By Rand Paul
Obama acts as though we no longer have a Constitution
After starting 21 games as a rookie in 2011, the University of Maryland product didn't see a second of playing time all season. That could change as soon as Saturday, when United host the Columbus Crew at RFK Stadium.
Kitchen has carved a reputation as a valuable ally to D.C. United's defensive corps. He wins tackles in midfield, snuffing attacks in their infancy. He keeps the ball moving, preventing sustained pressure. Essentially, he gets them out of jams.
This past February, D.C. United coach Ben Olsen spoke of his club's arduous quest to bring in a true goal-scorer, then looked to prized signing Hamdi Salihi and declared, "We think we've found him."
The MLS playoffs have been full of twists and turns for D.C. United. After a poor second-half performance against the Houston Dynamo on Sunday, the club will have to find yet another memorable moment if it wants to play for this year's championship.
When D.C. United on Wednesday agreed to sacrifice home-field advantage by swapping home playoff dates with the New York Red Bulls, many factors came into play.
For D.C. United, the math is simple: A win or draw in either of the team's final two games clinches a trip to the playoffs, vanquishing a drought that has plagued the club since 2007.
In his fourth year, Dejan Jakovic has been around the block in a D.C. United uniform. More so, in fact, than all but one of his teammates. While the club has overhauled its roster, the 27-year-old lingers as a rare remnant from another era.
D.C. United's road to ending their four-year playoff drought has been burdened with the most disruptive roadblock imaginable.
Will Johnson scored in the 49th minute to help Real Salt Lake beat D.C. United 1-0 Saturday night for its first Major League Soccer victory in more than a month.
Lionard Pajoy and Long Tan each scored his first goal with his new club, helping D.C. United to a 4-2 victory over the Chicago Fire on Wednesday night at RFk Stadium.
If the intensity of D.C. United's push for the playoffs wasn't evident before their 1-1 draw with the Philadelphia Union on Sunday, it sure is now.
It'd been just over three months since Emiliano Dudar started a regular season game for D.C. United. On Saturday night, in front of 14,640 fans at RFK Stadium, the center back made his return to the lineup and played all 90 minutes of United's 1-0 victory over the Columbus Crew.
D.C. United had just taken a pair of punches to the gut. Up 2-0 at halftime against the New England Revolution, they watched that lead evaporate in the opening minutes of the second stanza. But they had an answer.
For all the uncertainty the D.C. United back line has gone through in recent weeks, with a plethora of moving parts dictated by injury, fatigue and form, there has been a constant for the team to rely on: Brandon McDonald.
When D.C. United kicked off at the San Jose Earthquakes on Wednesday, the visitors were riding high, owners of a seven-game unbeaten stretch and the team's first winning streak in nearly three years.
"You look at his feet, you can give him balls in tough situations and he finds a way to get out of them," McDonald said. "He's real greasy. So for me, I love having him in there."
Perry Kitchen grows into defensive midfield role for United →
"It's bigger than soccer," center back Brandon McDonald said. "We can't look at ourselves and be selfish from our standpoint. People's lives are at stake over there, people have lost houses and family members. So for us, it's something we gladly accept."
