• Sat July 11th - 11:00 AM EDT - Deaprt Columbus Crew Stadium, Columbus OH
• Sat July 11th - 04:30 PM CDT - Arrive at Toyota Park, Chicago IL
• Sat July 11th - 09:30 PM CDT - Depart Toyota Park, Chicago IL
• Sat July 11th - 09:45 PM CDT - Arrive Midway Hotel Center, Chicago IL
• Sun July 12th - 11:00 AM CDT - Depart Midway Hotel Center, Chicago IL
• Sun July 12th - 06:30 PM EDT - Arrive at Columbus Crew Stadium, Columbus OH

The match was halted in the 56th minute during a Kansas City corner kick when the Wizards' Claudio Lopez and the assistant referee were pelted with bottles and other objects flung from the Nordecke. Referee Jorge Rodriguez halted the game for two solid minutes to both check on their condition and then make his way to the technical area to request more security for the corner. He made no comment or warning to Crew coach Robert Warzycha.

This was the second match in a row that the Nordecke has bombarded a corner kick taker with debris. In the prior game, Chicago's Cuauhtemoc Blanco was on the receiving end of a bottle barrage shortly after he had drawn the game-altering red card call against Gino Padula.

Now, to be sure, nobody outside of Toyota Park, Azteca Stadium, or a Marrufo family cookout would argue that Blanco is a sympathetic figure, even as he gets pelted with trash, but the larger point remains - stuff got thrown, and it was unacceptable. Yes, it's still unacceptable even if the target was as inviting as Blanco.

The thing that made this week's outburst so strange was that, well, there was no apparent motive for it. With the Chicago game, emotions were running high due to a controversial call involving a despised player. It's not an excuse, but one could at least pinpoint the cause of the stupidity.

But Claudio Lopez? In a game the Crew were winning? Really? That's just idiocy for idiocy's sake.

Even worse, the delay made the Crew fight to maintain focus at a crucial juncture of the match. Frankie Hejduk, unquestionably the Nordecke's No. 1 Fan, had no idea what caused the delay, but said it had an effect.

"I didn't understand what was going on, and I told (the officials) to hurry up," he said. "That was a time where we needed to stay concentrated, and a delay like that can take you away from the game for a little bit, so I was just trying to keep all of the guys into it.

Worse yet, the delay contributed to five minutes of stoppage time as the Crew tried to close out their first win of the year. The worst crimes are those that are both senseless and stupid. Saturday's bottle-fest certainly qualifies.

I happened to be standing next to Crew President & General Manager Mark McCullers when the bottles started flying. He was furious as he called for additional security. Before the game, he had spoken to the supporters and had made two simple requests. First, he had asked that the Nordecke eliminate the organized chanting of profanities. Second, he also reminded them, in the wake of the Blanco incident, that the tossing of anything except post-goal streamers would not be tolerated. So here it was, maybe two hours later, and McCullers had been listening to an earful of profane chants, and then witnessed the unprovoked launching of bottles. One could have fried an egg on his reddened face.

That was hardly the time to talk to him about any of that stuff, so I touched base with him later to collect his thoughts after the heat of the moment had subsided.

"Those actions (organized profanity and bottle throwing) show a disrespect for the club," McCullers said. "It damages our reputation and makes others not want to attend games. It does nothing to support the team and help them maintain a home field advantage, which has been one of the key positives that the Nordecke has achieved. It's all compromised with this behavior. Furthermore, my position has been that these types of incidents have been tied to specific game situations, such as referee issues, and are not indicative of the Nordecke in general. (After Saturday's random event) I can no longer take that position."

McCullers said the Crew could be fined for the fans' misbehavior, although that precedent has not yet been set in MLS, and that the league will continue to apply pressure until the issues are resolved.

The Nordecke is unquestionably a vibrant and vital part of the Crew's home field advantage, and McCullers feels that neither of his requests would do a single thing to diminish the corner's electricity or its lifeblood link to the players on the field.

"The players feed off the energy of the crowd and this provides us a home-field advantage," he said. "The authentic soccer atmosphere is unique to us and cannot be found anywhere else in Columbus. Throwing debris and chanting profanity doesn't contribute to either of these, so the line of acceptable behavior is clear and should not be an issue. The section has gotten too big for self-policing. The security of the players and refs is paramount. The impact on other fans, particularly children, and the reputation of the stadium are also serious concerns. The home-field advantage and positive energy and atmosphere are important, but the unacceptable behavior is counterproductive and offsets the positives."

Judging by message board posts, it seems that many Nordecke denizens are equally appalled by the bottle-tossing and expect much tighter security going forward. Online suggestions have ranged from simply barring food and drink in those sections, all the way to something as extreme as installing a net or a fence to keep objects off the field. If it ever came to the latter, it would be a sad day, as the Nordecke group hug has become a standard tradition for Crew players after they score a goal at the north end.

McCullers made no mention of anything as drastic as a net or a fence, but one should definitely expect to see some changes for the May 27 home game against San Jose.

"We are discussing the situation and considering several options to address it," he said. "No decisions have been made at this time, but I expect a much greater security presence, eliminating the items being thrown from entering the section, and additional means to identify violators. The (organized) profanity is coming from the section at large, so identifying violators is difficult. Should it continue, we will be forced to take action in the form of reducing certain aspects of club support and other privileges."

Given that 99.9 percent of the Nordecke is there to support the Crew, I would hope that these changes will happen rapidly and with little fuss. Sure, it's fun to swear and throw things, but neither action has a single credible argument on its side.

Bottle throwing, on its face, is unacceptable. Many of us were appalled in March when Toronto fans tossed objects from the south end like they were reenacting a monkey poop fight at the zoo, so there is absolutely zero moral standing for throwing objects at players and officials.

And while profanity doesn't personally bother me, that doesn't mean that many others in the stadium aren't offended by it. And since the organized swearing serves no real purpose, there's nothing to cling to except the teenager-esque "No matter how many times you ask nicely, I should be able to swear because I want to" argument.

The two main sources of group profanity, as far as I can tell, are the "YSA" chant when the opposing goalkeeper takes a goal kick, and the "GTFO" addendum to the "This is our house" chant.

The YSA chant is easily amended, and in fact could be made more personal and effective, by simply inserting the goalkeeper's name or nickname. So for San Jose on May 27, it becomes "You suck, Cannon!" And for Chivas on June 14, it becomes "You suck, Thornton!" You get the idea.

And a poster who goes by "Tyneside4life" on BigSoccer has already come up with a much more meaningful rendition of the "This is our house" chant. Instead of shouting "GTFO", which especially makes no sense when there is, like, one Wizards fan in the entire stadium, "Tyneside4life" suggests replacing "GTFO" with "Thank you Lamar."

I think that's brilliant and wish I would have thought of it myself. It's meaningful to the club, its supporters and Crew Stadium's unique, trailblazing place in league history. What more could you ask for? And anyone who would forsake honoring Lamar Hunt for the cheap thrill of an f-bomb...wow...I don't have the words. So let's make this happen.

Gosh, I hate to sound like a mouthpiece for The Man, but really, McCullers' two requests have absolutely zero credible counterarguments. I, like many others in Columbus and around the league, have been blown away by the growth and performance of the Nordecke. I want it to continue to grow and thrive and be a source of inspiration for the players in the Massive banana kit. The Nordecke can be all that without synchronized swearing. And life in Crewville is much more fun when the Nordecke can rightfully claim the moral high ground over those Labatt-lobbing cup-chuckers from Toronto.