The Wandering Armenian

The morning cup of coffee updates:

IF ONLY THERE WAS SOME SHOW THAT COMBINED CELEBRITIES AND DANCING. YOU COULD CALL IT... CELEBRITY DANCE OFF, OR SOMETHING: Yes, Dan Steinberg does have the must read of the week. Look, Washington Post Live has been kinda, well, dull for most of its life so far. Even Troy Perkins wasn't moved much beyond the "Well, we gotta play hard and bring the effort every game in which we're playing, and that requires basics and playing hard and effort..." type of interview. And Troy's an interesting guy. But this? This I will tune in for.

ALLIANCES: I bring this story to your attention because, well, it is going to take more to decode than I have. I did not know that the DC School Board President was also a consultant for Victor McFarlane until he was removed from that job yesterday:

Bobb was fired from his full-time job as a consultant for D.C. United owner Victor MacFarlane's real estate development firm. MacFarlane spoke with Bobb Tuesday afternoon and told him that his work on the school board had become a distraction and that it was best to part ways.

Now, this is interesting in a strange political machination sort of way. Mayor Fenty is proposing a school takeover by the city, essentially removing the school board from most operating decisions. Bobb had gotten a democratic senator Landrieu from Louisiana to put a hold on that legislation, which required congressional approval. Needless to say, DC self-rule advocates were upset by this. A strange story. McFarlane, by removing Bobb, seems to be trying to align himself closer to Fenty. We know Fenty's constiuency, but what I don't know is "Who are Bobb's allies?" In short, while McFarlane may gain a closer relationship with Fenty, who may he have alienated? Sadly, my knowledge of DC politics does not run that deep.

WAIT A MINUTE HONEY I'M GOING TO ADDLERY IT UP (ADDLERY IT UP! [repeat]): John Haydon in the Times grabs the interview with Nicholas Addlery. Nicholas is certainly leading an interesting life (how many ex Vietnamese league players does MLS have?) And it's clear that attitude is something that must impress the DC scouting staff:

Addlery, who is from the Red Hills area of Kingston, Jamaica, said he gets his inspiration from flamboyant French star Djibril Cisse, who is now playing for Marseille on loan from Liverpool.

"I love his desire: two broken legs and his not giving up after being thrown out of Liverpool," Addlery said. "I like players who are hungry with desire like that."

We like players like that as well. Speaking of which...

ESKY IN SLC: I'll depart from our DC focus for just a few words on the Eskandarian-Cunningham deal that went down yesterday. Most people, including me, at first, read this as once again Mo Johnston fleecing Real Salt Lake. Yet the more I think about it, the more this deal makes sense. If Ellinger were still in charge in Salt Lake, then this deal is a disaster. But Jason Kreis just got a player with Alecko Eskandarian who will bleed, fight, and run until his legs fall off. That's not Jeff Cunningham, and I'm not sure if it is many other players on the team. RSL wasn't going anywhere as a team with Cunningham, so there's really no loss in the deal for Kreis. What he may gain is a player who will inspire that team, who will lead by example when it comes to effort. Alecko may not always be effective, but it is never for lack of trying. And if his presence, combined with Kreis' mentality, lifts that team, then this deal may do a lot of good for RSL. That's a lot of ifs. But at this point in the season, can you really say RSL could possibly be worse?