Thanks to MLS, Crew now has extra motivation

Often, when a team wins a championship, they struggle to find the motivation to make a run at another. The Crew has hardly looked like one of those teams this season after winning the MLS Cup in 2023. Still, it doesn’t hurt to be given a little extra motivation. You don’t tug on Superman’s cape, spit in the wind, pull the mask off the Lone Ranger, and you don’t mess around with Slim. MLS has managed to do all of those and given the Crew extra incentive in their pursuit to win another title.

Feeling Wronged

There’s no sense rehashing what we already know about the Crew having to turn to an outfield player to play in goal after the one keeper they dressed was given a ridiculous red card during a 4-0 loss to Seattle. The blame for why the team had only one goalkeeper available has been the focus of endless discussion and finger pointing. Much to the chagrin of Crew haters and Seattle fans, it doesn’t matter what they think. Their opinion that the club is to blame is completely irrelevant. Why? Because the Crew feels they’ve been wronged by MLS. The request for a hardship exemption wasn’t denied until late Thursday afternoon. This had Wilfried Nancy very mad before the match even started. After the game, he went on a six-minute rant to the media about the entire situation. So, you can jump up and down and scream at the top of your lungs it is their own fault, but that doesn’t matter. Mark my words, the players will pick up on Nancy’s anger and turn it into extra motivation. It’s their opinion that counts, not yours.

Rub Their Nose In It

As if the loss at home to a mediocre team wasn’t bad enough, MLS had to go and make things worse. You’d think the league would recognize the circumstances surrounding the loss and not make a big deal about the outcome. Oh no, not a chance. Remember, this is MLS and the small-market Crew are not a favored son. Seattle’s cheap, gift-wrapped win was given top billing on the league’s website. They also led every social media post about Saturday night’s matches with the result. That’s basically booping the nose of the Crew and laughing about it. But as I said, this is MLS, so you KNOW there’s going to be more: they named Kevin Rusnak of Seattle the Player of the Matchday for his hattrick. From booping the nose of the Crew to completely rubbing their nose in the entire debacle.  

My sincere hope is the Crew rides this extra motivation to another MLS Cup championship and league commissioner Don Garber has to plaster a smile on his face and hand the big silver trophy to this team instead of his darling Miami Messi’s or one of the Los Angeles clubs.  They couldn’t resist piling it on and poking the bear over and over. In this case, the bear happens to be the best team in the league who now is loaded with extra motivation. What Wilfried Nancy’s team is capable of doing to the other teams in the league may not be suitable viewing for women or children. As a Crew fan, I can only say this is going to be fun.