This blog is as good as done (I hope you're not just figuring that out) but special occasions demand special returns.
The Metrologist supports Metros in this afternoon's MLS Cup.
Classic Metros like these guys.
Will we watch it?

In order to deal with the flock of seagulls seagull infestations at BMO Field, Toronto FC has unveiled a new weapon (I use that word loosely, as you would about a team that hasn't scored since...I can't even remember. It's Bitchy The Hawk.
Not missing a beat, RBNY has responded with an ornithological mascot of its own.

In which we parse some Metro media...
Pitchinvasion recognizes the fillip of media attention being lavished on MLS supporters over the last day or so. Not the first time the unique atmosphere of MLS support has been plumbed, nor the last if Steven Wells has anything to do with it. For Metro supporters in particular, I would refer you to the pieces done by actual, long-suffering Metro fan (aren't those adjectives all redundant?

I'm not going to spend too much time analyzing it now, but over the past few days I've been peeking over at the Ebay and Stubhub markets for the 8/18 game against the LA Beckhams. Perhaps someone more savvy about reselling on the interwebs can illuminate us better, but considering it's a "major event" I'm pretty underwhelmed when I see auctions for 2 two tickets in the lower level coming down to the last hour with only a bid or three, much less the majority of the tickets on offer going for face value, or perhaps even less.

The things you learn watching FSC on Friday nights!
Sadly (and surprisingly), no video of Petter's (the extra "t" is for "too much dribbling") stupendous golden goal against Tampa Bay in 2001 was found. To this day, that 30 yard bullet to the top corner to win the game is one of the great phantom punches I've seen in my sports-watching life (Villegas scored a few goals, as that clip shows, but they were not of the Riise ilk).

It's busy times here at Metrologist World Headquarters. Doing some housekeeping, tweaking the look ever so slightly, arranging my sure-to-be-sensational fantasy EPL side on the cusp of a new season(arise and conquer, Planet Of The Tevezs), refinancing the house for Beckham tickets, and dealing with real world obligations, all while stoically surviving the nasty middle American heat.

"The quicker you can get there the better."
More on Ives's story at Ives' blog.
I would, too.

That's what you need to tag a $2800 markup on tickets to the Goldenballs show in the swamp. Of course, you splash out like that, you also get VIP before- AND after-game access to the "exclusive" Red Bulls "pub." Well, now you're talking!
Let's watch this one...

Behold, the RB Skyline T-shirt.
What skyline is that, exactly? Beats me. Tacoma? Memphis? Winnipeg? There certainly isn't anything identifiably "New York" about it. Not that NYC's skyline is particularly distinctive or iconic or anything.

In 1968, Harper & Row published A Fan's Notes, the first book by writer Frederick Exley. A "fictional memoir" that plays it fast and loose with the distinctions between fiction and biography (a line I believe is better off blurred anyway) it is one of the best works of late 20th century American literature.

Step One: Give the job of immortalizing a man who served the club in virtually every capacity over 60+ years to a professional sculptor who's a passionate fan, yes, but also has never worked on any sculpture on this scale or in this material.
Two: Rush it. Crank it out in less than two years, when comparable works have taken four - and that was with a live subject.

You know those magic rec specs Davids wears have that Terminatoresque digital display going on inside, right?
And from another angle, to give you more idea of the damage.
Two more of those, and he's Brett Lindros.

I had begun a post full of sweet venom, razor-sharp enmity, and uncouth but hilarious-cause-they're-true stereotypes before the little voice inside insisted "life's too short to hate." So let me just say: Good evening to all my new friends from the readership of DCenters!
Springboarding off something I wrote over the weekend, it seems they were a little - shall we say smugly?

Someone pissed off the Crypt Keeper lately, and by the looks of it, that someone was Bruce Arena. Because our dusty old skeletal friend is neither happy nor charitable with his analysis of how Metro is coming together on the field under The Best Coach America Has Ever Produced (tm).

To take it to the weekend, one-time Metro "knowledge-sharing partner" (anyone ever hear ANYTHING more about that?) Eintracht Frankfurt has fans who know how to make the stadium rock. Seriously. Courtesy The Offside.
Just noted - that's an AWAY crowd doing that. Nice.
Proof positive that fans can go out en masse and act passionately for a shitty team.