On Monday, we showed you the video that asked the players who the best prankster on the team was. Today, we bring you one of the best pranks of 2008 - in photo essay form. Though numerous players play pranks on their teammates throughout the course of a season, this year, a particular prank war developed between Marc Burch and Santino Quaranta.

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Far be it for me to neglect you, readers, on the day before the classic NY-DC matchup up at the stadium named after my NFL team. From what I can gather, DC is using this game as a chance to work back in some players coming off of injury. On turf, I'd have [...] Click to continue reading...

Two games in four days won't stop Marc Burch from checking in with his favorite morning radio show. Tomorrow, our friends JP, EB, Cakes and Lurch from the Sports Junkies will talk to Burchy on their radio program. Tune in on the radio (WJFK 106.7 FM) or listen live at wjfk.com. The interview should start around 8:45 a.

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Rumors all over the place today about Chicago bad boy/Designated Player Cuauhtemoc Blanco assaulting one or more players on then field, and then headbutting a DC United employee. And from what I can tell, at least some of these rumors appear to be true In this earlier post, I described Blanco and DC player Marc [. Click to continue reading...

As many of you have heard by now, Chicgo Fire midfielder and DP Blanco got a bit headed last night in the Fire's 2-1 overtime loss to DC United in the US Open Cup. Blanco took his frustrations out on DC's Clyde Simms and Marc Burch. The video highlights below (no audio) show the punch [...] Click to continue reading...

D.C. United 2 : 1 Chicago FireD.C. United advances to U.S. Open Cup Semi-Final against New England Revolution.
Six Word Novel Recap

Doe, Namoff score. White meets Red.

Media, Traditional and OtherwiseThe Washington Times, Harlan Goode: "All D.C. United needed Tuesday night was a little more Jaime Moreno. Click to continue reading...

I'm going off some buffering, stuttering, and often times crazily modulating Limarzi audio here, so I won't attempt too much in the way of match analysis, but I'd like to raise the following points in the aftermath of Marc Burch's 2-0 victory over the Rhinos . . . * Does this count as a shutout? No, no . Click to continue reading...

Well, that was an uncomfortable temperature for a truly entertaining game. But, that's what you get when ABC wants the game at 12. I just hope the ratings were worth having the game played on the surface of the sun. Where to begin? Oh, I know. Greater than the win, or the [...] Click to continue reading...

The media tour continues in the lead-up to Sunday's game versus the Galaxy. Tomorrow morning, United's Marc Burch will be a guest on The Junkies radio program on 106.7 WJFK. Burchy is expected to be on around 9 a.m. so tune in on the radio or listen live at wjfk.com.

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You may or may not be, but Domenic Mediate, Marc Burch and Devon McTavish are. United's three players are participating in what is being called the "DC Date Auction" tomorrow night in a benefit for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. The event is being held at Lotus Lounge (1420 K St. NW) from 7-10 p.

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Wow. Woooow. I can't throw this game away like I did for Colorado, as there are no excuses this time. I took down some notes during the game, because I knew this post would be a doozy. So here we go. Click to continue reading...

Wow. Woooow. I can't throw this game away like I did for Colorado, as there are no excuses this time. I took down some notes during the game, because I knew this post would be a doozy. So here we go. - Emilio's 1st touch. As in, he doesn't have one. I [...] Click to continue reading...

Wow. That was one would call a "dismantling". As I said on the last JPEG thread, this game was mostly unwatchable from a DCU fan perspective. Some observations that : - The personnel was not on the field to play a 3-4-3. Nope. If Domenic Mediate is on the field, you've already lost. [...] Click to continue reading...

Wow. That was one would call a "dismantling". As I said on the last JPEG thread, this game was mostly unwatchable from a DCU fan perspective.
Some observations that :
- The personnel was not on the field to play a 3-4-3. Nope. If Domenic Mediate ...

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... because you might want to plan your morning around a couple of DCU interviews taking place tomorrow. Here is Friday's lowdown:

• Ben Olsen will be on DC101's Elliot in the Morning program at 8:15 a.m.
• Marc Burch will be on 106.7 WJFK's The Junkies at 9:30 a.m.

You can listen live online at the links provided above or tune-in on an old fashioned radio music player.

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Well, after avoiding doing this for 2 weeks, I think it's finally time that I have to do this. So, here you go peoples, the super brilliant season preview written by yours truly. Nuts and Bolts If you've watched any MLS since about 1996, you'd know that (aside from a few dark years) DC [...] Click to continue reading...

Well, after avoiding doing this for 2 weeks, I think it's finally time that I have to do this. So, here you go peoples, the super brilliant season preview written by yours truly.

Nuts and Bolts -- If you've watched any MLS since about 1996, you'd know that (aside from ...

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Answer: Free kicks.

He can take as long as he likes if the wind up is going to put the free kick past the keeper. Long live the Burch Bomb (from The Coiner of Words).

I know, it was against U-17's, bla bla bla. Really this preseason scrimmage means nothing, but if it was less than 6-0 it would mean something. Click to continue reading...

So imagine if that was a male and he wore the DC United shirt, that would be Marc Burch. If I had any photoshopping skills at all I could have made it happen. But I don't, so I didn't.

In our final installment of "but most of all we support the backline" we get to talk about our favorite United defender and our favorite player, Marc Burch. Click to continue reading...

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.

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The Offside Rules picked up on our Burchie transcription and it seems to have stirred some people up. For the record, we did not intend for a bus to pass over Marc's defenseless body, we just thought it was kind of funny. We'll take his left foot over Freddy's any day.

We continue in our undying love for you Marc... now shorten that service wind up and give Chicago the beat down they deserve next Thursday. Click to continue reading...

Marc Burch, The Edgell Supporters current favorite DC United player, was interviewed yesterday morning on The Junkies (Washington D.C. morning radio show). Marc was quite candid on his thoughts about Freddy Adu.

On Freddy Adu (transcribed by Dirty Supporter):

Junkies (EB): Is everybody happy to be rid of Freddy, does anybody talk about Freddy these days? Click to continue reading...

Tickle

• Burch from distance!
• John Terry gets some not-so-instant, just-add-Clint karma, busting his cheekbone just a week after his arrogant attempt to snatch the red card and play referee himself. Add this to the Carling Cup final boot to the head and you've got to say, "is it the willingness to stick a head in bravely, or a vengeful universe getting its due?

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D.C. United 4 : 1 Toronto FC
Six Word Novel Recap

Five quality goals; only four enjoyable.

Media, Traditional and Otherwise The Washington Post, The Bog Man: "After being greeted with enthusiastic ovations from an announced crowd of 25,174 [coming on as subs in 2nd half], Moreno and Olsen immediately created a dangerous chance, with Olsen heading Moreno's cross back in front of the goal to Christian Gomez. Click to continue reading...

RFK was rockin' as DC United managed a 2-1 victory in the first leg of their quarterfinal tie with Big Papa Chivas in the Copa Sudamericana. United managed to win despite going a man down in the first half as Marc Burch saw his second yellow under questionable circumstances. At the time, United was up 1-0 on a laser from distance by the Bearded Bombardier. Click to continue reading...

I went to the Caps pre-season game last night against Carolina. Obviously golden goals in OT are exciting, but I really can't get too excited about hockey in general. In soccer when a player is offsides, the players scream at the AR, wag their fingers and the supporters go nuts. In hockey there is polite applause. In soccer, a long ball from the back that finds an on-rushing striker gets everyone out of their seats and cheering. Click to continue reading...

Chris Webb has a provocative article about the Vanney-Erpen deal over at UnitedMania. Go ahead and read the article in full, because it is good reading. However, as always, we reserve the right to dissent, at least in part. Now, this is the kind of in-depth argument that only fans care about, so let's get at it. Webb argues that the day of the Vanney deal was the day "D.

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F.C. Dallas 0 : 4 D.C. United
Six Word Novel Recap

Lesson to Dallas: "Resurrection is rare."

Media, Traditional and OtherwiseThe Washington Times, Milenko Martinovich: " If there was any doubt whether D.C. United was ready for a run at the Eastern Conference title, it was erased last night."
The Washington Post, Steve Davis: "Olsen's two first-half strikes propelled D. Click to continue reading...

Who expected that? DCU has been hot as of lately, the team finally showing some awareness of one another, and Perkins has been perfectly good. But against an FC Dallas side in sore need of a win, at their home stadium, with Denilson just waiting to make a big impression... I didn't dare dream we'd notch our biggest road win since 1998. What a shutout. Click to continue reading...

And lo - the Bearded Bombardier,
Will punish the legions of Frisco.
And the black-clad midfield,
Will rain goals upon their hoopéd foe.
Witness the triumph of the Crossing Machine!

Arguably the two best midfields in all of MLS met last night in Frisco, but it was the gulf in defensive quality that turned the tide. Dallas came out strong and despite being rocked by an early laser from distance by Benny "the Bearded Bombardier" Olsen, they carried the play for the the majority of the first half. Click to continue reading...

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.

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I'm a bit pressed for time at the moment, and as I'm running about a lap shy of the rest of the futbol blogiverse, I'll make this the condensed, quickfire highlights version of the match recap for United's 3-1 victory over the Metrotards. To whit:

• Ben Olsen - Metrobull Slayer - Can Beninho honestly do any more to endear himself to United fans?

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Congratulations, Jaime. You deserve the praise.

It was a pretty good day for United fans yesterday.

I understand he didn't want to set the record off a penalty but the onus had been on him to score for several weeks now so I'm glad he took the opportunity. Moreover, I think he's still got it in him to score another two goals at least by the end of the season. Click to continue reading...

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. Click to continue reading...

It does the heart good to see Emilio two goals up on Angel for the MLS Golden Boot. And I'll be honest-- to see Altidore up there, albeit at the bottom of the list, warms my heart a bit as well. Glad he didn't double up on us.

(Off topic: Ives reckons Altidore will be the MLS' first ever eight-figure transfer. I'm disagreeing with Ives on this one. Click to continue reading...