| OPINION: Thursday Night Lights?

OPINION: Thursday Night Lights?

Revs Survive 'Tattoo' Game, Now Face Red-hot Chicago

November 6, 2007

By Emlyn Lewis

That was what I call a tattoo game, the Revolution's 1-0 defeat of New York in the driving rain at Foxboro. Like a tattoo, the end result requires significant pain, and, for a supporter, tattoo games are what real support is made of. You suffer with your team and become part of them.

It's a good thing they won, too.

After being treated to 180 minutes of playoff soccer spread over two weeks, and having the final 90 of those minutes played in a Nor'easter, it would have been too cruel to walk away with nothing. And honestly, it was a win secured with the saddest, dribbler finish I've ever seen from Taylor Twellman, so it was hardly heartening stuff to behold.

Wells Thompson and the midfielders need to be sharp on their crosses Thursday. (Photo credit: Joyce Furia)

Of course, MLS finds a way to slap loyal fans in the face again by scheduling the Eastern Conference Final on a Thursday evening. A Thursday? This is the semifinal, ostensibly the second biggest match of the year, and it's on ESPN2 on a Thursday.

The same loyal fans who donned their rain gear and braved the elements to cheer their team on to a long, drawn out victory, now have to leave work early on a Thursday night and fight traffic to get to another poorly planned and poorly executed MLS event.

This is what they call "destination viewing," which is a nice way of saying, "TV decided Thursday was the day, so make the best of it." Thanks ESPN! And thanks MLS! Our patience and loyalty are limitless!

The Revs face Chicago, who is hot. After a middling season, the Fire got a late season injection of talent from Wilman Conde and, more importantly, Cuatemhoc Blanco, the latter becoming the fulcrum of the Fire's attack and a real gamer down the stretch.

The Revolution have no one who can run a game quite the way Blanco has been doing for Chicago, and a New England victory will depend almost entirely on how well Shalrie Joseph can cancel the veteran Mexican out. Chris Rolfe will bear watching also. Since he's returned to his favored striking role, he's been playing with a confidence that belies his youth.

I was about to type the words: Looking beyond Chicago, the Revs have yellow card worries over some key players...

But looking beyond Chicago would be hubris. The Revs haven't been playing well. Their attack has become desperately predictable. Crosses into the box from the wings are what Taylor Twellman depends on, but Khano Smith and Wells Thompson haven't been doing a good job of making those crosses. If they're going to beat Chicago, the two outside midfielders are going to have to do better than dribbling over the endline repeatedly.

We're almost there now – at the MLS Cup, which will be played at RFK Stadium even though D.C. United won't be featuring. Can we also recognize that it's asinine for MLS to put the Cup Final in a city with no regard for who is actually going to play in the match? When the Revolution played MLS Cup at Gillette Stadium five years ago, they nearly sold it out.

The attendance for other Cups has been significantly smaller. Why not establish a seeding system (which they already have) that delivers a Cup Final, and a huge gate, to the best franchise that qualifies for the big match?

Because it makes too much sense, that's why. See you Thursday, at Gillette!

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