a) thanx for the memories 2) I loves me a 69th minute goal iii) forgot how beautiful that Etcheverry goal was [spoiler alert ] D) no need to post Game 2, that game never happened; enjoy your xmas day instead
Here's leg 3! Final showdown between the Crew and DC with an MLS CUP appearance on the line. Next week: The Tampa Bay Mutiny's last ever game! I have quite a few old Crew vs. DC games, will be posting them sporadically over the next few months
This weekend also marks 20 years since the Miami Fusion was folded. Here's their first game ever (And also Ben Olsen's first game ever!) available on Youtube in full for the first time.
I remember how in their last season, in a playoff game against them, Richie Williams got in El Pibe’s hip pocket and denied him any space at all. The Ankle-Biting Midget Of Death knew just how to mark a playmaker out of a game. Made me so proud.
yeah, back in, what, 1999, I was bit upset to have him on our team - until someone pointed out we had D Sonora on our team, not D Serna! D'oh!
This week's classic MLS upload is a midseason match from 2000 between The Columbus Crew and DC United! Enjoy
Its not video, but here is a written recounting of another Cowlumbus v DCU game from July 1997 - the story starts at page 159. The writing is pretty darn good (gotta love the first sentence for the diary: "The Crew arrived in Washington for the matchup with the best club in MLS" - and it just gets better from there!) and its especially fun to get reacquainted with a bunch of long lost names: Maessner, Iroha, Garlick, Wegerle, Kellerman.... Addicted to Black & Gold: One Fan's Year with His Club and the World's Most ... - Chris Gallutia - Google Books I found this quite fortuitously: the Athletic has an article on goals per game; one commenter asked about comparison with MLS so I started looking for data as well as a source for a story I remembered from VERY early on about Etch having some choice comments about MLS using a larger goal than the most common international size because the league was concerned American "fans" would not be enthusiastic of the low scoring in soccer....
Here's a terrific late-season game between the Crew and DC united from 1998. Featuring Stern John, Brian McBride, Jaime Moreno and Roy Lassiter! Video it fuzzy, but here it is:
I do believe that was the game I met the Venezuelan twins.... one of the announcers (Seamus?) with his flat affect reminds me a bit of the late Norm MacDonald.... funny to hear the comment "Gori, long balls not one of his strengths..." Posting of these videos reminds me of something I wish they would have done at EagleBank Arena East (maybe do? eh, not holding any breath) is something similar to what Toluca has in their stadium in Mexico - a Hall of Fame that has a library, cafe/bar, huge display of all their hardware and tons of memorabilia from international games (but see note below) and a very cool ATM-like kiosk system in which you can pull up video of almost every game they ever played. You can search by date, team, player, etc. * For a team over 100 years old, as you might imagine, their hardware cabinets are arranged in aisles - they take up probably over 80 feet in length. And they have a banner from every international team played (including NASL teams such as the Sting, Clash, and many more) and every Winner and Runner-Up trophy and even 3rd place "trophies" from every competition they have been in. But when I was last there (around 2010) there was one runner-up trophy they did not have on display - and no opponent banner either - the 1998 Concacaf Champions Cup. Too embarrassing I suppose. I am curious to see if it is displayed now.....
That's too much to ask from this ownership group. They're too busy 'staying in their own lane, trying to spoil us.'
I gave up on my hopes for the Marco Antonio Etcheverry DC United Museum years ago. Did DCU ever find the trophy that was lost on the move to Audi Field?