Stripes, Goff? I dunno. Just caught the last few minutes of the first half, maybe they will grow on me in the second. As always, thanks for such an awesome blog.

early in the first half when they were talking about Landon's comments about playing in the summer tournaments, and Wynalda said "I think it's an excuse..." and then got cut off by a scoring chance for Ecuador - I want him to finish his thought but he never did!

the US backline looks horrible.

i dont really like wynalda as a color guy. he works ok in the studio with card/game ball, but in game he doesnt offer much in the way in insight other than im eric wynalda.

I do not like the new uniforms, they look weird.

dang

go landon

Looks like Landon's back....

finally!

Landon's 3rd goal was phenomenal!

Surprised how quiet Dempsey has been today and how shaky the back line looks. Ecuador's speed is causing the back line a lot of problems. Overall strong play in the midfield defensively by Feilhaber. Hopefully they can ride the 3rd goal's momentum through the 90th minute.

Not a fan of the new uni's.

The unis look a helluva lot better with names and numbers on them, and I actually dig them. Didn't like the sample images on US Soccer's site, but I like watching them in action.

Go Baldie! Donovan's feelin it.

The unis look good. And, while I hate to give him a compliment, Wynalda is a great color guy. Just so I can feel better: he stinks in the studio.

Right on Bruce and Eric: on their comments about Landon, his consistency, and showing up in games that matter.

If Dave O'Brien mentions a U.S. player in shoulder pads, or Bruce Springsteen again I might rip my hair out... kidding, but seriously it's beginning to be obvious that Bruce is getting annoyed also.

"You gotta be a Boss fan?" "No".

Did anyone else hear Dave O'Brian comment about waiting to see "Johnny Damon" come out from the pirate ship?!

Rightttttttttttttttttttt

Overall good game, Landon seems out of his funk, but what about Dempsey and Beasley?!

Not a fan of the new Unis myself, but then nothing is as good as a DCU kit ;)

This game is a perfect example why I hate LandyCakes and would be happier to never see him play again. When he wants to be, he is the best current US player there is. He has the ability to lift the whole team and change a game. The problem is that he can't keep his attitude consistent and when he is in one of his petulant moods (which seem to be closer to the norm) he brings the entire team down.

I need to wash my mouth out after I say this, but I agree with Eric's comments when he finished his thoughts about Landon wanting to play with his club over his country this summer. He needs to be in those big meaningful matches if he (attitude issue aside) really wants to be for WC '10.

Maybe Cheatin' Bob can have better success with getting through to him than Bruce did.

-dave

I liked Arena defending Gooch as a soccer player after that contrived bit with the split screen and the discussion of him in football pads.

And, great game by Donovan ... but all it did was make me more upset at the way he played in Germany.

I'm starting to get a little worried about Deuce, wondering when we'll see him get his swag back. He didn't make much of an impact out there today, and blew that scoring chance.

Goff, I hope you liked how O'Brien brought up Springsteen again and Arena showed he was annoyed with him.

Kinda how Bruce put O'Brien in his place after he went on and on comparing Gooch to a football player.

Why has Gulati not stripped the interim title from Bradley? Clearly he can put together a good team that wins matches. If the United States has any inclination to move up in the world of international football they need stability and having this stupid interim title does not boom confidence for the program.

Hopefully with the Bundesliga's partnership with "Broadcasting" in MLS we can begin to get commentators that are able to deliver the play-by-play rather than silly comments trying to start feuds about Yankees and Red Sox. Too many references to baseball, football, and the boss in this one.

Dave O'Brien makes ESPN broadcasts almost unwatchable. He contributes nothing to the broadcast, except for the occasional moment when Burce gets fustrated with him and responds with his typical dry humor.

We can only hope that ESPN will eventually give upon O'Brien.

just because the match was a friendly doesn't mean the commentators can slack off and dribble about whatever's on their interesting fact sheet...

This was one of O'Briens worst matches to date. He clearly was a nussence to Arena and Wynalda throughout the entire broadcast.

I really dig hearing Arena call the games, and I hope he is able to continue to call some matches as the RBNY season kicks off.

Dave O Brien needs to stop comparing soccer and soccer players to other sports. He did this with Onyewu and Bruce Arena had to correct him on it but then he went right back to it talking about how Onyewu could be a linebacker. Ridiculous. I wish to god ESPN would replace him.

My pet peeve.....Where's the HD coverage?

ESPN already owns the cameras, how much more could it cost?

Not only did Bruce have to correct Dave but then when he did Dave Obrien said about the most ignorant thing

"Well you have to admit that you don't see many players his (Onyewu) size in this kind of football."

Er Dave, ever watch the Premiership? Wigan maybe?

Of course not, because you only started your interest in the sport when ESPN (for reasons unknown to everyone but you and they) picked you, someone with zero soccer experience to call the biggest matches of
all. The freakin' World Cup.

You Dave O'Brien are an insult to the sport and if you at all respect it, you will step aside and let someone with a clue call the matches.

Good:

- Donovan played like a grown-up. Nice to see that...will it continue?

- Despite the score being 3-1 in injury time, and the play getting flagged for offsides, it was great to see Howard get on his defenders for not marking up.

- Arena keeping O'Brien in line when he needed to.

Bad:

- O'Brien referred to Landon Donovan as "Landon". Listen, you're not doing PBP of your buddy's pickup game. These are professionals, and you're supposed to be one too. The only time I should hear "Landon" is if you're using his whole name or have somehow figured out a way that the game relates to Little House on the Prarie. FSC can get away with Max Bretos actively cheering for the Galaxy, but on ESPN you're supposed to sound at least a little serious.

- Extended baseball discussion. If I'm going to have to hear about another sport during a national team game right now, it better be college basketball.

- Painful Princeton/Springsteen references. Just shut up for a minute, how's that sound?

- Nike has now made 3 jerseys for the US: white, dark blue, and royal blue. Sam's Army wears red. How do we not have a red jersey?

Great game by Donovan. I don't have a problem with him not wanting to play two tournaments in two consecutive months and would be happy to see him play Concacaf in June (which he seems willing to do) and get back to LA for the Beckham debut in July. I bet most of the team feels the same way about playing in only of the tournaments and that their clubs will feel the same way as well. Too much piling on by Wynalda!

Beasely and Dempsey looked lost out there. Feilhaber and Bradley look promising and so did Spector.

Conrad and Bocanegra looked better organized in the middle gainst Mexico than Conrad and Onyewu. Who is responsible for that?

Don't like the new third jerseys. The commentators are what I unfortunately have come to expect when watching American soccer. Bruce Arena is the only one who gives any real insight or analysis. Waldo can be entertaining sometimes, but overall needs to turn his ego down and his analysis up. Dave O'Brien needs to recognize that calling a soccer game is different than calling other sports (or at least it should be..... talk less, say more).

Not a bad debut from Feilhaber, gave a few too many balls away easily but seems to have a good two-way game. Michael Bradley really helped the US keep possession when he came in, another great two-way player. (Is he the new John O'Brien?) Landon's goals were class.

Yeah, O'Brien doesn't have a clue. Compared to his WC performance, he seems to be more comfortable. This is bad. Thank God, Arena reigns him in occasionally.
Wynallday's best bit is his halftime show. As often as he is wrong, you'd think he'd develop some humility. Arena still sounds a bit stiff, but he is actually getting better, imo.
I'm actually glad Donovan had a good game in this friendly. Maybe his head will swell enough to explode.
And I don't think Cheatin' Bob has prooved anything. Three meaningless games at home? We should win the Gold Cup (at home). Doing well in Copa America would impress me. But it seems he's making his excuses already, by not bringing the first team.
And to extend the grumpiness, I don't like the blue kits either.

Okay, Landon is starting to make me look like an idiot, becasue I was down on himn as anyone, but if he keeps this up I'll keep my mouth shut. LEt's see what he does this summer.
Man, how bad was the defending int he final third on both sides? Gooch needs to get his head on straight again. Then centerback pairing looked dreadful. It seems like Timmy was a little too reserved as well and need to go Keller on thise two several times. Bad communication between the keeper and the back line on several occasions. They just looked off.

Also, EJ is getting close to useless and reminding of the wayhe played prior to that tear in qualifying last cycle. Yeah, he moves okay off the ball, but he's not going to goal with passion and he is too quick to move the ball. HAd the right idea on a few corsses, but showed no touch and left his teammates with no chance to latch on to the ball much less strike it on goal.

Loved the hustle and guts of Ching, who did some great work to shield the ball, hold things up and was excellent on the second goal.

Boca continues to show well, and I think had either wing looked near his top form we may have seen ever more overlapping from Boca and Steve; as it stood Beas finally got moving with the ball at his feet late in the game, but Clint never did.

I think for Benny's first game in that setting against a quality side in that role, without a Mastro type by his side you've got to give the kid at least a B. Yeah, he was shaky in the first half and some distribution was poor, but I think we see the man to replace Claudio for 2010 right there.
Love to see Bradley going with the kids, his son included.
Guess he's going to be the coach now, eh Steve? Don't like the move at all for the long term of this cycle, but the guy is getting results.

Shirt was fine, for Nike. ;)

I agree with most of Goff's numbers, with one caveat: I thought the lack of bite in the center mid (BF) way overexposed the back line, particularly early on. Actually the best defending MF of the starters was Donovan.

It's fine to congratulate Feilhaber for being "fine" in his first real chance, but if he was a veteran, he would have graded out at 4 or lower just on his lack of defensive presence. Bradley alongside helped. IMHO....

Fabulous work by Donovan! Dempsey to return to MLS if he can't put in a better effort.

i think bradley shd be starting over clark definetly and felihaber maybe over mastroeni, b/c seriously mastro hasn't really done anything to warrant a starting place

C'mon Goff, Howard deserves more than a 5.

Howard made a couple nice saves, but did not organize the back very well and had some communication problems with Onyewu, IMO.

when is Dave O'Brien's contract up? at least Brandi Chastain isn't on the sidelines anymore.

Donovan a 9? Three goals and a 9?

What's it take to get a 10?

The U.S. backline wasn't great, but give credit to Ecuador. They are not some punk opponent and, in the first half at least, they showed some classy stuff and could easily have been up a goal or two.

Thought Bradley/Feilhalber did ok considering. They are not midfield "generals" nor do they impose their game, but they kept the ball moving crisply at times---and had several sequences of playing out of traffic--which is more than I can say for the "veterans" Dempsey or Beasley. Maybe it was the heat, I don't know but those two have got to pick it up.

Some of you folks are crazy! I remember when we didn't have any TV coverage of soccer. Now we have people complaining that we don't have it in HD, Dave O'Brien bites, etc, etc.

This is a friendly match and was covered in a professional albeit not a perfect manner.

10=perfect. Donovan wasn't perfect. Pretty close, but not perfect.

No such thing as a 10 rating in soccer, anyway...unless a player scores a hat trick in the WC final. :-)

If Landon scores 3 goals in a WC Final, I might have to name a child after him.

I love Dave O'Brien. Partially because so many people just refuse to give him a chance and go into matches looking to nitpick every thing he says. I hope he remains the voice of US Soccer for years to come if only to annoy the fans who seemingly complain about everything.

Just like how some DC fans can't get over the fact that Bob Bradley followed the rules on the way to that win in July a few years ago and Ray Hudson wasn't smart enough to figure out what was going on.

Brian, the cheat on that July day, was faking an injury, haveing United put the ball into touch, and then not returning the ball to United on the subsequent throw in.
asitis

Goff, a 3 for EJ? He was bad, but not that bad

The problem with O'Brien is just a lack of experience with the game, resulting in poor rhythm of his call. He talks over important touches with out a mention, and dwells on minor touches later. He tries to build a story, not realizing the GAME is the story.

Baseball and Futbol are a very poor pair of sports to master; they have nothing in common but a microphone.

It doesn't help to have an overcrowded booth, even if both "color" guys have something good to say, which they did. It's just too much.

Agree with your ratings, except for Howard--I'd give him a 6. I might bump up Conrad, too--maybe a 5.

Boy, is it just me, or does Dempsey look really bad? Yikes. His buddy Johnson looks worse.

Yeah, LD is back - wonderful. He'll disappear in 2010 in South Africa - wonderful.

Today, is the reason that I despise LD. He's a little B---- (for family atmosphere). Disappears when we need him, great showed up for a friendly and scores 3 goals and got everyone involved. Time to step up in the really big games.

LD could be strickened with testicular cancer with no impact. He lacks the equipment.

I think this jersey would be all right if they lost the pinstripes. How about all blue for the away kit, and red white hoops with red shorts for the home kit? Play off the flag. Not like it hasn't been done before.

I was pretty impressed with the youngsters in midfield, Feilhaber especially. Good vision, crisp passing, and a willingness to turn and run at the defense. The US could use some more of that.

The US always plays its best soccer when they are hitting 1- and 2-touch passes. That was pretty evident in this game, as pretty much every time someone tried to dribble, Ecuador closed them down and usually stole the ball.

I need to get some job tips from Dave O'Brien and Eddie Johnson - they keep on getting starting assignments despite being consistently incompetent.

Give DeMarcus credit for a beautiful set up for LD's rip of a shot to the upper right of the net.

Also, should we really get too excited about these matches held in the States. I believe we need some experience in "hostile" South American venues. Might have been a little different today if this was Quito and not Tampa.

Steve does Sunil push for US venues for the cash or personal exposure? Why so few (if any so far this year) non-US friendlies?

Away Games: US vs. El Salvador at RFK, US vs. Cuba in Miami, US vs. Mexico anywhere south of the Mason-Dixon line.

Gotta play home games to make money (31K is a nice payday). And, it should be noted, the year after a World Cup is usually the least critical time to play abroad, other than tournaments (Copa).

Steve,

I love seeing the player ratings - please keep it up.

we were much better in the midfield than we have been. the back line still needs a lot of work and our forwards are, for the most part, ineffectual. notice how our center mid scored all of our goals. brian ching has yet to prove himself and eddie johnson's identity crisis may well turn him into a ghost. however, a win is a win and bob bradley seems to be improving the team. there has been substantial improvement on a game to game basis and his results should guarantee him his job as the top man in us soccer.

Yeah, I too caught the "Johnny Damon" reference. Wynalda covered for him by just saying "Johnny" and dropping the incorrect last name. I think ESPN would do well to recruit from the ranks of FSC or scout amongst the local radio and TV broadcasting teams of MLS.... "it's in the net!" Always fun to hear. EJ is killing me and Clint looks downright depressed or something... actually it looks more like he thinks he's too good to be wasting his time out there.

I think everyone is giving Beasley way too much credit. Granted he is a tireless runner, and he did set up Donovan's final goal, but Beasley wasted far too many chances. His timing on runs and his touch are clearly off. Too often attacks died when he got involved. He's showing improvement over how he was playing leading up to the World Cup, but he needs to regain his form. Too bad Convey's been so beat up.

New Kits, B+: (finally something that looked American and had some class - nothing says American like pin-stripes - now all we need are white socks. At least it looked like Nike cared. I'd buy one!)

ESPN Broadcast - D: Really bad - no replays, bad angels - I mean really, haven't the producers seen ANY European matches - good angels, quick replay's, etc. And why isn't ESNP2 HD in wide screen? But, I am glad they showed it...

Pitch - No comment: 31,000 fans on a Sunday at noon in Tampa, that's great!

ESPN Commentary - C: If it wasn't for Arena being straight up, the grade would have been a worse. American announcers TALK TOO MUCH. I want to like O'Brien, (really, I do) but PLEASE, the people who tune in at 12 Noon on a Sunday are soccer fans, not football fans who are confused when they see Raymond James Stadium. Yes, the NFL is king in the US (Yes, the cannon's would have gone off a few times - and too bad they didn't); feel free to mention the Bucs, but focus on the SOCCER!

USA - B: Good win, but I thought we looked a little nervous in the back. Donovan did have three nice goals and did some good - we'll see if he can show up on a consistent basis. Good showing by the young kids. Beasley, Johnson, Dempsey - you have the physical talent, please show me the team spirit. Not to be unfair, it's just I really hope those three become what they could be.

Goff - A: Great at calling it like he sees it and not playing know-it-all. Fair and balanced.

How does Eddy Johnson keep finding work? The guy can't score, he's afraid to take on defenders, and he lacks confidence.

Why did Eric Wynalda complain when LD declared he did not want to be in the national team camp for two months this summer. If he wasn't held so highly on that stage, maybe the Galaxy would have made the playoffs. Since "the Great" Sunil wants to send our "A squad" to the Gold Cup and send the "B team" to Copa America, LD has every right to not want to be away from the Galaxy that long; especially this year.

Apparently I'm the only one, but I feel like Bruce Arena is horrible in the booth. He sounds so awkward and in front of the camera he often appears to be slightly illiterate. O'brien is also terrible. Wynalda is at least entertaining.

I though the pinstripes looked pretty bad, and I think we should stick with the white and navy unis from Germany.

Good stuff from Landon obviously. I'd like to see Twellman get a chance to play 90 minutes, possibly with Ching who had a good game. Bradley and Benny played pretty well too.

Steve Goff, you are my hero. Keep it up man.

Most awkward moment: O'Brien and Waldo gushing about what a special moment it is for Bob Bradley to be coaching his son on the USMNT and how that's unlikely to ever happen again... seemingly oblivious of Bruce quietly sitting next to them and his son Kenny who played for youth Nats but never got the big call.

Okay, I realize this is one of those conspiracy theory things, but I think it needs to be said. I love the new 3rd jersey blue jerseys. But come on! When it comes down to it, the Men's US team has a Blue Jersey curse! WC2002 - Against Portugal (We wore white jerseys) WIN!, S. Korea (White) Tie, Poland (Blue) Loss, Mexico (White) Win, Germany (Blue) Loss. WC2006 - Czech (Blue) Loss, Italy(White) Tie, Ghana (Blue) Loss. When is Nike going to get it right? We will not win an important match in Blue! Period! Bring back the red jerseys, and give Sam's Army a chance to bring it home with the 12th man!

"Forwards who pass the ball in the box are not forwards."

Hmmm....guess Red Bull won't be signing Thierry Henry or Didier Drogba, then.

A perfect 10 match does exist, Goff. Zidane had 2: both against Brazil, both in the World Cup.

It boggles my mind that Dave O'Brien still is in the booth for soccer matches, especially when there are other quality options (e.g., JP Dellacamera). Dave O'Brien adds nothing to the broadcast. On the other hand, Bruce Arena is a great addition to the booth.

I wouldn't have given Johnson a 3 (a four instead) but I would have given Dempsey a 3.

Where does Donovan's first goal rank in terms of fastest USMNT goal scored in a game?

Where does Donovan's second and third goal rank in terms of least amount of time elapsed between two goals by one USMNT player?

I don't think Landy is inconsistent I just think he's an in the closet Latino.

He always comes out strong against Latin American teams but put him up against a U-13 Polish girls rec team and he'll freeze up.

The third goal was great, but give some credit to Beasley for setting that up.

Pat, Wynalda did finish his thought later on in the game.

AND IF THE US (DONOVAN) PLAYS THAT WAY, I LOVE THE UNIFORMS!!!!!

O'Brien was definitely bad...but at least he's not Jack Edwards!!

And TD - I bet all of the HD cameras were covering the NCAA women's tourney...right Goff?!

LOL

I'm done with Eddie Johnson until he can re-earn his spot by playing well in MLS. If he can't score goals in the domestic league, he shouldn't be starting for national team.

I wasn't impressed with either Feilhaber or Bradley Jr.--I give more credit to Bradley Sr. for reading the game and knowing where to make the substitution. Feilhaber had some nice moments but also gave away too many balls on dumb passes.

The Nats are so loaded at d-mid right now, but the only real standout is Mastroeni IMO. I would have loved to see our man BC get some more minutes in the next match, but on the other hand I'm glad he'll be in Mexico with DC instead.

Pinstripes do not belong on a soccer jersey. Nike has made some horrible choices, going back to that Ralph Lauren-designed light blue horror.

Here's my issue: The US need a recognizable strip, not capricious designs. You don't have to be up close to recognize a Brazil, Argentina, or Mexico jersey. But, it's all about getting us to buy a new replica every two years.

I did like Wynalda's comment when O'Brien mentioned that Waldo is the leading US scorer. Waldo replied "this game isn't over yet." It been 5 years, but Waldo is starting to grow on me.

LD has to do this in matches that count to impress me. He's had good games before but to be the leader of your team, you hav to do this in the games that carry weight in the World Cup. I refuse to give him any credit until he leads his team in a late qualifier of World Cup.
Is anybody else concerned about the lack of speed in the back? They had a bit of a problem keeping pace with those forwards.
Twellam needs to get a chance up front for a full 90 minutes. He showed before the World Cup that he is a capable forward. Eddie Johnson made some good runs but a bunch of bad decisions.

The entire US team solidified when Bradley Jr. replaced EJ. Prior to that Feilhaber was overwhelmed, Bradley helped calm things down and showed great poise for a 19 year old. However, EJ should be out of the pool along with Beasley; they're done until they show somewhere somehow in league play that they deserve to return. Given the U.S. plethora of midfield types, Bradley probably would be well served by a 4-5-1 with a Ching-type target alone up top.

Overall, the U.S. Team was great today but I worry about Donovan and hope he doesn't let this performance get to his head. If he wants to start redeeming himself for his no-show at Germany 06, he better at least play in the Gold Cup or hopefully, the Copa America, If not...he just f*** off.

Why did it seem odd that while O'Brien was being his usual awful announcer self...Wynalda seemed to have an okay day. He made some pretty good points when he critisized Sunil Gulati, Oswaldo Sanchez and Donovan.

P.S.

A bit off topic...but How have the Fred transfer talks proceeded? How close is he to finally being eligible to play for DC?

When Donovan came off in stoppage time, he appeared to hand his armband to Brian Carroll, his replacement. Does this mean that Carroll was the captain of the USMNT for all of two minutes? Or did Carroll hand the armband to someone else when the cameras weren't on him?

I thought both Bradley and Feilhaber has impressive matches. Feilhaber looked much calmer than Mastro and make German talked (IE stayed on his feet to dispossess the ball) as opposed to mastro, who so often slides to tackle. Bradley was fast and creative and both gave up very few silly balls. They are the real reason our midfield did something it rarely ever does (even in wins), dominate.

I didn't see the match or hear the calls, but it occurs to me that ESPN has it in their interest to keep US-style announcers in the booth. It may annoy soccer-fans to hear factoids and comparisons to other sports, but they're trying to cross-sell this game to an American audience.

ESPN needs to create a familiar space, so that someone who doesn't understand the nuance of the game can still feel comfortable watching it. Maybe they haven't found the right guy or the right balance yet, but it's probably a necessary evil until the sport attracts a critical mass of fans.

Just food for thought -- again, I didn't catch the match, so I don't know how painful it was to hear...

Anyone know of a site that shows video of the highlights of this game? Some of us were out on the pitch when this game was shown on TV!

Vido highlights of all ESPN-covered events available on ESPN's Web site. You can also try youtube.com

Univision and Telemundo announcers also talk incessantly. Without the benefit of comprehension, I assume that they are saying something relevant. Is that correct or do they blather on about Bruce Springsteen as well?

The Gooch-gridiron player analogy is just unavoidable. Although belabored, it illustrated why he will be on the wrong end of calls. Maybe even the european refs are thinking that he's a big, American football player who tackles people.

The Donovan highlights are on soccernet.com's US soccer page.

pinstripes are for baseball

"Without the benefit of comprehension, I assume that they are saying something relevant"

Yes, in large part, they follow the game closely with sufficient insight. Most of it is Donovan to Johnson, back to Dempsey . . with the color guys jumping in now and again. The best is to listen to Spanish radio . . . mileaminutedon'ttakeabreathinbetweensentencesfortthe durationofthematchGOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!

Guess I was the only one who thought the non-call on offsides was correct. Watching it a second and third time shows the left side defender running up the field a little late keeping EJ on. Then EJ just blows it. So sad.
Uni's OK.
Announcers OK.
Onyewu looked horrible on the first goal.
As for Landycakes, he has great games when he has no one marking him tightly. As soon as we get to an important match and he has someone up his butt he will disappear. No surprise.

In his post-game interview, Donovan said that one reason for his better play this year is that last year he "did things [he] isn't good at," and this year he is getting back to things he is good at: "being aggressive, going at people." What was it he was trying to do last year? Is he criticizing Arena for playing him in the midfield instead of at forward?

Delantaro: Gracias para la respuesta. Espero apprendir y hablar mas Español, pero no puedo escuchar rapido :-)

My favorite O'Brien-ism from yesterday's game was in the replay of Donovan's first goal. He said something like "Ecuador's #10 fails to clear, Donovan collects and scores! That's from one #10 to another, you don't see THAT very often!" Umm, okay.

Did anyone else catch Wynalda when he was discussing Ecuador and (I think) their prior coaches/systems. He mentioned Maturana and then said something like, "See, Ecuador and Colombia--people get them mixed up all the time." Ummm....yeah.

RE: Ecualombia
Waldo preceded that statement by mentioning the red, yellow, and blue kits worn by both countries. Soccer fans might confuse the two neighboring countries as they do the Herbalife logo and a cannabis leaf.

I can't believe I'm defending Whinealda, so let me hastily add that he did mention Valderrama somewhere in that sequence. So maybe he's been smokin' some Herbalife too.

Brian, You're a dumbass. I love Bob Bradley, but that doesn't change the fact that his move at RFK was wrong and was in fact cheating, if not by the letter of the rules. I was at that game and it was total BS. By the way.....I had totally forgotten about the incident until reading it here.

It seems to be the people like you that pull for teams without the success of D.C. United (and that is every other United States domsetic league team EVER) that need to bring up any little incident like that to make you feel better.

Come on over to our side....the 4 MLS championships along with the additional 6 domestic and international championships help make me feel great every day.

"but put him up against a U-13 Polish girls rec team and he'll freeze up"

--ahh, thanks for that, southeasterner.

Not just U-13 Polish girls, mind you, but a rec team . . .