Comments on Fake Sigi: Christ, again with wanting to move the Columbus Cr...

I did eventually see the thread in the BigSoccer T...

2009-11-12T16:31:20.347-08:00

I did eventually see the thread in the BigSoccer TFC forum on renewals.

I've been working on a (hopefully final) post on the Crew issue, so I'm not going to spew all my thoughts out in this comments thread. But I will say it's pretty rich for you to be claiming Columbus fans take things personally when you are the king of just such a thing.

And I don't have a link on the renewal numbers, bu...

2009-11-11T23:41:10.959-08:00

And I don't have a link on the renewal numbers, but the info comes from first-hand dealings with the ticket office.

Even if there was a significant reduction in renewals, the waiting list has 16,000 people on it. The season tickets will be sold out.

Um, that there are 10,000 empty seats... It's a s...

2009-11-11T23:35:13.180-08:00

Um, that there are 10,000 empty seats...

It's a shared revenue league. It's great tht the supporter's culture is growing in C-Bus, but if you can't attract the average fan that makes up more than 50% of a typical audience then it doesn't really matter.

No, Columbus isn't the only market to struggle at the gate in the playoffs. New England also drew crap for its game and SLC really should have done better. But...

1. Seattle - 35,807
2. Houston - 27,465
3. Galaxy - 27,000
4. Chivas - 25,218
5. Chicago - 21,528
6. SLC - 11,499
7. Columbus - 10,109
8. New Eng. - 7,416

How can you not see that as a problem? The Supporter's Shield winners and defending champions should not be drawing second worst in the playoffs.

Most C-Bus fans take this criticism personally. It's NOT a personal attack on those that show up. It's a criticism of your front office on the business side. Why you want to jump to their defence all the time is beyond me since they appear from an outside perspective to be more or less incompetent.

"It doesn't change the fact that there is a proble...

2009-11-07T09:58:13.098-08:00

"It doesn't change the fact that there is a problem though."

Duane, You say "problem" a lot. What does that actually mean? What is the actual problem? The Supporter's Section has been great and grown and was absolutely packed on Thursday, so its definitely not affecting the players. It's lazy to deduce that lack-luster attendances are creating a problem but can you cite anything tangible, specific to Columbus?

Got a source for that season ticket number? All I ...

2009-11-06T15:49:50.011-08:00

Got a source for that season ticket number? All I can find are articles from last year. I don't think I addressed it in the post, but I heard 2nd or 3rd hand that TFC had to dip into it's waiting list by a decent amount.

As for your post, you took a tournament that has bad attendance numbers all around, and based on that singled out Columbus as the worst of the worst. You then used incomplete league attendance numbers without any broader context to posit that Columbus is dragging down MLS, is "the weakest link", and closed by strongly suggesting that based on those numbers the team should be moved. You later admitted/claimed none of that was correct.

As for being defensive, I reread my response to you, and I've got to say it's as well reasoned as could be considering how dishonest/inaccurate your original post was. What do you want me to do, serve you ice cream while I'm disagreeing with you? I think you're wrong about a lot of stuff you seem absolutely sure about.

I've never denied that attendance couldn't be better in CCS - past numbers certainly seem to indicate it. What I take issue with is the contention that Columbus is the weakest link of MLS, is a great candidate for moving, or should be contracted. When you actually look at the issue in historical and financial context, none of that is true.

"Never mind that next year, there will probably be...

2009-11-06T13:24:17.303-08:00

"Never mind that next year, there will probably be some games in Toronto that aren't sold out"
There was a 96% season ticket renewal rate. So, all the tickets will be sold.
If you are arguing that there will be games in Toronto that all the seats aren't used in...then we agree.
I've never outright argued that the Crew should be moved, by the way. I've suggested that it's a problem when your defending MLS Cup champions are in the bottom half of the league in attendance. If you want to react defensively to that suggestion, then there isn't much I can do about it. It doesn't change the fact that there is a problem though.
As for the "start your own league" crap....whatever. A tendency towards isolationism is not America's most attractive feature. It's a good thing I know that your attitude is in the minority when it comes to this issue.