When Seattle Sounders fans are listing off their biggest rivals, it usually starts with the Portland Timbers. Somewhere near the top are the LA Galaxy and the Vancouver Whitecaps. Maybe Real Salt Lake works their way in there and maybe even Sporting Kansas City. Heck, some might even toss in the Chicago Fire. They're all regionally relevant or teams the Sounders have faced in important games.
A team not particularly high on that list? The Columbus Crew.
And why would they? The Sounders have mostly gotten the better of the Crew, going 4-2-3 against them with a +7 goal difference in the regular season. They met in the 2010 U.S. Open Cup final, but that seems like ages ago and the Crew haven't been especially good until last year (when they still got blown out in the Eastern Conference finals).
Well, apparently Crew fans see it a bit differently. It probably started when the Sounders "stole" away Sigi Schmid and escalated from there, coming to a head with the whole capo thing a couple years ago. But now they have a hashtag called #hateweek that's apparently aimed at the Sounders. They even have a shirt to prove it:
I should probably say where you can get em. #crewsc http://t.co/LLj3mbq64p pic.twitter.com/NbZge1ZuGj
— Matt Goshert (@mattgoshert) May 6, 2015
Yes, they made a shirt just for the Sounders, a team they are probably only going to play once this year.
There was also this exchange about attendance:
#HateWeek pic.twitter.com/O8vPBSb7XK
— Morgan Hughes (@Morgan_Hughes) May 5, 2015
@Dannicus523 @Ratsinthecity @mattgoshert @rcmakris @bedirthan @bmvaughn Allow me. pic.twitter.com/92q0RSl8fL
— Glenn White (@justicar) May 6, 2015
Suppose that's what happens when you've got what others want.