COLUMBUS -- The majority of the Columbus Crew players have only heard about past playoff failures and how close the club has came on four previous unsuccessful attempts to advance to the MLS Cup.
Midfielder Robbie Rogers was 10 in 1997 when the Crew reached the first of the three consecutive Eastern Conference finals.
"Our biggest problem was we always hit D.C. when they were in their prime," Crew assistant coach and former Columbus player Mike Lapper said. "We were probably the second-best team in the league at those times but we never were able to get past D.C. to get to the final."
Each year the Crew thought they had the makings of a championship team but from 1997-99 they were thwarted by D.C. United. The Crew also reached the league semifinals in 2002 but lost to New England in a three-game series.
"Over the years, it's frustrating. You're so close to going to the finals and something came up and stood in your way and you didn't make it," said assistant coach Robert Warzycha, a midfielder for the club from 1996-2002.
The Crew will take another crack at making their first MLS Cup Final appearance Thursday when they play host to the Chicago Fire in the Eastern Conference Championship.
"Old timers" such as Warzycha and Lapper tell the players to seize the moment. While it appears the Supporters' Shield winners are built for a long and prosperous run over the next few seasons, Warzycha knows there are no guarantees.
"For the many, many years I played I won only one championship," said the 16-year pro. "I played for a team in Poland that I thought would win year after year after year. It never happened again. You have to grab your chance when you have it. It's very, very close and realistic to win the championship but we have to win this game first.
"That's why we have to concentrate a lot and win this game. Look at the history. When's the last time we put ourselves in position to get to the finals?"
It was in 2002 although the Crew thought they were creating something special two years later when they won their first Supporters' Shield but lost in the opening round to New England.
"We had the second game at home but we missed two penalties," said Warzycha of the 2004 two-game series. "That was a team that could have gone a long way but we missed two penalties in one game, which is unusual."
Crew broadcaster Dante Washington had joined the team for a third time late in the 2004 season and played one regular-season game. Much to his surprise and that of the Crew faithful, coach Greg Andrulis started him in the playoff finale instead of forwards Edson Buddle or Jeff Cunningham.
"To be honest I didn't think I was going to be part of it," Washington said. "When I came back from being in the A-League, they had been on an unbelievable run and all of a sudden I'm starting a playoff game. As a player you do what you've got to do but to be quite honest I didn't think I would be starting in game. I thought I would be coming on as a sub, maybe."
He was also part of the Dallas Burn in 1997 when they lost the Western Conference finals to Colorado.
"I've been close a couple of times and it hurts not getting there (to MLS Cup)," Washington.
No one in the Crew organization could have imagined in 2004 that the Crew would not qualify for the playoffs again until this season. Instead of following the path of New England (three consecutive MLS Cup appearances from 2005-07) or Houston (titles in 2006 and '07), the Crew blew up the roster after Sigi Schmid took over in October 2005.
Only three players remain from the 2004 club.
"It's been a lot of frustrating years but we've had some good years, too," Lapper said.
The teams in the late '90's included the likes of Brian McBride, Thomas Dooley, Stern John and Jeff Cunningham -- yet they couldn't get over the D.C. hump.
"With Stern and McBride and all those guys we were thinking every year we had a chance to win it all," Warzycha said.
The Crew are in that position again but Lapper said comparisons to the past are unwarranted.
"This year is a totally different feeling. The guys are confident but not cocky. That's a big difference, obviously. Everyone is truly happy when someone else succeeds," he said. "We're not dependent on one or two people. It used to be either Stern John or Cunningham and if they didn't show up we struggled.
"Now, we're getting goals from Robbie, Alejandro (Moreno), everybody. It makes it a formidable team."
While many former players want to wallow in the "good old days", Lapper isn't one to say the Crew teams he played for are better than the current edition.
"This is the best year. The days of Dooley and Stern John and when we had it clicking, those were definitely some good teams. We had one or two stars but there was a big drop," he said. "Here, I don't see a big drop. You go through the lineup and there's good players all through the lineup doing their job and doing it well."
Washington hopes the players appreciate the opportunity before them. When they take to the field Thursday night it will mark the first time in the 13-year history of the team that the Crew will play at home with a berth in the MLS Cup at stake.
"It means everything. This city, this team deserves to be in the Cup after so many close calls and the disappointments," Washington said. "You go through the highs and lows. At some point you've got to say, 'All right. These guys deserve a chance to bring an MLS Cup to Columbus.'"
Lapper thinks the match features the league's best teams.
"Chicago is a very good team, a very good team, and they've had a great year," he said. "This should be MLS Cup. If the world was right this would be MLS Cup ... but it's not."
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