January 2008 to Today: Editor, Columbus Crew Fan Website Crewture.com

Crewture.com was the website I created on January 1st, 2008 to hopefully help promote more interest in a fan section within Columbus Crew stadium, home of the Major League Soccer club in Columbus, Ohio.

The removal of supporters section seats in Columbus Crew Stadium during the 2007 offseason, forced the three groups of fans (Hudson Street Hooligans, La Turbina, and Columbus Supporters Union) to come together. But, all three were looking for a name to come up with for their new home, in the north-corner of Crew stadium.

So, at the time I built this website, I instantly received a call from Vice President of Ticket Sales with the Crew Chris Keeney who was displaying interest in my fan website (I eventually interviewed him, along with former Crew player turned entrepreneur Brian Dunseth). I put more time in the website based on this positive feedback and eventually came up with a name that stuck for the section, "Nordecke."


The Nordecke (above) I helped to create in 2008; as the name creator, running the fan website, making a good amount of the banners, and being one of many leaders of the section.

How did the name come about? I put north corner into Google translate looking for a more interesting, intimidating name (intimidating because in Europe a fan or rather supporters section is looking to be more strong, boisterous, and intimidating than the traveling, opposing support). Columbus has some German heritage, pointed out by the popular area of town known as German Village; and when I typed in north corner, the name "Nordecke" popped out and seemed to fit.

Eventually the name quickly turned into a hit, the team eventually trademarked the name in the Summer, and what I got out of it was some satisfaction, as well as the possibility to be a pub quiz trivia answer fifty years from now :-)

In 2008 to 2009 the website was very popular and at times a bit in the middle of controversy, brought on by growing pains in the section, as we were growing so fast and not everyone was properly conducting themselves in the process within the section.

For example, we were one of the main websites people went to, around the world, to check out the news on the Columbus- West Ham brawl.

Overall, the website received over 2 million hits from 2008 to the end of the 2009 season and over 70,000 overall podcast hits, and then dropped off a bit when I focused more time on my job with the Dayton Dutch Lions during the 2010 season; I still post on the website and may look to rejuvenate it a bit more this upcoming season.