Glad you made it back safely Goff. I'm still up after getting back home from Vegas.

Welcome to nightshift my journalist friend. Good luck rolling back to days. It can be a monster sometimes.

I vote for the Stanford Tree.

I vote for Rapid Man. Talon needs a shave

glad to have you back feeding us some news and the likes.

As for the mascot, surely not the green thing...

Thanks for posting so late Mr. Goff, I often check the Soccer Insider but its usually at a later time than most of the other steady readers of the blog so I'm generally posting on backdated articles.
enough about me, lets talk about football. I have a question that I hope can be answered:
Are any of the olympic qualifying matches going to be televised?

And I suppose I'll have vote for talon, although I choose to veto the need of a mascot at a game. Unless of course United started to do online cartoons of Talon getting into ridiculous situations.

Like the episode where Talon gets traded to the New York Red Bulls for a box of cheerios. So, Talon is living in New York city and having a time working as the red bulls mascot. Talon has to put on a silly costume of a red bull with wings. Seeings as how Talon is a bird he is able to fly. So when the goofy announcers at Giant's Stadium says "...and remember folks, Red Bull gives you wings!" Talon is supposed to fly up into the air like a flying bull. Eventually he realizes that New York is running him like a circus animal and tries he come back home to DC where he can be himself. An oversized, biped eagle cheerleader.

But really its not my say about mascots one way or another. That's up to the administration.

*...and he tries to come back...

Good call, Goffinho. RIP, Mr. Hamilton. Those who have followed have proven far too small of foot for your shoes....

Seriously, its like voting for which is the better of two crappy mascots. What is Gruston anyways? He looks like Oscar the Grouch. I have to go with Talon...

With all of the near-retirement players coming to MLS this year, they desperately need to add a team in Florida. Perhaps the Del Boca Vista Sunsets? Just make sure the game don't start later than 2 pm so that their fans can make it to dinner.

Hope you get some rest Goff!
I wish United a very best wish travelling to play agains HV and come back with a big win!!

Gunston definitely tips the scale in the "weird" direction... I go with Talon. Elsewhere, looks like the Crew are stocking up on elderly Argies to complement their young side - should be interesting to see how they finish (I'm betting low)...

Gotta go with Gunston actually. He was great during their Final Four run. Talon is cool and all, but isn't an eagle just a bit trite?

Joe- Please pass me some of what you are smoking

Thank you for the reminder of the passing of Doug Hamilton. I hope his wife and son have found some measure of peace since his too-early death.

Requiet in pacem

Minor Correction: Women's Algarve Final tomorrow is 9:15 a.m., not p.m.

Imitation is the certainly the greatest form of flattery, but if every other MLS team keeps copying United's strategy, we're going to have the world's biggest game of "my Argentine can beat up your Argentine!" (there's an idea for the MLS All-star weekend. A double header - the regular game, then an all-Argentine MLS team against River or Boca, sort of a mini-classico)

What "secret" corner of the world will United turn to next to keep a 5-year head start on every other front office in player recruiting?

Talon, for sure.

It's the pre-season, and we need you to focus on your diet. NO more chocolate overloads. We nag because we care.

Doug - you were a saint compared to those that followed in your footsteps. Every David Beckham utterance that flows from his mouth must make you turn in your grave.

Definetly Talon!!!

Gee, another defensive minded midfielder for the Crew- it's not like they have many of those on their roster or anything...

1. Goff has two pieces on E1 today, and blog post at 1:56 a.m.

2. WNT: Another huge change in this team comes across in the print reports -- calm under pressure -- facing one of the WWC quarterfinalists in a stiff wind, tied at the half, and playing with the wind for the 2d half -- would have been easy to rain long balls on Abby's head, but . . . .
Pia -- on what she told the team at halftime:
"Believe what we are doing. Believe in our roles going into (Olympic) qualification, and that means keep possession and relax a little bit. Even though Norway put on pressure in the midfield, I wanted (the U.S.) to continue to play through midfield. When you believe in something, you are also winning something."
Kate Markgraf (who got the armband when Rampone subbed out) on staying calm: "In the first half, we were pressured the hardest we've been pressured so far this year, and we were having a hard time solving it, yet I am really proud we stayed with the game plan and we didn't resort to long ball. We didn't resort to just trying to solve the pressure by kicking, we actually tried to find the feet and I think that's evident by how many goals we scored."
Does anyone rememnber what the sideline looked against Korea in WWC?

Gunston!

Who doesn't love a big ball of green fur?

No really, who doesn't? If you don't, you're not human.

R.I.P. to Doug Hamilton, best wishes to his family. I doubt Alexi Lalas will be remembered so fondly.

When Almeyda was (briefly) with the Argentine national team in his 20s, a few of my South American friends considered him a dirty hack. I never saw him play very much - anyone else have an opinion on him?

Thanks for the quotes WNT fan. I'm filled with hope about this team, this coach.

Nice to see "our" Steve get 2 front page articles in Sports.

Steve: did you carpool with Feinstein? When's his next book coming out?

BTW folks. It's conference tournament time for b-ball, spring training for the other b-ball, and the Post still puts Olympic men's soccer on the front page of sports. Think about that the next time you want to complain about the Post's lack of soccer coverage.

SG,

When are they picking the US squad for the Poland match on 3-26-08? Any insight on the roster?

E1? People still get the print edition?

E1? People still get the print edition?

Posted by: RK | March 11, 2008 09:33 AM
===================

I tried reading the on-line version in the bathroom. Not a good idea.

"In the early morning rain
With a dollar in my hand
And an aching in heart
And a pocket full of sand."

Thanks for working so hard for us, Steve.

Talon wins, hands down. Yes an eagle may be "trite", but we have one on our shield and we are in our Nation's capital. It fits.

Gunston fits on Sesame Street with his best friend Snuffleuppagus.

Talon, because I don't know what a Gunston is.

Yep, read the "print edition", a/k/a as a newsPAPER every day . . . . too bad I don't still have any Gordon Lightfoot LPs or a turntable any longer though . . . . .

I read the WP print edition at lunch. I use it to catch my spills instead of a keyboard.

Gunston, because he looks like Oscar the Grouch's big brother.

I agree with all your points, WNT, but let's not forget that two of the goals were utter gifts, destined for blooper video compilations. That Norway had to win the match to advance while we only needed a tie is the more important reason why the score was so lopsided. After that first freak goal, Norway needed to score twice and consequently had to gamble.

Again, your point that the USWNT's tactics are far better now is clear. They looked great with their overlapping runs and movement into space.

Thanks for the late update SG.

RIP Doug Hamilton.

Job well done and good luck WNT. Good luck U-23s.

And finally, I salute you, oh long and frustrating offseason, with this colossal middle finger. You have frustrated me beyond measure while whetting my enormouse appetite for some MLS ball. I celebrate your inevitable end with some serious U-23 ball tonight followed by the opening of serious cometition for my beloved United tomorrow (VAMOS UNITED) and the hits will just keep rolloing from here on out. Yeah [offseason] we will tangle rears again later on this year, but hopefully my United are playing in December to cut you short. So for now (raises 1 finger salute)I bid you adieu.

VAMOS UNITED

FIRST MATCH TOMORROW!

First, I go with Talon, but how original are the marketing people on Washington sports teams that their mascots are variations of the same animal (Screech for the Nats and Slapshot for the Caps)?

Second, I haven't seen the WNT play since Pia became their coach, but it is good that they are no longer dependent on Abby and Lil for most of their goals. (I know, they cannot be dependent on Lil for the next 9 months or so.) I look forward to seeing Abby challenge Mia's goal scoring record, but I also look forward to the WNT playing good team soccer and producing more stars.

I'm torn, I'm a huge United fan..but damn Gunston is just awesome.

Steve, where did you get that Almeyda was playing in Norway?! I know personally that the only thing he was doing was playing Showball with Maradona (it is like indoor soccer with ex-soccer players).
Although he would have been a great player to take up a few years back, my question is, does he still have the rhythm... being a player that has only played pick up matches?

uhh, did someone say nightshift? I'm in!

Conditions at RFK on the 18th, 60 for a high with chance of showers.

"Talon, because I don't know what a Gunston is."

Gunston Hall is over off Rt 1 a mile or two from Mt. Vernon. It was the home of George Mason, author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights -- the predecessor to the Bill of Rights. Mason and Patrick Henry were anti-Federalists who demanded that our Constitution be Amended to explicitly safeguard our inalienable freedoms. The world is undoubtedly indebted for his prescience in defending individual liberties.

As a former school mascot, it's always nice to see the mascots get their props. That said, I'm not sure one belongs on the soccer pitch.

On the other hand, if it helps bring in and entertain more kids, it doesn't hurt - as long as there's no cheerleaders and music/crowd noise piped in artificially. DCU's always gotten that right.

So, Gunston's the vote for me. Better suit, more flexible, more you can do in character. Talon's head never looked that stable - I've always wondered when his noggin' was going to come tumbling off. (As an opposing mascot, I would have done everything in my power to take it down.)

And, an echo of rememberance for Doug Hamilton. Peace for his family today and tomorrow....

Glad to see Gunston isn't just a hot button issue on the Mason forums.

Goff, thanks again for your excellent coverage of Mason basketball. I know United and SI keep you busy but you do an excellent job on the hoops side.

Here's to hoping you've got a few more weeks of coverage for George Mason this year!!

Talon -- but not too close on a hot August night.

RE: Talon or Gunston. Albert would eat them both in one chomp - and, he's Heather Mitt's favorite mascot.

Talon, by a head. BTW, my wife, who doesn't attend that many DC United games, thought his name was "Beaky!"

I tried reading the on-line version in the bathroom. Not a good idea.

Posted by: I-270, Exit 1 | March 11, 2008 09:39 AM

That's what laptops are for!

Gunston.

So here we are, a day away from the first game of the year...I'm getting excited. For some reason, it took longer to catch up to me this year - busier at work, with the rest of life, I don't know, but at last that slightly-giddy-full-of-optimism feeling is here. Welcome, old friend.

Talon, but was much closer because of that weird hippie behind him!

Guston looks like a Grover/Cookie Monster morph......on "roids".

Gotta go with Talon over Gunston. Our founding father George Mason was an important person but I doubt he looked like a giant green Muppet.

Talon is at least a cartoon version of a bald eagle. And bald eagles can occasionally be seen over the Anacostia and Potomac. I believe some are hatched just upstream from RFK at the Arboretum.

I saw an actual bald eagle fly overhead from inside RFK during the big-screen live morning showing of the US-Germany World Cup game from Korea in 2002. I thought it had to be a good omen but Ballack and Frings had other ideas.

It's all about Gunston

1) He lets hot co-eds shave his back outside of the Johnson Center every wednesday at 3

2) He's got his own youtube account and drops some knowledge on NCAA mascots. Search "Gunston goes off"

3) Mascots and college hoops go hand in hand. Mascots and soccer/futbol/football......not so much

Damn, Mason has hot coeds? I know I shouldn't have gone to school in Massachusetts.

Can't wait for the season to kick off tomorrow. Only way it would be better would be if I was getting on a plane tonight to visit friends in Kingston and then going to the game.

C'mon everyone knows that I'm a much better mascot than that Oscar the Grouch looking dude.

OT, but there is something in the history of Landon Donovan's US MNT goals site for the lovers and the haters and everyone in between:

http://www.ussoccer.com/articles/viewArticle.jsp_5505026.html

Get it right folks. Gunston looks like a green Elmo, not Oscar, Grover, Cookie Monster, or Jim Curtin.

"Gunston looks like a green Elmo"

LOL. You must be a quiet-sider.

Talon

I just stumbled upon this and hadn't heard this - MLS changed the playoff qualification again this year. Instead of top two in each conference and 4 wildcards, it's now top 3 in each and 2 wildcards.
http://web.mlsnet.com/about/league.jsp?section=regulations&content=playoffs

"You can't jump a jet plane like you can a freight train." No truer words were ever spoken.

"Yeah [offseason] we will tangle rears again later on this year,"
Posted by: Kosh | March 11, 2008 10:13 AM
-------------------------------------------
In the future, please keep these problems private between yourself and your proctologist. Thank you for your A$$-istance in this matter.
;-)

I'm going to go with Gunston