OPINION: More Jekyll and Hyde From Revs

Open Cup Nice, But Supporter's Sheild Not Likely

October 8, 2007

By Emlyn Lewis

The Jekyll and Hyde routine continues with your 2007 New England Revolution.

On Wednesday they went to Dallas and took the US Open Cup from the home team, hardly batting an eyelash. On Saturday, they went to Chicago and got run out of the midfield and then run out of town with a 2-1 loss.

Ignore anyone who cites the team's striking of crossbars and posts and says they were unlucky. They put the crossbar and posts there so you know where the goal isn't. Bottom line, the Revs didn't get it done.

Incidentally, most English professors will tell you that Henry Hyde was either an alcoholic or a homosexual. Not sure what that has to do with anything, but I thought it was worth mentioning.

Andy Dorman's play has dipped a bit lately for the Revolution.

It shouldn't escape anyone's notice that Andy Dorman's form has dipped to the point that Steve Nicol chose to bench him in favor of rookie Wells Thompson, moving Steve Ralston into Dorman's attacking midfield spot. As with most things, this move cuts both ways. On the one hand, it shows that Nicol is willing to adjust his tactics, and that, on some level, Thompson's play has improved significantly from the first half of the season.

On the other hand, it underlines the loss of Clint Dempsey and shows what a huge mistake it's been to not add another attacking midfielder with the salary room and allocation the team has been sitting on.

Meanwhile, DC United and Chivas USA roll on. The Revolution are now, mathematical miracles aside, comprehensively out of the race for the Supporters' Shield. With the US Open Cup on their trophy shelf (surely the purchase of a whole cabinet can't be justified just yet), perhaps losing a grip on the Shield and hoping for the best in the playoffs isn't too painful for Revolution fans, but from my perspective the US Open Cup is a second rate trophy.

They play the Final on a Wednesday night. Just over 10K people showed up. This is not the way to make a competition prestigious. Sure, the UEFA Champions' League Final is also played on a Wednesday, but that's because, in Europe, that match is so huge you could play it on a Monday morning and everyone on the continent would call in sick to watch.

Not so our US Open Cup. Hell, the Revolution only had to win four games to lay their hands on the prize. I would love for the Cup to have the same luster it does in some other countries, but let's not fool ourselves.

So that leaves us the MLS Cup, which is being played on a Sunday at RFK Stadium thankfully. That is, thankfully because in the miraculous event our Revolution get that far they won't have to face DC United at their home ground, having already faced and beaten them (possibly) there in the Eastern Conference Championship game.

I don't want to sound pessimistic, and if I'm trying very hard I can imagine that United are peaking too early, that they can't possibly sustain their current form throughout the playoffs. I can believe that the Revolution's woeful lack of depth won't be exposed by a late injury to a key starter, or (ahem) the unexpected loss of form by a key contributor.

It might be useful to bear in mind that, at the end of Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Hyde, Jekyll's evil alter-ego, commits suicide. Or that might not be useful at all.

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

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