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Crew Elated With Trophy Triumph
Columbus Crew defeated Red Bull New York 3-1 in normal time to ease their way to an MLS Cup victory, the first in their history. Afterwards, the players and staff couldn’t contain the joy they felt at finally winning the elusive prize.
Nov 23, 2008 8:32:18 PM
The Columbus Crew, your 2008 MLS Cup champions, all gathered in a circle in the middle of the locker rooms below the Home Depot Center and shook up bottles of champagne. Pat Noonan’s bottle erupted early to gleeful shouts of, “Premature! Premature!”
When the bottles did burst in unison, there wasn’t a dry player in the room. Every last strand of Frankie Hejduk’s mane of hair was soaked. Sigi Schmid, as he tried to scoot to the other side of the room, found himself a target of dousing as well. Despite his sopping clothes, the coach called the team around for a group talk.
“No practice tomorrow,” he started off, to rejoicing and cheers. “Make sure you get fitted for your huge [expletive] ring. And since the Hunts are here, maybe we can get them to throw a few diamonds in there.”
While Schmid took the win in a whimsical mood, many of the players struggled to articulate just what the monumental win meant for them and the club.
“Can’t really put it into words,” said winger Robbie Rogers as he ate what he claimed was the best slice of pizza he’d ever had. “No one thought we’d be here last year when we were sitting on our couches watching this game. It’s been a great season.”
Rogers is celebrating his first MLS Cup win, but his teammate Ezra Hendrickson is one of the few to have racked up 3 trophies. He paid heed to the young crop Schmid has built the club around, and looked to celebrate with them.
“It’s always out of the world when you win the first one,” he said. “But I’m excited and I’m happy. The club’s been around from the start and never won a championship. I’m just happy for everybody, those guys who have never won a championship, I just want to share this moment with them.”
Hendrickson, like many of the group, has a special connection with Sigi Schmid. The coach has taken chances on players when no one else would, and now all of those gambles have paid off. The players recognize his role, and showed him special affection.
“This was very emotional for me,” Alejandro Moreno said. Then, speaking of Schmid’s role, “You could see during our embrace after the game, I lost it there for a second. He stuck his neck out for me, and I’ve been able to respond. I’m very happy that I was able to do this with Sigi, especially here in LA.”
Schmid also brought Rogers over from their native California, though the winger took a detour in Holland. Rogers spoke of the post-game words he exchanged with his coach and how they impacted him.
“Sigi said to me, ‘It’s great that I can win a championship with you.’ That means a lot coming from Sigi,” Rogers whispered, almost reverently. “I watched him play in championships. I grew up with his son. It feels great to win in LA where I used to come to watch the Galaxy. I can’t think of a better place to win this.”
Amid the homecomings, amid the affection, amid the downpour of champagne, and amid the playoff beards getting shaved off, there was just elation. Columbus had plowed through the regular season to win the Supporters’ Shield and then capped it off with the big one, the MLS Cup. Their work was done.
Rogers looked up from playing with his piece of crust to explain how it felt to accomplish such a rare feat: “After Supporters’ Shield I was kind of—not bitter—but we won the regular league and in any other league this would be it. I guess we weren’t recognized as the champions until this game. To take that doubt away from everyone and just to perform the way we did this season has been great.”
Well, Robbie, the doubt is clearly and emphatically gone. And you’ll have a huge [expletive] ring to remember the emotion left behind: elation.
--Zac Lee Rigg, Goal.com
When the bottles did burst in unison, there wasn’t a dry player in the room. Every last strand of Frankie Hejduk’s mane of hair was soaked. Sigi Schmid, as he tried to scoot to the other side of the room, found himself a target of dousing as well. Despite his sopping clothes, the coach called the team around for a group talk.
“No practice tomorrow,” he started off, to rejoicing and cheers. “Make sure you get fitted for your huge [expletive] ring. And since the Hunts are here, maybe we can get them to throw a few diamonds in there.”
While Schmid took the win in a whimsical mood, many of the players struggled to articulate just what the monumental win meant for them and the club.
“Can’t really put it into words,” said winger Robbie Rogers as he ate what he claimed was the best slice of pizza he’d ever had. “No one thought we’d be here last year when we were sitting on our couches watching this game. It’s been a great season.”
Rogers is celebrating his first MLS Cup win, but his teammate Ezra Hendrickson is one of the few to have racked up 3 trophies. He paid heed to the young crop Schmid has built the club around, and looked to celebrate with them.
“It’s always out of the world when you win the first one,” he said. “But I’m excited and I’m happy. The club’s been around from the start and never won a championship. I’m just happy for everybody, those guys who have never won a championship, I just want to share this moment with them.”
Hendrickson, like many of the group, has a special connection with Sigi Schmid. The coach has taken chances on players when no one else would, and now all of those gambles have paid off. The players recognize his role, and showed him special affection.
“This was very emotional for me,” Alejandro Moreno said. Then, speaking of Schmid’s role, “You could see during our embrace after the game, I lost it there for a second. He stuck his neck out for me, and I’ve been able to respond. I’m very happy that I was able to do this with Sigi, especially here in LA.”
Schmid also brought Rogers over from their native California, though the winger took a detour in Holland. Rogers spoke of the post-game words he exchanged with his coach and how they impacted him.
“Sigi said to me, ‘It’s great that I can win a championship with you.’ That means a lot coming from Sigi,” Rogers whispered, almost reverently. “I watched him play in championships. I grew up with his son. It feels great to win in LA where I used to come to watch the Galaxy. I can’t think of a better place to win this.”
Amid the homecomings, amid the affection, amid the downpour of champagne, and amid the playoff beards getting shaved off, there was just elation. Columbus had plowed through the regular season to win the Supporters’ Shield and then capped it off with the big one, the MLS Cup. Their work was done.
Rogers looked up from playing with his piece of crust to explain how it felt to accomplish such a rare feat: “After Supporters’ Shield I was kind of—not bitter—but we won the regular league and in any other league this would be it. I guess we weren’t recognized as the champions until this game. To take that doubt away from everyone and just to perform the way we did this season has been great.”
Well, Robbie, the doubt is clearly and emphatically gone. And you’ll have a huge [expletive] ring to remember the emotion left behind: elation.
--Zac Lee Rigg, Goal.com
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