Glad you asked, but there's no need to be upset. It's just a simple acronym that stands for "Five Unanswered Goals". After the Crew's outright domination of Real Salt Lake at Crew Stadium Saturday night, that's the number of times the Black and Gold have rippled the onion bag without anyone on the opposing side taking enough umbrage to get a goal back.
Many will ask what has sparked the Crew's sudden offensive explosion in the last 120 minutes of on-field play, going back to Brian Carrol's goal of the week against Dallas. Some will point to role players like Brad Evans and Eddie Gaven stepping up to create and finish chances. Others will offer that the two teams the Crew have scored on are not exactly defensive juggernauts. Still others may suggest the Crew are fired up about one of their own (Jeff Cunningham) getting his 100th career goal in Crew Stadium. But truly, there is one answer that links EVERY one of these goals together, and conveniently enough, it's a three-letter acronym as well:
G.B.S.
Go back and think about each and every one of those 5 goals. Schelotto had assists on 4 of them, and scored the penalty kick earned when Eddie Gaven was upended after he took a perfectly weighted pass from, well, who else but Schelotto? The object of the Nordecke's abject idol worship is making the case that he should get his first, middle, and last name inscribed on yet another trophy in his storied career. That would be the trophy MLS hands each year to it's MVP.
(Damn, this three-letter acronym column idea is working out much better than planned...)
On the goal Brian Carrol scored, Guille having eyes in the back of his head is the only logical explanation for how he found Carrol to bury his first goal in 27 years. On the free kicks, Schelotto's laser guided missles looked as though they had magnets for Crew noggins, as both Brad Evans and Chad Marshall could do little to mess up what El Melizo had set up (to their credit, they both took their opportunities perfectly.) And on the assist to Gaven and, ultimately, Evans, Guille seamlessly linked 90 yards of the field together with another beautiful pass after the defense swiftly and neatly snuffed out any thoughts of a RSL attack. And of course, when a man with 18 domestic and international championships steps over top of a penalty kick, there is little any keeper can do to deny the champ's wishes.
It's been said before, but it's never been more true: As Guillermo goes, so go the Crew. Witness the game we lost to Houston a few weeks ago. That night, Guillermo seemed snakebit, each pass he attempted either fell flat or glanced the wrong way. Shots he took were not on target. Generally, his play was just slightly off. The Crew lost 2-0.
Certainly, the emergence of Brad Evans and the resurgence of Eddie Gaven have been welcome, and the play of the defense has been much better the last few weeks. Pat Noonan will help the team over the stretch run and into the next few years. Robbie Rogers is still terrorizing the flanks, Alejandro Moreno is busting his ass on every through ball, and Ekpo will be playing with even more confidence after going toe to toe with Argentina in the Olympics. Frankie Hejduk continues to be the heart and soul of the 2008 Columbus Crew.
But make no mistake. Guillermo is the motor that will take this team as far as it can go. Fortunately, not only does Guille have the drive to get to the Cup, but he also knows how to get there. Here's to number 19.
Other stuff:
- I was sitting with a friend tonight who has been arguing with me about the usefulness of Eddie Gaven vs. Brad Evans. I have been clearly in the Gaven corner, and he in Evans'. When Gaven earned the PK, I was in his ear. When Gaven popped up a header in the box, he was in mine. When Brad Evans scored his goal, he thought he had the upper hand in the debate, until we saw the replay and noticed it was Gaven who served Evans the beautiful ball that Evans neatly and justly put away. Needless to say, the debate about which one is better is still raging.
However, the entire debate started because we were arguing about who should sit down once Ekpo returns and/or Noonan comes along. Funny thing is, I can't make a case for Ekpo over either of those guys right now. Evans is playing like a poor man's Brian McBride or at the very least, what we were hoping Adam Moffat would be doing on offense, and Gaven is playing like the Eddie Gaven that is earning $165,000. If Ekpo sees the field despite how well those two or doing, it means his form is definitely where it needs to be for the Crew to continue to push for the Supporter's Shield and the MLS Cup.
- Speaking of Ekpo, the Crew's Olympic Silver Medalist should be back in town this week. When he and Rogers left for the Olympics, we all talked about how it would be great if we could lose only one game and win two over that four game span. Instead, the Crew got nine points off three wins and are tied with New England for first place. Nice.
- The Crew have a dangerous trap game next week. Dallas is a decent team, and we're playing them in Frisco, which will no doubt be an inferno. Meanwhile, the Crew may catch themselves looking ahead to the eight games after next week's tilt, as seven will be against Eastern Conference opponents. They have a home and away with both New England and New York, go away to Chicago and Toronto as well, and will wrap up with a home game against D.C. United, just for gits and shiggles.
Fortunately, the L.A. Galaxy will be bringing David Beckham, Landon Donovan, Bruce Arena, and Eddie Lewis's Massive head wound to Crew Stadium as our lone Western Conference opponent after Dallas. Yippee.
- There was some discussion of how much fun it might be to load up on some adult bevy's and sit on the turf to watch Shrek after the game. This conversation led to an exchange where I impersonated a drunk watching the movie and saying, "Dude, that donkey sounds just like that guy from Norbit..." Trust me, it was hysterical.
- Do you think the RSL brass are watching their team get mauled at every away game and rethinking this move out of Rice-Eccles Stadium? That Concrete Plasto-Turf (TM) certainly has to provide some explanation for why they are so great at home and so terrible away from it.
- My fantasy football draft is tomorrow. I thought you all should know my team name this year is the Sons of Travis Henry, which is kind of borrowed from the Sons of Ben, but more borrowed from the fact that Travis Henry has 9 different kids from 9 differnet women. Here's to his next sexcapade resulting in twins so he can field a well-clad youth soccer team.
- Once again, the Nordecke was rocking tonight. Disappointed only 12,000 got to see the total annihilation of the Royal Utes, but the next home game against New England should be more well stocked with Crew faithful in the sitting sections.
- Finally, my apologies to anyone who reads this blog anticipating a piece of litereature from me. This past week, I was in poor form to blog. My bad, yo. My computer will have some down time as well next week, so bear with me. The hope is everything will be good to go in time for September's Massive run to the Shield and the Cup.
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