Salt Lake 2, United 1

******

While it's necessary to be occasionally reminded how rinkydink this league still is - how its financial and competitive survival are not yet assured - playing in a clown stadium on clown turf against a clown team is no freaking excuse to not show up and kick clown team's ass.

Gack, if United has to go to Kansas City or Ningland for the crucial playoff game instead of Kansas City or Ningland coming to RFK (with its clown baseball infield) because United finished two points behind in standings, this gack, this heartless gack borne of false superiority, borne of belief that mere appearance in clown stadium on clown turf against a clown team guaranteed victory, last night's subclownish effort will be cause.

This is not about losing to a clown team, this is about United's personality. If United is pissed off about losing alone they're oblivious to a bigger and fatal problem. Even if United had tied (or even won, a possibility against that clown team), it's the lack of effort, the lack of intensity and urgency, the assumption of superiority that, if continued, dooms United to mediocrity.

So complete a team effort was last night's gack that if the collective embarrassment propels a surge borne of redemptive self-introspection, last night's disgraceful performance will be remembered as a catalytic kick in the ass.

It'd be nice to think it will suck to be Colorado this Thursday, but I'm making no assumptions.

*

Goffblog's player ratings:

Nolly 4; Namoff 4, Boswell 3, Erpen 3, Gros 4; Olsen 4, Carroll 4, Gomez 4, Fred 4; Dyachenko 3, Emilio 5. Subs: Kpene 4, Simms 4, Addlery 4.

Still haven't heard why Nolly got start, though I have to wonder if THAT signaled to rest of team that a secondary effort would be all required against clown team.

Boswell's regressing, terribly. How about chasing breaker down and taking him out for pro-yellow rather than waiving arms over head for a bad offside call, eh? Better yet, don't let clown behind you in first place. Talk about a premature cult.

Erpen's not the backline's biggest problem.