In December 2015, Caleb Porter and the Portland Timbers came to Columbus for MLS Cup.
They won.
Porter above was just being nice. The Portland Timbers were the better team on that day.
Five years later in December 2020, who could've looked into a magic sorcery ball and said Porter would be the Columbus Crew coach for the next one?
Well Porter made sure the Columbus Crew were the better team this time.
And he loves himself some Nordecke.
The next man up mentality wasn't always perfected during the season for Columbus.
But in the playoffs... Tarbell came in and picked up two shutouts for Eloy Room, Luis Diaz came in and destroyed the wings in replacement of Etienne Jr., and then rookie Aidan Morris played his best game in replacement of Darlington Nagbe in the MLS Cup Final.
In four playoff games, Columbus only played the roster they wanted in one.
Each Columbus Crew MLS Cup appearance has oddly intersected with a very important year in my life.
The Columbus Crew became MLS Cup Champions in 2008.
That was a year. That was the start of this website. That was the year that I came up with the Nordecke name in January 2008. That was the year that my dad passed away on July 27th, 2008.
I was 22. The only thing that kept me logically sane and moving forward was writing about Columbus Crew games that year.
I took my mind off of how I was feeling and flooded it into blog posts about Frankie Hejduk, Chad Marshall, GBS, Ale Moreno, Gino, Gaven, and etc. getting it done.
The Crew lost MLS Cup in 2015.
I didn't take that well. But I don't think a lot of things were going well then. Quite an immature 29 year old.
Five days later I got into a car accident intoxicated yet thankfully alone. Had a subdural haematoma in the accident, was life flighted, and was in a hospital for a month.
A lot of growing up from then.
Yesterday was five years to the day, the above message was from Rick Thomas, who I would consider the Godfather of Columbus Crew tifo. Had several of those show up in my Facebook memories yesterday.
Thank you for that. Yet sometimes I wish Facebook Memories wasn't a thing lol. I've had a cringe or 40 over old Facebook thoughts.
Now 2020, has been a year of lessons for everyone.
But everything has oddly gone great for me financially and career-wise.
Have ran into some nice opportunities both in videography and my regular work.
Saving up currently to move back to Columbus, Ohio next Summer actually. So hopefully (or for some unhopefully) you will be seeing a lot more of Crewfighter. 🙄🤣
And what about Lucas Zelarayan?
He had big moments this year but I feel yesterday was his true coming out party. 2 goals and an assist in the biggest game of the year.
Well worth the money when your stars show up when required.
Not saying all my thoughts are amazing or something. But actually wasn't surprised that the Columbus Crew came out of the most difficult season in history on top.
Currently have a lot of love going on. I love this team. I love our coach. I love our owners. I love our new stadium. I love our fans and their ability to keep us here.
Overall, I love our current situation and believe even bigger things are ahead for us.
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