COLUMBUS -- Even though the Columbus Crew will leave behind many of their passionate supporters when they play for the MLS Cup Nov. 23 at The Home Depot Center in Carson, the trip to southern California will be like going home for many associated with the team.
Foremost is coach Sigi Schmid, born in Germany but raised in the Los Angeles area since the age of nine. The former UCLA coach won an MLS title with the Los Angeles Galaxy in 2002 before being released two seasons later after a six-year stint.
"It's nice. It's sweet. I'm not going to say it's not but I'd go anywhere to play the championship game. But the most important thing is we're there," a champagne-soaked Schmid said following Thursday's 2-1 win against the Chicago Fire in the Eastern Conference Championship.
The LA area was home not only for Schmid but forward Alejandro Moreno and Ezra Hendrickson during their time with the Galaxy that included the '02 title.
"It will be special for Sigi. It certainly is special for me," Moreno said. "I have a lot of good memories from The Home Depot Center and I think he does as well. It's just nice to get back to LA and the way we're doing it."
Columbus advanced to its first MLS Cup after falling a game short on four previous occasions by showing the same resiliency that led it to the Supporters' Shield as the best team in the regular season.
Chicago took the lead in the 29th minute when former Crew idol Brian McBride scored on a header. No problem.
Chad Marshall's header from a Guillermo Barros Schelotto free kick in the 49th minute and Eddie Gaven's strike off a Moreno service six minutes later provided the winning margin. It was the 11th time over the year the Crew won or tied after allowing the first goal.
"Most teams would panic. Most teams would try to get people forward and really expose themselves in the back. We didn't do that," Moreno said. "We scored a quick goal at the start of the second half and that certainly made it easier for us. You have to understand that what got us here is going to be good enough for us to win an MLS Cup but we've got to perform and we've got to do our job next Sunday."
Numerous Crew ties to the Golden State should boost the club's support when playing the winner of Saturday's New York Red Bulls at Real Salt Lake match.
Midfielder Robbie Rogers and assistant coach Mike Lapper are from Huntington Beach. Brad Evans attended UC-Irvine, the same school that Schmid's son, Kyle, plays for and another son, Kurt, is an assistant. The Anteaters won their Big West tournament semifinal Wednesday and play for the championship Saturday.
"I'm excited, too, because it looks like they'll make the NCAAs for the first time in school history and I might even get chance to see him play in the NCAAs, which would be nice," Schmid said. "For me, having coached there and having coached in southern California and grown up in southern California to be able to come back to southern California ... I got off the field and looked at my phone and I had about 25 text messages. A lot of those are from southern California kids through the years I coached."
English defender Andy Iro is in his first season out of UC-Santa Barbara, about 100 miles north of Los Angeles. Rookie forward Steven Lenhart went to Azusa Pacific, where fitness and strength coach Steve Tashjian, a Pasadena native, had been a consultant for the soccer programs. Veteran midfielder Duncan Oughton attended Cal State Fullerton.
MLS Defender of the Year Chad Marshall is from Riverside and defender Frankie Hejduk played for Schmid at UCLA and spends his offseason surfing in the San Diego area.
"It's going to be great. We're going to have a large contingent of loud fans, there, too," Hejduk said. "I know my parents, a lot of my friends, a lot of my buddies; they're going to be out there getting rowdy and going crazy. It's going to be fun."
The Crew will strive to maintain a level of normalcy in the days prior to MLS Cup.
They resume training Monday in Columbus. Highs are forecast for the mid-40s through the team's departure on Wednesday. Moreno, who also won an MLS Cup with Houston in 2006, said the team needs to block out the added media attention, calls for tickets and the hype that goes with being an MLS Cup finalist.
"It's important we stay on an even keel. A lot of people are going to tell us a lot of things from here on to the game on Sunday," he said. "You have to believe in the things that we know we can do on the field and be confident enough that going into MLS Cup that we've been very good this year and if we do our job, hopefully, we can bring the Cup back to Columbus."
Having the weekend off allows time for reflection. Schmid thinks of assistant coaches Lapper and Robert Warzycha, former Crew players who came close to making the MLS Cup four times but always fell short.
"I know it means a lot to Robert and Mike Lapper because they were there all those years when they kept stubbing their toe on D.C. United and didn't get there. I know it means a lot to them and they're very happy. I think they were a lot more nervous before the game than I was," Schmid said. "It's great for this city, great for this franchise to get over this hurdle. Now we've got the opportunity to take one more step. There's only one piece of hardware we haven't gotten this year."
Schmid cautions against overconfidence. Many felt that Chicago and Columbus were the best teams in the league this season and that Thursday's game was the real MLS Cup.
"This was a very tough game but the next game is going to be equally as tough," he said. "I know there's already going to be hype out there that these were the two, point-wise, the better teams and things like that. That doesn't matter. It's a one-off game and everything gets thrown out the window."
While there will be plenty of fans cheering the Crew at The Home Depot Center, another backer will watch the match from his Chicago home.
McBride, the first pick in the inaugural MLS draft in 1996, spent his first eight season with Columbus and was the unchallenged face of the club.
After returning from five years in England, he joined the hometown Fire this summer. Some Crew fans called him a traitor Thursday in his first appearance in Columbus in a Chicago uniform.
"The fans respect him," Crew defender Danny O'Rourke said. "He's a great player and he's on a different team and that's what happens when you're on a different team."
Nonetheless, McBride continues to hold the Crew and the Hunt family ownership in high regard.
"I'll always be a supporter of the Crew. When the Fire's playing them I won't be. Of course, you're excited for them to do well. You can't spend this many years here and all of a sudden wish ill will on anybody," he said. "The Hunts are great. I got a chance to get to know them and have the utmost respect for them. The organization itself is a great one.
"I'm with the Fire now. My heart's here because I'm playing here with the Fire, but yeah, I'll always support the Crew when we're not playing them."
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