Finding the Space

Yesterday, Crewfighter and I were mere inches apart. More specifically, our cars were only inches away from each other, as I was parked on Summit Street next to his vehicle. And when I say "on Summit Street," I mean in the middle of the street, with my hazards on, mere inches away from both his car and possible automotive homicide.(Were Edson Buddle still in town, I would have asked Ryan for hazard pay since we were in the middle of the street in close proximity to Crew Stadium.) We found ourselves in this predicament because Ryan's battery had run down, and he needed a jump. Since Summit is a one-way street, and Ryan was parallel parked, the difficulty of the situation became exponentially awkward. I pulled my car as close as I could to his car, got out, and attempted to hook up the jumper cables.

Unfortunately, I was exactly two inches too far away.

Not a big deal. I got back in the car, readjusted it, and sent life juice to his dead Mustang. But as far as my "one-time" attempt of pulling up next to his car, I missed it by that much. In real life, you can barely miss the mark, and get a do over. But in soccer? That difference can be all it takes to seperate a win from a loss.

Last night, the Crew took yet another step towards becoming the best story of MLS 2008, beating an out-matched and out-classed KC team 2-1. And they did it by winning the game of inches.

The battle wasn't as close as the final score made it appear. The Crew were true class the first half, controlling the ball and making dangerous runs into the box. This pressure paid off when Guillermo Barros Schelotto struck his patented beautiful free kick into the penalty area, which was headed back across by Chad Marshall to the charging Adam Moffat. Moffat neatly tucked the ball into the goal through a space that was literally no bigger than the box the Adidas game ball comes packaged in. And considering Kansas Ctiy's keeper Kevin Hartman is one of the widest in the league, the fact that Moffat could poke the ball in is that much more impressive.

On the second goal, Moreno made up for not scoring in his 4th game in a row by making the first ever ninja assist in Crew history, making like Chuck Norris to roundouse the ball to a speeding Robbie Rogers. Rogers then used one deft and sure touch to sneak a ball past the lumbering skin flaps of Jabba the Hartman. If Moffat's goal was "squeezed in," how do you describe this effort from Rogers? Most humans couldn't fit a slice of bread into the slot that Robbie put the ball through. Yet, once again, the Crew sent some Adidas product rolling into the Kwik Goal, and found themselves with a big lead.

Fortunately, the inches kept working in Columbus' favor. After KC went down 2-0, former OSU player Roger Espinoza tried to cave in the orbital bone on Frankie Hejduk's cranium. No doubt, the Honduran was using his elbow to take out some furstrations being felt by his entire side. As the two were running down the sideline, Espinoza planted his opposite foot, pushed back, and drove his elbow and shoulder up into Hejduk's eye socket. An inch or two one way or the other, and Espinoza would have landed the 'bow. That would have been a blow to Columbus, as Hejduk has been the emotional leader on the field now for years, and surely would have missed some time. Instead, replays show Espinoza clocked Frankie with his triceps and hand, Frankie's face barely missing the elbow. The shot looked horrific, but caused little damage to the Captain's rugged mug. However, the blow further damaged KC's chances in the match, as Espinoza was given the straight red (or should we say "straight scarlet" for the former Buckeye?).

A game that was decided by inches, in more ways than one.

In the end, Columbus continues to inch ahead of the competition, and remains at the top of the league. Adam Moffat is inching closer and closer to starting time with the Scottish Nats, and Chad Marshall, Will Hesmer, Frankie Hejduk, and Robbie Rogers are making cases for their respective U.S. National teams as well. Last night, a few inches here or there made the difference between goals and misses, the difference between a harsh foul and a 6-week injury. Inch by inch, the Crew keep taking points. One can only hope the Crew find a way to make good on the saying "Give them an inch, and they take a mile..."