STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS: FCD v DC UNITED 9/10/05

One is tempted to do some research on the plot of land whereon sits Pizza Hut Park, to determine whether it was at one time an Indian burial ground or something. But casting aside all talk of a curse, the last couple months have not been good. I think tonight is our night to get off our summer schneid, put a few onions in the sack, and get this train back on the tracks (to mix a few metaphors right off the bat).


And, hey, Northern Ireland beat England this week, so clearly anything is possible. Colin Clarke and Steve Morrow must have been doing some strutting over that deal. Maybe some of that mojo will extend across the Atlantic and help the boys tonight.


Abe Thompson getting some love from Colin Clarke tonight. If this start works out for Abe, it could be the start of a long run for the kid. He's just about ready to break big.


Papi's on the field too. If that doesn't cure the lackadaisical streak we've been mired in, I don't know what will. Oscar doesn't put up with much of that.


I wish I'd been in Vegas this weekend to get in on some over/under action on which minute Dema will receive his red card tonight. It takes money to make money, they say; this would be more like an investment than a bet.


Mark Wilson gets his first start tonight. We need him to be big for us. He's obviously a team guy, having stayed in Dallas to train this entire season without being under contract. I like him already, if only for that.


Mr. Geiger, tonight's referee (who, by the way, doesn't look old enough to drive, much less ref an MLS game), just showed Ronnie some early yellow; I guess he's trying to announce his presence with authority, or something, but come on, sir, ease up a bit.


Oh for love of Pele. Yet another early, soft goal for the opposition. Fifteenth minutes in.


Mustn't . . . be . . . negative. Must . . . maintain . . . positive . . . outlook. Feel . . . optimism . . . fading . . .................


What could possibly have happened to this team to make them suddenly unable to play with the passion and skill they started the season with? Losing Mulrooney? All those away games? Having to shower in a trailer for home games? What?


No, it's too early yet. Only a half-hour gone. Things are not dire just yet. We're in second place in the West. We've had injuries and call ups and all sorts of disruptions. We have our best soccer in front of us. Si se puede, si se puede . . .


Ugh. Greg Vanney just played a short ball to no one and only a crunching tackle from Wagenfuhr on Jamil Walker saved us from a 2-0 first-half deficit. Yikes.


Five minutes left in the first half. I know a team always needs goal, so it's a little obvious to say "we need a goal", but, that being said. . .


We need a goal. We need a goal worse than a flower needs some rain. Worse than a mosquito needs a vein. Worse than a bicycle needs a chain. We. Need. A. Goal.


Oh! And we almost got one, too. Nice shot by Bobby Rhine. Rimando had to clock in to make that one.


Well, okay, we didn't get a goal before halftime, but at least we showed a little spark of offense. We started off slow, but finished better. Not bad.


I'm really grasping at straws here, aren't I? I will NOT give up on this team, however. I just won't do it.


I am going to stick with the boys. Even if I end up like the guy in the great movie "Fever Pitch". It's a great scene where they're all sitting in the fish 'n chips shop, before Arsenal's first home game of the season. They're talking football:


Frank: What about the last home game of last season?
Nigel: What about it?
Frank: They were rubbish; they were ******* rubbish. They were ******* rubbish last year, and they were ******* rubbish the year before, and I don't care if they are top of the table, they'll be ******* rubbish this year as well. And next year. And the year after that.
Nigel: I don't know why you come, Frank, I really don't.
Frank: Well, you live in hope don't you?


How that film didn't get Oscar consideration, I'll never know.


Free kick for us, early in the second half. Ronnie slams it into the wall. Bah. At least it probably hurt the guys in the wall. That's something. I guess.


Ahhhhhhhhhh! I think Nunez just got as close to scoring as you possibly can get without actually doing so. Good hard shot from the left, deflected by Rimando, dribbling toward the line. Carroll cleared it off. I swear that ball was 90% over the line. Guh.


Ronnie just completely schools dirty dirty Dema with the back-heel nutmeg, so what does Dema do? Hack. Of course. Card, Mr. Geiger? Of course not. That would make too much sense. Good on Drew Moor for getting up in Psycho's face and telling him, to paraphrase, 'Actions have consequences, punk."


We've come out of the locker room with bad intent, to be sure. It's been all Hoops so far. I see a wee bit of fuego right now. Fuego is what we need.


Looks like the Cavalry's coming. EJ and El Pescadito coming on with about a half-hour to go.


Mr. Geiger should have sent off Wilson just now (not our Wilson, but DC's Wilson) for a second bookable offense, but he lacked the nerve. Truthfully, I think this young man's one of the stronger refs in the league, but he should've pulled the trigger there.


OHHHHHHHHH! Another great save by Nicky Rimando robs Clarence Goodson. ROBS him. Call a cop, Clarence.


Freddy comes off for DC. He hasn't been sharp tonight. Which is okay with me; we have enough problems.


I don't know what Colin said at the half, but it's working so far. Probably something along the lines of "Hey, I need this gig; quit screwin' around you guys".


Nemesis, thy name is Rimando. That's a third huge save by the kid tonight. This time on Carlos Ruiz. He picked a great night to become Peter Schmeichel, didn't he?


Twenty minutes to go. Looks like Clarence picked up a charley horse or a hip pointer.


Oh no. Oh no. I don't believe this. I don't believe this. That was the worst, softest goal I've ever seen in professional soccer. Nick Rimando wallops a goal kick, Jamil Walker picks it up, waltzes into the box unmarked, beats Garlick and gets the ball to Santino Quaranta, who doesn't even strike it well but still rolls it in the net. I don't believe this. I really don't believe this. How could this happen?


We finally had the upper hand, finally had the run of the play. How could that happen?


2-0.


Fifteen minutes to go. PHP sounds like a hospital ward. It looks like a pretty good sized crowd, too. Performances like this are not the way to go to sustain this kind of thing.


Now we're just going through the motions. Except Rhine. Gomez was about to make it 3-0, but Bobby made a nice late tackle to stop him. Bobby never quits, of course, no matter what.


Well, we played roughly a half-hour of soccer tonight. Which is fine, except for the undeniable fact that soccer games are 90 minutes long. Still, it's the first half-hour of quality soccer we've played since, oh, I dunno, Memorial day. So that's something. Besides, had Rimando not been an uberkeeper tonight, we might've stolen a win.


Wait wait wait wait wait!!!!


Hold the phone! Stop the presses! Nunez scores a late goal and we have four minutes to make something out of this mess. Could it be I've begun the post mortem too quickly?


Not even Rimando could stop that strike. What a finish. Wow. He picked up the ball at the top of the midfield circle, made the run to about 23 yards out and slammed a shot into the left side upper 90. The kid picked a good time to come through in a pinch.


Four minutes stoppage time. Is it possible, or are the boys just toying with our emotions? Whatever happens, I give credit where credit is due. The team looked like they'd hung it up for the evening. It's a sign of life, if nothing else.


One minute.


Nope. Game over. Well, I just don't know what to think. 2-1 loss to United. Another loss. Another overall poor effort, but, for a change, with a few signs of life. Seriously, I'm worried for Colin Clarke. Someone's going to take the heat for this, and I'm afraid it's going to be him. I don't like firing coaches in general, and especially not in the midst of a season. I'm thinking, though, that the prevailing American sports culture's habit of Steinbrennerizing the organization in times of crisis may be in our future. I'm on record right now as saying I don't want this to happen. I believe Colin can get the most out of this team. I just hope he doesn't wait too long to do it.


Well . . . This Wednesday is the US Open Cup Semifinals at the PHP. I'm planning on being there, ready to yell my guts out for the boys. It'll be a USOC Road Trip Edition, Lord willin'.


See you then.