"I am both outraged and embarrassed that players in this league - especially a World Cup star like Pablo Mastroeni - would engage in obscene behavior towards our fans, and am dismayed that no one from the Colorado organization was present (Saturday night) to discourage such boorish behavior."
- Dave Checketts, released statement, Denver Post (LINK)
The "obscene behavior" of which Real Salt Lake (RSL) owner Dave Checketts speaks featured Mastroeni stuffing his shirt down his pants after the Colorado Rapid's 1-0 win over RSL last Saturday. The same game also kept the Rocky Mountain Cup in Denver for the second of two seasons. So, why'd Mastroeni stuff his shirt down his pants? Who knows really. Someone speaking for the Rapids organization said he did it to symbolize the fact "that Real Salt Lake was in Colorado's pocket." Sounds plausible.
But the reason is beside the point. The reaction is what counts here and it's the correct one. The gesture pissed off at least one person (Checketts) and, judging by the on-field warfare, several others, most notably the players. Anger is good when it comes to rivalries; in fact, one can't have rivalries without it. And hats off to the fans of the league, or Major League Soccer itself, for creating several in the league's short existence. Hell, at least two of them - "El Capitan" going to the winner of the season series (Texas Derby? Try again) between FC Dallas and the Houston Dynamo and the aforementioned Rocky Mountain Cup, which features RSL versus Colorado - have reached the ripe old ages of one and two, respectively. But check out the energy the players and, most likely, the fans, are putting into a two-year-old trophy. That's good stuff.
As for the other two (I can think of) - the Brimstone Cup, which goes between the Chicago Fire and (hey, no fair!) FC Dallas, and the Atlantic Cup, which passed between Red Bull New York and DC United - I haven't yet read word of them generating this kind of sizzle, but it'd be grand if they did one day. Maybe it will happen when either Chicago or Red Bull starts winning their particular trophies on more than the odd occasion.
Anyway, Checketts ought to be careful what he wishes for. He might wake up next season to discover that Rocky Mountain Cup games produce the most passion - and, not implausibly - the most revenue for his club. It's a good thing, man, no matter where Pablo Mastroeni's shirt ends up. Don't be a narc.
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