The Joy and Sorrow of Thursday Night Soccer

So, for various reasons, I'm on business travel this week and next week, which means I will not be at RFK for the second leg of our series against Chicago. There's an outside chance I may make it to the first leg, which would be nice, provided I can make the trip to Chicago in time from my hotel. This annoys me, but c'est la vie. The schedule makers chose to put United on National television, where I don't think they've fared particularly well since the 2004 home opener (does someone have stats on ESPN games and records?). Whatever. At least, out here in the middle of the country, I can at least see this game without the use of MLSLive.TV. That's something. I can see the game. And I packed a jersey in my bag. These things matter.

The middle part of the country is much different than the East Coast. You may think Boston, DC, and New York are different, and you're right, but there's a fundamental city/suburb/rural balance that is similar in all cities along I-95. No such situation. From Dallas to Houston to Detroit to Tulsa, there are small pockets of urban city and vast, gridded expanses of suburb. It's different. It's like MD-355, but instead on one line of strip malls, it extends outward into two dimensions. After a while, the sameness starts to get to you, and you feel like just kicking someone for fun. This may explain the choice of defensive tactics for the Fire.

But I am glad DC is facing Chicago tonight. If you must have disturbing issues from your past, immersion therapy is a legitimate option for getting over them, and that's what I hope to see. BDR is content with a grinding game tonight, and so am I, provided that we grind out a goal. Coming back to DC at nil-nil might be a bit too much of a 2005 parallel for me. If anyone must spit on CJ Brown, please do it tonight. Just do it after we've got one in the net.