Dwight & Sirk Talk Black & Gold

Dwight & Sirk are joined by Craig Merz, Crew beat writer with the Dispatch 1996-2005. Among the topics discussed, Craig serving as Derek Jeter's chauffeur, his path to the soccer beat, & his pivotal role in propelling the Crew to the 1996 playoffs. (And to this day people think it was mostly Brad Friedel!) Sirk plugs Merz's book "Chill Factor" an interesting look at how Columbus evolved from an OSU-only sports town to the diverse major league sports city it is today.

A couple weeks ago, Sirk caught up with Mike Clark to further discuss that 6-4 game reminisced about in episode three. Clarkie clarifies he was punched in the face by the goalkeeper rather than the goal post when he scored his goal. He also talks about celebrity toilet sharing, among other fascinating topics. In other words, a typical conversation between these two. Dwight gamely does his best to intro and outro the pre-recorded chat.

Dwight & Sirk look back at the Crew's preposterous 6-4 loss in KC circa 5/2/96. which launches numerous tangents and offshoots. All TEN Dwight Burgess goal calls from the highest scoring game in Crew history are included. When things get way off topic near the end, Sirk tells the story of shepherding Tony Meola around the Canton Civic Center in December 1995 and getting his first secret MLS scoop.

Dwight & Sirk look back at the Crew's 1-1 draw in Seattle, including the fine play of Jonathan Mensah, an ideally prototypical Zardes/team goal, and what is and isn't a handball. Sirk reminisces about a long travel day to Seattle with the team in 2010, as well as an 11-year-old jersey controversy, whereas Dwight shares some more archival broadcast audio from 1996.

In the debut episode, Dwight & Sirk look back at a Crewsmas victory, where Sirk's in-game attention span is exposed by Dwight's analysis. Sirk then gets Dwight to open up about his experiences during his emotional pregame honors. The duo then discuss the earliest days of Dwight's job as Voice of the Crew, including radio clips from 4/20/96, one of which delights Sirk as it is definitive proof of a statistical error he has tried to get corrected for years. There's new hope!