Around the Tubes

DOMESTIC DOUBLES: Commenter John gave us the word yesterday night, and it is confirmed by the DCU media office this morning: Ben Olsen gets his personal domestic double of player of the week and goal of the week. With great accomplishment comes many text messages, and John Haydon in the Times catches up with Benny.

Both Haydon and Goff are noting that Olsen, with Namoff and Boswell, are possibilities for Copa America duty. This is, of course, in addition to Moreno who we know was recalled. Losing two more players would hurt, losing all three could be traumatic. But that's the price we pay.

MAX J'S SILVER HAMMER CAME DOWN ON THE OFFSIDE: The Offside's DC United coverage got a new addition with an additional blogger as Max J. joins Nando over yonder. What I love about this team is the way we may have 11 years of history, but new people feel quite okay about joining in:

As far as a little background goes: I started with DC United last year when I (briefly) lived in town and have quickly become a die-hard.

I bring this up as someone who appreciated this fact. As many of you know, I wasn't in town for the glory years, but tried to follow from afar (which is to say, Pittsburgh) until getting back to DC in 2001. Sometimes there is a strange tension between older, hardcore fans from back in the day and the newer fans from only a few years ago. I hope that United can continue to integrate both sets well, so head on over and read the perspectives of someone who may be newer than most, but is as hardcore as any.

SPEAKING OF FANDOM: The frisson between fan and analyst strikes again, this time in Atlanta. This is something we (and Aaron Stollar) were dealing with earlier in the year. Anyway, the Cupcakes are dealing with the same issue.

WHY IS DC STILL IN THE FREEZER?: Normally, I respond to things in comments, but I wanted to elevate this to a post. Some people are upset about United remaining in the most recent version of the Freezer. My fellow blogger Oscar even suggested that I was "being too cautious in not Moving DC out of the freezer, if only to protect your own feelings if they happen to stumble again." As much as I'd like to laugh that off as silly, he may have a bit of a point there. However, there are two larger reasons why DC remains in the Freezer: First, the draw against LA is still part of my memory. It was a bad draw, one that could conceivable have ended worse. One game does not erase that from my memory. Second, the Freezer also works as a function of expectations. That's why RSL is #3 above LA and Columbus. And why I may not expect United to run away with the East, I expect them to be in the top three. They are not right now, and therefore are still running cold a bit. In fact, United's resume includes 2 good wins (Houston, New York), 2 acceptable wins (Toronto and Chivas), a good draw (New England), an atrocious draw (LA), and one godawful loss (Columbus). I just need that little more to take them out. Yes, they win in Chicago, and I take them out, and they don't even go back in again if they drop points to RSL the week after.