I don't think anyone has ever said that #6 (Harkes, Cooks, Alavanja) has been retired. I think the whole idea of the banner with the player's name is a way to honor a player without removing his number from circulation. Hopefully there'll be a similar function for Marco. Maybe a friendly against a Bolivian team, and they can put Marco's name on the banner with Harksie's.
I object to retiring the #10. The best reasons for retiring it are those that Allan Quatermain noted above: it honors Etcheverry and it removes the pressure that the number 10 incurs. Both of these are certainly defensible in certain respects but retiring the number is shortsighted. Doing so fails to take into account the long term future of this team. The number 10 cannot be retired precisely because it does incur a ridiculous amount of pressure. Perhaps nobody on the team right now can wear the number and stand shoulder to shoulder with Etcheverry when he was at his peak. But who is to say that in 10 or 20 years MLS and US soccer won't have grown so substantially that someone else won't come along that'll make Etcheverry look amateur in comparison. And why shouldn't such a person have the opportunity to wear the 10 shirt? If we retire the 10 then we've essentially said that nobody who ever plays for DC United in the future will be able to stand as Etcheverry's equal let alone that anybody will ever exceed Etcheverry's stature. That's a shortsighted position to hold. It's also an insult to what DC United might become in time and an insult to every DC United player to come who might actually merit the shirt. I prefer to think that DC United's best days are yet to come, that its best players are not yet on the team - that they perhaps haven't even been born yet. I look forward to seeing those players who shoulder the responsibility of the 10 shirt. Hopefully it will be a line that will make us - and Etcheverry - proud. All that said, if we're gonna retire any number please let it be 11. There's some seriously bad mojo with that shirt.
The number isn't retired because there are so few available. What you might see is a temporary moratorium on the number - which regardless of the number any player who made an impact should be given that respect (Pope, Harkes, Etch). Around 3 years suits my tastes. Hopefully some more players will come in and make their legacy with the club. The only other sacred number for me would be 14.
Why? I question it because he hasn't warranted the right to wear it. He has done extremly well with youth teams, but to be given the #10 for any team means the player needs to be proven in a league made up of men. There is a process for everything.
Who the hell told you that? Nowak's been honored as the only curent member to "The Ring of Fire," which may be what you are referring to, but #10 has not been retired.
Oh, my mistake. Yes, that was what I was referring to. As to Harkes, I thought that, since Dema switched to #21 after the testimonial match against Spurs that #6 was retired.
Terps basketball does this. The number 25 is up in the rafters for two different players and there is a current player wearing it.
This is the sensible approach, although I think one season is enough. It's what happened with Agoos' #12.
Who gets what number? Stoichkov and Etch out, Adu in. Will we need a scorecard for every game next year? Who deserves the 10? Will Convey take a really low number knowing he may have to discard it in mid-season? Will the marketing of Adu-Mania be peaked with his assigning of the 10 jersey? Does Earnie want his USMNT number back? Vote for who is likely to wear what number in 2004!
Despite great traditions, numbers have never been retired by: NASCAR Syracuse men's lacrosse Oakland Raiders Harvard ice hockey Maryland women's lacrosse Brazil men's soccer U.S. men's basketball
As I said earlier in this thread I don't like the idea of retiring numbers. But a one year moratorium wouldn't be a bad idea in cases like Etcheverry's. In addition, I prefer to have players’ numbers as constant as possible. Otherwise I get confused. Current Roster :: Players in italics are presumed gone. 1 Warren, Doug 2 Stokes, David 3 Ivanov, Galin 4 Prideaux, Brandon 5 Reyes, Milton 6 7 Nelsen, Ryan 8 Stoitchkov, Hristo 9 Stewart, Earnie 10 Etcheverry, Marco :: One year moratorium, then Convey gets the 10 dependant on performance 11 Eskandarian, Alecko :: 8 12 Petke, Mike 13 Alegria, Jose 14 Olsen, Ben 15 Convey, Bobby 16 Carroll, Brian 17 18 Rimando, Nick 19 Barclay, Devin 20 Quintanilla, Eliseo 21 Kovalenko, Dema :: 6 :: He wore 6 until the Harkes testimonial 22 23 24 Perea, Trevor 25 Quaranta, Santino 26 Namoff, Bryan 27 Cerritos, Ronald :: Anything lower 28 Baumstark, Clint 29 Martins, Thiago :: Anything lower New Players Adu, Freddy :: 11 :: His usual number. And if anyone can break the #11 curse it’s Freddy.
I completely agree. This league is not even 10 years old yet. I can understand holding off on assigning #'s for a while (like Harkesie's 6) as an homage, but retiring it? Imagine MLS broadcasts 50 years from now..."Now entering the field wearing Pi..."
The #10 is not defined by one man but by several who filled that jersey. Pele, Maradona, and Matthaus are the obvious ones and the list can go on from there. Every team in the world, Pro, National, collegiate, and amateur has their "10". Tab Ramos for the USMNT and so on. FIFA's numbering laws exist so you don't get ridiculous jersey numbers like the "00" that you see some keepers wear in NCAA.
Agree, even though my choice wasn't up there. Stewart- 8 Adu- 9 Convey- 15 Eski- 11 or gone ..... Mod's Note :: Just closing this thread because it keeps getting bumped and 1) there are other, better thread for all the issues that prompt that bumping, namely the Etch #10 question and 2) it's out of date now that we know Adu's number. If you want to start this up again then start a new thread ... hopefully without a poll. Closed.