United 2, Chicago 1

..

This is what I've been waiting for, pure primal screaming. No voice at game's end. I've been dying to like this team. Mwarg! mofos.

I'm sure I'm over-enthused, but beating Chicago in a knock-out in that manner could fuse this team into a product greater than its parts. I'm sure it's the fan speaking, but that's the kind of game that can create an identity that's an attitude. I'm sure I'm a rube, but if United collects silver this year, this might have been the watershed game, not the unbeaten run in MLS, but a vicious and emotional win in Germanfrackingtown Maryland with half the A-squad in a crappy US Cup quarterfinal against the fucking Chicago Fire, a game when this United team claimed its identity.

There's plenty to bitch about, but I'm still cranked, so here's the abridged:

Dyachenko fails yet another audition. There were no goals to be found until Jaime came in. Burch may be a hero (see below), but he's not a middle-defender. Cordeiro fails another audition. Pat Carroll is a reserve player for a reason. Doe showed something, but not much. Thompson might be useful in small ways. And Fred: I'm in a good mood, still cranked, so I'll stop at either Fred was never very good or he's regressed incredibly: you pick.

Cuauhtémoc Blanco. Before the game I had mentioned to friends at work and this guy in the stands that Blanco, playing a US Cup game in Germantown, must have felt a bit like Hristo Stoichkov in his last years with United, felt a WTF-have-I-come-to slow-boiling fury, and viola! RED CARD! (PLUS: OH MY!)

UPDATE:

Good friend Big-C (who made the trip, along with the Oklahoma Kid) sends me this youtube:

UPDATE:

Go to that youtube link and you get this:

This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Major League Soccer, LLC

I believe I speak for everyone when I say to MLS, FUCK YOU VERY MUCH YOU DUMBASS SHIT-FOR-BRAINS.

I could write paragraphs on this, but I haven't the heart to argue tonight, plus I think succinct disdain and thorough, poisonous contempt is best.

Let me reiterate for the assclowns at MLS: FUCK YOU VERY MUCH, Terrific business move reminding everybody just how rinkydink your operation truly is. Still. Forever.

I-66, in the comments to D's first impressions:

Marc Burch has become a USOC hero, with his two goals last week, his racing to the defense of Jaime Moreno after he was chopped down, and his hip check of Blanco that earned his ejection. Across the field, as Blanco waited at the top of the hill for Burch like some sort of schoolyard bully at the flagpole, and Burch was held at the bottom of the hill until Blanco was moved on, we chanted Burch's name and he acknowledged us with applause. After the game, our chants of "We want Burch" went unanswered, as Marc was likely not permitted to re-emerge, but on this night, #4 is a hero.

Burch, on the incident:

"He came up and swung as hard as he could and tried to hit the ball and hit Clyde in the stomach," Burch said. "He thinks he can do whatever he wants. I went over and I pushed him. I didn't hit him, I didn't go after him, I just pushed him down. He's not going to do that to my teammate. He stood up and tried to poke Clyde in the eye and cut his eye open. I don't like him, I don't think he's a good person. He's a great player but when he's out there he's doing stuff that you shouldn't be able to get away with."

But the real and persistent jackass on Chicago is John Thorrington, who should have been straight redded for a tackle on Jaime that deserved a yellow for professional cynicism and a yellow for viciousness. (UPDATE: you can see it in the above youtube.) Ten minutes later, Jaime raked that motherfucker to rest-of-the-game limping, turned to the ref who advanced towards him with the yellow, patted the ref on the back.

Jaime Moreno. MOTM.

Here's Tenorioblog's post-game. Fine quotes abound. (Name that allusion!)

DCENTERS' debriefing is up.

Ba'al, I love games in Germanfrackingtown. I wish the Ningland game was there.

HEY! Spot your author and Landru in this picture:

More later, and updates and edits, or not. I'm going to be thinking about this game all day and probably tomorrow. There is much to remember, consider.

I can't wait for Saturday night.