillium Cup, which is starting to mean something, and we advanced in the CONCACAF Champions League. This is the one where we fell short, and the way the league is set up, this is the monster. I think we have a lot to build on and I think we have a great future still."
Danny O'Rourke did everything short of hold up a flashing neon sign that read, "Free interviews here!" In a somber post-elimination locker room, where talking to pinheads with press passes is about the last thing that most guys want to do, O'Rourke sat fully dressed, front and center, inviting and engaging in one interview after another. The Crew's 2009 MVP was willing to take one for the team.
"When you get down to it, they scored three goals in Columbus and they are a very good team," said O'Rourke, in praise of Salt Lake. "When we drew them for the first round, we knew it was going to be a tough test. All the credit to them. They were very effective. We gave ourselves a chance to win tonight when Guillermo scored two great goals, but we couldn't hold on to it. It's very disappointing."
O'Rourke knew that Guille would give the team a chance to advance. "He's our pro that shows up in big games," he said. "That's just Guillermo. Tonight, he showed why he's the best. He came out and gave us our two goals, but we couldn't hold on to it. As a team, we need to hold on to him for next year, so hopefully we do whatever we can to keep him here."
According to O'Rourke, the Crew's sudden collapse after Schelotto's tallies did not come about due to a lack of effort.
"I think we were still working hard, but maybe we weren't working smart," he said. "We had the lead and we had the series in our grasp, but we needed to be smarter. They jabbed us a bit, and that third goal was a knockout blow. I am really proud of how we didn't quit at the end. Down 3-2 (4-2 aggregate), we could have just quit, but we fought to the end. It says a lot about the character of the guys."
Speaking of character, I decided the night would not be complete without commiserating with the high-character character known as Steven Lenhart. When I cornered him by his locker, his coat was already on, and his hood concealed his famous blond afro. He literally looked ready to trudge out into the winter of our discontent.
But that's not Steve.
"I don't like losing much," he said, "but it's part of the game, you know? Looking back on the season....I haven't done much looking back because it just ended a half hour ago...but something I think we can all take from it is all of the relationships that we built. It's pretty cliché that you take the relationships with you and forget about the scores, but that's true. I have really enjoyed getting know all these dudes. It's my second year, and it's been awesome. I really like this group of guys. That's definitely something good.
"It's just soccer, you know?" he continued. "We battled. We played hard. That's how it goes sometimes. I am thankful that there is more to life than soccer. I am very disappointed and stuff, but we can look to next year. I think we can build on all of the awesome time we spent together this year. We can take the good from it. I mean, we won the Supporter's Shield. We were good. And we're STILL good."
Adam Moffat saw me and shook his head.
"I guess you're probably not going to write a book about us this year, are ya?"
I told him no, I probably wouldn't.
"So you're one and done," he said. "Sorry about that."
Frankie Hejduk, as always, was the last player in the locker room. The Dude was clearly upset with the way the series turned out, both for him and the team he captains. As he bundled up and prepared to exit, he set aside his own troubles for a moment and visited with the volunteer locker room staff.
"I just wanted to say thank you," he told them. "We really appreciate everything that you do for us all season long, so thank you. If you guys need anything during the offseason, just let me know."
Team administrator Tucker Walther pounced on the opening.
"Yeah, if you guys need help mowing your lawn, raking leaves, shoveling your driveway..."
One last burst of laughter filled the room.
And then The Dude walked around the corner and out the door.
The season was really over.
Tucker soon produced beer. It was no Hunt Family victory party, but it would do under the circumstances. Staff members lingered in the locker room, beers in hand. Nobody wanted to leave.
Fifteen minutes later, I left the locker room gathering and made my way to the tunnel. There, I encountered Arica Kress, the Crew's marketing director. We stopped for a chat. "I don't want to leave yet," she said. "I feel like once I leave the stadium tonight, it's actually over."
I agreed, and told her that there's a lot of that going around. Lots and lots of lingering.
So then we chatted for a bit to mutually prolong our own wistful lingering.
Mark McCullers soon appeared in the tunnel. It was getting late. A full day of financial meetings with Hunt Sports Group loomed first thing the next morning, yet he lingered like the rest. He chatted with Shawn Mitchell for a while, then he came over and talked to me for a bit.
"I am extremely proud of this organization, our coaching staff and our players," he said. "We accomplished a lot this year under very difficult circumstances at times. I am absolutely as proud as can be. Everybody is disappointed in the result tonight. Winning the Supporters' Shield and getting knocked out in the first round is tough. We obviously did not have a successful playoff run. But by every other benchmark, this season has been a success for us."
McCullers seemed equally excited about the off-the-field numbers.
"For the fourth straight year, our paid ticket number was up 4 percent and our ticket revenues were up at over 10 percent," he said. "Our sponsorship numbers were relatively flat, which under the economic circumstances, is a pretty good result. Our supporters section in the Nordecke got even stronger, and we have already started planning for next year. We have some ideas and those guys are really organized and into it, so I am really excited about what that holds for us in the future. Our renewals are ahead of this time last year and our new business is ahead of this time last year, so off the field, I think we are continuing to get stronger."
McCullers was so excited about the Nordecke that he circled back.
"The Nordecke rocked tonight," he said. "When I looked over during the national anthem, it was packed, and from that point on, they brought so much energy. It was fantastic. They continue to exceed my expectations. We can't ask for more than what they are bringing right now."
But as we talked, the stadium stood silent. The energy of the Nordecke will not course through the structure until March.
"It's sad," McCullers said. "I'm going from anger and frustration, to disappointment, and now I'm at sadness. You hate to see the season end. There have been so many great memories this year. It's hard to see the season end."
It is indeed hard to see the season end. McCullers is right about there being so many great memories.
First of all, the Crew followed up a Shield-Cup double with yet another Supporters' Shield. That is completely unprecedented in MLS history. Of the two MLS-only honors that are available, no club had ever won three in a two-year period. None. Ever. Until now.
And not only did the Crew become just the second MLS team to advance to the second round of the full-blown CONCACAF Champions League, they did it by surviving the Group of Death to boot. They successfully completed the task due in large part to the Crew's historic win at Saprissa in Costa Rica, where Columbus became the first American team, club or country, to win at the stadium known as the Monster's Cave.
In one of the most exciting games of the year, the Crew continued their domination of the Hosers by storming back with a pair of late goals, including Jason Garey's epic stoppage time header, to defeat Toronto FC, winning the Trillium Cup again. It was the first time in club history that the Crew simultaneously won a home game when trailing after 75 minutes AND scored the winner in stoppage time. It doesn't get more exciting than that.
We'll always have Guille's late-game winner against Chivas USA, which he predicted before the game. We'll always have Duncan Oughton's bicycle kick goal in the U.S. Open Cup, Chad Marshall's equally improbable goal-scored-with-his-foot at Colorado, and Game Winnin' Gaven's streak of game-winning goals in September.
It will be hard to forget Brian Carroll playing most of the season with a disfigured shoulder. Or Eric Brunner blossoming to become the second local kid in the starting eleven. Or the historic 22-game home unbeaten streak. Or the unveiling of Championship Row. Or the ring ceremony. Or the President of the United States of America holding up a Columbus Crew jersey.
William Hesmer set a record for the lowest goals-against average in Crew history. Danny O'Rourke set a record for most positions played by a team MVP in Crew history. Steven Lenhart set a record for most drumsticks collected from the Noredecke in Crew history.
Even some minor milestones made me happy. After a year of sitting behind Hesmer and becoming famous for a fluky turf bounce, I was happy that Andy Gruenebaum got a chance to play several games and contribute to a Shield-winning team. After not seeing any action in 2008, I was happy that Kevin Burns and Kenny Schoeni got to make their official Columbus Crew debuts in 2009. That's two massive champions who are now 100 percent official forever. And I am happy that not only did Warzycha win some hardware in his first year as head coach, but that '90's Crew man Ricardo Iribarren also got to taste some success with the Crew this year after joining the coaching staff.
Two losses in November can't erase all of that.
And I think that what Lenhart said earlier is totally accurate. It's just soccer. We'll always have the relationships. Isn't that why we're sad that the season ended so soon in the first place? The Crew don't exist in a vacuum. There is nothing inherently worthwhile about watching some guys kick a soccer ball around afield. That's true for any sport. But we infuse it with meaning through our relationships.
For the next few months, I will miss interacting with a hilarious group of guys, collecting silly stories. I will miss the camaraderie of the press box and the radio booth. I will miss my interactions with many of the staff, who I primarily see on game days. I will miss having fresh games to talk about with friends.
You may miss screaming your head off in the Nordecke, shouting occasional barbs from the sidelines, or seeing friendly and familiar faces around you in the upper deck. You may miss the festivity of watching away games at Claddagh, or Ruby's, or at home with friends and family. You may miss tailgating. You may miss road trips. Whatever social interaction is part of your Crew experience, it will surely be missed for the time being. And one thing we will all miss is bragging that the Columbus Crew are the MLS Cup champions.
There's a strong communal bond that revolves around the Crew. It's not that these relationships and connections dissolve at the final whistle of the final game. Far from it.
It's just that, well, we all wanted to do it again on Saturday.
Thank you to the players, coaches, staff, and fans of the Columbus Crew for another fun and memorable year. Two games can't erase the good times and successes of the last eight months. I think we can all agree from experience that it's better to have won, then lost, than to never have won at all.
Steve Sirk is a contributor to TheCrew.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs. Questions? Comments? Thankful that Crewsmas comes early next year due to Champions League? Feel free to write at sirk65@yahoo.com. Sirk's first book, "A Massive Season: Sirk's Notebook Chronicles the 2008 Columbus Crew," is now available. Please visit www.sirkbook.com for more information.
