Columbus Crew owner responds to FC Cincinnati 'Hell is Real' smack talk

Should team ownership stay above the fray when it comes to "Hell is Real" rivalry smack talk? We can debate that but the fact of the matter on Friday was that ownership was very much in the fray. Clearly, if you strike the right nerve, you can provoke a response from even the highest-ranking club officials in this raging Ohio soccer feud.

Dr. Pete Edwards, one of the investor-operators in the Crew ownership group, felt inclined to take a hands-on approach in response to an excerpt from MLSSoccer.com's Charles Boehm's scene-setting story for Saturday's "Hell is Real" Eastern Conference final at TQL Stadium.

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In the story, Matt Broo, a noted FC Cincinnati supporter and community member, suggested a counter-narrative to the "Save the Crew" movement of years ago, which is credited by many with helping keep the Columbus MLS franchise in Columbus as the previous owner attempted to move the franchise to Austin. "Save the Crew" was a grassroots effort and, for many, added to the lore and history of the very first MLS club.

Broo suggested it wasn't "Save the Crew" that actually saved Central Ohio's MLS franchise, though. He asserted it was "Ohio Revised Code 9.67, otherwise known as Modell's Law," Broo was quoted as saying in Boehm's story.

"If it wasn't for this law, that team would have gone to Austin, (former Crew owner) Anthony Precourt would have gone with them and every one of those people in Columbus would now be FC Cincinnati fans," Broo said.

Modell's Law, of course, was born out of the Cleveland Browns' move to Baltimore in 1995. The law, passed in 1996, essentially prohibits sports teams that benefited from public assets from moving to another city without a six-month notice and an attempt to sell the team.

Well, Edwards wasn't having that. "Me and a million members of the @ColumbusCrew family would beg to differ," he wrote on X.

As you can probably imagine, Edwards' response sparked a discourse that spanned both fan bases and descended pretty rapidly into name-calling, historical references to past claims about crowd size, and more name-calling.

To be clear, Edwards' didn't continue to engage on X after his response post.

Anyone who knows Broo can attest to his passion for FC Cincinnati. The same can be said for Edwards' affection for his team.

It was still a rivalry "first" to see an owner of one of the two clubs join in the jawing. It's not like there hasn't been biting commentary back and forth from the teams themselves. That's a common thing to see from any sports team's social media department. So, did we hit a low point in "Hell is Real" history with this discourse? Was there a winner? Should owners stay out of these back-and-forths?

What's certain is that the winning team's fan base will likely revisit the subject Saturday, probably around 8:30 p.m. or 9 p.m. as TQL Stadium empties out with either FC Cincinnati and Columbus having been crowned Eastern Conference champion.

Enjoy the game.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Columbus Crew owner responds to FC Cincinnati 'Hell is Real' banter