Farewell #14

You will be missed!

Good Reads

Hello world. A soggy morning in Medford. Reminds me a bit of being out near Seward, Alaska where the air stuck heavy with fog. Here are a few articles to get your day started.

>>A Death in Texas. Tom Barry gives a compelling portrait of America's immigration policies focusing on the detention of illegals, privately run prisons, and the declining towns of West Texas.

>>The Loin in Winter. I'd never really considered Hugh Hefner's contributions to American culture, but, in his twilight years, he seems to be giving his legacy some consideration. Can't blame the man for wanting to be known for something more than bunny ears.

>>United Needs a Win. DC United's fighting for their playoff lives tonight. I can't watch the game, but send happy thoughts their way. And curses to Toronto, New England, and Dallas. Also, everyone's favorite soccer writer Steve Goff is off this weekend attending his son's Bar Mitzvah. Mazel Tov!

DC: The New Paris?

I took this photo on a gorgeous, early April day in Paris last spring. In it, you see the Seine straddling Ile de la Cité and Notre Dame Cathedral, some trees just beginning to show their colors, others still barren after a cold winter.

Now, take a look at these proposed plans to remake Washington, D.C. with Paris and the Seine as a model. What a brilliant idea! Most of Washington is concentrated on the north bank of the Anacostia. Poplar Point, that undeveloped patch of grassland on the south bank, remains ripe for development and what better way to bridge the two sides of the city than by narrowing the river itself and constructing numerous bridges across (and maybe a DC United stadium to boot).













For my money, there's no better way to link the two sides of the Anacostia so often divided by race, class, and income than by shifting the focal point of the city south towards the river.

(design plans via Greater Greater Washington)

Long Time No See

It has been quite awhile since I last posted and, as my senior year at Tufts looms large, I feel the need to get writing again. Where else can I rant about the decline of Mad Men and the pomo image crisis in Twilight?

But to get started I am going to forget about all that and write about soccer. I'm headed back to school this weekend and will miss DC United go for its 13th major title on September 2nd at RFK when they take on Seattle Sounders FC for the US Open Cup Title. The US Open Cup is the oldest major sports tournament in the United States (older than the World Series, the Super Bowl, etc.) Any team can enter from amateur clubs to professional clubs, providing lots of drama. Several amateur clubs knocked off MLS teams (fielding reserve squads) in the earlier stages of the tournament. For fans of English footy, it is the US equivalent to the FA Cup and, for soccer fans, it is a big deal.

If you are in town, go to the game! Tickets are cheap and beers are going for $2. Tailgate with the Barra and jump up and down ans sing until the stands shake and you sound like a hyena.

But, don't listen to me. Take it from Ryan Zimmerman.

Quiet You

We've had more than our fair share of rain this past week and with the sun out and setting I sat down at a café this afternoon with book and coffee and what I thought would be quiet. I can always tune out the French being spoken around me into a hovering white noise, all coming in without conscious thought and going back out devoid of meaning. But an Englishman and an American, these two gossiping academics of the ancien regime couldn't keep their mouths shut about their lives or their colleagues and the burdens of teaching such ungrateful undergraduates. I wish them luck with the Versailles Conference approaching in July and, yes, Mr. American you truly are a first-class gentleman for not writing a scathing review of your colleague's new book (just as honorable to bash her behind her back, right?).

Actually I'm sure they are relatively nice people and I've made them into straw men for a reason. I've probably been just as loud at other cafés and have probably annoyed other quiet Americans who just want to sit over a café crème in peace. But now I'm afraid to go home where all around me there will be conversations that I will unconsciously comprehend. Drawn into lives and stories I don't want to hear.

That is over. Sorry for being all negative. I'm burnt out from working and really wanted to sit in that café and read The Beautiful and the Damned that my friend had just lent me. Otherwise, all is well. I wanted to draw your attention to a couple of things I've found online that are of funny/cool. Here they are:

>> I love the moxie of this associate at Quinn Emanuel. Way to take on the man. And he/she is right about a lot of stuff, though he/she probably chose the wrong venue to air said grievances. And at least use capitalization. Just because it's an email doesn't mean you need to throw grammar and structure out the door. But I do support him/her in his or her use of parentheses since footnotes can't be used in email. Get on it Gmail software people. Footnotes would get rid of all those pesky parentheses All of this could have been in a footnote at the end of this blog post. Imagine that.

>> The Chicago Tribune's soccer writer, Luis Arroyave is changing posts after 3 1/2 years covering the Fire. His goodbye blog post sums up the awesome online soccer community in the United States. For all the internets's flaws -- being so wide and so shallow -- in this case, it has brought a diverse and otherwise isolated set of people together, united by one common (but not mainstream) interest: soccer. If Steve Goff ever changes positions at the Washington Post, he'll receive a similar outcry of support from D.C. United fans.

>> Since we're talking about American soccer supporter culture, here's a really good piece comparing the MLS to a certain German soccer club known for its irreverence. It's the reason why DC United needs a stadium and needs that stadium to be in DC. Not MoCo, not Ashburn.

>> UPDATE: If you're in DC with nothing to do, head down to the Wreck on the Anacostia (RFK) to see DC United take on the New York Red Bulls in a play-in game for the U.S. Open Cup. The Open Cup is the oldest continually contested sports tournament in the United States (and that includes football and baseball). It'll be lots of fun.

Support DC United

Happy Armistice Day! I have another post about the Balkans in the wings and will add photos and put that up tonight, but I just wanted to alert all those in DC/MD/VA that DC United needs yours help! Last month, I wrote a long piece on DC United's failed efforts to get a stadium built in both DC and Maryland as the decrepit RFK cannot support the team financially in the long-term. They are back to square one so lend your voice to the cause and then enjoy a MASSIVE tailgate sponsored by the Barra Brava and the Screaming Eagles and then check out first place DC United take on second place Toronto FC for the top of the table. Here's the march itinerary and plan so go, go, go. If one person attends the rally, tailgate, and match because I've written this blog post I will be thrilled and will forever love that person. I'd be there myself if, ya know, I wasn't here. Everyone have a good weekend as I'm off to Burgundy with Tufts tomorrow.

March Timeline
2:00 p.m. - RFK Stadium parking Lot 8 opens to the public
2:30-3:30 p.m. - shuttles from Lot 8 to Lincoln Park run
3:45 p.m. - initial demonstration at Lincoln Park begins
4:00 p.m. - fans march from Lincoln Park to RFK Stadium
4:45 p.m. - march participants arrive at La Barra Brava tailgate
5:00 p.m. - Kevin Payne addresses the crowd in Lot 8
7:30 p.m. - kick-off, D.C. United vs. Toronto FC

UPDATE: Here's a video from the march. Did anyone go?

Image from dcunited.com

Wishful Thinking

Image via Behindthebadge.com

A note: This piece represents the accumulated frustration of watching two years of impotent city governments in Washington, D.C. and Prince George's County fail to reach a deal with D.C. United for a new stadium.

There hasn't been much good news for us soccer fans in the nation's capital the last few months. From the demise of the Poplar Point stadium project to a mediocre 2008 season, D.C. United supporters have suffered waves of injuries and watched high priced foreign talent capsize in MLS. We've been told we can't stay at RFK Stadium, but can't seem to find anyone willing to let us build a new stadium. At least Ben Olsen is playing again these days.

When Victor McFarlane and Will Change bought the team in 2007, they rode into town with deep pockets, ready to throw bags of cash down on a new stadium, the aforementioned Poplar Point Stadium on an undeveloped piece of land in Anacostia, D.C.'s poorest ward. The plan had the support of then mayor Anthony Williams and of then mayoral candidate Adrien Fenty. The team would foot the bill for the stadium and McFarlane would develop the rest of the area surrounding the stadium, promising mixed-use development in an area desperate for investment after years of neglect from a city that has kept its eyes firmly fixed on the other side of the river. In return, McFarlane asked for $200 million in tax incentives and infrastructure improvement from a city still swallowing the $611 million baseball stadium that had been shoved down their throats.

Winning election in 2007, Fenty saw Poplar Point as the crown jewel of his mayoral legacy. Just as Williams has staked his legacy on the success of the Nationals in D.C., so Fenty saw an opportunity for Poplar Point and wanted more. He took McFarlane's plan off the table, opened the project up for competitive bidding, and, subsequently, awarded development rights to Clark Realty.

With no hopes of controlling surrounding development rights, McFarlane said goodbye to the city that had welcomed him with open arms a year before knowing that without developing the rest of Poplar Point, spending his money on a stadium would not be profitable. Just as Abe Pollin built not only the Verizon Center, but also much of the surrounding commercial and residential real estate in the Gallery Place/Chinatown area, McFarlane envisioned a similar renaissance for Poplar Point, but with his plan taken off the table, he ran to Prince George's County, hoping to get the taxpayers to foot the bill for a United stadium. But talks over that project have stalled and are all but dead as politicians are reticent to commit to public spending during a financial crisis.

I've never supported publicly financed stadiums. I think the United plan was a raw deal for P.G. County taxpayers who would never have seen the kind of economic benefit county and United officials had been touting. A suburban soccer stadium will never be a "landmark destination" in P.G. County. No United fan wants to spend his or her evening out at the Morgan Boulevard Metro stop.

Look at the recent success of the Washington Capitols (and soccer teams in Seattle and Toronto). The Caps, in addition to bringing in Alex Ovechkin and winning a lot of games, have targeted a young demographic eager to spend their disposable income on hockey tickets and beers in Penn Quarter. It's cool to be a fan of the Caps in D.C., just as it's cool to support Seattle Sounders FC or Toronto FC. Now if someone proposed a United stadium at the corner of 14th and U with public money I might change my mind, but I don't think the $611 D.C. paid for baseball will pay-off for the taxpayers nor do I think a Prince George's County stadium would have driven a suburban renaissance.

As for Poplar Point, the project could be nearing completion under the guide of United and McFarlane. From my perspective, the city's $200 million investment would have been incidental given the fact that any development on the Poplar Point property would have needed new roads and expanded Metro access if they had built a stadium facility or not. For McFarlane, who has committed over a billion dollars in development in this city, it seems like a small price to pay for development in an area that craves it and during a period when we need to be creating jobs in the District.

But this dream is far from reality. Clark Realty dropped the Poplar Point project as the economy turned sour and the area remains as overgrown and underdeveloped as it was almost three years ago when this whole process started. And today D.C. United's project in P.G. County was finally given its coup de grace.

Worst of all, none of this blame has landed on Adrien Fenty, the man unwilling to be the champion of Ward 8, Poplar Point, and D.C. United. The residents of Ward 8, hungry for change, continue to not see the development their ward needs. As the unemployment rate charges to 10% and shows no signs of slowing, a few thousand construction jobs could go a long way to keeping families solvent and in their homes.

I'm sick of the waiting for something to get done and so is the team. As a soccer fan, I love seeing cities like Seattle and Columbus get behind their clubs, only to find myself feeling abject anger towards my home town. D.C's brought this city four championships in 13 years, spent countless hours working in the community, and brought together disparate sections of this city's diverse population, united in their love of their club. It's time we thank them and recommit ourselves to Poplar Point, Ward 8, and D.C. United's initial stadium plan.

Thank You, Barbara Robinson

This post has nothing to do with Paris. But it is about soccer and I like soccer so I hope you'll read it and like soccer as much as I do.

With my local club D.C. United trying to get a stadium built in Prince George's County, the team President Kevin Payne has asked United supporters to send emails to the members of the Maryland House Appropriations Committee and the Maryland Senate Budget & Taxation Committee to ask for their support on the project.

I wrote a nice little note to them, paraphrased from an earlier post on why I love soccer, and was thrilled to get a response from Barbara A. Robinson minutes later saying, "I agree with you." Barbara Robinson, you are new favorite Maryland State Delegate (that does assume I had a favorite delegate before you...so...well...you're it now). One has to love Democracy in action!

Plus she's from Baltimore and I love The Wire.

So. Support D.C. United, too! Follow this link and send an email if you get the chance.

Why I Follow Soccer

I didn’t follow soccer growing up. Like most other kids from the Washington, D.C. area in the 1990s, I lived and died for the Baltimore Orioles and Cal Ripken, Jr. My godmother took me to see him break Lou Gehrig’s streak of consecutive games played. I will always remember the number: 2,131. We got back from Baltimore very late and my mother let me sleep in and miss school the next morning, knowing that this game was more important than a morning of arithmetic. When D.C. United came along in 1996, I remember hearing on the playground that they’d won the inaugural championship, but I only truly watched the sports my father followed: American football, basketball, and baseball. I would steal the sports page from him every morning and we’d commiserate about being Redskins fans as Gus Ferotte slammed his head into a wall. Soccer remained an integral part of my life as I played the game for my school, but I quit club soccer as I got older to focus on school and academics.

It wasn’t until I graduated from high school and had entered college that I began to miss the ebb and flow of the beautiful game. So one summer day I convinced a friend to come along to a D.C. United game at RFK Stadium. We sat on the quiet side of RFK (if you’ve seen D.C. United play at home, you know what side I’m talking about) and while we witnessed a 2-1 victory over the Houston Dynamo, I couldn’t shake the bouncing stands on the other side of the stadium. Clad in black, the Barra Brava and the Screaming Eagles drummed and sang and raised hell for 90 minutes. I knew I belonged over there.

My first game amongst the Barra Brava and the Screaming Eagles, a 4-2 drubbing of the New York Redbulls (featuring a tremendous hat-trick from Ben Olsen) left me hooked and wanting more. As much as I love the team, I fell more in love with the fans and the game itself. In the Barra, you are transported outside of RFK, into the rhythms and songs of a Boca-River derby and into the camaraderie of the Anfield kop. You join the world’s game at RFK, but you get to remain in the United States. While some of my friends enjoy watching the English Premier League and the Champions League, they tell me to forget about MLS and its “inferior” level of play. And of course they are right. I can’t stand here and claim that the Columbus Crew stand a chance contending for the EPL crown against Chelsea and Liverpool. But that’s not what I want now. I want to smell the smoke bombs of the Barra Brava and taste the beer raining on my face when Jaime Moreno scores and know that it’s the same game, the same ball, the same pitch, in the same town where I was raised. I watch games in far-away European stadiums, but it’s the soccer of Washington, D.C that I truly love. Sure I’d prefer a single table and a larger salary cap in MLS (two things I hope will happen soon), but I’ll take the bearded Benny Olsen over that pretty boy Cristiano Ronaldo any day.