Well, if you don't know what rep is, can I have some of yours? After only 25 posts you appear to have more than me. Or if Dough Boy mugs Moreno in a dead ball situation. I took it to Chicago's boards and got some neg rep. Maybe that explains my rep issues...
Damn, I keep getting those two confused. Hey, I can't help it, it's my nature. I spend my life comforting the worried well, telling folks "no, I don't think that mole is cancer, it's just a mole", "no, everybody's back hurts, just not everyone complains about it", "no, it's just a cold, I don't think it needs an antibiotic". Conciliating just gets to be a habit after all. (Sorry, this isn't www.confessional.com either, is it?)
That's exactly right... Jaime is a real player, a player not afraid to attack, a player that makes D.C. United a winning enterprise! Fat and Ugly: Take a look at the four stars on each DCU player jersey; they didn't get there by chance... players like Jaime Moreno earned them! You last statement above is correct though: "Jaime Moreno...made himself" and made DCU the best team in the MLS. Who cares? What player Bolivia's National Team selects or wants or doesn't want really is unrelated to Moreno and DCU... Marco Etcheverry played for the Bolivian National Team while he was on DCU's squad; perhaps Jaime might play for them in the future. Who knows! It's irrelevant to Jaime's career at DCU... however, based on Bolivia's piss poor recent national performance, I wouldn't waste time worrying about it... You might wish to re-evaluate your assement on Jaime Moreno by watching a game; Jaime Moreno is D.C. United's most valuable asset.
Instead of asking DC supporters what we think of Jaime, ask one of the mulitude of defenders that have had their jock straps handed to them by Jaime Moreno and they will tell you how overrated he is. My favorite Jaime sign at RFK circa 1998: "This is Jaime Town." A not so veiled reference to Jesse Jackson's racial slur towards New York's jewish population.
Wow, I get into work this morning, and there are still people chiming in. I love it! <<Who cares? What player Bolivia's National Team selects or wants or doesn't want really is unrelated to Moreno and DCU...>> I agree that it's barely related to DCU, but it's certainly related to Moreno. If there were a Moreno board I would have asked it there. I grew up in Virginia and played many years of football in that area, so I naturally migrated towards DC United as a favorite team - anyone who writes reactionary posts thinking I'm trashing United needs to realize that. <<Who's your favorite player? Just curious....>> Tough question (also not very specific, but that actually gives me more room for response): Fave worldwide player: Thierry Henry. I can't stand Arsenal but I played football for many years, and a lot of those years as a central defender, and he's the player I'd least like to defend against. I'd knock Wayne Rooney on his arse, but Henry would blow by me most times. Fave worldwide defender: Toss up between Paolo Maldini and Rio Ferdinand Fave American player: Me (j/k). I don't know how anyone can argue to the contrary. Honestly. It's Brian McBride, hands down. Fave MLS player: Cobi Jones. Best player ever to play in the MLS. I hope that answers your question. <<clutching, grabbing, swearing and arguing with the ref are part and parcel of the modern game>> Just so you know, IFAB (FIFA's rule changing committee) have dissent on their itinerary for the Feb 2006 meeting. I guess the persistent swearing and dissenting towards the referee is getting out of control, and FIFA is expected to make it a mandatory caution beginning July 1, 2007. As for the clutching and grabbing, it sucks but if the ref doesn't see it, what can you do? When he does see it, oftentimes five or more players are doing it (like on corner kicks), so where does he begin? When I played for William and Mary, we simply smacked the player's hand away when they tried to grab us, and the refs let it go knowing that we were kind of doing his job for him. Our coach would bench us if if we ever tried the same crap. <<Instead of asking DC supporters what we think of Jaime, ask one of the mulitude of defenders that have had their jock straps handed to them by Jaime Moreno and they will tell you how overrated he is.>> Geez, no one ever said he was overrated. Where do some of you come up with this stuff? <<Jaime has never spat on anyone like some players have. Jaime has never needed to be restrained from attacking a fan like some players have.>> Gold star there <<the problem with your post is that you made it out like Jaime's behavior was atypical>> The POINT of my post was to see if it was atypical (of his play). I made no assumptions either way. I don't care if it's atypical of the Argentinian league, or any other league, for example. (from above) Just kidding about Cobi Jones - I just wanted to rile some people up. I wouldn't even want him on my kid's team, although he's the same height. I'm not sure I have an MLS fave, I'd have to think about it.
Oh, this is an easy one. Had to be Cle Kooiman. Made the team because he was fugly (er, not fat and ugly). I really can't see any other reason for him being on the field.
Other than making an all-name team with people like Digital Takiwiri, Dean Windass, Nicky Butt, Predrag Radosaljevic, and Eric Djemba-Djemba.
I'm just astonished to see these words in this order. Preki, Valderamma, Stoichkov, Nowak, Etcheverry, Donovan, and Beasley all pale in comparison?
<<I'm just astonished to see these words in this order. Preki, Valderamma, Stoichkov, Nowak, Etcheverry, Donovan, and Beasley all pale in comparison?>> Gotcha!
christ, and here i thought you were a first class idiot by trying to compare your stupid high school career to professional football in your first post but this is astoudningly stupid, even by BS standards.
And in all the games they've ever played they've never clutched, grabbed, tripped, dissented, etc, etc? Time for a reality check.....
<<christ, and here i thought you were a first class idiot by trying to compare your stupid high school career to professional football in your first post but this is astoudningly stupid, even by BS standards>> Thanks RedandBlack for the kind comments. I was doing the best I could to use my personal history as a reality check for people to remember what play level 16 year-olds should be at, and Freddy Adu has certainly surpassed that. Comparing his play to that of 25 year-olds is unrealistic. But thanks for making my "stupid" high school career sound meaningless. At the time I was honored to win the award for best male athlete of the area (over 30 high schools), knowing that a soccer player had never previously won.
congrats on the award by the way. This honor and 3.25 might get you a soy milk latte. And no, if your one experiance watching Moreno was of him spitting, diving, clutching, and swearing it wasn't a typical Jaime game.
<<And no, if your one experiance watching Moreno was of him spitting, diving, clutching, and swearing it wasn't a typical Jaime game.>> I didn't see any spitting, but seriously, thanks for the info. <<congrats on the award by the way. This honor and 3.25 might get you a soy milk latte>> Tough crowd! Trust me, all I was trying to do was put some perspective on Adu. No way would I have mentioned any of my accolades otherwise. The top high school players around the country would have a hard time matching Adu's success. I thought he looked great in the under-20 youth championships, but playing against 22-27 year olds makes him look just average. At 17, 18, or 19 I doubt I'll be able to say that, though. Great job on getting him on your squad!
seriously, jaime is class. and are you talking about this years under 20's? where Frederic missed 2 pks, had the first touch of an iron toad, and screamed at teamates?
Heavens, why were you wasting your talents on this side of the pond? Nice try. Here's a hint--you gotta pretend you were kidding before your asinine opinion gets called out.
<<and are you talking about this years under 20's? where Frederic missed 2 pks, had the first touch of an iron toad, and screamed at teamates?>> Yeah (sigh). Fox Soccer Channel wasn't too complimentary of his performance either, but I did see a lot of good things. I did see some really good first touches as well as some bad ones. On a personal note (may I, without getting attacked?), penalty kicks should be a gimme, like a free throw in basketball. Most of my teams practiced them regularly (I won't go into too much detail), and we welcomed extra time because we knew we'd win if it went to PK's. Freddy needs to work on them, and he still has time to do so. I won't attack him too much for missing those. But yelling at teammates? I didn't see that, and I'm disappointed to hear about it. Seriously. He still has some growing up to do, but I'm still in his corner. HOWEVER, I'd be pissed if he was included in the National team for anything other than a friendly.
From bigredfutbol (regarding my joke about Cobi): <<Nice try. Here's a hint--you gotta pretend you were kidding before your asinine opinion gets called out>> All I have to say to you is "duh." My joke about Cobi and my admission of same were from the same post. Try to keep up. I've never liked Cobi.