Morgan Campbell's TFC Blog - Truly Bush League

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Truly Bush League



A couple of weeks back we talked about ESPN's Pardon the Interruption, and co-host Mike Wilbon's assertion that the streamer tossing common at Toronto FC games is "bush league."
In that post I argued that while TFC fans' streamers are annoying and maybe a little played out, they're an ultimately harmless expression of the fans' enthusiasm, and not among the top factors damaging soccer's credibility among mainstream sports fans stateside.
Nineteen days after I wrote that true hooliganism would drag MLS into "Bush League" territory faster than streamers alone ever could, the fans at Crew Stadium in Columbus illustrated exactly what I meant.
If you haven't already read the stories or seen the clips, understand that throughout last Saturday's home game against New England, Columbus fans showered the field not just with streamers, but with sausages (apparently it was $1 Bratwurst night), lit flares and, after Kheli Dube's game winner in the 89th minute, racial slurs.
Listen closely to that youtube clip and a little past 22 seconds in you'll hear some Columbus heckler drop an N-bomb.
Who knew Michael Richards was a Crew fan?
Anyway, the league has already responded to the incident ... sort of.
Here's all of what commissioner Don Garber had to say about it:
"We are investigating reports of incidents from the May 24 match between the Columbus Crew and New England Revolution and will take appropriate action based on our findings."
I'm not kidding when I say that's the entire statement. Enlightening, I know. They're not even investigating the incidents -- just the "reports" of them.
Way to take a stand, guys.


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