Top 5 DCU Moments

[Lot 4 Glory Days]

Hey Everyone,

I've just moved to Chicago from DC. I had season tix since the second season, but I've only recently checked out this board. It's great for my DCU homesickness.

To start thinking about a great season upcoming, I thought I'd pose my top 5 DCU moments:

5) Signing of Moreno midway through season #1. You could actually trace this to the Bolivia v. US friendly at RFK when Jaime took it 60 yards, made Agoos look silly, and scored a goal for Bolivia.

4) Pope's Golden Goal v. LA in MLS Championship #1. The tradition begins! I could have gone with Sanneh's goal which swung momentum (how did he get that high?) or the tying goal (I forget who scored), but Eddie's header off of Etch's corner was a perfect finish and I'll never forget Harkes raising the trophy.

3) Moreno's Goal (90th minute) off of Arce pass to eliminate Metrosaps in the first round of season #1. Fans took the field at RFK with Drums!

2) Pope's Goal to beat Vasco in Florida. Once again, a nod goes to Tony for the first goal (how did he get a foot on that cross?), but Eddie salted away the Americas Club Championship. We beat the best team in South America! And I don't care if they were worn out from playing Man U in Japan.

1) Halftime at the opening game 2 years ago. In the halftime competition, my older sister dribbled the giant nestle milo balloons, put it through a little goal, and then placed the ball perfectly in the small cut-out in the top left corner of the real goal. Beautiful!

So there it is in all my biased glory. Honorable mention goes to MLS Championship Game #2 at RFK. 'Twas a great day, but everyone knew DC would win that one. It kinda hurts to think of Jaime and Eddie in New Jersey... Time for Bobby and Tino to make the next 5 great moments!

If any one wants to come to Chicago for a game, let me know. Naperville is horrible, but we can make some noise in that dinky stadium and drink plenty on the ride out!

[Jose L. Couso]

Memories! :)

ps-In the 1998 InterContinental Cup, Vasco de Gama lost to Real Madrid.

[Quiet Beast]

Originally posted by Lot 4 Glory Days
1) Halftime at the opening game 2 years ago. In the halftime competition, my older sister dribbled the giant nestle milo balloons, put it through a little goal, and then placed the ball perfectly in the small cut-out in the top left corner of the real goal. Beautiful!


Those are all great moments (I'd have to put Pope's golden goal in MLS cup 96 as my #1).

By the way, I have a can of Milo sitting in my kitchen.
It's the nastiest stuff, but I had to buy it since it's the "official chocolate fortified drink of MLS" and it has a picture of Diego Serna on it (wearing a Fusion jersey :)

[Cweedchop]

5. United's 2-0 win over Leon in a bloodbath of a match..



4. United winning MLS Cup 97' on their home field..



3. Pope's game winner vs. Toluca



2. Pope's game winner vs. Vasco De Gama



1. Pope's overtime header starts the dynasty

[CHICO13]

My 5....

5) The first Hispanic Heritage Night. Free beer and Nachos! (Too bad they were flying at the time)

4) The Halftime drum circle at every game,every time. They need to make halftime longer.

3) The First Annual Barra Brava/ Screaming Eagle dual tailgate. A new low in depravity. Hey Tommy, pass me a beer, would ya?

2) The appearance of The Beer Guy with the really cool can opener gizmo thingy. Crap beer in record time.

1) DE PLANE, DE PLANE (it was like watching 5 o'clock Charlie)

:D

[Detective40oz]

3. DCU comeback win with 2 goals in stoppage time in pouring rain with goals by Olsen and Moreno versus Chicago with the newly acquired Stoitchkov. Stoitchkov also took the most beautiful free kick that night right before the end of the first half..stunned the crowd.

2. A young Bobby Convey giving Newcastle fits and DC pulling out a 3-2 win in a season where DCU couldn't do anything right. Shutting up the large Newcastle contingent present that night. Finally giving us something to go wold over that season.

1. MLS Cup 97, nuff said!

[Z010 Union]

Originally posted by Lot 4 Glory Days
Hey Everyone,
I forget who scored
I believe it was #13 Shawn Medved as in Medved, Medved, Grape Ape, Grape Ape

5. Daughter getting to play vs the Mascots at halftime.
4. First Goal at RFK - Diaz Arce chips a wandering Campos
3. Me and 20 buddies coming to RFK for a bachelor party then Making Marcus Hanneman cry after giving up 4 or 5 goals then strategically positioning ourselves behind the Rapids bench and serenading him "Mar-cus, Mar-cus, Mar-cus YOU SUCK"
2. Game #3 v Metros 1996
1. MLS Cup 97

[GrillMaster]

Originally posted by CHICO13
My 5....

5) The first Hispanic Heritage Night. Free beer and Nachos! (Too bad they were flying at the time)

4) The Halftime drum circle at every game,every time. They need to make halftime longer.

3) The First Annual Barra Brava/ Screaming Eagle dual tailgate. A new low in depravity. Hey Tommy, pass me a beer, would ya?

2) The appearance of The Beer Guy with the really cool can opener gizmo thingy. Crap beer in record time.

1) DE PLANE, DE PLANE (it was like watching 5 o'clock Charlie)

:D Me eyes is all misty.

Somewhere in the top five, though, has to be the high-low involuntary introduction of Serna to RFK turf executed by Harkesy and Geoff Aunger in front of the Nest/Barra right after Flipper had dissed said fans. A foul was whistled but there was no yellow -- truly a marvelous piece of work, especially seeing the sphincter spitting out grass. Harkesy and Geoff pointed to the fans afterwards saying, in effect, that one was for you all. If you talk to either of them today, memories of that tackle will still bring a smile to their faces.

GM

[michael greene]

How about, in no particular order:

Gori stripping Hartmann (I think) from behind in the box and scoring into the empty net.

Fans running onto the field after first playoff series win (vs. NY/NJ?) in '96 and hanging from crossbar.

Watching a team so good that Steve Rammel was a terror. I think he had at one time the record for fastest goal in MLS history.

Hudson running down the sidelines to taunt Galaxy fans last year.

Winning the championship at home v. Colorado.

[dadman]

Originally posted by Quiet Beast
snip
By the way, I have a can of Milo sitting in my kitchen.
It's the nastiest stuff, but I had to buy it since it's the "official chocolate fortified drink of MLS" and it has a picture of Diego Serna on it (wearing a Fusion jersey :) Likewise, I picked up a can with El Diablo on it. Drank it all (my Scots heritage not letting me waste a nickel) and agree with the assessment of quality.

My 5:

#5 Home opener 1996 -- riding the Metro from Shady Grove and watching as the car filled with fans. Our family was psyched! (36,000 at RFK that day, I believe)

#4 Game three of the '96 playoffs against the Metros, when I sprinted down to the stadium and sat in the cheap seats. Electric.

#3 Home opener 2002 -- Took advantage of the City Paper's special and had tent food in the South end while the teams warmed up (Zack Thornton is a Large Man), then cheered as United came from behind to win.

#2 Game three against the Crew during the playoffs in '99 -- A Fun Time as United avenged a lopsided loss the game before to grind the Funny Yellow Team flat. Shouting to the travelling fan contingent in the upper deck: "You're not singing!!"

#1 MLS Cup 1997 -- With my young daughter in tow, wearing our slickers and screaming in the rain WAAAY up in the upper deck (with cataracts in the aisles) as Jaime put away the insurance goal against the Rapids. The crowd was buzzing with good spirits all the way into the Stadium/Armory station (and treated the soggy Rapids fans very well).

80 days to Home Opener 2003, folks. 80 LOONG days.

Oh, and welcome to the Boards, Lot 4. There's a thread around here somewhere re: Chicago-area fans getting together when DC come to Naperville. Link, anyone?

dadman

[subbuteo]

This is one of my top five moments along with the the trophies:

Etcheverry coming back from a long hiatus due to injury to hack down Mauricio Seehimdivos and promptly get ejected after a couple of minutes. He entered and left with a standing ovation.

[MikeLastort2]

Originally posted by subbuteo
This is one of my top five moments along with the the trophies:

Etcheverry coming back from a long hiatus due to injury to hack down Mauricio Seehimdivos and promptly get ejected after a couple of minutes. He entered and left with a standing ovation.

Really? That display by El Diablo sort of disgusted me. That was also what I sort of view as "the beginning of the end."

My favorite DCU moment was MLS Cup '97. I had been to a few games before, but never had season tickets. I watched games on tv a lot, and went to about 7 or 8 home games that year. Then my wife, brother-in-law and I decided to buy tickets for the final. Unfortunately, she got pneumonia right before that game, and couldn't come with us, so I sold her ticket to my Salvadoran next-door neighbor.

We went to the game, and were in section 234 or 235, behind the SEs and Barra Brava. We had a BLAST.

Heading down to Fort Lauderdale with about 20 other United fans was a great time too. I'll never forget that win over Vasco. When Eddie scored, I sort of blacked out for about 30 seconds. I still remember hardly being able to watch the rest of the game after we went up 2-1 on aggregate score.

[shawn12011]

5) Pope's Golden Goal v. LA in MLS Championship #1
4) Ben Olsen's Goal in 99 Title into Hartman's empty net
3) Game three of the '96 playoffs against the Metros as we vanquished the SCUM!!
2) The Plane..........we warned them but they did not listen
1) MLS Cup '97....." Cut by Vaudreil, onsides Tony Sanneh.....two mates with him....Sanneh......Diaz arce, behind him...Moreno,does he have a shot? Moreno.....GOAL"

[DC Forever]

Originally posted by dadman
Likewise, I picked up a can with El Diablo on it. Drank it all (my Scots heritage not letting me waste a nickel) and agree with the assessment of quality.

#2 Game three against the Crew during the playoffs in '99 -- A Fun Time as United avenged a lopsided loss the game before to grind the Funny Yellow Team flat. Shouting to the travelling fan contingent in the upper deck: "You're not singing!!"



That's the one I remember, too -- the place was packed, loud and raucus from start to finish, and the team (even Roy Lassiter) was perfect. When the final whistle blew, they immediately turned and ran toward the Barra/Nest section to share the party with the fans.

An especially sweet memory because it was, of course, the end of the beginning. It's kind of like those last blissful days at Pearl Harbor in early December -- viewed from the other side of the tragedy that followed, it looks even more beautiful that it seemed at the time.

[greatscott]

5. Our house... in the middle of DC!
4. World Cup showing in RFK
3. USA vs. El Salvador- good times in La Norte(singing in the rain!)
2. Didnt see the golden goal from pope but either way.
1. USA vs. Honduras - not DCU but none the less DC oriented...

[AEK]

Mario Gori's goal against LA in his first game back after tearing up his knee. He took the ball right off of Hartman's foot and punched it in. Classic scrappiness.

[Lanky134]

Originally posted by MikeLastort2
Really? That display by El Diablo sort of disgusted me. That was also what I sort of view as "the beginning of the end."
Agreed. And it wasn't Etch returning after an injury, subbuteo. It was the season opener of 2000. He had been listed as doubtful.

Originally posted by MikeLastort2
Heading down to Fort Lauderdale with about 20 other United fans was a great time too. I'll never forget that win over Vasco. When Eddie scored, I sort of blacked out for about 30 seconds. I still remember hardly being able to watch the rest of the game after we went up 2-1 on aggregate score.
I remember you turning around with this stunned look on your face, which must've been the same look that was on mine, followed by insane wordless verbalizations from all of us.

None of us saw the ball go in, just the team congratulating Eddie and heading back to the center. I remember starting up the "Bring on Real" boast/chant and a perfectly positioned Garlick making a save from a long-range shot late (just like he did in MLS Cup '97) and then I knew we had it.

[subbuteo]

well, if you hate the Galaxy and Cienfuegos like I do you would understand.

to each his own.

[GrillMaster]

Here is the celebration of the win over Columbus in 1999:
http://users.erols.com/tfaul/DCUThanx/DCU99Thanx.jpg

GM

[GrillMaster]

Originally posted by Lanky134
I remember you turning around with this stunned look on your face, which must've been the same look that was on mine, followed by insane wordless verbalizations from all of us.

None of us saw the ball go in, just the team congratulating Eddie and heading back to the center. I remember starting up the "Bring on Real" boast/chant and a perfectly positioned Garlick making a save from a long-range shot late (just like he did in MLS Cup '97) and then I knew we had it.

Here's the picture you took, Lanky, of Goose carrying the InterAmerican Cup off Lockhart pitch (with Harkesy in the background wearing the lid as a hat while doing a jig).

http://users.erols.com/tfaul/images/Soccer/goosecup.gif

GM