It's the offseason in Columbus, and that means rumors about players and contracts and whatnot are as easy to find as a Buckeye hoodie. Robbie Rogers seems to have become the first player to fall victim of fan speculation.

First, to grease the wheels of gossip, Robbie himself tweetered that he was on his way out of Columbus.

Columbus loses 4-2 on aggregate to Real Salt Lake. It was a great season, boys. Maybe not Massive, but not anything to be ashamed of.

None of us expected this, no one thought it was possible. The Crew always performs under pressure. Columbus always gets the clutch goal or Jesus-save that it needs to stay alive.

It's Halloween, and I'm scared.

Not of the hordes of ghosts and goblins floating around as I type this, but rather that the MLS season of my beloved Columbus Crew will come to an end on Thursday night.

Tonight, as they took on Real Salt Lake in the first leg of the home-and-home playoff series, The Massive looked anemic.

Guillermo has been here before. He has stood on the battlefield of do-or-die soccer and he has emerged victorious. He will lead our young warriors to a Massive Victory against the barbarians from Utah. He will not falter, he will not fail. He will do what is necessary for the good of the Crew.

Paint The Town Black & Gold from Outsider E on Vimeo.

Playoffs start Saturday, kids!

Today the Columbus Crew will take on the New England Revolution in what is an important match for a few teams. If NE tie or win they will be in the playoffs and DCU and Crapids are out. So this is a huge match. As for the Crew, since they already have clinched the first place in the East and overall league we won't be shocked if Robert plays the B team.

The Columbus Crew owes The Chicago Fire a favor. Actually, the Crew owes Eduardo Lillingston a favor. Maybe a beer next time Chivas comes to town.

Lillingston chalked up an own goal tonight when the Fire took on Chivas at Toyota Park. Chicago held on to win the affair, and in the process handed the MLS Supporters' Shield to Columbus for a second straight year.

Again, horrible music with these highlights. But you get the idea: The Crew coasted to a 1-1 draw with The Islanders on Tuesday night, playing some of the most uninspired, "lets just go play and get it over with" soccer I've ever seen The Massive play.

But they got the result nonetheless, and are moving on to the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Champions League.

Benjamin Franklin once said "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results."

If that's true, then the coach and attacking players for Columbus' MLS side are certifiably insane.

Fellas: No matter how many times you take the ball down the wing to the corner and cross it in hoping for someone to miracle it into the goal, it ain't gonna happen.

The Crew outshot United 8-2 in front of 16,000 rain soaked fans last night at RFK Stadium.

None of The Massive's shots found the net.

Columbus, who needed the win to secure their second-straight Supporter's Shield, played as sloppy as the marsh-like field. There was little spark to be found all night, and the few times The Crew threatened to score the chance was squandered.

(I've been really busy trying to find a day job lately, so this post is going to be short, sweet, and to the point)

The Columbus Crew made the trek to Foxboro to take on the New England Revolution this past Saturday. They won. Gino Padula scored his first ever MLS goal in the 34th minute. Emmanuel Ekpo got a questionable red card.

Excuses, excuses.

We can talk about Robbie Rogers having a bad ankle.

We can talk about not having Chad Marshall or Frankie Hejduk.

We can talk about not having the right guys in the starting 11.

We can talk about the opposing team turning the penalty spot into a divot.

Well, at least that's what Drew over at WVHooligan says:

7. Crew Stadium – Being the original it gets a little more love from me. I know it lacks a lot of goodies but at the end of the day I think it will end up being the Fenway Park of MLS. Though in some thoughts I don't know how good of a thing that will actually be.

Well that was a real kick in the balls.

After dominating Saprissa for 91 minutes, holding a 1-0 lead for most of that, the Crew gave up a stoppage time goal and settled for a 1-1 draw with the Costa Ricans in last night's Champions League match.

To say that Columbus "gave up" the late goal is a little bit of a misnomer, because in actuality Saprissa stole it, fouling no less than two Crew players while trying frantically to get the ball into the net.