Doing the Maths

The face paint and dipping dots on offer for the Sporting KC match meant no problems convincing the family to spend a Friday night welcoming Rodney Wallace back to RFK.  More face paint and more dipping dots allowed me to see number 22's game winner and Darlington Nagbe's goal.

Neither kid asked to leave.  Instead, after watching Pajoy sky a beautiful ball from DeRosario that had unlocked Portland's defense, I decided I was not having any fun.  I left the stadium angry, along with hundreds of other supporters.

One story supporters appear to be trying to convince themselves of now is that a cheap and apathetic front office has handcuffed the coaching staff.  As if it would matter if more high priced talent was sitting on the bench.  This is a team headed up by someone who is incapable of figuring out how to play the highest-paid player on the roster with Carlos Ruiz.  This is a team headed up by someone who would not play Branko Boskovic or Hamdi Salihi while perennially taking shots at the Rapid Vienna alums perceived fitness deficiencies.

But, sure, the front office sucks for not tossing more good money after bad.

With the Galaxy's 4-0 drubbing of the Sounders, the single table for the MLS looks like this:

Rankings	Team	Points
1	FC Dallas	27
2	Red Bulls	25
3	LA Galaxy	23
4	Montreal	23
5	Timbers	22
6	Sporting KC	22
7	Houston	21
8	Real Salt Lake	21
9	Colorado	19
10	Philadelphia	18
11	Columbus	16
12	New England	16
13	Seattle	15
14	San Jose	15
15	Vancouver	13
16	Chivas USA	11
17	Chicago	8
18	Toronto	7
19	DC United	5

And if you do the arithmetic for the MLS salaries published by the Major League Soccer Players Union through May 1st -- conceding that this listing doesn't reflect recent transactions -- it is true that at the highest levels, large team salaries correspond with the top of the table:

Rankings	Team	Salary
1	Red Bulls	$10,860,961
2	LA Galaxy	$9,685,263
3	Seattle	$5,958,812
4	Montreal	$5,452,074
5	Vancouver	$4,809,279
6	Toronto	$4,710,844
7	Chicago	$4,333,356
8	FC Dallas	$4,244,861
9	DC United	$3,906,064
10	Philadelphia	$3,832,575
11	Sporting KC	$3,783,882
12	Houston	$3,648,642
13	Real Salt Lake	$3,646,401
14	Columbus	$3,615,002
15	Timbers	$3,564,502
16	New England	$3,482,085
17	San Jose	$3,371,908
18	Colorado	$3,371,325
19	Chivas USA	$2,607,147

But it doesn't exactly dictate D.C. United's position in the league table.  If for some reason you support Chivas, you can complain.  But you'd still be rooting for a team that has twice as many points  as D.C. United, for a third less in salary.

Olsen's Army.

Good Time

Supporting D.C. United has descended into torpor.  With Ben Olsen as coach and three former Terrapins on the roster, I cannot bring myself to get that angry about the team.  And complaining more that I have already done ain't exactly cathartic.  But, this is depressing and going to matches isn't a priority, even if we've paid for a season of tickets.

Still, we went yesterday to watch the match with Sporting KC, driven largely by the opportunity to see Graham Zusi in person again.  Come for the Zusi, stay for a D.C. United starting lineup of Taylor Kemp, Casey Townsend, and Ethan White (18% Maryland!).

Sure, Kemp was bizarrely substituted out at halftime rather than placed at left back with Daniel Woolard making way for Chris Pontius.  And, sure, just as space started to open in Sporting's defense in the final third, Casey was replaced by Lionard Pajoy -- a substitution at the hour mark that preceded a Kansas City corner kick that inevitably led to a goal.  Whatever.  At least I got to see Taylor and Casey play in a real game.

More to the point, whatever.  Because what happens on the pitch is, at this point, secondary.  While the club continues to be killed for supposed failings in building a competitive roster (really?), the team's management builds an even better gameday experience in a ridiculous environment. 

We watched the first half at the VW Club.  Waiting in the club?  An excellent face-painter for children, wonderful staff, and a neat little contraption composed of an elevated treadmill with dribbling cones.  If I had problems getting the kids up for going to a United match before, that obstacle has been removed.

After Townsend was withdrawn from the field of play, we walked up to the Champions Club for the rest of the second half.  It was our first time up in the newly christened space and delivers exactly what was promised -- no lines for good food and alcohol, lots of kids running around, and nice perspective from behind the goal opposite the VW Club.

It is RFK.  The stadium is dire.  D.C. United could get away with just letting everything crumble around them.  They don't.  Instead, the club does what it can with the space.  The club hasn't given up and is not asking supporters to suck it up until the pipedream of a new stadium comes to fruition.   No one is going to give the club's administration kudos for putting lipstick on a pig.  That's wrong.  Ben Olsen's United may be unimaginative and plodding, but D.C. United itself has built a little wonderland that is remarkably kid-friendly.