DC United vs. Chivas USA
September 21, 2011
RFK Stadium
What a crappy looking day in the MD/DC area. All day it was horrifically humid and on the verge of raining, and then of course as soon as the whistle blew to start the game the water spout was let open. Once again on the east coast for work and I managed to plan the trip around another game, now I just have the Baltimore Ravens to go. I was really excited about this game because two former UCSB Gauchos are suppose to be on the field. During the starting line up though, I realized Chris Pointius of DC United was on the injured list but at least Dan Kennedy was in goal for Chivas. It was a back and forth game that was pretty sloppy because of the wet turf. The ball was skipping around and the passing was piss pour. To make it worse, my seat was second row dead center but because of the rain and the proximity of the stands to the pitch I couldn't see anything. But, the positive about watching soccer in the US is that you can pretty much sit where ever you want so I just moved up a couple of sections to get get under some shelter. The first thing I noticed is what a dump RFK is. I thought Qualcomm was a concrete jungle but the nasty looking rafters and bucket seats that were falling apart made Chargers stadium look like a gem. As for the game, again it was sloppy but had an exciting finish. DC United's Dwayne De Rosario ruled the game and had a great set piece goal in the first half. White quickly made it 2-0 for the home team only two minutes later to go into the intermission. The second half had a lot of back and forth plays when Chivas put one in the onion bag by former Galaxy member Juan Pablo Angel. with only 20 minutes left in the game Angel got another one to tie the game and silence the crowd. The game got real exciting when in extra minutes Angel took down De Rosario in the box resulting in a PK. With the crowd going nuts De Rosario crack a shot but the diving Dan Kennedy chose correctly and pushed the ball away preserving a tie. It was a fun game and a good way to close out the week.
No funny stories but I did have a cool moment at the end of the game. My plan was to get my UCSB jersey signed by the two Gauchos but with the Pointius injury and my brain fart (forgetting a sharpie at work) that was not going to be possible. But in the least I wanted to get a picture with Kennedy before I headed back to the hotel. I managed to get in the Chivas area but couldn't think how I was going to get his attention. No fewer than two seconds later a chick next to me starting screaming his name and had a Dan Kennedy for president poster. I thought that would never work, but to my surprise he knew the girl and walked right over. He was in a great mood after the fantastic PK save. When I asked if I could get a pic he realized what jersey I was wearing and he gave me a "Ole Ole Ole Ole, Gauchos Gauchos!" Sweet way to end the day. Also got a sweet photo...
