FIRST DOUBLE-TRIPLE IN MLS

Jaime Moreno may become the first player in MLS to achieve a "double-triple", breaking a hundred in both goals and assists. Moreno is currently the League's all-time scoring leader with 117 goals and is approaching the century mark in assists with 95. If Moreno reaches this historical mark it seems he would be alone in the feat for some time to come.

New England's Steve Ralston currently is MLS's all-time leader in assists with 124. Ralston however has averaged less than five goals a year in his thirteen year career, with 62 goals. It is unlikely that he would threaten breaking through this level.
Ante Razov is second in goals behind Moreno, with 110, but only has 60 assists. If anyone has ever seen Razov play in the last thirteen years, knows his assists will never hit triple digits. Razov has taken 893 shots in his career compared to Ralston's 374.

Toronto FC's Jeff Cunningham has 99 goals but only 58 assists. The Jamaican will turn 32 years old in August, enough said.
Taylor Twellman has 92 goals but only 26 assists (see Ante Razov). Actually Twellman has been playing seven years and has already taken 514 shots. He is on a pace to overtake Razov's career shots but a double-triple seems unlikely.
Carlos Ruiz has 81 goals and 17 assists, it's hard to pass laying on the ground holding your ankle.

That leaves LA's Landon Donovan, who currently sits at 73 goals and 66 assists. For Donovan it only seems a matter of time (of which he has plenty) before he gets a double-triple, but it seems Moreno will be alone at the pinnacle of the League for several years and will always be remembered as the first. Vamos United!

I will keepm the VW tachometer up as a countdown to the historic mark.

Great DCU 2007 Video

Well, no white Christmas, not even a Black and Red one as we still await word on possible gifts (a central defender and midfielder will do), maybe we can buy something with our xmas money from the Perkins transfer. But in lieu of players, here's a fabulous 2007 video recap put together by 'jade1mls' with a little help from the Barra Brava. March is a long way away!


A downloadable hi-fi version is available here:http://www.zshare.net/download/60151686f80452/

Veron says he's staying

"he could not fail the fans of Students"

On live TV Veron states he is not going to the United States. On Estudio Fútbol he stated he would be playing for Estudiantes next season. When asked specifically about the possibility of transferring in the June window he said "right now he was focused on the coming season."

Here is an article on TYC's website, the network carrying the interview.

Basically he says the money was good but he couldn't turn his back on the fans. He hopes to be telling the story of Students ten years from now to the newbies. In other words he has political aspirations at his club.

While Goff is on the road to Cary and hasn't confirmed, I call this one dead. Now let's find another number 10 and a center back

Veron -Done Deal? SI says yes, Argies say no

SI.com is reporting that Veron and DC United have agreed to terms and an official announcement will come next Wednesday.

SportingLife.com

SI reports the deal to be worth $3-4 million a year, which fits the 3 year, $10M, figures floating around.

The Argentinian press is reporting he is staying.
OLE has a couple of articles:

"I remain by my people and my companions"

http://www.ole.clarin.com/notas/2007/12/14/01564190.html

Of course until Steve Goff says its a done deal or he is staying, things are still up in the air.

Remember when there used to be a boring off season in MLS?

Veron and Lopez to DC? - (w/video compilation)

As DCenters illustrates it is impossible to judge or evaluate off season trades and aquisitions in a vacuum. The dust will have to settle before final appraisals can be made, but Veron(32yo) and Lopez(33yo) scare me. I guess Lopez more than Veron.

It looks like Gomez is gone and we'll be replacing him with Veron. Okay I get that.

The Lopez pick up worries me though. Moreno's future is up in the air and we need a striker. Lopez and Veron have played together before for Club and Country. The picture above is from the 2002 World Cup. Seventeen years ago they played in the sixth division of Estudiantes de la Plata for six months with Veron's father as the trainer. I don't think that really qualifies as a natural pairing.

So it looks like Moreno might go and if not he is aging and is best as a late minute sub. It looks like we'll be replacing him with an aging striker who is coming in as a late sub for Racing. I don't get that.

That's why I write a blog.

I really don't want to beat a dead horse with this but Veron has a much cooler nickname. Claudio Lopez is known as "El Piojo", the louse, hardly strikes fear in my heart. My wife teaches in an elementary school and it makes her a little uncomfortable. Oh well.

Hopefully Veron will help DC United add to their trophy case. He has seen his share of hardware during his storied career to this point. Veron has won:

UEFA Cup - 1999
European Super Cup - 1999
Italian Cup - 1999, 2000, 2005, 2006
Italian Serie A - 2000, 2006
Italian Super Cup - 2000, 2005
English Premier League : 2003
Argentine Division: Apertura 2006

Here is some video for your enjoyment. If you are short on time go to the 2:24 mark for a sweet free kick... or the pass at 4:05.

Boswell's Gone

NO WAY DUDE!

I don't mean just in this picture. Goff is reporting that Boswell has been traded to Houston for GK Zach Wells and a future draft pick. DC is in need of a keeper as Perkins may be heading to Norway. Keep up with all the wheeling and dealing at Soccer Insider.

Remembering the Customer

It seems the biggest problem with businesses today is delivering quality service. We hear and see the failures continually. It seems that the days of "the customer is always right" idiom has died. I actually think the problem is much deeper than that however, I believe the failures in delivering good service are a result of forgetting who the customer is. The Red Bulls provide a prime example today.



The press surrounding the newly redesigned Red Bull Park has been incredible (of course it is like a Bigfoot sighting).Today's SportsBusiness Journal has an article lauding Red Bull management's decision to move the press corp closer to the action.
Don Muret reports:

"The trend in sports is for teams to design press boxes in the upper regions of their new arenas and stadiums. In the NBA, clubs are moving beat writers farther from the court to free up space on the floor so they can sell $1,000 courtside seats.

By contrast, Red Bull Park, when it opens sometime in 2009 in Harrison, N.J., will position the media in the stadium’s sweetest spot, 100 seats at midpitch behind the team benches."

"In addition, stadium architect Rossetti is designing what project officials are calling the “Flash Zone,” a controlled space on the west side near the entrance of the tunnel leading to the locker rooms where reporters can get quick postgame interviews as the players leave the field.

The open-air interview area will be just a few steps from the media seats, McGowan said. Red Bull Park will also contain a traditional interview room beneath the stands and auxiliary press space on the second of two suite levels."

The article goes on:

"“We’ve got a great group of writers in New York, but they really can’t hear and fully capture the atmosphere of the game,” said Red Bulls spokesman Andrew McGowan. “This way, they will be close to the action and be able to better describe it.”"

"McGowan acknowledged that the Red Bulls could have generated significant revenue from selling the media seats as season tickets at a premium price."

So what's wrong with that? Nothing I guess, until you look at an organization that hasn't forgotten who the customer is. DC United has foregone revenue of their own in prime seats at RFK. Giving group rates to the Black and Red's supporter groups Barra Brava, The Screaming Eagles and La Norte, field level at mid field. Not only did they give up full ticket price the Front Office also decided to create a buffer zone behind the Barra Brava sections. The team does not sell tickets there so fans who want to sit and watch the game aren't disgruntled when they can't see over the standing supporters. In David Montgomery"s Post article, "United Force", he recounts how at first drums were banned from RFK.

"But Kevin Payne, president of D.C. United, did understand. "This is not other sports," says Payne. "Rather than have a band getting up occasionally to play a rehearsed song, our fans make their own music." Deny this urge, and the cost to a franchise in passion, atmosphere, noise and ticket sales is incalculable."

At DC United not only is the customer always right, the customer is always the customer.