Am headed out to George Mason in just a moment, but wanted to relay a little bit from my visit to D.C. United yesterday which I didn’t quite get to due to the goings on with the Wizards at Verizon Center.
In any case, as someone said to me, should it have really taken this long (15 years) for D.C. United to have played a match in Northern Virginia? Hmm.
In their first one, they’ll start a guy in goal who was raised just a short ways away, Bill Hamid, who expects to have plenty of family and friends in attendance. Unfortunately, he’ll also have his right shoulder, too, which continues to bother him.
“I’m pushing through,” said Hamid. “It hurts, that’s all I really have to say. I just come in and give everything I have for the team.”
Hamid also knows he needs to perform well after losing the starting job to Troy Perkins. Still 19 years old, he’s got to learn that he doesn’t just win the job one week and keep it. He’s got to win it week after week, which will be even tougher since Perkins has found his form and even made a penalty kick save last weekend in Columbus.
“My quality has be consistent, and it has to rise every day,” said Hamid. “If I keep the quality rising and keep working hard, they’ll see it and I’ll get the job back. Right now the team’s playing well, and that’s all we can ask for.”
The Kickers have a few intriguing players, including Neil Barlow, whose brother Jeremy Barlow had a stint with D.C. in the spring of 2008, Jonathan Villanueva, who was supposed to be the next big thing when he came onto the scene at Virginia, Yomby William, who created a buzz in the MLS draft in 2008 and a couple guys that I covered when they won a Virginia state high school title with Thomas Dale (Roger Bothe, Jordan Evans). Matthew Delicate leads the Kickers with 10 goals in 12 games in USL Division 2.
