The Spit Take

Two days out, and the Eskandarian spit take is still the topic of conversation around MLS. The video of Eskandarian spitting the Red Bull is now up (HT - OffWing) and more people are having their say on the topic (Here's the LA Times' Grahame Jones on the issue, and a supposedly humorous mention in the Washington Post). So how should you feel about this? For me, the answer is pretty much any emotion can be correct for this matter, even if they are contradictory.

Was it funny? Damn right it was. Was it childish and immature? Yup. Did it lack sportsmanship? I may take some heat for this, but yeah, it did. It was a clear thumb in the eye to the other team, holding them up for ridicule. It wasn't sporting. It's not the most unsportsmanlike thing of all time, but it wasn't a class move. But here's the thing... it wasn't so egregiously unsporting as to make me upset with him. The Red Bulls/Metros have been poking at DC United with a stick to see how we would respond for a year. There was Lalas with the "Trade Freddy to us, we know how to use him" comment. The "Superclub" comments. There's the attempted invasion of RFK (good for fans, sure, but still we look on it as an attempt to buy your way into respectability.) There were the blanket pronouncements of How Great the New York Red Bulls Would Be This Year from the management, staff, and supporters of RBNY. All of those things rankled, and then we only managed a draw at home against New York. The fact is, RBNY deserved this a bit. So no, this wasn't the finest example of sportsmanship on the planet, but RBNY deserved it.

Now, as for Eric Wynalda, I have no problem if he didn't like it. Go ahead and express your displeasure. As for Dave O'Brien, I'm glad you felt free enough to contradict Wynalda on the matter. But what I hate, Eric, is that you tried to hide behind Alecko's father in your criticism. It was almost that you were afraid to appear unhip and square, so you invoked the "Well, I don't think Daddy Eskandarian is going to like it" straw man. C'mon Eric, you can do better than that. People love and hate you because you've always shot straight with them. Now is not the time to wuss out on the issue. If you didn't like it, that's fine, but don't be a wimp by hiding behind Daddy.

Now, should Alecko be fined? Probably, but not severely. But for me, it was worth every penny of Alecko's money. And if I can arrange a limited sponsorship deal with his agent that just happens to be for the precise amount of the fine, well, that works for me. Sierra Mist, wanna be refreshing?