December 6, 2015

Although the result didn’t go as we all had hoped and dreamed, hosting MLS Cup was still an unquestionable highlight of the season. The national soccer media descended on Columbus. Central Ohio and Crew SC were the focus of countless articles, telecasts, and social media postings. The energy and passion that our city directed toward the Black & Gold was at the highest levels ever seen.

It was fun chatting with league employees and national media folks about the turnaround of the club’s fortunes and relevance in the Precourt era. It was fun seeing our players getting a healthy dose of the theretofore elusive national limelight that they deserved after putting together such a compelling and entertaining season. It was fun seeing Crew SC fans (and even Timbers fans!) come together and share good times bonded by their love of the game.

It was also great to see, as this entry’s Bonus Moment, how Crew SC used MLS Cup week to unveil a fully-renovated learning center at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Columbus’ Milo-Grogan location. To see a full photo gallery of the amazing new Crew SC-themed learning center, click HERE.

There was so much positive energy in the city of Columbus during the first week of December and our soccer club was right in the middle of all of it. Even if the game itself took a negative turn within the first seven minutes at the sold-out stadium, the 2-1 loss to the Portland Timbers couldn’t undo all that was great about MLS Cup week.

At the end of the night, I made my customary pilgrimage to the Founder’s Park area of MAPFRE Stadium. I consider it the spiritual home of the stadium, so I always stop by to visit with the memorials to Lamar Hunt, Tom Fitzgerald, and Kirk Urso. As I approached, I snapped this photo…

As I tweeted at the time, without this man and this stadium, there may not have been a 20th MLS season to celebrate. That was the short version of my thoughts. But another thing I thought about was how lucky we have been in Columbus to have soccer owners who believe in our city.

In 1997, voters shot down a proposal to build a downtown soccer stadium and hockey arena. In 1998, voters nixed a plan to build a soccer stadium in suburban Dublin. With renovations coming to Ohio Stadium, Crew SC would have no place to play starting in 1999. The easy thing to do would be to pull up stakes and move the club to another city. Lamar Hunt didn’t believe in taking the easy way out. There’s the famous story told by former GM Jamey Rootes of how once the Dublin vote failed, he and Hunt left the reception that night. Given the vote, it could not be considered a party. As they drove, Hunt asked to stop at a McDonald’s. As they ate, he unfolded a map of Columbus and started looking for yet another potential stadium location. When Rootes asked if that meant the club wasn’t moving, Hunt replied, “Why would we do that?”

15 years later, Anthony Precourt would have an interest in purchasing a minority stake in Crew SC. The very first time he set foot in Columbus and in the House That Lamar Built, he watched the stadium’s scoreboard go up in flames. As far as first impressions go, it was…memorable. Precourt could have laughed to himself, flown back to California, and never thought of our city again. But if the thought ever crossed his mind, or if the suggestion was ever made, he on some level gave the same response as Lamar: “Why would we do that?” Precourt stepped up his commitment to Columbus and instead of buying a minority stake in Crew SC, he bought 100% of the club and the stadium. He declared that he was the steward of a community asset. He wanted the club to connect with the city and to be a part of Central Ohio’s fabric. Then, instead of just talking about it, he put those words into action.

The MLS Cup loss, while disappointing and a missed opportunity, also can’t undo the substantial progress we’ve seen under Precourt, Andy Loughnane, and Gregg Berhalter. Crew SC has a fun team that matters more in Columbus than probably ever before.

When I snapped that photo of the Lamar Hunt statue peering at MAPFRE Stadium through a celebration of 20 MLS seasons, I was not looking back through time to a relic of our past. What I saw was Lamar Hunt, through the prism of 20 sometimes difficult years of history, gazing out into our present and future.

Like me, I’m sure he was pleased with what he saw.

Onward to 2016.

Questions? Comments? Have a favorite moment of your own that I overlooked because I am an idiot? Feel free to write at sirk65@yahoo.com or via twitter @stevesirk