Stargazing

46,ooo+ fans showed up at RFK tonight to see some dude named David Beckham finally start earning his paycheck. Shrugging off the distraction of the rays of golden light and choirs of angels that instantly appeared once Beckham and The World’s Most Expensive Ankle touched the pitch, Luciano Emilio managed to score his 11th goal in his last 10 games, and DC United played a solid match to earn the win. Good times.

Coming into this game, United was averaging 17,720 fans a game. So if 5,000 or even (dare we dream) 10,000 of those extra 29,000 fans from tonight decide they liked what they saw and come back for more DC games, this whole Becks experiment may actually be worth something after all.

Best moment of the night: DC’s very vocal and tuneful supporters group the Screaming Eagles had this message for Beckham. Given the amount of prominent display that it got on ESPN2’s cameras tonight, whoever came up with that banner should never have to pay for their own drink in DC again. Hi-larious.

Working-Class Hero

It’s been a good week for my soccer teams. The US Men romped their way through the Gold Cup group stage, looking better and better through each of the three matches they played to set up today’s quarterfinal against Panama. The Yanks have scored seven goals so far through six different players, and the US defense has yet to allow one. In their last match against El Salvador, they didn’t even give up a single shot on goal. Dominant, but against some of the smaller countries in the Gold Cup, not entirely unexpected.

On the other hand, what was unexpected was DC United defeating the New York Red Bulls last Sunday behind a hat trick from midfielder Ben Olsen. Benny entered the league back in 1998 as a speedy winger/forward and serious offensive threat, although more often than not his speed and youthful energy resulted in him running around like a chicken with his head cut off. But a couple of serious ankle injuries forced him to change his game. Since his return, Olsen reestablished himself as a hard-nosed defensive midfielder. He may be slower than in his youth (who isn’t?), but he learned to read the game much better, and by the ripe old age of 28 had become a veteran leader for United. He’s also become a fan favorite (and a personal one of mine—I proudly have his jersey hanging alongside my Brian McBride and Claudio Reyna replicas) for his passion and his tough tackles, but nobody expects much in the way of goal-scoring from Benny. Happily, this surprising offensive outburst put the spotlight squarely on Olsen, as he was honored with both MLS Player of the Week and Goal of the Week for his third strike, an absolute blinder of a half-volley from 25 yards (scroll down to Goal of the Week and chose Week 10). It’s nice to see a blue-collar guy like Ben on the receiving end of a lovefest like the one he’s gotten this week, because his role on the field is often a thankless one. Many writers have been quick with praise, but the one that sums it all up best for me is this thoughtful and heartfelt post from Dan Loney. As DC’s Screaming Eagles supporters group likes to sing, we love you Benny, oh yes we do.

UPDATE: Despite no goals from Ben, DC won again last night, defeating the Chicago Fire 3-1 to extend their unbeaten streak to seven games.

The Week in Review

Since the daily post thing just isn’t happening anymore, I’m going to shoot for a regular wrap-up of all my entertainment for the previous week. Here it is:
I Am Legend, Richard Matheson. The best “vampire plague brings about the end of the world” novel ever written, not to mention an inspiration for some of the biggest names in horror —including Stephen King. I wanted to revisit this book before the upcoming movie with Will Smith sullies its good name.
Fountains of Wayne, Traffic and Weather. A somewhat disappointing fourth album from one of my favorite bands. The whole album feels like a retread of the lamest songs from their previous albums. Uninspired, and nowhere near as catchy as their last disc.
Kings of Leon, Because of the Times. On the other hand, this album is a big leap forward for these southern rockers. Clearly, their recent stints opening for bands like U2 and the Rolling Stones has brought them some new maturity, and it shows here in a rich and well-crafted third effort.
DC United at Colorado Rapids. The bad: My dad and I stood in the sub-freezing temps and blowing snow to watch United lose. The good: 16,000+ other people showed up too, and went home happy (if slightly frostbitten) after seeing the hometown team open their spanking new stadium in style. Despite its horrible name, Dick’s Sporting Goods Park is a fantastic venue, and I’m looking forward to going back. The Rapids looked good, and I’ll have no problem supporting them when they’re not playing DC.
HBO’s Sunday lineup: The Sopranos and Entourage. Completely justifying the extra $8 a month on my cable bill.

The Golden Child

I haven't posted anything about soccer in quite a while, but Monday brought the surprising news that DC United had traded starlet Freddy Adu to Real Salt Lake. Freddy was packaged with backup goalkeeper Nick Rimando in exchange for RSL's backup 'keeper Jay Nolly (who's younger and has a much lower salary than Rimando), a major player allocation, and future considerations. When my dad first emailed me the link, I thought it was a joke, but after more consideration, this seems to be a pretty good trade for almost everyone. United unloads a high-profile but somewhat temperamental teenager who hasn't always had the strongest relationship with his coach, and who also seems very likely to move to a team in Europe this summer once he turns 18 (FIFA rules prevent players from playing for teams outside their home country before their 18th birthday). They also move a goalie whose salary was much too high to be a backup and could be starting on several other teams in the league. In exchange, they receive a lot of cap space, the ability to sign several high-profile players they've been scouting before the season begins (rather than in the middle of the year, which would have been the case had they held onto Freddy and he left for Europe), and still receive a good portion of the transfer fee if Freddy does end up being sold to a Euro team.

For Freddy, he gets reunited with his Under-17 coach, John Ellinger (now coaching RSL), and gets the chance to play his preferred position in central midfield. At DC, he was stuck behind reigning MVP Christian Gomez, who DC just re-signed to an extended contract. In Salt Lake, he has the chance to be the Man.

The only party who has the chance to lose out on this deal is Real Salt Lake. Right now, they're going to enjoy the bump in publicity (and likely, ticket sales) as Freddy's presence should attract a lot more casual fans and their pre-teen children. But if Freddy does jump ship and head to Europe in the August transfer window, RSL takes a big credibility hit and is left holding the bag on this trade.

This trade actually got some play outside of the traditionally soccer media, most notably on Sportscenter and even rated a mention during halftime of Monday Night Football. There's been plenty of coverage in newspapers and on the internet, and I've included a variety of links below. Prepare yourself for a whole bunch of bad puns on "Adu/Adieu".
DC United/MLS Press Release
United Trades Adu, Washington Post
It's A Win-Win for Adu and United, Washington Post
DC Deals Teenage Star Adu to RSL, Salt Lake Tribune
Adu's Arrival Leads to Lineup Questions, Salt Lake Tribune
Furor Over Freddy Might Not Last Long, Salt Lake Tribune
Much Adu About Nothing (oh, how original), Sunday Herald
Adu Bids DC United adieu, traded to Salt Lake, ESPN/AP
Adu Starts Over in Real Salt Lake, ESPN
Adu Still Hampered by Unrealistic Expectations, ESPN
DC United Reap Rich Haul from Adu Trade, ESPN
"Best Place for Me", SI.com/AP
Five on Freddy, SI.com

And in other soccer news, after a long and fruitless pursuit of Juergen Klinsmann came to naught, US Soccer announced that Bob Bradley, former coach of the Chicago Fire, NY/NJ Metrostars, and Chivas USA and former US National team assistant, has been named interim head coach of the National Team. An odd move, and one that has been much-debated by soccer pundits since Bradley is perceived by many to be a chip off the block of Bruce Arena, the coach US Soccer just fired. I think Bradley may turn out to be a better choice than most people seem to think, but only time will tell. Here's a few links on that as well.
Official US Soccer Press Release
Bradley Named US National Team Coach, ESPN/AP
Gulati Right Not to Rush the Decision, ESPN
Search for a New Coach Far from Over, ESPN
Bombshell of a Day, SI.com

The Convert

More post-World Cup media love for soccer: my dad sent this column to me a few weeks ago, and I forgot to post it until now. The good thing is, Dave here is only latest member of a fairly large group of people I've come into contact with since the World Cup ended who seem to be willing to give the 21st century version of pro soccer a try. The trick now for MLS is not only to bring these new fans in, but to keep them coming back. Of course, tickets to a DC United game would be the easiest answer. Getting to see the class of the league in action would guarantee all these newcomers would become fans for life. Hey, it worked for me.

The Random Factor

My life is finally back in the neighborhood of normal, so I've had some time this weekend to relax and reclaim my apartment from the dust and mold and piles of laundry. But despite my insanely busy week, I've been like a squirrel preparing for winter, gathering little nuts of randomness to share.

One of the sites I make a point to look at everyday is The Daily Monkey, a quirky collection of monkey-related photos and writings run by Brian Biggs, an illustrator I've worked with in the past. The monkeys haven't exactly been "daily" lately (Brian seems to be in the same boat as me), but the last post turned me on to this amazing set of photographs by a New Jersey photographer named Jason King. If there's one thing the internet has proved, it's that there's an incredible amount of undiscovered creative talent out there in the world, and it's nice that the internet has provided a place to see the work these people are creating. Of course, the internet has also proved that there's no end to what people will collect and fetishize, but that's a discussion for another time.

So, you may have heard that Dan Brown, author of a little book called The Da Vinci Code, is getting sued by anyone and everyone who's ever written a single word relating to Jesus. It's gotten so bad, last week, King James filed suit against him. Hey-o! (Ba-dum-bum.) Anyway, one of those suits, filed in London by the authors of Holy Blood, Holy Grail, was recently dismissed by the presiding magistrate, Justice Peter Smith. The interesting twist to this story, however, is that Smith included his very own code in his printed decision. Between this and the judge who handed down her decision in rap form in an Eminem defamation case in 2003, I can't help but think that judges who get cute with their decisions are really just publicity hounds with WAY too much time on their hands, and should really be spending more time earning their money the way they're supposed to.

Despite looking rather disinterested for most of the match, DC United tied with FC Dallas last night to extend their unbeaten streak to 5 matches. United's only goal came from midfielder Ben Olsen, who has continued to play well while anxiously awaiting the announcement of the US World Cup roster (which will be shown live on Tuesday's Sportscenter at 6pm Eastern). Best of luck to Ben, one of my favorite players (so much so that I own his jersey). He's definitely a bubble player for the US, but hopefully his strong recent play will be enough to earn him a trip to Germany. As for United, having seen all of their games this year, I have to say I don't think DC has played particularly well in any of them. There have been nice stretches and good individual performances, but barring last week's dismantling of the hapless New York Red Bulls, United haven't dominated anyone, but they still have yet to lose this season. That worries me a little bit. Something needs to happen to light a fire under their collective butts so that they don't think they can just coast through the season. At this point, they're looking a lot like the Chelsea of MLS: not pretty to watch and not looking like they're all that interested in the games, but still so good that no one can beat them. As an aside, I just wanted to mention that the Washington Post does a fabulous job with their United coverage (and soccer coverage in general). I'm continually impressed by their top-notch soccer writer, Steven Goff. Check out the profile of United's hybrid defender/midfielder, Josh Gros, that Goff wrote as a preview to this week's match. A lot of papers would just run a tiny preview box (if they bothered to cover MLS at all), so it's nice to see this type of effort and quality. As for Gros, he's an interesting character. If you can continually get under the skin of a classy World Cup winner like Youri Djorkaeff, you're doing something right. And check out that photo: Josh seems to be a tongue-chewer, just like me and MJ.

My friend CJ asked me to make her a mix of Rush songs, which turned out to be a very fun experience. It had been a long time since I had really dug deeply into my Rush collection, and it gave me a chance to renew my long love affair with the kings of geek-rock. It also exposed a few glaring gaps in my collection, which I quickly filled thanks to the iTunes store. As any good Rush fan knows, the band has gone through three pretty distinct phases. They are: 1974's Rush — 1978's Hemispheres; (1980's Permanent Waves acts as a bridge to the next phase) 1980's Moving Pictures — 1987's Hold Your Fire; and 1989's Presto — the present. The first phase introduces the band as a heavy rock trio who share a lot in common with Led Zeppelin: a high-voiced lead singer, a killer guitarist who favors Gibson guitars, a monster drummer, long songs exhibiting a love of Tolkien, and some very questionable fashion choices. 2112 is the high point of this phase. The second phase finds the band tightening up their sound (and song length) and introducing the synthesizer rather strongly into the mix, as well as Neil Peart swinging his lyrics away from swords and sorcery towards more futuristic science fiction. Moving Pictures is the peak album here, and is arguably the ultimate Rush album. And finally, in the third phase, the band largely ditches the synths, gets back to a more groove-oriented rock sound, and Peart's lyrics become more personal. This phase sees the band struggle (as all aging acts do) to stay relevant with their new music while trying to meet the fans' demands for their greatest hits in concert. For me, Counterparts is the album to own from this stretch, as it rocks harder than anything the band had done since Permanent Waves. Through their career, Rush have also put out six live albums. My personal favorite is Different Stages, but they're all fairly interchangeable. I prefer Different Stages because the mix is little more raw, which is something most Rush live albums are not. So what does this all mean? Well, to my and CJ's delight (and her husband's dismay) she got three discs, one for each era. And I discovered that digging through Rush's music to make a mix allowed me to rediscover my love for them, so I've decided maybe I should do the same for other bands I used to love but haven't listened to much of lately. Next on my list: Led Zeppelin.

I think I had some other stuff to talk about, but I can't remember. I'm in food coma now after a delicious omelet and cinnamon toast at Cafe Patachou. If you're ever in Indy and looking for a breakfast spot, don't miss this place. Yum.

IMAGES
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

SOUNDS
Permanent Waves, Rush
Signals, Rush
Power Windows, Rush
A Blessing and a Curse, Drive-By Truckers
Skeleton Jar, Youth Group
Mr. Beast, Mogwai
Nashville, Josh Rouse

No Place Like Home

Flew to Maryland for a visit with the fam this weekend. Frederick is absolutely gorgeous this time of year. We walked around downtown after brunch on Sunday, and appropriately enough for Easter weekend, all the trees and flowers were in full bloom. For a town that I couldn't wait to leave when I was growing up, good old Fredneck has its moments. There's some youth and money pouring into downtown, and a lot of houses and buildings that I remember as looking pretty rough have been restored, with plenty of new plants and fresh paint to go with some interesting stores and cafes. Last night I had a beer on the patio of the local brewpub with my brother and his girlfriend, and realized there's a bit of a European feel now, which is kind of cool. Of course, there were also still pickup trucks driving by with ten rednecks crammed into the bed, so things haven't changed that much.

On Saturday, my dad and brothers and I went down to RFK Stadium to see United take on the Houston Dynamo. Despite some rather, um, unpretty play, DC managed to score twice and earn a victory. And with better finishing, young Freddy Adu could have easily had a hat trick. Instead, he hit the bar and went just wide twice. As my high school coach would have said, "Unlucky!" I did manage to get a few decent photos (see one above), although I'm figuring out that the autofocus on my camera is really touchy. See more slightly blurry shots from the match here.

IMAGES
Elizabethtown
WORDS
Tyrannosaur Canyon, Douglas Preston

Insomnia

Dear idio... uh, Gov. Mitch Daniels,

I wanted to take a moment to thank you so much for fucking up my sleep cycle. You had a chance to do things right. Pushing to move Indiana into the 20th century by putting the state on Daylight Saving Time was the right idea. Unfortunately, you blew it, pissing away any points you had earned when you picked the wrong time zone. Thanks to your genius (and I'm sure the considerable influence of your businessmen friends), Indiana just had to be on the same time as New York City... 700 miles to the east. Central time just wasn't good enough, even though Chicago, located right on the Indiana border, doesn't have any problems doing business with New York. "But wait," you said, "think of the extra hour of sunlight that golf courses can stay open! Kids' baseball games can be played later! Businesses will make more money because people will stay out in the light." Well, I have some bad news for you. I (and just about everyone else in this state) wake up in the dark every morning. I'm already in the hole, because I start the day tired, and that sure as hell doesn't make me want to stay out later at night. As if it wasn't already hard enough getting out of bed since businesses here are still living on farm time and want their employees get to work at the crack of dawn. Not to mention, DST has barely started, and it's already staying light until almost 9 pm, right around the time most businesses are closing. What's it going to be like in July when it stays light until 11:00? Remember that movie with Al Pacino and Robin Williams in Alaska, where Pacino can't get any sleep because it's light all the time? Now imagine an entire state of people like that. Meet your constituents. Going to bed when it's light is not a prescription for a good night's sleep. People are hardwired to go to bed in the dark and get up when it's light, not the other way around. An exhausted workforce is not a productive workforce. So all that extra money you're planning on making? Good luck with that. Putting the state on DST was the right decision; there's nothing wrong with an extra hour of sun each day. But you managed to put that hour at the wrong end of the day, and when the government can't even get something as simple as DST right, I don't have a whole lot of faith in their ability to do the rest of their job. Unfortunately, this is Indiana, and it's doubtful that the Democrats are going to take over anytime soon. So Mitch, don't be surprised when all that's left in Indiana are a bunch of farmers and old people who get up in the dark anyway. The rest of us will be moving to states that recognize the value of waking up with the sun.

(Hey, if Katie Couric can make career decisions based on the fact that she doesn't want to get up in the dark anymore, then so can I. Because I like to take all my life cues from celebrities, especially ones I can't stand.) Now that my grumpy old man rant is taken care of, on to the good stuff:

DC United got its first win of the season yesterday over Chivas. DC struggled to find a rhythm in this game and looked pretty lost, but they still managed to win (thanks in part to a non-call on a Chivas free kick that bounced on the goal line and probably should have been a goal).

Watched The Brothers Grimm last night. No wonder it bombed in theaters. It took about an hour to get going, and as soon as it looked like it was going to go somewhere, it ran out of steam. That, coupled with the fact that the gorgeous Monica Bellucci was criminally underused, made it a very disappointing experience.

I stopped by Luna Music while out enjoying the weather yesterday. See below for a list of the CDs I bought. Stupid listening stations.

SOUNDS
The Back Room, Editors
TUM, The Impossible Shapes
Putumayo Presents Turkish Groove, Various Artists

IMAGES
The Brothers Grimm

The Hours

My weekend pretty much went down like this: Drink way too many Newcastle, Killian's and black-and-tans on Friday night, spend Saturday and Sunday letting my body recover. But I had a choice in how to rehab. Take in the fresh air? And deal with 80,000 drunk Hoosiers and overhyped pop stars mixed with severe weather damage that could have killed me? No thanks. Lay on the couch? Why, it was only the best seat in the house for fifteen-and-a-half hours of soccer over two days. Guess which choice I made?

Saturday
Noon—2 pm: DVR recording of Wednesday's Champions League match between Inter Milan and Villareal, ESPN. Milan 2-1. Great game. Almost every time an Italian side and a Spanish side get together, it's a joy to watch. Maybe they should combine the two leagues.
2 pm—4 pm: Newcastle-Tottenham, FSC. Newcastle 3-1. A scrap in the rain. Typical English spring weather. And what is going on with Tottenham these days? Can you say nosedive?
4 pm—6 pm: Dallas-Chicago, ABC. Dallas 3-2. Great first half by Chicago, but a terrific fight back by Dallas. Game winner to hometown Dallas boy Kenny Cooper on his debut. The quality of this match is pretty high. Looks more like midseason than the first game of the year, at least until Dallas makes some subs in the 2nd half and the wind goes out of Chicago's sails. Chad Barrett's opener for Chicago makes the third game in a row that a goal was created by an attacker shooting at an angle across the face of the goal and the keeper was unable to hold on, allowing an opposing forward to tap in. Barrett's goal is almost a mirror image of Diego Forlan's tally for Villareal.

Break for dinner and a nap. Sweet, sweet sleep.

8 pm—10 pm: Bonanza! Flip back and forth between the Final Four and Birmingham-Chelsea, FSC. 0-0. Also have streaming video of Kansas City-Columbus running on my computer. KC 3-1. Only drawback is that this year, MLS has docked their viewer in a pop-up window, so I can't blow it up to full screen and watch from across the room like I did last year. Compensate by cranking the sound up so that I'll know when something exciting happens. Basketball gets boring pretty quickly, so I focus my attention on the soccer games. Kansas City looks good. Chelsea looks bad. Well, bad for Chelsea, anyway. They could still destroy most of the other teams I'm watching.
10 pm—11pm: Fox Sports World Report, FSC. Canadian highlight show. I get 30 great minutes of English, Spanish, German, and French highlights from throughout the day, and then they inexplicably start the same highlights over again at 10:30. Weird. Barcelona-Real Madrid looked like a decent game. (Sarcasm, people. Sarcasm.)
11 pm—1 am: Los Angeles-New England, ESPN2. New England 1-0. A rematch of MLS Cup 2005 ends up the other way around, with the visitors coming out on top. Clint Dempsey scores a nice goal and comes up with a rather disappointing celebration. LA looks drained. Not surprising, considering the emotions of the night: prior to kickoff, they received their championship rings and honored their late GM, Doug Hamilton, who died recently. But excuses aside, this game is sloppy, and looks a lot like the first game of the season.

Sunday
11:30 am—Noon: Schalke-Hamburg, FSC. Had this on in the background while I ate and got dressed. Not much to see.

Venture out into the world for groceries. Bright light, bright light!

4 pm—5 pm: Paris St. Germain-Bordeaux, FSC. PSG 3-1. I only see the second half, so I miss all the goals. Boo. PSG is either really good, or Bordeaux is really bad. Lots of Brazilians play in France.
5 pm—7 pm: Back to double duty. Arsenal-Aston Villa, FSC. Arsenal 5-0. DC United-New York Red Bulls, mlsnet.com. 2-2. As Arsenal demolishes Villa in the background, I'm mostly focused on DC-NY. NY goes up 2-0 early on a Youri Djorkaeff free kick and a horrid display by United's defense that gifts Edson Buddle a goal, but United hit back in the second half. Alecko Eskandarian and his fancy new headgear (see above) come back from a long concussion-induced injury layoff to score his first goal since MLS Cup 2004, a superb volley from 7 yards, and a few minutes later Facundo Erpen fires a wormburner that gets a fortunate deflection. I wish United could have kept the mo' going and gotten the winner, but I'm happy to see them claw their way back.
7 pm—7:15 pm: Tried to watch Houston-Colorado on my computer, but my eyes had had enough, so I decided to give them a rest. At least until next weekend.

Tony Quinn/Wireimage.com

A Question of Sport

The Final Four has invaded Indy. Or, more correctly, I guess I should say the corporate sponsors have invaded Indy. They've plastered Coke and Bud Light signage on every available inch of the downtown buildings, and most of the streets around Monument Circle are shut down and covered in lighting rigs, speakers, and giant projection screens shilling their products (all guarded by some flabby meatheads wearing security shirts who feel they have to earn their minimum wage by being total dicks and not letting you cross the street to get to your office because they're assembling some scaffolding 2 blocks away and "someone could get hurt"). It takes a good 10-15 minutes to make the 5 block drive from my apartment to my work. There appear to be about 200 portable trailers selling all manner of fried food (and to wash it down, of course, Coke and Budweiser products). Half of the circle is now buried under a stage where 80,000 people are expected to gather to see Michelle Branch, John Mellencamp and Carrie Underwood. Nothing like an American Idol winner to bring out the masses. But it's all worth it, because millions of dollars will be spent in Indy this weekend. Millions of dollars of free publicity will be generated for the sponsors. Hundreds of thousands of man-hours will be wasted by workers staring out their windows at all the chaos and holding on that last little slim hope that they might still win their office pool. Oh, and somewhere in all this mess, some college kids will play a couple of basketball games. Luckily, I managed to get something worthwhile out of this deal, scoring some free tickets to see a non-lip-synched concert when Robert Randolph and the Family Band play tomorrow afternoon at... the Bud Light tent? Shit. I guess nobody's safe from the long arm of corporate whoredom.

While most of the country is gearing up for this moneymaking extravaganza, I'm saving my excitement for the fact that this is Opening Weekend for MLS. All 12 teams are in action, with 3 matches on Saturday and 3 on Sunday. There are 2 matches on national TV tomorrow: Chicago and Dallas start the day on ABC at 4 pm Eastern, and ESPN2 has the rematch of last year’s final between LA and New England, at 11 pm. My boys from DC United open the season on Sunday at home against the New York Red Bulls, one of two teams that changed their name this year. The Red Bulls used to be the Metrostars, but were bought only a month ago by (believe it or not), Red Bull, and immediately rebranded. The other team with an identity crisis ended last year as the San Jose Earthquakes. During the offseason, they moved to Houston, where they were christened Houston 1836, after the year Texas won its independence from Mexico. Unfortunately, this managed to piss off the very Hispanic community the team was trying to attract, so they wisely and quickly changed the name again, settling on Houston Dynamo. They did manage to get one thing right, though, ending up with some of the coolest uniforms in the league. For more info, ESPN and MLSnet have both extensively previewed the new season, and SoccerTimes has a condensed wrapup of the offseason.

So between Final Four-related activities and a wide range of televised soccer, I’m in for a busy weekend. Usually, I’d be joined in my excitement by my friends Todd and Cynthia, but for some reason they seemed to think a two-week vacation in Australia would somehow be more interesting than sitting on the couch watching sports. Different strokes, I guess...

AP Photo

Freddy acts his age

So, Freddy. You're not happy on the bench. Good for you. Welcome to the big leagues, kid. I guess when everyone's been telling you how great and special and phenomenal you are since you were five, eventually, you're going to act like a spoiled brat when you don't get your way. But here's something to consider, Fred: even if you could go play for one of your dream teams like Chelsea or Real Madrid (which you legally can't until you're 18, so just relax), you'd just be sitting on the bench in a different country. If you can't win a starting job over Ben Olsen and Christian Gomez, do you really think you're going to start ahead of Zinedine Zidane or Arjen Robben? And, yeah, maybe next year you could switch teams in MLS and start for the Metrostars or Real Salt Lake or the Colorado Rapids or the Columbus Crew, but trust me when I say you're going to miss playing for a championship team. Oh sure, you may get a few more goals and a lot more attention, but when you're surrounded by mediocre players on a team that's trying to rebuild instead of the veteran guys who started ahead of you in DC (some of whom have 4 championship rings), you'll appreciate what you had there. Even high-profile columnists like Michael Wilbon agree with you, although he's more interested in taking MLS' marketing department to task for false promises than "helping your career". But not all is lost. Despite your teenage outburst, Bruce Arena is still going to call you into National Team Camp. If you won't listen to your club coach, maybe your National Team coach can teach you the importance of being a team player.

Meanwhile, DC United has to put aside your distraction and start the MLS Playoffs tomorrow night. If Coach Nowak lets you on the field after your public airing of dirty laundry, try to put your money where your mouth is and score another goal like this. The more you do that, the more you'll get on the field. And then you won't have to cry, to the press or anybody else.

UPDATE: Good grief, kid. Do you really want the "troubled superstar" tag at age 16? Apologize already.

Golazo! and Godzilla! (or what might as well be a scene from one of his movies)

The Kid has done it again. Freddy Adu (left) may not be the most prolific goal scorer in MLS (or even on his own team), but when he scores, he does it right. This is hands-down the best individual goal I’ve seen in MLS play since Clint Mathis dribbled 75 yards through five defenders back in 2000. Watch the move Freddy makes to free himself at the beginning of the sequence. You don’t teach that, folks.

So apparently it’s common knowledge among Washington Post staffers that the Everglades has a python problem, but it came as news to me. Check out the results when a Burmese python and an alligator duke it out for swamp supremacy. Thanks to Todd for the link.

A two-goal lead is the most dangerous score in soccer.

Don't ask me why, but this has been the prevailing wisdom among coaches since before I started playing futbol all the way back in 1978. Apparently, teams tend to mentally relax and give up soft goals, and it happens often enough that the idea keeps kicking around (yes, pun intended). DC United did a good job of proving this nugget of wisdom this evening in the second game of their home-and-home series against Universidad Católica in the Copa Sudamericana, South America's club tournament. United is the first MLS team ever to participate (but not the first North American team; Mexican League teams have been involved before). United and Catolica tied 1-1 in the first match in DC, and because these series are decided by aggregate scoring, a win tonight would have put DC through to the next round. If they tied, the score needed to be at least 1-1, because goals scored away from home are the first tiebreaker. After 20 minutes of rather shaky soccer, United got off to a dream start, with Christian Gomez (above) scoring two quick goals to give them what seemed to be a comfortable margin. But Catolica pulled one goal back before halftime, and DC spent the entire 2nd half fighting against an erratic referee, hard fouls, injuries, cramps, and a general lack of defensive shape before finally surrendering two late goals that ended their run in the tournament. I'm not making excuses for them, because they deserved to lose this game. The players are probably relieved, because these matches happen to fall right during the MLS playoff push, so the timing couldn't have been much worse. But no matter what the situation, watching the Black and Red give up a lead like that is always painful, especially in a game where they had something to prove.

I bought some new music from the iTunes store tonight, and in both cases donated to charity at the same time. All the proceeds from Coldplay's Fix You EP are being donated to Hurricane Katrina relief funds, and Help: A Day in the Life supports the War Child charity, which works towards improving conditions for children in war-ravaged countries. It's great collections of songs from some of my favorite British artists. Radiohead, Coldplay, Keane, Elbow, Bloc Party, and the Magic Numbers are just a few of the contributors.

Missed chances

OK, my day of TV watching is done. After watching DC United blow a lead in the last 5 minutes of the game, I can’t watch any more soccer today. Time to get out of the apartment.

All in all, it sounds like it was a good day for American footballers. The US women beat Brazil in the Olympics, and almost all the Americans in Europe helped earn points for their teams. The best day seems to have been had by DaMarcus Beasley, scoring on his debut in the Dutch Eredivisie for PSV Eindhoven in their 5-2 win. I know my friend Cynthia will be excited by the news, since she's a HUGE DMB fan. ;)

Denting the couch

Today’s theme: soccer overload. I’m just finishing hour seven, and so far, I’ve watched 2 1/2 games on TV and coached an hour’s worth of practice for the 9 and 10-year-old boys team I’m helping out with. I started the day with a rather lackluster 1-1 draw between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool. Liverpool didn't seem to miss their former star Michael Owen, but it looked like they should take some of the money from his sale and buy a defense.

Next it was off to practice. We’ve got a great group of kids, about half of whom decided to skip practice today. So, we ran a few drills and then scrimmaged with another team in the same age group. This was my first chance to see my guys in a game setting, and they were pretty impressive. They have such a better understanding of the game than I remember having at that age. These guys realize that it’s OK to pass backwards to get out of trouble, and they’ve already started to figure out passing into space and running on to the ball, concepts that I wasn’t sure they were ready for.

After practice, it was back home for a much more exciting 1-1 game, this time between Fulham and Manchester City. This game featured three Americans, all of whom played well, especially Claudio Reyna, who was dangerous in midfield and created a lot of chances for City. This is good news for US fans, since Reyna will be an important part of Wednesday night’s World Cup qualifier against Jamaica. After struggling with injuries for so much of the past few years, it’s good to see Claudio healthy and playing well again. During the second half, I started flipping back and forth between this game and San Jose-Kansas City in MLS, which currently stands at 1-0 on a Landon Donovan goal.

Coming up later tonight, my DC United take on the New England Revolution in a big conference match. The standing are so tight right now that the winner of this game would move into 2nd place, while the loser will fall into last. Maybe Freddy Adu can score another beautiful goal like the one he scored Wednesday night. And after that game’s over, I plan to catch a replay of the Middlesborough-Newcastle match from earlier today.

Maybe tomorrow I’ll get off the couch, but maybe not. Everton-Arsenal is on at 1:00.

Soccer haters, pay attention. You might learn something.

With the NFL season fast approaching and preseason games in full swing, I’d like to take a moment to make everyone aware that football everywhere is kicking off. Leagues all across Europe are beginning their soccer seasons this month, and this weekend marks the beginning of the English Premiership campaign, which means I’ll be parked in front of Fox Sports World during most of my free weekend hours. Seven Americans now ply their trade in what is arguably the world’s top league: Tim Howard and Jonathan Spector at Manchester United; Claudio Reyna at Manchester City; Brad Friedel at Blackburn Rovers; Kasey Keller at Tottenham Hotspurs; and Brian McBride and Carlos Bocanegra at Fulham. There are also Americans (Yanks Abroad, as they’re known to soccer geeks) playing in the English First Division (which is actually the 2nd tier of English football), the German Bundesliga, the Dutch Eredivisie, the French First Division, and leagues in Belgium, Denmark, and Norway. Fox Sports World covers a lot of these leagues, and they tend to gear their coverage towards a game involving at least one American player.

I’ve played soccer since I was five years old, but it wasn’t really until college that I became a fan and started watching it on TV. One of my favorite sportswriters, Jeff Bradley, writes columns for Major League Soccer and ESPN about American soccer, and this week's column for MLSNet.com particularly pleased me. He writes about individual performances in World Cup Qualifiers, and his #1 moment, a goal by Tab Ramos in 1997, was the exact moment that I realized my true passion for sports could be found in the fortunes of the Men’s National Team. It was an important moment for the Nats, as Ramos’ goal kept them alive in qualifying for the 1998 World Cup in France. As it turned out, the team may have wished they had failed to qualify, since they had a disastrous run in France, bowing out after three miserable games that included a loss to Iran. But, indirectly, that led to their success in the 2002 World Cup, since the coach at the ’98 World Cup, Steve Sampson, was fired, and new head coach Bruce Arena was brought in to replace him. Arena had previously achieved success at the University of Virginia and with my beloved DC United in MLS (who won their game against the Colorado Rapids tonight, 3-1), winning 3 titles in 4 years. He rebuilt the National Team with younger players, turning their fortunes around and leading them to an excellent showing at World Cup 2002 and a current world ranking of #7. At the moment, Arena has the Nats playing extremely well as they prepare to go to Jamaica for the next game of World Cup Qualifying for 2006.