First, before all you muppets and zombies berate me for supposedly slagging off on one of your beloved heroes, know this. I think Tim Howard is a good keeper and easily the best the US has right now. US fans need to grow some balls, skin, and/or a brain and lose the Third Reich attitude that if you are critical, you are not a true fan and should be taken out back and shot.

USA v. Mexico Cancelled: Steven Goff reports that US v. Mexico at Azteca is off. It is to be replaced by US v. Brazil at Chicago's Soldier Field. Quite a replacement match.
Boswell Helps ESPN Out Bobby Boswell decided to give some good advice to ESPN at practice on Friday. Some strong stuff there that many fans, myself included think is 100% correct.

- For those who haven't seen it already, MLS Underground is under new management and, with that, is headed off in a new direction. And this isn't so much a sharp right-hand turn as it's a three-to-four-point turn with an e-brake slide. Rather than deal in its former insider-dish/rumor-hawking stuff (and I'm still baffled by [.

And the trading of the Wells is done.
Bobby Boswell, the 2006 MLS defender of the year, is heading out of the nation's capitol for the warmer weather in Houston. In return, United gets goalkeeper Zach Wells.
First off, this is an excellent trade for both teams. With Cochrane moving on to San Jose, the Dynamo need a good center back and although Boswell did not have a great 2007 campaign, he still has the talent and will probably recover in 2008, while United got a keeper to replace Troy Perkins when he jumps to Europe during the winter transfer window.

Beside the Washington Post publishing the salary numbers released by the players union, does anyone have a list of MLS salaries? I'm looking for updated numbers that would show what new players like Wanchope, Pavon, Sanneh, Osorno and others are making. The same with Bobby Boswell's new salary. He's not making $30k any more.

There are a lot of things going right for United. Perkins has regained his form, the emergence of McTavish and Burch, the gold tinted boots of Emilio... but perhaps the biggest thing going right for United right now is Ben Olsen. If I had to pick United's Player of the Year, it would be Ben. When I first saw him on the wing against CD Olimpia, I thought it was a stop-gap measure at best, a horrible mistake at worst.

Hey people. Sorry I've been AWOL for a bit, but with the lack of real news to report, I've been directly my attention towards baseball, and my Washington Nationals blog. Anyway, here's a rundown of what's happened since we were summarily booted out of the postseason.

Jesus balls! What a day! So many major and minor things to discuss....best start with the little stuff to warm up. Just like before playing, right? - One little thing to keep an eye on: I seriously don't know how teeny-tiny Major League Soccer (MLS) rosters will cope with the scheduling insanity if [.

It's going to take some time for me to really evaluate the now completed Bobby Boswell for Zach Wells deal. The Goffather updated his original scoop with the telling detail that Bobby requested the trade. Given the situation, Bobby wanting out, Troy wanting to go abroad, United seems to have neatly handled a way to accommodate both players' wishes.

D.C. United 3 : 1 New York Red BullsJAMIE MORENO BECOMES MLS CAREER GOALS LEADER WITH 109
Six Word Novel Recap

Record is a comma, not period.

Media, Traditional and OtherwiseThe Washington Post, Steve Goff: "Moreno's historic strike came on a night when United (11-6-3) scored twice in the first eight minutes, endured New York's intense pressure and Juan Pablo Angel's goal midway through the half, then secured its fourth consecutive MLS victory to move within three points of first-place New England in the Eastern Conference.

Satan. Borat. Lance Armstrong. Two Chippendales.
Surprisingly this is not the guest list to Elton John's engagement party. It's a bunch of Houston Dynamo players in their Halloween get-ups. Well maybe they are costumes for DeRo and Brad Davis. If your attack has ever been foiled by Patrick Ianni you might think he is, in fact, the Devil.

Short takes from the weekend's European action.
Chelsea 3-2 Birmingham
- Shaun Wright-Phillips and Florent Malouda are two crucial pieces of Chelsea's attack. They both figure to have a brilliant season with the Blues this campaign. Sidwell could also make a decisive impact this season should he make the most of his minutes coming off the bench.

After this blog died roughly a month ago, I emailed someone and things transpired. Ipso facto, I'm your new point man on all things DC United. I'm Jon, feel free to comment, complain, and do pretty much whatever you want.

Things will get crazy soon, as the second leg with Chivas is tomorrow and the last 4 games of the season approach. You'll have a preview tomorrow morning, and a recap on Wednesday.

Strange how the apparent order of things can affect perception. Consider...

1) United wants to acquire Cannon. 2) Perkins will go to Europe. 3) D gets annoyed.

Or...

1) Perkins will go to Europe. 2) United wants to acquire Cannon. 3) D is complacent.

Same facts, different order, and a different story.

TiVo is amazing, so first let me expand on DCU's loss. (Don't kid yourselves: any time a team gives up three goals over the course of fourty minutes, it's a loss.)
After singing his praises, Perkins let us down. His form not only regressed from last week, but it regressed over the course of those ninety minutes.
I'll be specific: he gifted FC Dallas their first (not second) and third goals.

Okay, so let's say that of the 45,000 people that went to see the game, 20,000 were there for Beckham. I think it's safe to assume that at least 25,000 were casual United fans to begin with who also came out for this one. Fair? Good. Let's talk about those 20,000 fans that came first and foremost for Sir Becks-a-lot.

They saw a pretty good game, even in the rain.

So one mentioned Bryan Namoff's wedding photos in the comments of another post so I had to check them out. That's where I found this gem. For all the grief BB got about his play this season and for other incidents you have to give him some credit; if he pulled any two of these birds at the wedding he is officially ballin' outta control.

VANNEY/BOSWELL PROFILED:

Charles Boehm at MLSNet talks about the new center of DC's backline, and Tom Soehn explicitly endorses the idea of Vanney as mentor to Boswell:

"...we've got a veteran to play alongside him, which is going to be another experience for Bobby. So far it looks pretty good."

Does that mean I'm now sold on the deal?

Well, the Beckham circus passed through another city, another stadium's seats were filled, and another set of regular supporters made it clear how little they care about David Beckham. The DC Sports Bog caught it all on camera. Two observations on the video: one, it says a lot about this [...]

Surely this incident needs to be thrown into the talk about how technology is changing things. In the old days you had your local newspaper sports columnist reporting some rumors he's heard maybe once or thrice a week. Then it was that person or a talking head on ESPN. With the web we have those along with bloggers. And now one of those bloggers reporting a as of now still officially a rumored player move is a player!

D.C. United 3 : 3 F.C. Dallas
Six Word Novel Recap

Three goals surrendered, two points missed.

Media, Traditional and OtherwiseThe Washington Times, Mark Medina: "United scored in the eighth minute, when forward Fred crossed the ball to Moreno, who marched inside the 18-yard line on the right flank. To avoid a slide tackle from FC Dallas defender Clarence Goodson, Moreno passed to forward Luciano Emilio inside the box.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
For all of the ridiculous debate on this blog, The Washington Post blog, Bigsoccer, and several capital-area barbershops this week about Bobby Boswell and jokes, surely this proves that dude has more humor in his left nut than many fans have at all. Nice one BB.

Yeah, this one is a little bit late getting out, for those of you who like your coffee in the afternoon as well.
Diablo Tribute: There is more information on the match planned to honor DC United great, Marco Antonio Etcheverry. Marco will captain the 1997 DC United team while they play a Hollywood United team reinforced with past MLS stars, including Carlos Valderrama, Mauricio Cienfuegos, Tab Ramos, Eric Wynalda and Alex Pineda Chacon.

D.C. United 1 : 1 Monarcas Morelia
Six Word Novel Recap

Finally, the artificial infield costs us.

Photo Gallery...From Kyle Guftason
Media, Traditional and OtherwiseThe Washington Post, Steve Goff: "Gomez swerved a 28-yard shot around the wall and just inside the right post to give United the lead. But with Morelia creating little of substance and forced to resort to chippy tactics, including an undetected cheap shot to Fred at midfield, D.

Just a few quick hits in and around this one, once again viewed with my one-eyed pirate's glare.

• Holy crap on that sitter "Brian" Boswell! That couldn't have been Bobby cause I heard him saying that he got his groove back, right? Oh well, must have been "Brian" cause I heard the announcer say his name three times. To be fair, the announcer did drop the ball on quite a few occasions (Moreno hasn't played since the Copa?

Bobby Boswell has been traded to the Houston Dynamo for goalkeeper Zach Wells , as reported by Steve Goff.
I am not so sure about this trade. You get a back up goalkeeper to potentially replace your current starter who might be heading to the Norseland, by trading away one of your central defenders?

So by now you've most likely heard that BobbyBoswell.com/blog.unfocused is packing his bags for the defending champs down in Houston, while Zach Wells and a draft pick pile into the back of mom's mini-van and head to the District to replace the Scandanavia-bound Troy Perkins in the United net. Personally, I would have preferred to upgrade to the Cannon model (facial hair sold separately), as a

If I learned just one thing yesterday, it was that waiting till the afternoon only caused storms in my brain. Hence, the Sweeper returns to its normal date and time. Not that this affects anybody, but I'm also considering changing my online handle...more on that when I figure it out. - Here I thought [.

From Kevin Payne's mouth to God's ears....

Payne said he, General Manager Dave Kasper and Coach Tom Soehn began discussing the club's future moves late Thursday night and that the club may very well finally utilize MLS's designated player rule, a year-old innovation that allows teams to sign a high-priced marquee player along the lines of Beckham (Los Angeles), Cuauhtemoc Blanco (Chicago) or Juan Pablo Angel (New York).