Ethan Finlay, Game Log

This is showing all of Ethan's MLS games going back to when he started with the Crew under Robert Warzycha (and Brian Bliss). Last two off seasons he has impressed but it's only till this year that he latched on to a starting role.

The road is never easy for guys like Ethan Finlay. There always seems to be that new midfield signing ready to impress. I've seen it countless times in this league, lord knows. Ethan has done everything he can this year to make his case as a starter in MLS.

Running back down his MLS regular season game log suggests that he sort of came out of nowhere, but to those of us who have diligently attended the mid-morning reserve matches, traveled down to Charleston and Orlando preseason matches... to those Obetz scrimmages in the freezing cold - we know that Finlay is a guy you want on your side.

Crew Win over Impact

Podcast: Red Cards in Helltown - Episode XVI

Host Rick Gethin and Larry Johnson go over the latest. As always, show is recorded all in one take. No bathroom breaks and posted with out any edits. Hope you enjoy it!

00:40 HEADLINES
• We're back after a week off
• MLS logo / brand changes
• League going back and forth in direction (clubs or single entity)
• Social media can be mostly snark, but Orlando City well received
• Forgettable change
• Creators should not have to explain it / defend it
• Expansion Draft
• Orlando already building

15:40 COLUMBUS CREW
• There are soccer fans in Columbus!
• Attendance, Crew rebrand buzz
• Crew v Montreal 2-0
• Impressive run
• Striker conversation, is there a need?
• Basically 2 solid months of home games
• The road ahead
• Rebrand this year to sell tickets
• Praising Ethan Finlay, top tier contribution
• League look
• Is Portland the "Toronto" of the Western Conference

42:50 LEAGUE LOOK
• Talent teams can mix things up
• DC United, deep dive
• Herb Brooks-ian, shared vision

54:00 QUICK HIT
• José Mourinho's remarkable record
• Bruce Arena fine
• Sacramento Republic USL Pro championship

Predictions, Thoughts: Crew (H) vs Impact

Columbus is at home again tonight for the franchise's second to last regular season home match. Montreal is on the menu tonight. Dinner is 7:30 PM EST.

MATCH NOTES
CLB: Impressive run, 13 pts in last 6
CLB: Lineup should remain familiar
MTL: Effort levels still there, but team deeply flawed
MTL: Haven't played a meaningful game in a while

MATCH PREDICTIONS
% Correct picking Crew results - (Last 10) - Outlet

55% (6) COLUMBUS DISPATCH ... COLUMBUS CREW
48% (6) MLSSOCCER ... COLUMBUS CREW
48% (3) WHOSCORED.COM ... DRAW
48% (6) WIN DRAW WIN ... COLUMBUS CREW
45% (6) HOME TEAM ... COLUMBUS CREW
41% (5) BET365 ... COLUMBUS CREW
38% (3) GOAL.COM ... DRAW
28% (4) TABLE POSITION ... COLUMBUS CREW
--% (-) WV HOOLIGAN ... (no pick)

--% (6) MASSIVE REPORT ... COLUMBUS CREW
Pulling down Massive Report this week to start including Nate Beckman's picks. Nate is about as on the pulse of the team and league as you can be and regularly posts those thoughts in his regular "4caster" column. As always, bookmark SB Nation's MR for all the latest.

MATCH THOUGHTS
This week see's the Crew as heavily favored as I have seen them in three years. The BET365 line of 8/15 is about has large as it gets in MLS just in general. Win Draw Win shows a large stake on a 2-0 win and voters only going Montreal 8% of the time (as low as it gets).

8 AM, Sept 27, German Village

One of the benefits to they way the Crew play now is that they can hold off below average teams, even if they aren't having their best day. Last week's 1-0 victory over New England was an intense and meaningful. With more of that coming up on the road for the team this match falls prey to the proverbial "trap game" (...and I told myself I wouldn't write that, gah!).

Helping the Crew out, if they do come out flat, will be the possibility that Ignacio Piatti not playing. He's a very, very good player on a Montreal has a handful of good players.

Crew fans will remember Dilly Duka and he is having a great year on a bad team (whoscored.com has him rated in to quarter). They've also got Hassoun Camara, Andres Romero, and Justin Mapp. Their deep rooted flaw is not those guys, it's depth and players that are suppose to be good but are playing very average. Felipe Martins, Jack McInerney, Patrice Bernier and even Marco Di Vaio fall into the average bucket and shouldn't.

Weather looks great. Clear and mid-70s. Being the time of year this is, you should see loads of nice long shadows and the east stands soaked in a beautiful golden hue. It's magic time here in Ohio.

New MLS Logo Out and About Town

After Major League Soccer (somewhat abruptly) released their logo last week, I've had some time see it outside the gated MLS community in both digital and printed form.

The digital side comes from time playing EA's latest FIFA 15 video game monster. There are a number of changes to that game on the MLS side and the inclusion of the new MLS logo is one of them. From that, I get a pretty good feel for how the new logo will fair on real life kits.

I wrote down some critical initial thoughts last week, but now? Long story short - it seems out of place. That's not that unusual though, their are a number of leagues that feel sort of forced or awkward, but that's also a reason to not change. This new MLS logo now falls in that forced category in the digital world. Not comfortable in her own skin and certainly not particularly noticeable for more more than a shoulder shrug and 'meh' among the thousands of flashing lights in a game like FIFA 15.

[I'm playing a lot of the game right now. More thoughts to come but in the meantime check out my latest here]

Next up is near and dear to me. The printed image. More specifically, the printed image out in the wilds of the sports universe. For this one I'll say it has a similar fate to the digital version. It gets a "what's that" glance than ultimately a shrug and move on.

I'll keep thinking on it but right now I'm finding it to be very disposable. Different. Even neat for a moment, till it fades off into a sea of brand junk.

There is a reason why some of these brands stay the same for so long, even if the image is stale or tired. Ultimately that boring logo earns its keep in familiarity. It might not be the coolest thing ever but people instantly know what it is when they look at it. A useful tool.

This is something the Crew is going through right now as well and I find myself asking the question of whether or not changing it is worth all the hard one familiarity over time.

It's sort of what the old timers say about that old reliable Chevy small block.

It'll run bad longer than most run at all.

Diamond on Fire

via - Russian poster for THE COLOR OF POMEGRANATES (Sergei Paradjanov, USSR, 1968)

"Critic Gilbert Adair called it 'a diamond on fire'. The filmmakers of the New Iranian Cinema found its director an inspiration. For years, it became a mysterious Holy Grail for cinephiles." [link]

----
Nobody knows where the art for this poster comes from, but it is good.

@NERevolution practice all about prepping for KC. But MF suffering from post-Tony Tchani hangover v @ColumbusCrew - rematch in 2 weeks.
— Frank Dell'Apa (@frankdellapa) September 22, 2014

"#NEWCREW" Yellow Dot

Yellow Dot

Today we saw the introduction of Yellow Dot.

The Columbus Crew. Columbus Crew FC 96. The MLS outlet in Columbus... (wait). Columbus' MLS team? World's first single entity franchise? Not sure what to call the team anymore. Down is up. Heaven is hell. Everybody is totally, like, "what's going on?". We are all just rudderless fans, writers, journalists, bloggers and / or crazy people right now. Biblical purgatory type stuff now that Yellow Dot has entered our collective conscience.

So many more questions. Do the events of today tell us that the "old" Columbus Crew is dying and a yellow dot grim reaper is on the scene to take it's soul? Does Yellow Dot even believe in the "soul" as we know it in western society? Are we to start the mourning process now? Should there even be a mourning process? Everything is just so sudden.

---

The Yellow Dot is the design element the Crew is going with to get folks excited about the re-brand.

Sometimes these things hit right, other times they just sort of... happen. This Columbus one is leaning toward the latter. That's certainly not to say it doesn't matter but honestly, in the world of MLS we've seen so many branding changes in recent years. It's become tedious for anyone trying to follow along.

Ultimately, new Crew investor / operator Anthony Precourt bought his right to change this team anyway he sees fit. If "Yellow Dot" is his way of pushing aside 19 years of history just to scribble his name on it... so be it. It's his world now. But let us not let this day go without marking the end of the Crew's direct association with blue collar image. An image hard earned, as represented in the original logo herself. Just as the image of the workers in that logo, they are not important enough to be front and center of anything - even though the do the, uh, Work.

Lay her down easy Yellow Dot. Your dark place in history might be largely forgotten to history - but I'll remember it.

Watch Helltown Play FIFA 15 Tonight (Twitch) [UPDATE]

Watch live video from HelltownBeer on www.twitch.tv
Follow along as I settle in and get familiar with EA's FIFA 15 and the virtual version of the Columbus Crew tonight. Can't promise it will be pretty, but it will be on!

[UPDATE]: All done for the night. Played with the Crew... and without. Important to say; With all the updates EA provides throughout the year, not many surprises on the MLS player rating front. The game is still insanely fun to play, but not a lot different on the pitch from last couple years. That said, there are a few upgraded menu items.

MLSsoccer.com makes an appearance on the menu side, MLS contributor Andrew King has work filling EA menus now, which is... interesting (I'm sure he was informed and get's paid double, har har). EA likes to be a provider of real world content. For those of us that go a ways back it feels strange. Considering what we've seen with the NFL in recent weeks, seems that going with the company line might be the best thing.

More thoughts to come. I'll continue to broadcast for those interested in such things.

Virginians

Here's my father and brother being Virginians the other day. More of the story, if you are interested [$].