Goulet.

Glad to see we're on top of things.

For some reason, I will have to side with the DC Front Office. Those church leaders have no sort of ethos to believe them. They are bunch of BS'ers I have ever seen one. Now only if we could play some defense.

The wheat shall be separated from the chaff

Actually DC United Fan, most of the people who make comments on this blog are a bunch of BS'ers :-D

*rimshot*

Time to abandon the district. Welcome home, Northern Virginia United.

I very much doubt that MacFarlane got involved to develop Northern Virginia.

This looks like a tempest in a teapot, or like Goff has said, just the opening of the political maneuvering. The big stories have yet to come.

Oooh...team news...maybe a trade for a defender?

Northern Va. couldn't get a baseball stadium plan together, they ain't getting a footy stadium plan either. The Popular point project will come to the brink and then everything will be worked out at the last minute.

gimme a d!

Word from an "insider" claims this is all about money. Corrupt, dirty money. Apparently the head of the DCBCI was in a meeting with the front office of DCU and asked what DCU would do to get the support of the DCBCI. United obviously said how much they do for the youth in SE, how many hours the players volunteer with the kids, how they set up clinics, etc., etc. This apparently wasn't good enough for the Reverend, who was looking to line his pockets with some of the overwhelming *ahem* amount of money that DCU just throws around left and right. When DCU said he's crazy and they wouldn't pay him bribe money, he walked out of the meeting.

JUST what i heard.

When will Linda Cropp chime in so that she can get some publicity?

Northern Virginia? You think these guys are NIMBYS? You ain't seen nothing until you try to build a stadium in Northern Virginia.

If they were to build it in NoVa, it would never be close to a Metro, which IMHO would doom its success.

"When will Linda Cropp chime in so that she can get some publicity?"

:-) Soccer is low profile and Cropp lost her candidacy for mayor. Furthermore, the city's investment will come as tax incentives rather than up-front payments. So there really isn't much for her to comment on - doesn't mean that she won't.

When will Plotkin chime in?

I've got a bit of space in my back yard here in Alexandria. :) So I would be a YIMBY. I think we'd have to make the whole thing about 150 levels.

On a serious note, the fact that United ownership/managment is talking publicly about mid 2009 is significant in my book. If they weren't confident or close to something, they would be crazy to say mid-2009.

Actually, come to think of it, this letter may be a sign that things are moving forward in that the tone of the letter is a bit desperate.

Maybe I'm overthinking this, but maybe not?

Politics as usual. This doesn't change a thing. I would expect more of these shakedown attempts in the future.

As to NoVA, is that site in Pentagon City where they considered a Baseball stadium still available? That's metro accessible and MUCH nicer than anything you could ever get in Ward 8, and still very urban. It's closer to the larger Hispanic communities of Arlington, Alexandria, and Falls Church which would be a better location to draw loyal suport. That, and I wouldn't have to cross the 14th Street Bridge and sit in as much traffic. LOL

Build the stadium in Alexandria next to a metro station.... Who needs this sillyness (all you have to do to build something in Alexandria is to pay for the mayor's fact-finding trip to the Cayman Islands....)

Enough with the "suburban" crap. United's attendance will drop significantly if they move into MD or VA. Victor and Will didn't buy United to move the team out of the city. These hurdles are insignificant grand-standing by insignificant people. Although I think it's much more likely that the stadium isn't completed until the Fall of 09 or later, meaning United's first match in the new park will likely be in 2010.

""As to NoVA, is that site in Pentagon City where they considered a Baseball stadium still available?""

No, it's now a big strip mall and huge residential buildings. Crystal City, however would be a nice complement for an urban style stadium. It already has infrastructure and with the government vacating offices, it'd be easy to slap a stadium in there. But if you think the DCBI is tough, try North Virginians with cash, political know how and an attitude on their side.

Sadly, people think stadium and they think mammoth like Fedex, etc. The footprint of these soccer style stadiums can be kept very small. Half the time in the London style stadiums you can't even find the place until you stumble upon it.