Caught in Possession

...to his own blog?

I've been living in the DC area for nearly five years now. Yet I continue to be annually amused by one of the city's biggest quirks: the sluggish emptiness that drapes itself over the metropolis during the month of August, when muggy heat combines with Capitol Hill's typically light legislative schedule to push thousands into a languid semi-tropical lifestyle, or just drive them out of town althogether.

For a Texan nurtured in triple-digit temps, it all seems pretty silly. And yet there must be something to it, because here I stand before you (metaphorically speaking) on 09 September, a so-called writer who hasn't written on this blog in almost a month.

Was it the frantic pace at my other workplace, where there is no slow season? Or perhaps the lingering influence of a five-day trip to California's Central Valley, where I helped a friend with his family's almond harvest and raked the groves all day in blistering sun but, blessedly, did not once touch a computer? Or, more prosaically, did things just fall apart? Submit answers in the comments section, please.

In any case...forward ever, backwards never, as the Roots Radics (and other roots radicals) would urge. I am excited to catch you up on the latest ins and outs of the DC-area soccer scene, including the mobile MASH unit that DC United has become, and maybe weigh in on a few notable happenings elsewhere in our beautiful world of footie. Starting with...

*When I finished up my two-part PSW profile of local starlet Chris Agorsor, I really had no idea where the kid's career would take him in the coming months.

For many, his choice to attend UVa reignited the old "NCAA ball is a waste of time and talent" debate, a topic adeptly encapsulated by the hard-working Andrea Canales a while back. But so far Chris is lighting it up with the Cavs, and continuing to attract nationwide attention in the process. Here's hoping he keeps it going.

*I go to great lengths to avoid the stereotypical "nattering nabob of negativity" role so many of my colleagues feel compelled to play in order to be heard or even noticed in the deafening din of modern sports media, so I extend sincere gratitude and congratulations to Bob Bradley and the US National team for starting the present round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying with two victories in two potentially tricky away matches.

But Mike Woitalla is right. The Nats are flirting with crappiness right now. The optimist in me is happy to recognize U.S. soccer's tremendous progress over the past two decades, therefore the realist in me must correspondingly adjust goals -- and raise expectations. We can no longer pretend to be gutsy underdogs (with the exception of actual World Cup play) or proud pioneers: we are the shark in the CONCACAF bathtub and should demand more than mere qualification.

Coach Bob: can you show us the foundations of a bright, beautiful future where we contend for real honors worldwide? That is where we wish to go, yes? To get there, we're going to need crisp passing, fluid possession and menace in the final third, aren't we?

That's what I will be watching for when Los Gringos host the Trinis in Bridgeview tomorrow night. It's not too much to ask.