Stop two on the Rimando Express. Bedlam was next.
As I was striding down East Capitol Street late on Saturday night with a spring in my step and a broad grin on my face, I thought to myself, "So this is what it's like to be a Yankees fan."
You know what I'm talking about: that cocksure attitude that those guys demonstrate when they know their team is going to win. There's no panic in their faces, no concern. Just wait a few innings and Jeter or some other no-name (Dent, Doyle, Boyer, take your pick) is going to come through and we'll go home winners.
Which is exactly how I felt all night long standing in Section 132 at RFK Stadium as the second scoreless overtime period expired in the MLS Eastern Conference Final match between D.C. United and the New England Revolution.
What I had witnessed in the previous 120 plus minutes of Soccer was not your typical match. Only a few minutes in, I turned to my friend Kris, a member of the United supporters club the Screaming Eagles, and said, "Both teams are playing half a gear faster than usual," and he nodded back emphatically.
It was the home side that struck first, as veteran midfielder Ben Olsen picked off a sloppy pass, and found striker Alecko Eskandarian streaking in all alone on the left flank. Only a few moments later he unleashed a left-footed strike that eluded the outstretched hands of Revs goalie Matt Reis that caromed in off the far post and gave D.C. a 1-0 lead.
But the Revs, who only qualified for the playoffs after winning their final match of the season, weren't about to give up -- especially when they had a weakness to exploit. Thanks to an accumulation of Yellow Cards, two of United's key players, midfielder Dema Kovalenko and defender Ryan Nelsen had to sit out the match.
But while Josh Gros filled in superbly for Kovalenko, man mountain Ezra Hendrickson had a tougher time filling Nelsen's shoes -- something the Revs took advantage of when Maryland grad Taylor Twellman slid in behind Hendrickson and volleyed a shot past D.C.'s Nick Rimando that quieted the crowd.
The teams traded two more scores before the end of the half (a cannon shot by Jamie Moreno and a PK goal by Steve Ralston), with the teams continuing to sprint the length of the field for the balance of the half.
Folks who aren't terribly well acquainted with Soccer often complain that the game is slow and boring, but the first half on Saturday night was an object lesson in how exciting the game could be.
But that wasn't all, as the teams seemed determined to play their most physical match of the season. The refs handed out six yellow cards in regulation, and they could have handed out a lot more -- if anything, on more than a few occasions, it seemed as if the three-man crew headed by Terry Vaughn couldn't decide whether they wanted to let the two teams play, or try to enforce some order on a match that at times seemed about to spin out of control.
The teams traded scores again in the second half, with United taking a brief lead on a brilliant header by mid-season pickup Christian Gomez; and then, with only five minutes left before the end of the game, New England's Pat Noonan out-jumped Rimando and got his head on the equalizer.
What followed next were two 15 minute periods of sheer agony, as better than 21,000 fans watched knowing that the next goal would end it all. And though both sides had multiple chances, neither could bury the game winner.
Which brought us to penalty kicks, and a proclamation from Kit, an old college friend and a former teammate back when I was a goalie, that "We might as well end a football game with a field goal kicking contest."
That's certainly an argument I'm familiar with here at Off Wing, and in theory, I can understand why folks would feel that way. But after living through my second penalty kick shootout (I was the goalie for the first one, but that's a story for another day), I have to say that it's simply the most tension-wracked and entertaining way to end a sporting event that I've ever seen.
But as D.C.'s Ben Olsen lined up for the first kick, I could feel a sort of calm descending. Granted, it only seemed to be descending on me, but I simply couldn't shake the feeling there was no way United could lose.
Out of all the teams in the Washington area, United is really the only one that I've embraced wholly and without regrets. Though I've lived here 19 years, I simply can't shake the loyalties of childhood, something that will be in clear evidence next year when the Mets visit Washington to play the Nationals.
While I followed the New York Cosmos as a child, I never made the trek to the Meadowlands to see them play. And it certainly didn't help that they disappeared, along with the rest of the North American Soccer League, back in the early 1980s.
But the story with United is different. Back in 1994, I was completely hooked by the World Cup, and even started playing pick-up Soccer with friends on the lawn in front of the National Cancer Institute at NIH on weekdays after work. Two years later, when United came to town, they were my team, and my loyalty was cemented by the squad's early success.
I sat through a swirling rainstorm to watch MLS Cup '97 at RFK when D.C. took their second championship at the expense of the Colorado Rapids. I sat in a bar the next year when the refs robbed them and gave the title to Chicago at the LA Coliseum. And in 1999, I made the trek to Foxboro to see United dispose of the LA Galaxy for their third title in four appearances.
The record since then has been less than stellar, as the transition from the players who delivered those first three titles to a new generation didn't unfold as smoothly as planned (remember when Chris Albright was the future, United fans?).
But down the stretch this year, the team finally seemed to hit it's stride under first year coach Peter Nowak (ironically, a man who helped stop United in MLS Cup '98), storming into the playoffs with the second seed, and then disposing of the arch-rival MetroStars (well, at least in the minds of their fans) in fast fashion. If anything, it seemed a lot like the team's inaugural season back in 1996, when a team that was expected to dominate the league played less than inspiring Soccer during the regular season, only to spring to life in the playoffs and take the title.
Which is why when this unfolded, I was hardly surprised. My only regret is that I can't make to to LA next week to see them win Cup number four.
MLS Cup here we come! Right back where we started from. '96, '97 and ninety-nine. We'll win a new one. It will be so sublime! So...MLS Cup here we come....
UPDATE: What's it like to try to stop a PK? Click here to find out. Thanks to S. Eric McErlain of Floral Park, NY, better known as "Dad", for the link.
Great game, wasn’t it?
Revs coach Steve Nicol was asked afterwards if he thought penalty kicks were a fair way to determine the winner. He said yes, that it would be better than playing on and on until “the last man standing scores a goal.” (Picture a Liverpool accent, which somehow makes it more colorful.)
Even the cynics in the press box were amazed by this one. Not textbook defending — the Revs blundered terribly by leaving half the goal open for Moreno — but undeniably exciting.
But geez, Eric, didya have to mention Chris Albright? When he was with United, I always thought he was some sort of kinetic energy experiment. He ran around very fast, the ball moved around, and the two occasionally collided with unpredictable results.
I can make it to Carson next week for the final. Maybe I should make the road trip and take a few photos.
I just got my tickets for Sunday too, will try to post pics as well.