I know I've been a bit light lately in my posting. Hopefully this week will make up for that. The last couple days I've put together a list of the ol' sports writer staple, a hot or not list. Some folks may love it while others may not, whatever. I'm a list guy so I like writing them.

Anyways we are a month into the season now with most clubs having four games under their belts (only one has two Columbus).

By AVI CREDITOR

With a bevy of new players and a new coaching regime, D.C. United will aim to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2007.

Former DCU player and assistant, Curt Onalfo, took over for former coach Tom Soehn in the offseason and inherited a team with quite a few holes after the departure of a number of roster stalwarts.

After a forgettable performance in a 4-0 opening game loss at Kansas City, DC United's home opener will be against a familiar foe, New England, which also lost their opening match on the road 1-0 to Los Angeles with only a handful of familiar faces from days gone by. "The team has changed a lot but it's still the same Stevie Nicol's system," said Adam Cristman, who spent his first two MLS seasons with the Revolution scoring 10 goals in 46 games.

Two consecutive years of playoff-less soccer doesn't abide by the high standards set by D.C. United during the league's early years.

The battle for playoff positions has only grown tougher, and the recent struggles of D.C. has led the front office to ring the changes. Out is Tom Soehn -- although by his choice, not the club's -- and in is former player Curt Onalfo, previously seen in Kansas City.

Winning all those means absolutely nothing if you can't put the ball in the net, and that's what once again was KC's probably against DC tonight as they handed United their first win of the season thanks to a couple very poor plays in the defensive third. You read that right, DC, the team KC beat 4-0 on opening day lost to DC 2-1.

Forward Danny Allsopp (right) scored two first half goals to propel D.C. United to their first win of the MLS season. United had lost five straight matches to open the 2010 MLS campaign. Photo: Martin Fernandez.

Carey Talley's 92nd minute penalty kick conversion gave D.C. United a deserved 3-2 win over Chivas USA tonight at RFK Stadium.

FC Dallas fell to DC United 4-2 Wednesday night at RFK Stadium in Washington, DC. It was the second time in as many years that FC Dallas has lost a play-in game for the U.S. Open Cup to DC United. DC United scored twice in the first half to take the 2-0 lead into the half on goals from Christian Castillo and Adam Cristman, who would end up hitting the back of the net twice for DC United on the night.

The MLS has started, and a new former Wizards season has started as well. Multiple players have started the season, but quite a few spent games on the bench or not dressing at all. One former Wizard has a new, as Lance Watson has returned to Texas to play for the Austin Aztex. Another former Wizard looks like they could be headed back to MLS, as rumor today is that Claudio Lopez is on his way to Colorado.

By AVI CREDITOR

WASHINGTON - Danny Allsopp netted his first goals with D.C. United in the 12th and 34th minutes, and 19-year-old goalkeeper Bill Hamid made them stand up, as United snapped its season-long slump with a 2-1 victory over the Kansas City Wizards in front of 10,038 at RFK Stadium.

Colorado Rapids delivered on a historic chance Saturday night by beating D.C. United 1-0 at RFK Stadium.

Mehdi Ballouchy launched a sizzling left-footed shot into the near post in the 67th minute. Ballouchy saw goalkeeper Will Hamid cheating to the middle and froze him with the shot. It was a scintillating moment, and it was all Colorado needed to erase 11 years of losses in the nation's capital.

DC United fired Coach Onalfo yesterday. He is being replaced on an interim basis by assistant Ben Olsen. Coach Olsen only recently retired from playing and was a fan favorite in DC.Onalfo took over in DC eight months ago bringing along friend and assistant coach Kris Kelderman with him. Onalfo also later picked up Kurt Morsink after the Wizards released him and traded for Adam Cristman from the

After a welcome day off on Sunday, D.C. United's players grabbed their hard hats and went back to work on Monday morning. Behind the Badge caught up with Assistant Coach Mark Simpson to see the goalkeepers go through their paces. A formidable figure between the posts for the Black-and-Red during his United career, Simpson is an ideal teacher for the likes of second-year player Bill Hamid, along with trialists Andrew Quinn and Ray Burse.

Here's another week of former Wizards updates for you. More and more players are appearing on this list, I've added for draft pick, Vicente Arze who is now playing back in Bolivia, also added are Claudio Lopez who has signed with Colorado officially, although he's still a little ways away from competing.

Another week for your former Wizards update. More players return to the list as the USL second division kicked off this past weekend as well, seeing 4 more former Wizards return to the field. One former Wizards' season ended a little early as Herculez Gomez was red carded over the weekend against Club America, ending his season as there is only one game left.

A sparse crowd at chilly RFK Stadium (2,804 announced) wednesday evening witnessed the pieces finally fall into place for a struggling DC United. On a night when the cold weather, local playoff hockey and having an Open Cup match midweek brought only the most hardcore of fans out, those who did make the journey were pleasantly rewarded.

BY ADAM SERRANO

The 2010 season may be only be a few days dead, but the 2011 season has already kicked off with the Expansion Draft.

The Vancouver Whitecaps and the Portland Timbers added ten players to their initial MLS rosters on Wednesday as their clubs began to take shape for the 2011 season.

Two consecutive years of playoff-less soccer doesn't abide by the high standards set by D.C. United during the league's early years.

The battle for playoff positions has only grown tougher, and the recent struggles of D.C. has led the front office to ring the changes. Out is Tom Soehn -- although by his choice, not the club's -- and in is former player Curt Onalfo, previously seen in Kansas City.

The men of D.C. United are adding some Black-and-Red flare to Farinelli's Wolf vs. Goat Spring 2011 menswear collection. The Lookbook has already been published online so check it out to see a preview of United's new look.

Some of the players will also be strutting their stuff at Farinelli's fashion show on September 23.

Not a lot of big news today, but some different random bits of news about the Wizards.
First, Wizards President, Robb Heineman has an update on what's going on out at the Wizards stadium site out at the Legends. No big news on that front, other than they continue to move dirt around and are getting ready to start moving dirt away from the site.

By AVI CREDITOR

A Mid-Atlantic rivalry is born, as the Philadelphia Union open their temporary home, Lincoln Financial Field, to welcome D.C. United (6 p.m., Fox Soccer Channel).

While a festive mood is in the air, both teams have had little to celebrate early in the season.

It took the MLS Open Cup qualifying bracket for DC United to post it's first win, beating Dallas 4-2. Adam Cristman opened the scoring at RFK Stadium in the 5th minute, and DC were up 2-0 when Christian Castillo scored from distance in the 39th. Andy Najar made it 3-0 DC just after halftime. With DC seemingly in control, Dallas pulled two goals back through Bruno Guarda in the 52nd minute and a penalty conversion.

By AVI CREDITOR

WASHINGTON - The New York Red Bulls won their fifth game in six matches - equaling their win total of a season ago - as second-half goals by Salou Ibrahim and Juan Pablo Angel lifted the Red Bulls to a 2-0 Atlantic Cup victory over rival D.C. United at RFK Stadium.

A day late today with the former Wizards update due to the Wizards game last night, but here's this week's former Wizards update. Ryan Pore continues to be the early season MVP of the USSF Division 2 as he was named the player of the month for April as he got 2 more goals against Vancouver this past week.

Foreign leagues are winding down for the summer, while the PDL is bringing in a few other former Wizards players. Also included now are some reports on former Wizards trying to qualify for the US Open Cup. Edson Elcock was named the USL-2 player of the week this past week and Lance Watson scored his first professional goal.

D.C. United midfielder Chris Pontius was voted Major League Soccer Player of the Week by the North American Soccer Reporters for Week 12 of the 2010 MLS season. Pontius scored two goals and recorded an assist in D.C. United's 3-2 victory over Seattle Sounders FC on Thursday, June 10 at Qwest Field.

It's a slow week of former Wizards news this week. Lots of former Wizards were off this past week with the World Cup kicking off. MLS only had two games in the past week. Herculez Gomez was about to come on, but didn't get on in the first World Cup game for the US. The other news of this week was that the US Open Cup kicked off with all the lower level US team's getting started yesterday.

The MLS season is now over and a lot of former players will now not be updated right now. The indoor season is picking up though and thanks to last Friday's game I now know there's another former player playing for the Omaha Vipers, as Chris Brunt is on that team. Also there is a new former player, Jonathan Leathers is now officially a former SKC player after having been selected by Vancouver in the expansion draft.

Here's another week of weekly Wizards updates. As mentioned earlier today, there's a new former Wizard, as Adam Cristman has been traded to DC. I also believe another former Wizard may be on the look out for another team, as Scott Sealy no longer appears on the roster for Bnei Sakhnin on the Israeli FA website.

Last year I spoke with some excitement when the Wizards traded for forward Adam Cristman. I thought given the chance he could be a big time goal scorer for the Wizards. Unfortunately a foot fracture and a hamstring injury limited Cristman to only 5 appearances for the Wizards, 3 starts, and only 213 minutes played.

Onalfo was all about his commitment to attacking soccer when he started in KC. The offensive production went down each season he was there.
He was all about keeping United's tradition alive at DCU. The team went out and signed a big Australian striker, Danny Allsopp, who was recently described as "absolutely hopeless" and had his biggest success at Notts County.

With only two days remaining in Bradenton the Black-and-Red are maximizing their time in Florida by working hard on the training field. The two photos below depict some of the great individual battles that have occurred over the past two days. The first shot was taken in a one-on-one session between forward Adam Cristman and defender Dejan Jakovic.

More former Wizards are joining the list, and we're at the point where we'll see the most former Wizards playing at one time as we will for most of the season. The silly season has started this year, and the first former Wizard mentioned, is Herculez Gomez who has had a strong season with Puebla. He's being linked with Club America as well as other clubs.

By AVI CREDITOR

WASHINGTON - Andy Najar scored his first professional goal and assisted on one of Adam Cristman's two goals, as D.C. United defeated FC Dallas, 4-2, in a U.S. Open Cup qualifying game at RFK Stadium.

Najar, a 17-year-old D.C. United Academy product, ran onto a gorgeous cross from Cristman to head home a goal that gave United a 3-0 lead in the 52nd minute.

By AVI CREDITOR

Another installment of the Atlantic Cup takes place Saturday afternoon, as I-95 rivals D.C. United and the New York Red Bulls square off at RFK Stadium (4 p.m., Telefutura).

The Red Bulls (4-1-0) stand atop the Eastern Conference standings with 12 points through five matches, though Columbus is five points off the pace with two matches in hand.

Another week of former Wizards updates. The biggest news of the past week is the announcement of the preliminary US roster that has two former Wizards on it, Herculez Gomez and Eddie Johnson. In other leagues around the world, Chris Konopka continues to get shutouts for Waterford in the Irish second division.

By TRAVIS CLARK

On the road or at home, goals have been hard to come by for D.C. United. And a familiar tune played out Saturday evening as a Mehdi Ballouchy goal in the 69th minute sent United to yet another defeat.

United trotted almost the exact same lineup as last weekend's loss against FC Dallas, perhaps hoping that that familiarity would breed success.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

By TRAVIS CLARK

On the road or at home, goals have been hard to come by for D.C. United. And a familiar tune played out Saturday evening as a Mehdi Ballouchy goal in the 67th minute sent United to yet another defeat.

Another week of former Wizards updates. This week while we lose more of our foreign former Wizards whose seasons end, the American leagues are in full swing. Still, the biggest news of the week was the horrific injury that Preston Burpo suffered this past week. Here's the rest of your former Wizards update.

Another week of former Wizards updates. This week while we lose more of our foreign former Wizards whose seasons end, the American leagues are in full swing. Still, the biggest news of the week was the horrific injury that Preston Burpo suffered this past week. Here's the rest of your former Wizards update.