Top 5, 07.12: No USOC for DC; Other USOC; Stadium Porn; Kreis...

...and I leave the ellipses because I like Jason Kreis well enough and couldn't think of an appropriate verb that wouldn't sound insulting.

Trying to make this quick today.

- As a (I think) Harrisburg, PA blog put it, DC became the latest Major League Soccer (MLS) team to "go poof" in the U.S. Open Cup (OK: the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup...by Wheaties). The Harrisburg Patriot-News did a good homer write-up...as well they should. I see this loss as part of an irksome trend I mentioned yesterday and what The Offside Rules wrote today.

- Speaking of the Open Cup, Bill Urban forwarded a swell idea on USSoccerplayers.com: reserving a spot in the Superliga for the Open Cup champion (and how cool would it be if, say, the Harrisburg City Islanders lifted the Cup?). I wholly endorse Mr. Urban's recommendation - but would modestly propose adding the structural adjustments I mentioned yesterday (see the "yesterday" link above).

- I held off on this yesterday, but won't be able to ignore it till I post it and get the urge out of my system. The computer-drawn mock-ups of DC's potential stadium look delightfully space age. The image fourth from the left is my personal favorite...very tech.

- Jason Kreis' open letter to RSL fans is....is....I don't know. Painful? Mildly embarrassing, yet simultaneously appropriate? All I know is, the man deserved a better situation.

- As a fan of MLS trying to use cheapness - and I don't care what they discount: tickets, beer, parking; just something - I just wish a team other than Chivas USA was the one to give it a real-world test. Turning things over to Chivas USA co-owner, Antonio Cue:

"We have not changed our ticket prices because we are trying to be just with the people and give them the best benefit with the soccer we are giving."

Um...solidarity?

Ah, finally got the length of a Top 5 post to where I want it.

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