If you haven’t already heard, which I’m sure you haven’t seeing as how soccer still flounders in the American sports scene, Ohio’s own Columbus Crew won their first ever MLS Cup Championship yesterday afternoon in Los Angeles, defeating the New York Red Bulls 3-1. For those of you who missed out on catching a Crew game this past season, you missed something incredibly memorable. Not only did they win the MLS Championship, but they boasted the best record in the MLS and were far and away the most exciting team to watch in the league. So they don’t have big names like David Beckham or Landon Donovan, but that doesn’t take anything away from the exciting atmosphere that this team was able to produce this year. Perhaps the new household names will be Schelotto (3 assists in the championship game) and Hedjuk (team captain and fan favorite).

If you haven’t been to a Crew game in Columbus then you are really missing out on a great time. Tickets are easily available in the box office directly before kickoff for less than $15 a piece, and they offer Amberbock on tap (one of my favs). Fans at Crew games can get just as rowdy as any game played at the ‘Shoe, where fans in the northeast stands sing, play drums, jump up and down, and start stadium-wide cheers throughout the entire match. This is known as the “Nordecke”, where only the craziest and most loyal Crew fans are permitted to sit…err, stand for the entire game. You’ll notice that every time the other team has a goal kick the Nordecke crowd will shout “YOU SUCK ASSHOLE!” at the top of their lungs, absolutely hilarious.

At any rate, the games are always exciting to watch, even if you aren’t a fan of watching soccer. Being in Crew Stadium is a whole different experience than watching soccer on your couch, the fans are loud, the tickets are cheap, and the beer is good. For about $30 you can get a ticket, a few beers, and have a great time cheering on your 2008 MLS Cup Champions. There’s a reason to get excited for Columbus sports again, and this time it won’t cost you $100 to get in to see it.