Jul 02 2008
All’s Kinda Quiet at Maryland SoccerPlex
Despite my continued attempts to play up this tournament on FanHouse, U.S. Open Cup fever hasn’t exactly swept the nation. You can tell this by comparing and contrasting the atmosphere at D.C. United’s weekend trashing of the the L.A. Galaxy with the scene at their 2-0 win last night over the Rochester Rhinos of USL-1. Abram Fox at DC Sports Box did that for us:
How strange was it to watch United and the Rhinos face off in a rural, albeit massive soccer complex in Boyds, MD rather than the spacious confines of RFK Stadium in the District? To be able to hear the thud of ball on foot and the shouts between players, rather than merely watch the game from afar and take such sounds for granted?
Two days prior D.C. played the Los Angeles Galaxy and David Beckham in front of 35,979 screaming fans and a nationwide audience on ABC in the sweltering midday heat. On Tuesday that dynamic setting was all but forgotten, as 2,752 mostly-quiet fans settled onto the bleachers and enjoyed the clear, humidity-less summer twilight.
Barra Brava still showed, as did the Screaming Eagles and La Norte, but their numbers measured less in the thousands with drums than in the dozens and a drum.
I understand why, of course. D.C. United has bigger fish to fry than the U.S. Open Cup. The million-dollar SuperLiga is a week and a half away, the CONCACAF Champions League is just around the corner, and this team really wants to win MLS Cup this year. Plus, rent for RFK Stadium can’t be cheap, and the Rochester Rhinos aren’t going to pull nearly as many Screaming Eagles as Posh’s husband. (That’s why the New York Red Bulls never schedule home games for the Open Cup. Renting out Giants Stadium for a crowd of 5,000 just doesn’t make financial sense. Better to throw out the reserves in Baltimore against Crystal Palace USA and get out quick.)
On the other hand, the Chicago Fire are traveling to D.C. next Tuesday in what will be the marquee match of the Open Cup quarterfinals. This game will also be played at Maryland SoccerPlex instead of RFK. I suspect that was a precautionary measure, just in case they drew Crystal Palace. Still, the Fire brought 18,000+ to RFK Stadium in May, and last month’s match in Toyota Park was a testy affair in which 9-man United undid 10-man Chicago in stoppage time. Doesn’t it seem like D.C. United v. Chicago Fire deserves a slightly bigger stage than this?
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I can understand teams that don’t have their own SSS playing US Open Cup games at alternate sites to save money, but this pretty much ensures that the competition will continue to be viewed as third rate.
Maybe once all MLS teams have their own SSS we can start treating this competition more seriously, market it properly and include USOC matches as part of the season ticket holder’s yearly ticket package and play the games in the home stadia.