Crew Chat*: Signings, Praise, Opportunities!

(*Which, if you think about it, could also serve as a Franco-phone alternative for “Crew Cat.” (Photographed at right, apparently, stealing a child.))

It looks like the Columbus Crew finally signed a new player…well, almost.  Gino Padula came on board…or, rather, will once he gets his visa situation sorted.  Is there anything to think about this?  Assuming Padula to be an upgrade over Stefani Miglioranzi (though I base this on nothing, certainly not Padula’s vagabond career – even if that came in higher-class leagues), one would think the latter will slide over to the subs’ bench?  Looking over the starting XI for the Crew’s final friendly, it’s hard to see where else Miglioranzi might go…though, on second thought, maybe he’ll bump Brad Evans…who may or may not have been out left…crap…can’t wait to see actual games.

– So, OK, maybe it’s not so great that a member of the Columbus Crew made Greg Lalas’ “New Faces in New Places” photo gallery/preview – after all, every team got at least one guy out there.  In any case, Brian Carroll made the cut for the Crew…and with some nice words from Lalas to accompany the shot.  For what it’s worth, I think Carroll will prove an upgrade…even if I think “a winning mentality” is a myth.

– Finally, and just to throw this out there, remember that Georgie Wilson Welcome guy whose name you heard so often when Honduras was on the field during U-23 Olympic qualifying?  Turns out he doesn’t have a club.  So, I’m thinking, he needs a club, the Crew needs forwards…just a thought.

Crew Stocking Up; Balance Shifting?

In a case of life imitating art (or whatever the hell it is I do ’round here), the Colorado Rapids and Columbus Crew waited for their luggage side-by-side at same airport a week or so ago. My apologies for missing this significant event last week. It’s like God is telling them that somewhere, someone is forcing a comparison between their teams…the question is, who will respond?

Let’s just say it’s possible that the Crew’s recent ambition changes what I wrote just nine days ago. Reports of players coming on board and the roster taking shape emanate from Central Ohio and the keyboard of the Columbus Dispatch’s Shawn Mitchell. A blog post on the various incarnations of the Crew slapping around Ohio Dominican not only talks about who looked good (Andy Moffat, Brian Carroll, Chad Marshall, Alejandro Moreno – especially the latter, albeit against weaker opposition), but also reports Gino Padula and Emanuel Ekpo should be “in the fold this week” and that their also working on signing Guilherme So. A piece in the main pages of the Columbus Dispatch on Nicolas Hernandez’s enthusiasm for playing with Boca Juniors legend Guillermo Barros Schelotto also speaks to the club’s ongoing ambition to sign another forward…possibly at Hernandez’s expense.

Now We’re Talkin’: Actual Crew News…A Singing + Chatter

Well, shut my mouth! Just after bitching about the dearth of news on the Columbus Crew, a trip around the Web drops a steaming hunk of it plops in my lap.

Soccer By Ives reports the Crew has actually signed Gino Padula, an Argentine (natch) left-back who played most recently in France – and for a club with a name, no less: Montpelier. After that, I know nothing…and won’t insult you by pretending I do. But that’s one left back signed and secured.

Soccer Insider mentions Brian Bliss’ scouting trip to Honduras where his pursuit of “good players” led him to cast his eye over Jocimer Nascimento…yeah, you got it – from CD Motagua. You might know him from such CONCACAF Champions Cup (CCC) quarterfinal first legs as Tuesday’s goalless draw between Motagua and Mexico’s CF Pachuca. He didn’t have much of an impact – no one from Motagua did, in spite of playing fairly wel – but, while Pachuca did contain him, he looked pretty burly. Sadly, can’t say I saw him crack one on goal…which isn’t to say he didn’t.

Soccer Insider also names Allan Dos Santos as a potential target. Don’t know who he is either.

Crewture put out a report and dug up a Wikipedia entry on Jocimer Nascimento (by way of a heads up, Crewture is moderately NSFW, not for naughty images, but because a song plays everytime you hit the page; turn down volume before visiting perhaps?); not a lot in the latter, but one detail gives pause: the list of clubs at right shows he averages a club a year, a two-year stop at São Bento excepted. Often not a good sign. Against that, he’s in the hunt for the scoring chase in the Honduran league (see “Table de Goleadors”). So, he maybe something good, maybe something bad…you just don’t know.

But I’ll wager he’s better than the air currently occupies the Crew’s forward slot…and probably has a thing or two on Jason Garey…just sayin’…

GREAT OUTDOORS
All of today’s come courtesy of b3ta.com.

– A clever ad (based on a Guiness ad, it seems) for what looks like the English equivalent of Cup o’ Noodles.

– Clever cartoon, this one answering the question about bears shitting in the woods…though it’s more an answer to why.

– Finally, just…just…weird. And a little wrong. Probably NSFW, but your boss might be too appalled to care.