Pros

OPINION: Let's Be Positive About This By Emlyn Lewis
September 12, 2007
On Sunday, the New England Revolution lost to D.C. United, 4-2, at RFK Stadium. The loss gifted D.C. a four-point cushion at the top of the standings, seriously jeopardizing the Revolution's shot at winning the MLS Supporters' Shield and emboldening their closest rival for league and conference supremacy with the playoffs right around the corner.

Worse still, DC's victory came on just three days rest, while the Revs came into the match after a bye week, theoretically well rested and ready to play.

Despite Sunday's loss, we'll be positive about the Revs today. (Photo credit: Joyce Furia)

And so, sitting down to write about the Revolution this week, the easy and obvious thing to do was to be negative, to lay this downturn in their fortunes at the feet of the management team who, despite having the club at the top of the standings all season long, willfully refused to spend the money they had at their disposal to make the team even better. It should not be lost on anyone that three of United's four goals came from new, foreign signings (Fred and Luciano Emilio), or that Paulo Wanchope scored for Chicago that day, and Denilson scored for Dallas.

But let us lay Occam's Razor aside. Let us ignore the obvious, if only for a day.

Let us not say that the Revolution now have no shot at the Supporters' Shield. They have six games left, 18 potential points, and D.C. may run out of gas. Chivas may sneak in and take the Shield. Anything can happen. Game winning goals can come from untested rookies, from Gambian school boys or from wizened veterans. Having sat in the stands for last year's Eastern Conference Final, at that same RFK Stadium, and seen the Revolution steal a win from a much better United side, I know that anything is possible.

Let us not say that adding Guillermo Barros Schelotto, who the Revs were evaluating when the Crew signed him up, would have given them that little bit of quality they were missing on Sunday in D.C. The Galaxy added David Beckham, Abel Xavier and Carlos Pavon this season and have a league worst 17 points to show for it.

Let us not blame Mike Burns or Craig Tornberg or Steve Nicol for flubbing another chance at silverware before that chance is actually flubbed.

Let us not say we told them so, that we sized up the roster and found it wanting. Let us not be triumphal in our own team's defeat, not because we were wrong or because we don't deserve our righteous indignation, but rather because that rage is impotent. It accomplishes nothing other than demonstrating our emotional investment in a game men play on weekends.

Giving up now is like letting your head drop after giving up a goal. It leads to nothing but more goals, more disappointment.

The thing that really struck me about last year's Eastern Conference Final wasn't that Taylor Twellman's earlier strike stole the trophy from a far superior and harder-working team, but rather that the stands were filled with fans in black and white. The D.C. fans expected to win. They wore shirts that said, "D.C. United, a Winning Tradition." The whole park echoed with an attitude you won't find in New England. They were angry at the loss and still believed they were the better team.

In resisting the urge to wail and gnash my teeth and beat my breast with anger for the Revolution's seeming unwillingness to make themselves better, I thought about the attitude and tradition D.C. has, and I wondered what came first, the attitude or the wins. Do you need the right attitude to win? We accept that a team needs to have the right attitude, but do the fans not need to have the same outlook? Can we accept our shortcomings and failures and still expect to win? Is that acceptance part of learning to win in the first place?

I don't know. Maybe.

Let us not take the easy way today. Let's try to win instead. It can be so hard to be a fan.

Emlyn Lewis can be reached at emlynlewis@comcast.net.