Nicely put, Dave. I was in Comeblowus the previous game and I was ready for some serious payback. Whatta night! That's the night of my avatar, btw. GM
Also, wasn't that the game where it just seemed like everyone showed up? No hype, no marketing, just fans. Sachin
Thanks, GM. To this day, I can't hear "Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life" without thinking of that trip... I asked Doug to use that picture instead of the one of Marco. I guess he couldn't find it or maybe, because it's portrait instead of landscape, it didn't fit as well on the page.
Great article, Dave, and great memories. This was the day my stinkin' brother decided to get married in San Francisco. Lisa had agreed to call me when we scored. I had to turn off my phone when it rang for the second time because I couldn't explain why I jumped while I was ushering some nice lady to her pew. I remember singing at the wedding, all the while thinking "There must be some way outta here! I could be back after I see the halftime highlights!"
I was in Cowlumbus for game 2 and the only thought that ran through my head for game 3 was - it couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of guys. The yellow team thought they could slug-fest their way to an MLS Cup...DC United had other ideas... It also doesn't get much more of a smackdown than hearing Roy Lassiter scoring on a bicycle kick and the other team didn't get a shot on goal until the 89th minute... Comprehensive thrashing...
In doing my research for the game, I found the following. 1998: Game Three Attendance - 21,453 1999: Game Three Attendance - 21,451 Now everybody knows who the two missing people were...
Monumental night. Sachin is right, folks just showed up on like three days' notice with basically no advertising. This was back when the season lasted to around Turkey day, so the air was nippy. It had a different feel than almost any other MLS game that I've been too. The stands were pretty well filled before kick off. The energy and sound from the supporters was very surprising, when normally we'd all be thinking "when's the barra gonna show up?" All the supporters were there loud, all decked out in black. What a sight. Turning around from section 134 to see a great horde of black shirts and coats all packed in gave the place the unique feel. This was a night that justified a scarf. The entire side was standing and who wouldn't? The team and the stadium had an energy from the opening whistle that is just hard express without a cliche. I recall after a near miss in the opening minutes that Marco turned to the supporters and basically gestured, "fvck yeah, that's what I'm talking about!" There was a scent of Crew blood in the air. As Dave described so well, the game was a route. A prideful spanking. I recall that the Crew supporters were insanely cocky coming into the game. A large group of them had sat in the upper deck, way more fans they have had in their supporter's section ever since. A few days after the match a DC fan wrote something to the effect of, "hey good on you for coming, hope you weren't too upset," and a classy crew fan replied, "well it sucked, but the atmosphere at the game was awe inspiring." The whole place was rocking for the vast majority of the second half. Shaking the fans in the upper deck. Good times. Tim
The three days notice game was in 1998. The playoff schedule was changed in 1999 because we wound up with only three days before MLS Cup. Fire fans gave us an "Oh, well" about that, but then, two years later, they knew how we felt when, a few days before MLS Cup 2000, almost half of their starting XI was used in the WCQ against Costa Rica. But, in 1999, they gave a week between Game Three and MLS Cup. But yeah, that was the only time there was a sizeable group of Crew fans at RFK. The near miss was a corner, from right underneath the Crew fans, that Llamosa rammed just wide off the back post in the second minute. I wound up watching this game something like five times before I could write about it because I got so caught up in everything. An absolutely unbelieveable night.
I was sitting behind the goal when Lassiter hit his mini-bike. You could really see it coming as he worked his way around it and the anticipation was just excellent. Dead on that the place just went to pieces after that one. Conference Championships are really something special at RFK.
I was at that game also. I think it was one of the most dominant performances in MLS history. It was nearly a perfect game. A free kick goal, a bicycle, and I believe a nice give and go in the box between Etch and Moreno.
This is OUR HOUSE. When I say, "Whose house?" Y'all know what time it is... Whose house? Diablo's House! Whose house? Diablo's house!
When you mentioned you had a story about Etcheverry's greatest game in the "top players in MLS history thread" yesterday, I kinda figured it would be this one. Etch played like a man on fire. That was one of the most incredible displays of individual soccer skills I've ever seen.
Ditto. That bus trip home was a real drag until GM started getting us happy again with that. Was that the one where we broke down somewhere in Western Maryland and Bruce got stuck in the bathroom for about the last 45 minutes of the trip?
That 1999 team gave me a lot of wonderful memories in what was a tough year for me. Thanks Dave. Well done as always. Damn, I really enjoyed reading that.
I saw on this game on TV (I still have the tape around here somewhere) and have three great memories: - Jaime Moreno's quick glance over to Roy Lassiter just before the ball dropped to him so he could make the perfect pass for Roy's bicycle kick. In that moment, everybody watching, whether on TV, in the stands, or on the pitch, knew what was about to happen. - Roy nodding down Marco's breakaway pass with the side of his head and with a touch of the outside of his boot, slipping past the Cbus gk. Air Lassiter then lifted off as Roy flew to the corner flag arms outstretched (back-cover ad of that year's MLS Year in Review was of a Lassiter celebration with the caption: Pepsi, the inflight drink of all Roy Lassiter's flights). - And the best memory of all: after the fourth goal, they showed four people standing on the sidelines: the new commissioner Don Garber, expressionless as the Sphinx, Lamar Hunt and his wife, showing dignity despite their likely disappointment, and a half-step back, Kevin Payne with a small wry smile that spoke volumes. And nothing, but nothing, was louder though than the voice of 21,000 strong singing as one those five syllables we cherish and flaunt: "D-C-U-ni-ted". I can still hear it in my mind fresh with the pride and certainty with which it has always been sung.