The Weekly Dis
The Crew find an antibacterial and defeat Pachuca. Is Daniel Gazdag on his way to Vancouver? This week in Discasting explores the shame visited upon the Blue Jackets.
There is at least one reputable outlet – maybe more, depending on how you measure – reporting that a Daniel Gazdag-to-Vancouver Whitecaps deal is in the works. The rumors have been swirling since Thursday night.
As of late Friday night, this is what I can say from the Columbus Crew end of things (admittedly, it's not much):
- These rumors are not baseless. Talks have been had.
- It remains to be seen what a Gazdag deal might look like, or whether it'll get done.
- Gazdag may have helped things along by scoring last night.
As mentioned by the Vancouver Insider above, the Whitecaps are looking for the kind of help Gazdag can provide. They're going to miss Seb Berhalter.
Crew GM Issa Tall has been, um, questioned for purchasing Gazdag for $4 million last year, and signing him to a Designated Player contract. It seemed like a great idea at the time, but Gazdag's game has been painfully slow to gestate in Columbus.
If Gazdag can be moved and his DP slot be opened (to go along with the temporary DP slot granted with the injury to Wessam Abou Ali), it woulld be a coup for Tall – depending, of course, on how he fills those slots.
This might get done. It might not. We'll have to wait and see.
Exorcising demons
On June 1, 2024, the Crew played one of the biggest games in franchise history when they met Pachuca in the CONCACAF Champions Cup final. Two nights before the game, the Crew were food-poisoned in their team hotel in Pachuca. It was, almost without doubt, an act of espionage.
The Crew lost 3-0 and missed out on a potential windfall.
Pachuca won, thus qualifying for the FIFA Club World Cup, a tournament that earned them nearly $10 million.
Michael Arace
Two years, two months and one week later, the Crew hosted Pachuca in a Phase One, Leagues Cup game at Fertilizer Field. Phase One is the group stage.
New Crew DP Brais Mendez scored on a scissored volley, lovely it was, in the 19th minute. Gazdag scored off a corner in first-half stoppage time. The Crew withstood an assault by a brawny, athletic, punishing band of Pachucas in the second half.
The Crew won, 2-1.
That had to feel good, right? A bit of a home-cooked payback, no expurgation required. Eh? The Crew players who were in the vomitorium that was their locker room in Pachuca two years ago were of two minds: There were those who admitted that revenge was part of their thinking, and serving it up was sweet; and there were those who were less than truthful.
Crew captain Sean Zawadzki, a late-game sub as interim-not-interim coach Laurent Courtois again used a heavy rotation, was both honest and demure.
Zawadzki said: “I just think it's the way sports work. You know, things happen. What happened down in Pachuca happened, and it's out of our control. ..."
And so on. Come on, man. Beating Pachuca was something beyond normal deliciousness, was it not?
Zawadzki said: “I think the guys who experienced what we did, being able to be at home now and play that game, obviously it means something. It means a little bit more. For the guys who are new to the team, it doesn't mean the same, but I think it's kind of been a talking point of just us joking about what happened to us because how often does that happen to you at such a big stage? So it stinks to have that happen, but we're glad that we're able to kind of get some revenge at home.”
The Crew are 4-1-2 in all competitions under Courtois, who replaced the deposed Henrik Rydström prior to the World Cup break. You can see how they're evolving.
Offensively, they're more aggressive in seizing on opportunities; their combination play in the final third is better synchronized; they're scoring on set pieces (thrice in the last two games).
Mendez certainly helps. He's not yet at peak fitness since being transferred from Sociedad of La Liga, with an $8-million price tag, last month. He came off the bench for his first two appearances. He started last night. He has played 167 minutes in a Crew uniform and he has three goals.
Mendez: "We knew how to play our game when we needed to, we knew how to suffer when we needed to suffer, and maintain the result when we needed to."
Man, that's beautiful.
Defensively, they're improving; they're managing their leads without flat-out bunkering; and they're still looking to transition (they generated three prime opportunities late in the game Friday night).
Prime Patrick Schulte certainly helps. Pachuca, a hard-pressing team with linebacker-sized forwards, generated 17 shots, 11 on target. Schulte made 10 saves, including a few of the ridiculous variety.
Asked if there was a moment when he knew he was locked in, Schulte said:
“Yeah, I think the one in the first half that caught me in the in the jewels, that was like all right, it woke me up quite a bit in a good way and in a bad way. But other than that, just trying to take it action by action and just trust myself.”
The Crew are 2-0, with five goals for and two against, through two Phase One games in Leagues Cup.
Next up: Tigres, another Liga MX power, will be the visitors Tuesday night in the third and final game of the group stage.
This week in Discasting
I recorded an episode of The Crewcible with Tom (Condor) Reed Thursday night but didn't edit or post it for a few reasons – I had successive flat tires on my ebike and minivan that needed attention, the ebike fix required a re-indexing of my derailleur, and there was a real problem of The Crewcible in question being dated by Friday at 10 p.m., which is around the time the Crew-Pachuca game concluded.
I might cut some shorts and reels because Condor is always in fine form, but, in any case, I'll be reloading for a new Crewcible recording next week. As I've yet to find a sponsor for the pods, I can have other priorities (such as flat tires, if not Flat Tires.)
The latest Cannon Balls is still boucing around the internets
The Athletic's Aaron Portzline, Mayor of Jacketville, and I have been covering the Blue Jackets since the 1930s, when radio meant something.
Porty remains generous with his time, his charm, his cool and his cache of CBJ history during his many appearances on Cannon Balls. Usually, I'm channelling the Reign of Terror and spouting off about all kinds of stuff – why the hell did they trade Jay Buhner!? – and Porty is the one calmly piecing things together to form a cogent, digestible conclustion. He's a wonderful man, the Mayor.
The latest episode of Cannon Balls is a bit different.
We take a subject we've both explored, quite copiously, via our written content. The subject is the Blue Jackets parting ways with Bob McElligott, the radio voice of the team for 17 years, and Jeff Svoboda, the stalwart website "insider" and ubiquitous team ambassador.
Michael Arace
Michael Arace
Aaron Portzline
Porty's column is terrific and, per usual, he shows his homework. He solicited an email response from team president Mike Priest. (I was going to add, "who visited the Eisenhower White House with the McConnell family in 1958," but this is serious business here. We're talking about two careers being wounded.)
Here's what Priest said to Porty (see link above):
“We have great fans and are very appreciative of their passion and support for the Blue Jackets. We also understand how some of them are feeling right now. There are aspects of our business that have changed dramatically in recent years. In order for us to grow, we have to evolve with those changes and at times that affect people that we all care about like Bob and Jeff.
“We pride ourselves in taking care of our people and do so when situations arise that result in change and they leave the Blue Jackets. We do everything we can to assist them and treat them fairly in situations that we recognize are very difficult.
“Change is rarely easy, but our transition to a simulcast and more dynamic, video-centered content on our other platforms will help us adapt and serve our fans better.
“We are working hard to be better on and off the ice. We know we haven’t won at a level that our fans deserve and that drives us every day. That work will continue. The support of our fans means everything to us and is not something we take for granted.”
First off, as Porty points out, if the Jackets were thinking about the future well being of McElligott and Svoboda, they would have let them go right after the season – so the two would've had sufficient time to find a job within the industry. But I digress.
As I said, this Cannon Balls has more of a bar-rail conversational feel to it than others. We're both pissed off, basically. Good stuff here:
For the love of vibes
The great Benny Goodman has a co-writing credit, with the great Lionel Hampton, on this classic.
The way the story goes: Goodman and Hampton were at an airport, waiting for a flight. Hampton was whistling this melody. Goodman said, "What's that tune?" And Hampton said, "I don't know. I guess it's 'Flying Home.'"
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