It's Not Disrespect
I will have a preview up. It's just been one of those days. Probably tomorrow afternoon, unless one of my cowriters gets to it before I do.
Anyways, the soccer intelligencia have pretty much decided that New England is likely to win this weekend. I get that. If you look at things completley dispassionately, you say that even with the doubtful Clint Dempsey, New England came back from 2-nil against Chicago. You think that the Revs have looked much better over the last two months than United. You think "Man, when will DC ever put it all together."
I get all that. It's not even like people are disrespecting DC United when they say such things. Hell, Steve Goff has to face these guys in the locker room after the game, and even he picked a Houston-New England Cup Final. It's a cold, hard, stark fact -- DC has sucked enough to look like a pattern, and New England has not.
And yet... in the constant battle between my head and my heart, my heart will win. And my heart is what will be screaming on Sunday. I wouldn't bet my house on it, but I would bet my soul.
posted by D @ 3:39 PM
12 Comments:
One thing that will matter on Sunday is the house-- RFK-- will be rocking. That is a tremendous advantage for DCU.
GO United!
-K
I am right there with you. I have absolute faith that our guys will pull this one out of their asses. And then we'll all be like, "I knew they'd do it!"
Seriously, between this game coming up and the election on Tuesday I am SO HYPED UP that I can barely sit still.
Therefore, I give you the DC United Creed:
We believe in one Gomez, the father of United, the maker of heaven on earth, of goals that are seen and unseen.
We believe in one Troy Perkins, the only keeper of United, eternally beloved of the fans, Black for Black, great save for great save; beloved, not booed, one in being with the fans; through him all crosses are stopped; who for us fans and for our salvation came down from heaven and became a brick wall... he will come again in glory to judge the quick and the slow, and his reign will have no end.
We believe in the Spirit of Ben Olsen, the fiery giver of life, who channels the passion of the fans; with Gomez and Perkins he is worshipped and glorified; he has spoken through the press.
We believe in one fellowship of fans and a brand new stadium all our own; we acknowledge one baptism with a shower of beer; we look for the lifting of the Cup, and the life of the world to come.
I rate NE's chances as 45% and DC's at 55%
DC is playing at home, Dempsey might not play, and we have Christin Gomez/Troy Perkins.
The Revs do have current form over DC, and both teams are fairly equal talent wise. In a matchup of fairly even teams, a 90 minute game will be decided by one or two plays.
DC (assuming Dempsey doesn't play) has more game changers than the Revs....and is playing at home.
I think it's great that the Revs have been appointed the Eastern champs by the media...maybe DC will finally wake up and play with attitude.
If it's any consolation, when I penciled out all the factors, a completely plausible, if not fairly strong, case can be made for a DC win.
It's mainly the injury bug that's likely to bite the Revs. And ignore the shiny "Dempsey ball" - that's a factor, but it's not defining. Speaking as a Revs fan, I'm more worried about the various players - Franchino, Ralston, Dorman, Hernandez - moving at half-to-three-quarter speed.
As I note here, I'm happy with the midfield combo of Hernandez and Joseph; that and the defense constitute the big bright spots.
It's all guessing till they play, but you don't need me to tell you that. And, by then, I'll be at home drinking too much and scaring the crap out of my two-year-old. I don't care so much who y'all yell for as long as you're yelling - y'know, making it look good for us folks at home. And all y'all do pretty well with that.
Good luck Sunday...and I hope you're bunch loses as much as you hope mine does. We'll see whose "Fan Magic" is stronger....
K: True. Oh yes.
Joanna: That's blasphemy. It is also brilliant, and I may post people to look at this. I like me creative blasphemy.
Matt: If I had any confidence that Perkins could stop a penalty, I'd have more faith. But it worries me.
tMF: I know, but I think you're being kind. USNSP's writers basically wrote us off.
D,
Perkins sucks at PK's?
I wasn't aware of that. Bad news.
I guess it makes sense since he's a younger keeper...older ones tend to be better since it's a mental thing and the Gk's ability to read the shooter.
Does Moreno have anything left? Can Gomez do it again? Does Freddy have anything at all? I hope the answer to these questions is yes. Though my mind tells me we won't win on Sunday, I can't wait to see what unfolds on Sunday. I was trying to remember the last time i was this excited about a home game...this might be our most anticipated game ever...
What I'm getting at is, no one's really relaxed about this one. I can SOOOO easily see this breaking either way.
If the Revs lose, I just hope it's a decent game. Obviously, I can handle a blowout - so long as the Revs win, that is - but I'd be in a hell of a mood of New England collapses. That I can't see that happening any more is a source of enormous relief. When they were missing half their starters...eh, not so much.
Thank you, thank you. You see all those many hours I was forced to sit in church as a child were not wasted after all.
I wasn't able to get to another D.C. United regular season game, but I'll be there today, mid-field, much better seats than first game I attended (which somewhat surprises me; both midfield, but first game was one section back, against the wall with the overhanging upper deck blocking some of the view). If you see someone wearing a short-sleave D.C. United shirt over several layers of long sleave shirts, that could be me (are there long-sleave D.C. United shirts?).
Yeah Michael they've definatly got longsleeves, just check em out at the stadium before the game, they're real nice
heroes of the game....
DC team for playing great soccer
NE for playing great team defense, especially Reis
Goat of the game
Nowak...terrible decision making
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