On Friday, following Columbus' poor showing at the gate for the second leg of their first round playoff series with Real Salt Lake, I argued that the Crew should be moved to Montreal. The reaction to that argument, which I made as an effort to replicate the knee-jerk nonsense that floats around so much of the American soccer blogosphere (how many times have you heard "he's crap" about a player after one poor match?), was telling; many of you thought the argument well-reasoned enough, or read it already with feelings on the subject in mind, that you agreed with it.


For the record, there was a clue as to the provenance of the piece; I had a note, in super-tiny print, that the post was meant to be tongue-in-cheek. If I failed to convey that in the actual text itself, that's my failing, even if it does prove that Columbus' performance in the stands is worrying to many. I had hoped that the bluster and hyperbole would give enough clues that I was using thin arguments to push for a Columbus move. I guess not, as evidenced by how many took it at face value.


I was mildly surprised by the reaction, though I did receive push-back from some segments of the soccer community; Fake Sigi took it apart, and did so emphatically. Some commenters came to the Crew's defense, and with the passion I would expect from someone defending their club. Still, it seems that dissatisfaction from around the greater American soccer community with Columbus and their attendance woes runs deep, and while I believe that none of the arguments made in my original piece are enough to warrant picking the team up and shipping them off anywhere (much less Montreal, who doesn't need an existing franchise, but should be entering the league as an expansion side), my concerns have been deepened.


Because, although I don't hold to the views set forth in my piece in reality, there is a kernel of truth there. It's hard not to be when the most successful side in the league over the last few years can't fill half of their stadium for a playoff match.


I have trouble divining the line between relocating clubs to best benefit the sport and the league and the need to weather to storm to better build a community of fans that will last, which will only come with a consistent presence in the community (and without the threat of relocation). Relocation, no matter the sport, is distasteful, even as we Americans have come to expect it from time to time. Because the franchise model means sports teams are wholly controlled by private individuals, there's always the possibility that the man (or woman) in charge could pick up and move their asset to another city when money is more easily made. The community, to whom the club belongs on some level even if it's only via an outdated romantic notion, has little or no say.


Columbus has a stadium of their own, stage or not. Columbus has ownership with a solid financial portfolio, operational ineptitude and an inability to understand their fan base or not. Those two facts alone make moving the Crew a non-starter; MLS, and professional soccer in general, doesn't have many cities that can provide both of those elements, and it would be ridiculous to take a club out of one. Columbus' problems involve management and marketing, not an intrinsic problem with the market itself. I have no doubts that if those issues were properly handled, the Crew could increase their average attendance dramatically, and in short order.


I have no special affinity for the Crew, and I don't know much about Columbus. The arguments made in "Time to Move the Crew" may have some validity, but they fall well short of proving that relocation is the best way to "fix" the club. Relocation sounds like an easy answer, and putting the Crew in a market (like Montreal) that would conceivably provide full houses, is tempting. But Major League Soccer's future lies no in band-aids and misdirection, but in doing the hard work of making its teams relevant in each and every market it inhabits. Maybe Columbus wasn't the best place to put a team back in 1996, or maybe it was the perfect place and things just haven't gone well; neither view matters, because the best thing for MLS, MLS fans, and certainly the Crew faithful, is to make it work there.


Next week, I'll present "Time to Move FC Dallas".


Only kidding.