Tuesday night the Dynamo put four goals past the Battery on a rain-soaked pitch ending what had become an Open Cup rivalry with the Battery beating their opponents two times out of the last three years.
The Battery had their chances on the counter and with two FK's to have equalized. The pain of seeing your local side shut out pales to how upset I was that the team was not clapped off the pitch as they deserved.
Maybe I am reading into this too much, it's possible that there was a massive hangover from the weekend. Or maybe fans succumb to insecurities, that supporting your club translates to an expression of embarrassment or drunkenness instead of pride and joy. Either way, the lack of pulse shown by the fans at Blackbaud Park is something I hope to never experience again. But the cold, hard rain, I'll take that again; though the players would disagree.
About sixty people watched the first half as rain came on windy and cold, but we stayed seated, soaked and shivering.
This picture was taken before the opening goal and the ensuing downpour. The image that that saddened me most was seeing Dusty with his head hung down, forehead touching the stadium railing along the sideline; stricken with the agony of defeat.
The players left it all out on the field and especially the goalkeeper: the punching-bag, a net-minder in the twilight of his career being consoled by his family as embodying the emotions rung-out in the rain that night.
It was an indictment to fair-weather US soccer supporters who don't even show strength in defeat, to support their club when it needs it the most, not just buying the gear so your kid fits in.
I was delusional after the ConFed Cup final, the 3-1 win over Chivas and the packed house for the USA v Canada rugby game that this nation had the onset of World Cup Fever. Of course, we will not deny the possibility of change in the hearts of this great nation's polity.
For change is the only constant in the universe...
No comments:
Post a Comment