Tony's Take: One game at a time
09/16/2008 9:46 AM by Tony Limarzi
This is a big game tonight. I hope to see all of you at the stadium, it seems like the team could use some positive energy from the best fans in MLS. Here’s something to chew on until kickoff.
Coaches get a lot of criticism when they use what journalists have termed “Coach Speak.” It means that coaches use clichés about what the team needs to do and refuse to give away any secrets or strategy to the media. As a member of the media, I pose the question, “Who can blame them?” Anyway, since they keep some reporters from getting a scoop, clichés have been categorized as useless words. I disagree. Here are some clichés that are very worthwhile: “Look both ways when you cross the street,” “Don’t take candy from strangers,” “Just say no”. Just because something is well known doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be drilled into people’s heads. Here’s another one, “Take it one game at a time.”
For a brief moment, take a look at D.C. United’s schedule from today until the MLS regular season finale in Columbus on October 26. All right, that’s long enough. The team plays two games a week, every week from now until the end of October. That is six weeks in which the longest consecutive number of days without a game is four. Yup, D.C. plays on Saturday, October 4 at RFK against Chivas USA and then doesn’t play again until a road game in Costa Rica against Saprissa four days later on Thursday October 9. They have another 4-day spell after the Thursday night MLS home finale. I hope the players don’t gain any weight during all of that time off.
So, if anyone looks at the next six weeks all together it makes success in Champions League plus a strong finish to the MLS regular season look like two contemporaneous impossible dreams. They are both impossible, if you look at them all at once. The only way to approach the next 12 matches is “one game at a time.” It’s not a cliché; it’s a guideline for survival, like “Drinking and driving don’t mix.” Tonight, the 18 players on D.C. United’s roster can work together and earn a victory. Those 18 players cannot advance out of group play in Champions League and they cannot clinch an MLS playoff berth. All they can do is control their destiny for the two hours when they are on the field at R.F.K. Stadium.
D.C. is in a bit of a funk right now. The back-to-back home ties both felt like losses and everyone is frustrated. United fans have seen very clearly how quickly life changes; losing streaks, winning streaks, and most recently – tying streaks. It only takes one moment to change momentum, for better or worse. So far, D.C. has come up with a number of such well-timed moments - Santino Quaranta’s long run vs. Toronto FC, Luciano Emilio’s goal in Chicago, Francis Doe’s late equalizer in the U.S. Open Cup Quarterfinal. In tonight’s match, there will be a defining moment. Most likely, that moment will not only be critical in the outcome of this match, but in the direction the team takes over the next weeks. Basically, a key defining moment tonight will mean good things over the next six weeks. Even so, United still needs to take it one game at a time.
Tony Limarzi, the Radio Voice of D.C. United, provides live match commentary for all D.C. United games on WFED 1050 AM. He recently published his first book, Forza Italia, which is the story of the summer of 2006 – both Italy’s World Cup win in Germany and United’s MLS season.
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