Pictures and Post-game Conversations

Hey everyone, just wanted to show you guys what I was talking about when I said that the atmosphere at RFK Stadium during D.C. United games is one of the best U.S. soccer has to offer.

On the left, you can see that the ref just award Red Bull NY a freekick. If you look closely, you can see that our fans on the other side of the stadium do not really care for the ref's opinion. Is it just me or does anyone else prefer "Red Bull New York" instead of the "New York Red Bulls"?


On the right you can really see how full the stadium is without the glare of the sun. Now you can pretty much fill in the rest of the stadium and the parts of the upper deck and you can imagine what the entire stadium looked like. This picture is from the second half right before the first goal. We were firing on all cylinders and the everyone knew that the goal would come soon.
This is a picture of our side of the stadium, the quiet side. I'd say most of the "soccer moms" and their families have tickets on this side. Unfortunately (or fortunately if trying prevent a huge brawl), all the Red Bull fans were also on this side. If you look closely, in the shadows, you will notice the Red Bull Fans cheering in unison. They dominated the sound for the first half of the stadium. But the stadium roared after Alecko's goal and our "quiet" side came alive. Proud of our team, we were not to be disgraced in our own house. For the rest of the game, the entire stadium was itching for more goals and ready to explode with excitement. I don't remember hearing much out of the Red Bull fans after that.

So after the game a lot of people stay to get autographs. Well what I'm about to describe is the reason I think Alecko Eskandarian is something special and why (for me) Freddy Adu has a long road ahead of him. Both players had good games (even though it was Freddy's foul that led to the first goal) and neither had anything to be ashamed of.

Alecko was gladly signing autographs and going through the normal routine, it was awkwardly quiet so I decided to make a little joke. I said, "hey, why don't you facebook us?" alluding to the website popular among the collegiate contingency that joined me at the game. He has a profile and everything but apparently never responds. Well, he explodes into laughter that is infectious because everyone started laughing. He went on for a long time after signing autographs.

Freddy on the otherhand seemed burdened by having to sign autographs. At one point he complained over how far away the fans were located from him on the field (due to a separation for the baseball setup). He seemed frustrated that the fans would locate themselves at a place where he would have to lift his arms and reach to give autographs. I may be wrong be he seems like a bit of a "diva". I don't see him ever being the type of player like a Christian Gomez or Jaime Moreno or even Alecko.

Those three players show passion and desire. They not only love the game, but they love the uniform the put on. They are what makes the game great. Not just great play, but great attitudes.