Putting My Dignity Where My Mouth Is

ON THE LINE: There's a longer post that needs to be written here, but I want to make one thing clear: This is not a lost season. We're two games in, and I believe that the ship of so much cliched fame can be righted. People are drawing comparisons to 2000, both inside and out of the D.C. United fanbase, but there's a different between now and then. In 2000, there was a sense that the we had the answer and the world wasn't cooperating. This year, I get the sense from Tom Soehn that he's willing to adapt, to change, to fiddle until he finds the right answer. That's a much more sensible and realistic approach, and if it continues then I think things will get turned around.

To that end, I may have done something rather foolish. I'm entering into a blog wager with New York supporter The Kin of Fish. Either based on the results of the Atlantic Cup or the Eastern Conference (Fish's choice), loser has to wear the kit of the winner and post the photo on their blog. Yes, I know New York signed Angel, but I would point out that, in MLS at least, Emilio has two goals while the Designated Players have none. That's good enough for me. And let's face it, I'm taking the bigger risk. Have you seen what people do to cans of red bull in Lot 8? Yup, that's right. If I lose, honor permits me to do no less than wear this to a tailgate. God have mercy on us all.

PROGRESS IS NOT ONE POST: Everyone who chimed in on yesterday's post, my thanks for a thought provoking discussion. Let's just say that one of the hardest things for me is coming to terms with the idea that I'm not as pure as I pretend. Not to get all ABC after-school special on you, but yeah. While I have no problems with taunting as a general concept, it does occur to me that saying "Landon Donovan is a pussy" (which I, and many others, have said more than once) may be demeaning to people other than Landon Donovan. It's something I need to think about, since I don't exactly know where I draw my own line. I don't have a problem with "Fuck you Ref!" as a chant, although I think it is overused (it should be reserved for calls that are bad, not for any call against United.) But, yeah, I need to think about it. In other notes, Andrea over at Sideline Views makes some observations, and David Keyes noted his earlier thoughts, which I had not read, over at Culture of Soccer. Also, the subject of Walter Tull came up, and for those that don't know his story, I highly recommend learning about a great man.