by Friday, May 23rd, 2014 – Detroit City FC 1, Lansing United 0
Sports teams love to tout “sellouts,” even though the number of tickets sold often far exceeds the number of people who actually bother to show up.
The fanfare is justified, though, when your team has been building to that point for years, coming close but never quite getting there. Detroit City’s first sellout was difficult to achieve, but hopefully, like riding a bike or going Super Saiyan (ask a nerd), it will be easy to repeat now that we know how it’s done.
As for the game itself, the words chippy, hard-fought… okay, and ugly, come to mind. A shuffled lineup and tough Lansing midfield prevented City from having the same flow and attacking sharpness they did against the Stars, and the second half was filled with late tackles from both sides – a few of which looked fairly dangerous. The 90 minutes* did provide us with one special moment, though:
In many instances, kissing the crest is a sure sign that a player is about to leave the club, but I don’t think we need to worry about that in this case. Josh Rogers is one of City’s original three players, and he’s seen its crowds grow from barely a thousand to over three times that number. Amidst all the talk of bringing a USL Pro team to Detroit, the fact of the matter is that City is already on that level when it comes to support and attendance. As of this moment, their 2633 per-game average would place them 8th out of 14 in that league, just behind Richmond (2641/game).
It remains to be seen if these kinds of numbers will continue, but judging from recent history, it looks like a good bet. If the average creeps closer and closer to the 3000 mark, it will be time to have a serious discussion as to whether it’s more sensible to continue filling a rented house, or if it’s time to explore building one of our own.
*[Plus a good 5 or 6 minutes of stoppage time at the end of each half. Do NPSL refs get paid by the hour?]
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Random Thoughts
The Penalty Was it soft? Probably – I was surprised when it was given, but it was far from the worst I’ve ever seen. Some Lansing supporters have singled it out but let’s be clear – it happened in the 10th minute. Your team didn’t lose because of a bad penalty call, your team lost because it didn’t respond over the course of the ensuing 80 minutes (plus at least 10 total minutes of stoppage time).
Standouts Zach Myers didn’t score but did very well otherwise. There were two or three instances where he kept the ball away from a handful of Lansing players, dribbling around each of them before passing or being hacked. This is where video footage would come in handy if it existed. Nick Lewin has now played all three positions on defense over the course of the first three games, starting this one at RB and doing pretty well. Zach Schewee got his first start of the year at LB and looked solid as usual.
The Lineup A bit of a shakeup – Edwardson at CB, Vasold (and his fantastic beard) getting the start next to Alashe in center-midfield, Shawn Lawson returning and starting up top. Always good to get a win, and even better to develop depth at the same time.
On a sidenote, we haven’t seen Zeke Harris (or Locky Savage) since the Open Cup game. I think one reason City’s offense has struggled at times this season is that with the constant shuffling of fullbacks from game-to-game, the team hasn’t been able to consistently overwhelm their opponents on the flanks the way they did last year. Something to keep an eye on.
Officiating Was probably not as bad as it seemed in the heat of the moment, but the calls were pretty inconsistent. Some fouls were given for what looked like routine tackles, and in the second half when both teams were diving in late with both feet, several weren’t called at all.
The red card was the correct call. Some have suggested that McAtee went down easily – I disagree – but it’s irrelevant because he was popped in the face. Punch to face = red card, period.
The Chant In convenient video format (c/o The Indispensible Multimedia Guru of DCFC, Michael Kitchen)
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Things that are less floppy than Matt Brown (Lansing #9) Elephant ears, clown shoes, computer disks from 1985.
Levántese, señor
PirmannWear™, Week 3
Sons of Ransom +1 for showing up to support your team, unlike a certain group from a certain city in a certain state to the south. -1 for throwing the smokebomb onto the field, regardless of how it came to be in your possession.
TV Bar is the worst. Blaring music made it hard for chants and songs to get going, and even made the halftime show tough to hear. And, allegedly, someone on the patio threw a rock into the supporters’ section, hitting a girl in the face.
Possible solutions:
- Knock on the door and ask them to turn their music down.
- “Accidentally” get them placed on the city’s blight removal demolition list.
- Have Dan Duggan purchase the property, thereby ensuring that nobody will show up.
Who the hell opens a bar next to a high school, anyway?
Video Recap
Up Next Away to Cincy on Friday at 7:30 – The game will be streamed live HERE
While attendance figures can be misleading with what people think they mean, an atmosphere like DCFC has created (and has been created by fans around it) means that a higher percentage of the people showing up are active and vocal and die-hard fans than maybe the average crowds at rust belt city stuck on past glory.
What I’m trying to say is that beyond the simple numbers, the level of support (a distinction you rightly identify above) can mean that DCFC’s 2633 provides better atmosphere, better support, a better trend for the future growth than Richmond’s 2641 or even Chucktown’s 3921.
Very good point. Even with what we’ve done over the past two years, a lot of people are just now finding out about the team, and there are a lot of first-timers showing up to every game.