A Picture Tells the Story -- United Is Done

The five-column picture on the front of the Sports section of Friday's Washington Post couldn't be more clear. D.C. United midfielder Christian Gomez outfighting a Chicago Fire defender for the ball a moment before he kicked it into the goal at RFK Stadium for what surely would have been a 3-2 United victory. Such an outcome would have offset Chicago's 1-0 victory last week, forcing a 30-minute overtime to determine which team advanced to MLS's Eastern Conference final.

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The only problem for a rallying D.C. United and their passionately loyal fans is that Gomez's left arm appears to be touching the ball. Not only did Post photographer Toni L. Sandys snap the photograph, but referee Jair Marrufo saw Gomez's arm touch the ball and whistled off the goal.

By an eyelash, D.C. United's league-best season (16-7-7) came to a crushing end at home for a third straight year.

"In a lot of soccer leagues, we'd be champions by virtue of what we did in the regular season," said Kevin Payne, United's president and chief executive. "But our league has playoffs, and we had a chance to advance to the finals here and didn't do it."

Of the referee's decision to void Gomez's apparent equalizer, Payne shook his head and said, "You can't make that call; you have to have a sense of the moment."

Yet Marrufo did make that the call, ending what United midfielder Ben Olsen called "a cool season" -- but one that concluded as an "embarrassment to the team." Olsen added, "I feel awful for these fans who support us so well."

Those fans -- there were 19,438 at the old stadium -- stand and sing team songs all night, respond to good plays and rate among the best spectators in town. They deserved better this past week, although soccer fans appreciate and understand the value of the regular season.

So when they play the MLS Cup for the league championship at RFK on Nov. 18, D.C. United will not be involved, prompting Coach Tom Soehn to remark, "I feel like apologizing to each and every fan at our not making it to the finals."

As if 52-7 Wasn't Bad Enough

It was hard to see anything positive from the Redskins' standpoint in that 52-7 thumping at the hands of the New England Bullies last Sunday in Foxborough. Did I read that the debacle was the fourth-worst defeat in the 75-year history of the franchise? If so, that would include a lot of shellackings, especially during the years between 1956 and 1968, when the Redskins did not have a single winning season.

By midweek, the gang at WTEM-980 had used up most of its venom and adjectives. (Thankfully Rick "Doc" Walker isn't a real doctor or he would have euthanized half the team, front office and the entire coaching staff.) By Thursday, WTEM had activated LaVar Arrington for low-level strafing and launched Brian Mitchell strapped to a Tomahawk missile aimed at Ashburn.

Still, some die-hards believe last Sunday's one-sided setback was nothing more than an unpleasant bump in the road that occurred for a number of reasons, including: