Priority

I understand, I really do. Like many folks from these areas, I rooted for the Caps before United existed, and since I've been alive and aware of my fandom, the Pittsburgh Penguins are the team that quickly became associated with playoff angst and agony. So it would appear that tonight, with Penguins v. Caps on the "VS" network and Wizards v. United on CSN, that there might be some form of conflict. "What should I be watching?"

Folks, there's no conflict. Tonight, you watch United. If you can, you flip over to the Caps games at halftime, or tape it on TiVo, or whatever, but tonight is a United night. It's that simple. This is our second match on CSN, and if we want away games to get televised, you need to do your part (especially if you're a Nielsen family). Watch tonight's game, catch the Caps later. It's not even an elimination game, and Alex Ovechkin timely supplied his highlight hattrick for Game 2. No, tonight is a United night.

Saturday? There may not even be a game Saturday, but we can talk about dispensation for Saturday later.

Moxie vs. Chutzpah

There's a lot I'd like to get to over the next few days, but before that, let's talk about the wonderful world of management-labor relations. Suppose you've been a decent performer at your job over the last half-decade, receiving the occasional intra-company award. Now, your big firm is doing a huge PR offensive, and they want to showcase the fine quality of the workers they have, so you suddenly find yourself with your CEO on a national cable outlet's morning business show. Remember, they want the nation to be impressed with the quality of the product your company is putting forward, and to create a positive impression of their literate and smart workforce. So the morning anchor turns to you, and says "What are the challenges of being in your line of work?"

And you turn to the anchor and say "Well, all the workers in our business need a raise for one thing." And you didn't shave that morning. And you're in jeans. And you CEO has to pretend that you didn't just say that and move on. Would you do this? No, but you're not Ben Olsen (link to video at The Offside Rules).

Look, if you have a shot for solidarity with the workers, might as well take it.

Let's Make a Deal

The Editorial Board of the Washington Post comes out with a tentative first discussion of the United Stadium Deal, and on balance I think this should be read encouragingly:

...The costs will have to be carefully analyzed, particularly since there is economic uncertainty. What will be harder to judge are the intangibles. Such as civic pride in retaining a popular and successful sports team. Or the spinoffs that soccer could provide to the boys and girls of the city. And what could perhaps be the most appealing argument for the stadium -- its potential to spark a revitalization of long-neglected communities east of the river. If soccer can help transform Ward 8 and Ward 7 the way basketball helped to change downtown, city dollars would be well spent.

Much of the discussion about these issues has, regrettably, been behind closed doors, as the mayor and council want to avoid the kind of debilitating battle that occurred over baseball. That desire must not rob the public of full and open discussion of the issues. Or of an answer to the question of what best serves the District of Columbia.

Perhaps some of these arguments sound familiar? Well, they should, as I'd say the Post is in agreement with this very blog from six months ago on many of these points. Now, I feel encouraged by this editorial, cautious as it is, for a number of reasons:

1. No false, but temptingly easy, comparison of the popularity and cash flows between baseball and soccer.
2. The willingness to consider, as the Post says, "intangibles." That's something we don't discuss, not because we don't feel it, but because I think they are so difficult to quantify. And the intangibles of keeping United in D.C. are, if considered at all, in our favor. We don't argue that because they are, as the post says, "harder to judge." And any deal that is bad will not be made better by intangibles. But a fair deal looks even better with them.
3. The openness to the idea of transformation of the Southeast neighborhoods.
4. The fact that using any public monies at all, even as part of the so-called "public-private" partnership,is not summarily dismissed by the Post, as they could all too easily take a position of "No money for greedy sports owners! Spend it on schools and libraries!" and then pat themselves on the back for their populist integrity.
   

The one place where I will critique the Post is its argument for transparency. Any deal must be openly vetted, we agree with that. Once, or if, a deal is reached all the details should be put out for view. But the discussions that lead to that deal should be handled in a mature, responsible, and quiet manner. Privacy can aid in that. The process of negotiation should not be unduly influenced by any outside agencies who might be all too quick to demagogue the issue, either for or against. This outside groups certainly include a few of the Post's own commentators.

No, I am content to let the negotiations be handled quietly, and then at that point, let's announce the proposed deal and have people take a look at it. I think this is the most likely way that an equitable, to all sides, deal can be formed.

Final Introductions

On the way to Kansas C.
Tell me who I'm supposed to be...
- Luna, Speedbumps

Ultimately, tonight's game against Kansas City is the last game to establish anything about this team's character before the post-season begins. The final match against Columbus could well see most of the starters on the bench. If United loses against Kansas City tonight, neither a win nor a loss nor a draw against Chicago will mean very much in terms of figuring out where this team is. Certainly, you'd think games at home should be expectations for wins, but I look at the Chicago game as a place where United is likely to drop points.

No, the Kansas City game is an important one for United for a few reasons. First, Kansas City is the current Round One playoff opponent for United, making this game a nice preview for that. Second, United is coming off of an international loss. They're saying all the right things about it not being part of their mindset, but they said all the right things after the CONCACAF Champions Cup. Third, Kansas City is missing Conrad and Arnaud, which should severely limit Kansas City's options to shut the game down. This game is now firmly in the "United should take three points" column, and therefore becomes an interesting test of how United handles expectations on short rest from International play. Still, the difference between "should" and "did" is a large one. If United drew, or even lost, would I be stunned? Perhaps a little, but on the surprise scale of 0 to 10 (where 10 was the 4-nil drubbing Chicago gave us in 2005, and 0 was watching Mathis get a yellow in his first match with RSL) it would be around a 2.

The traditional media has three different questions about this match. The Express asks "Can United rebound from international disappointment?" (Answer: Yes, they can.) The Times is wondering "Can Emilio break the United scoring record?" (Answer: 3 goals in 3 games? I'd say the odds are 3-1). The Post finishes by wondering if United will win out. (Answer from the article courtesy of Mr. Namoff: "'"There's three games left, and we want nine points,' Namoff said. 'That's all there is to it.'")

Now, there are some interesting historical things that I'd like to talk about. Here's a quick question: how have the teams with the most impressive regular season performances in MLS History faired in the playoffs? Not just talking about Supporter's Shield teams, I mean the teams that racked up point after point. You can probably determine the fate of two of them pretty quickly, but what about the rest? I hope to check back in on that later.

The Raw Fisher Comments: Thematic Variations

Comments on the Raw Fisher blogs throughout the ages...

27 November 1858:

Mr. Fisher, you are most correct disparage the trivial demands of the supporters of this so-called Republican Party. America has had a chance to hear their demands from Mr. Fremont; and America, in Her wisdom, has rejected them. They are not a major political party, nor shall they ever become one. We already have a model political party in the Democrats, who needs more?
-FlippedMyWhig, 6:19PM

13 January 1947:

Marc, I'm so tired of these folks from India and their constant whining and disparaging of colonial rule. Why do they insist on putting other forms of government down? I was predisposed to like India, but now I will never, ever go there because of their attitude.
-WhatHoIndia?, 8:42 AM

28 September 1958:

Marc, these Buddy Holly fans are incredible! Do they really think all their yelling about their rock and their roll means anything??? I like all forms of music, but their attitude and behavior at concerts is disgraceful. They seem to think that their music is the be all and end all, and can't understand why we don't want it shoved down our throats. Give me wholesome, family entertainment like the concert I saw three years ago with Charles Mingus and Max Roach.
-RavingOut, 6:12 PM

28 August 1968:

Marc, I understand some of the objections that these young people have to our political process, but nominating a pig for president is simply ridiculous. It shows a lot of disrespect to fans of other political parties, and it isn't that clever. In fact, it's boring. And their constant complaining about Vietnam is just annoying. I have no sympathy for them anymore, and if they're so tired of the political process, then we don't need them. I hope they have fun voting in Canada.
-DInouye, 12:14 PM

1 November 1971:

Marc: Some people are just ungrateful. For Washingtonians to swarm the baseball field and commit acts of vandalism is disgraceful to our community. I used to like baseball, but seeing these hooligans put up obscene signs and commit acts of theft is horrible. I guess I'll just stick to football. At least head coach George Allen knows how to treat people with respect.
-TheShortAndLongOfIt, 9:00 AM

Radio Feed for Sudamericana Match

Got an email from the folks at United. There will be an audio feed of tonight's match available from DCUnited.Com, but it isn't clear yet whether you'll need to have paid for the MLSNet Audio Live package. So have those credit cards ready. As I recall, the fee is fairly small, and just in case, you might want to fork over the cash if you aren't heading out to a Fox Sports in Espanol equipped locale. At least half of our crew will be out tonight, so if you see them, say hello.

Kevin Payne Writes the Corrections Column to Marc Fisher

You may have missed Kevin Payne's letter to the editor (starts at the bottom) in the Post on Saturday. It was fun reading. Sample? Sure, here's a sample:

Most people in our area know that since 1996, when D.C. United was founded, we have been the only team in the District to win a championship. We've won four MLS Cups, one of them at RFK, and six additional major domestic and international titles. The only team in American professional sports with that kind of success is the New York Yankees.

This year we will average more than 20,000 fans per match. While I hesitate to dignify Marc Fisher 's gratuitous and ill-informed soccer-bashing [Metro, Sept. 23] with a response, that hardly qualifies as struggling to attract fans.

Oh, Glorious!

The Best Show NOT on TV

Bob wrote a post on the best soccer show on TV today which I still haven't seen, but am looking forward to watching. That reminded me of the best soccer show NOT on TV today. It is called, brace yourselves folks "David Beckham's Soccer USA." Before you indignatly exclaim that I have lost my marbles, hear me out. First, this is not the David Beckham's Soccer USA shown on FSC and linked to on basically every MLSnet.com page. That show is a) on TV, and b) horrible. I lost a lot, and I mean a lot, of respect for FSC for airing that travshamocracy of a show instead of the very well done show that you can see on Five.

Please don't start checking the 700 section of your cable channels for Five, it is a British channel that we don't get here in the states. Basically the British version of DBSUSA (an acronym that I just made up) is all that you could want in a soccer highlights show. It is hilariously funny, mostly because of "international TV personality" Tim Lovejoy, and it shows all of the goals from the past week. They have hilarious bits like "How to Speak American Commentator" and slightly irritating bits like the de rigueur interview with Mr. Beckham. It is nice to see how MLS is viewed in England, but it is also a breath of fresh air for somebody on TV to make fun of MLS in a lighthearted manner instead of the "greatest thing since Pele" vs. "already a failure" argument that we get in the states.

The show used to be an hour long, but it was recently cut down to half an hour. Somehow I think that MLS' best highlight show is probably England's worst, but I still love it. By now you are trying to figure out if I recently moved to London, the answer is no. I merely harness the power of the youtubes. Kinsellagem has been posting all of the shows up on youtube for us Americans (and Canadians). I watched one around week 5 and then immediately went back and watched the past shows it was so good. I have embedded the last episode for your viewing pleasure; it really is a great show.

Week 10: Part 1


Week 10: Part 2


Week 10: Part 3

Access United Update

I was clicking through MLSnet while watching Houston v. LA last Sunday. I came across this page that has all of the Access United posts along with the other team's insider shows. I realized that I hadn't watched an Access United video in a long, long time. They come out randomly with no set schedule and I don't normally check the DC United web page for them, which means that I usually miss them. If I am missing them I am pretty confident that means that a lot of DC United fans are missing them, and that is a shame.

I really like the Access United videos that I have seen and think that they do a good job of showing a small portion of the raw feed that reporters with press releases get week in and week out. As I was on YouTube watching something I will hopefully get to blog about later, I saw that Kyle Sheldon has started to put the Access United videos up on the tubes. This basically means that DC United is trying to get these distributed as widely as possible.

So here is my question for you readers, would you like it if The DCenters started a regular feature where we embed the Access United videos as we find them so that you don't have to continually look for them on the website? Or do you guys have some other means of easily viewing them and knowing when they are released that I should know about?

I have included the last two Access United videos as an example of what the embed would look like and how good the video would be through YouTube.

D.C. United vs Chicago on September 23, 2007 Preview


D.C. United vs CD Guadalajara on September 26, 2007 Preview

DC United chasing Veron for 2008

Ives is reporting on his blog that United " is deep in talks with Argentine star midfielder Juan Veron to sign him as a designated player for the 2008 season." Jump over ther for the full story.

Implications/Questions:

1. How much does Veron have left in the tank? Would he adjust to the more physical play in MLS if he couldn't adjust to playing in the EPL? I'd wager he would although his current Argentine season has been marred by minor injuries.
   
2. Is Gomez who we have to give up? Even in an arguably sub par season, I really hope there'd be some arrangement that keep Gomito in a United uniform. I'd rather he go overseas than to another MLS team.
3. Do we have the slots to keep so many foreign players? Moreno has a green card, so he doesn't count against the limit. Gomez, Emilio, Fred are our current Senior Internationals. Kpene is a Youth International, and I'm not clear on if he would count as an SI next year.
4. An interview in Ole, mentions that Veron would like to play in Copa Libertadores. If its true, is he willing to give up on that?
   

Quote of the Day

I will be getting to the Toronto Debrief presently, I just thought I would share this quote from Juan Pablo Angel with my fellow DC United fans. Hattip to Du Nord.

Angel looks back with satisfaction at his first four months in North America. "It has been terrific. I have enjoyed every single minute of my new life over here," he says. "The team is not the best in the league, and might even be considered one of the poortest, but in general everything is fine."

United Force: La Barra Brava

The Washington Post has a great article on La Barra Brava in today's Style section written by David Montgomery. Every DC United fan, loud or quiet, young or old, black or red, should read it. There are also accompanying photos and video that you should check out, especially the photo montage with Barra narrative. The coverage is very well done and clearly shows how soccer supporters groups are different from traditional U.S. fans. The things I take for granted at DC United games, such as the drums, flags, seating, and singing throughout the game are seen as novelties by Mr. Montgomery, which reminded me just how different United games are.

The article shows the beginnings of La Barra Brava, including how important Kevin Payne was to the atmosphere we take for granted. It talks about some of the larger characters in the group with lots of quotes, and also has positive quotes from people outside the Barra that deal with them on a regular basis. Mr. Montgomery shows how the Barra has morphed from a South American supporters group to a melting pot of beggars for good soccer. The best quote of the article is:

"The Barra Brava works how America is supposed to work," says Conner, a recreation coordinator for Culpeper County, Va. "It's a great melting pot. We have 27 different nationalities there now. We have guys from Africa, we have guys from Europe, and South America, which is obviously our roots that we want to hold on to. What we want to be is the standard for American hard-core support."

To end let me just say kudos to Mr. Montgomery. Whenever newspapers run articles about subjects I am familiar with I can usually find some mistakes or glaring omissions, even in quality papers such as The Washington Post. This article had none of that, I had some minor quibbling with a couple of lines, but they probably say more about me than the writing. Plus, even though I hang out at bars with Barra members, sit right next to them, and always try to get their cheers going this article had little bits of information that even I didn't know. For example,

Someone holds up two of artist Terry's big white cardboard cutouts. One is a beer, the other is a man: Beer Man. It's a signal to Pow, who's been selling beer in RFK since 1980, to come on down.

I never knew that it was an actual signal to the beer man; I just thought it was a funny poster that somebody brought with them every game. Though it explains why I haven't heard any of the "Where is the Beer Men" chants in while.

Monday Morning Coffee

USA v. Mexico Cancelled: Steven Goff reports that US v. Mexico at Azteca is off. It is to be replaced by US v. Brazil at Chicago's Soldier Field. Quite a replacement match.

Boswell Helps ESPN Out Bobby Boswell decided to give some good advice to ESPN at practice on Friday. Some strong stuff there that many fans, myself included think is 100% correct. ESPN's MLS broadcasts are horrible and something needs to be done to fix the problem. Bobby adds to his comments in a similar but slightly less antagonistic manner on his blog.

Ted Takes SportTalk to Task: Ted Leonsis, owner of the Washington Capitals was at the game on Thursday. As he was driving there he was listening to to SportsTalk 980. Apparently, he didn't like what he was hearing. He slams the Sports Reporters for their narrow minded approach to soccer. I couldn't agree more, but I wouldn't have even known about this if he hadn't blogged about it. Because really, who listens to 980?

Opening Weekend for the EPL: I don't know how many of you out there care but there were some nice matches this weekend. It was a good mix of some big upsets and some expected results. As for the Americans playing, the goalkeepers did well, the field players, not so much.

Washington Post Live: Kevin Payne Interview

This is a really good interview done right before the Morelia game. Thanks to The Dude for putting this up on the YouTubes.

Wednesday Afternoon Coffee Break

Superliga Arrives: There wasn't too much early buzz because of a certain superstar, but there are lots of good previews that you should check out. Unfortunately, the official Superliga site needs some work. The first matches were yesterday with LA beating Pachuca in a surprise upset and Dallas tying Chivas. DC United plays Morelia at 8:00 EST tonight while Houston takes on Club America at 10:00 EST.

Designated Player Clearance: Completely missed this but Grant Wahl reports that designated players signed half-way through this season, i.e. Beckham and Blanco, will only count $200,000 towards their team's salary cap.

Goff Chat: Steven Goff had a nice little chat with the fans this afternoon. No real new news, but fun stuff that you should check out. He seems to stand by the more depressing version of the Poplar Point talks that the Washington Post reported on last week.

Adu to Benfica: According to multiple sources, MLS and Benfica have worked out a deal to send Adu to Portugal for 2 million dollars. The amount is a little light considering Adu's U-20 World Cup performance, but I think Freddy needs to move on. The only hold-up seems to be Adu and Benfica agreeing to "personal terms." I don't know what that entails but I am hoping they get it figured out. Remember that DC United will receive a $200,000 allocation if he leaves before the end of the season. If Adu stays until the end of the season United only gets a draft pick.

Drew Carey on Letterman: Mr. Price is Right spent almost all of his time talking about soccer.

"Soccer Has Overtaken Hockey" - Mike Wilbon Codifies the Conventional Wisdom

Look, you may be annoyed at the mainstream coverage of MLS and US Soccer as anyone, but you have to accept certain misunderstandings. By now, we must realize that the David Beckham story is a story that's really about the LA Galaxy and not MLS as a whole. It's a big LA Galaxy story, don't get me wrong, but it really speaks to what's happening in LA more than what's happening in the other cities. On World Soccer Daily yesterday, there was an interesting exchange where Grant Wahl (I think it was) described the difference between Tim Leiweke and the philosophy of Don Garber regarding youth players and how to build the league. The simplified argument was the Leiweke believes that foreign talent is the key to building MLS, and Garber believes in domestic talent. So Beckham is really not indicative of the league as a whole, only LA's philosophy.

Still, given that the issue is confused, there is an interesting argument advanced in Mike Wilbon's column today in the Post (emphasis added):

Beckham's appearance here, Aug. 9 against D.C. United, could easily sell out. But will it change anything fundamentally? Soccer has already surpassed hockey on the American sports landscape. But bringing a past-his-prime star to lure casual fans not only isn't new, it failed miserably 22 years ago when the NASL went belly-up.

Say what you will about Wilbon, he is a reliable gauge of where the conventional sports media's mindset will be or is at a given moment. We know that this isn't the same as the NASL. We know that Beckham isn't here to save soccer. But even Wilbon concedes that the imprint of soccer is more significant, even without Beckham, than it was a few years ago. Now, his statement that soccer has overtaken hockey must be viewed in a larger context: Hockey has self-destructed to some degree by pursuing a gawdawful TV deal and with the lockout of a few years ago. And Wilbon may be unconsciously biased by the fact that MLS (and Champions League) is an ESPN property while hockey is not. Certainly I imagine this guy (or perhaps even this guy, and certainly this guy here [/THEISMAN]) would disagree with Wilbon's characterization. So let's not pat ourselves on the back yet. Still, for all the complaints about the mainstream media, it is changing. Take heart, the wisdom will move slowly in our direction. We know that the concerns are overblown and wrong, and since that is the case as those questions are answered, we'll see more movement after that. Hope, not fear, my friends.

Know Your Beat Writers

Adam Spangler sits down with Steve Goff to know the man who knows the team. Good, far reaching interview with tons of history and insight. And there's also this:

Yeah. They will always be #1, no matter what time of year. But for us to quadruple the blog #’s for the Washington Wizards, to quadruple the blog #’s for the Capitals. We’re quadrupling the #’s for the Nationals.

The Post's Washington Nationals beat writer Barry Svrluga has gotten the reputation from places like Poynter's Medianews as a hardworking sports journalist for covering the Nats in both blog and print form. Perhaps credit will also come to his deserving compatriots as well.

Sideline and Locker Room Views

With MLS and Copa Oro action over the weekend, you may have missed an interesting story that developed on the West Coast. Andrea Canales documents her incident in the locker rooms here and here. I'll let her words speak for themselves, but I find this story interesting. Perhaps it's just that this entire story seems so 1990s...

Here's the simple take from my end. If the Locker Rooms are open to be open to the media, then it's all the media. Manhandling a credentialed reporter out of a locker room is something clubs should not tolerate. Now, I'm not convinced that locker rooms need to be open to the media anyway, but if they are, then it should be everyone.

What I think is that this story will ultimately be more notable for being the exception rather than the norm. But I could be wrong.

Dave Lifton Now!!!

So I listen to soccer podcasts. I do. There are links to several on the right. Some have a more international focus, and tolerate MLS as something they need to talk about since they're based in the US (World Soccer Daily, which entertains quite well for a 2 hour show). Some are very US focused, like The Soccer Show and Soccer Talk, and some try a balancing act. The 2 Gs' spinoff show "Around the League in 60 minutes" is expanding to a weekly session of 90 minutes, and that's a good thing simply because it wasn't working in the hour format. Dave Lifton would represent our beloved United on that show, and week after week the dialog never changed:

GARY: I'm Gary Richards, he's Pete, we're talking to Dave Lifton of the Screaming Eagles Podcast about his DC United. Dave, how'd you feel about the game?

DAVE gives a quick update.

GARY: Right, well, with these results, what's the mood at training?

DAVE tells them the mood is good.

GARY: Well, we'll let you go to work on your podcast. Good luck on your next game. I know training is important when I was a player.

PETE: I like Chivas!

GARY: Now to Daniel in New York for the Red Bulls. Daniel, what's the word?

DANIEL: I'm changing my name to Juan Pablo Angel and will not answer to the name Daniel anymore...

So hopefully, with more time to spend on talking to people, we'll get a bit more perspective on matches past and tactics in games to come. Please. It was just that there wasn't enough time previously to cover things. LET DAVE SPEAK!!! FREE DAVE LIFTON!!!

Jaime Can't Start

The DCU news today is that Jaime Moreno has been recalled to the Bolivian National Team. The Times and The Post both go with the story, each with different parts of Moreno's written statement. From the Times:

"I am truly honored to once again have the opportunity to play for Bolivia in a prestigious tournament like Copa America," Moreno said in a statement. "I've worked hard the last couple of years to earn this opportunity to get back on the national team."

Steve Goff in The Post takes adds some detail:

"I've worked hard the last couple of years to earn this opportunity to get back on the national team," Moreno, 33, said in a written statement.

Goff goes on to add speculation about Kpene, Dyachenko, Fred, or Addlery seeing more time as Moreno is out.

When I wrote that Jaime should start a few weeks ago, this was precisely the situation I had in mind. United was going to be forced to play without Moreno for some time, so until then it made sense to have him start games. United will now get a good chance to evaluate their option while Moreno takes part in his well-earned National Team duties. I think this situation is somewhat analogous to Ben Olsen's World Cup duty last year. Ben was clearly a good player for us, but when he came back the issue of where he fit into the lineup appeared as Simms and Carroll had filled in well and the team was winning. United will be fortunate to have the same run of form away, but if they do it makes any potential transition of Jaime's role that much easier for everyone concerned. If ever there was a good time to lose a team leader (and there really isn't, but just go with me for a moment here) then this is it.