When was the last time a 14-year-old saved a professional sports franchise? While it’s an unprecedented shift, that’s exactly what Potomac, Md. phenom Freddy Adu may do for DC United, and Georgetown students should get in on the act.
With the miserable state of professional sports in Washington D.C., it’s often hard to justify spectator amusement off the hilltop. The Redskins have been lousy for years now, the Wizards have made the NBA playoffs once in the past 15 years, and this year the Capitals fell from NHL prominence to have the second worst record in the league.
Thank God for soccer. Yes, many Georgetown students follow the world’s most popular pastime. Unfortunately, this enthusiasm has never carried over to Washington’s own Major League Soccer team, DC United. Major League Soccer has never been known to field the most polished product, but now that Adu has added glitz and talent to a renewed squad with a flashy, young new coach, United seems poised to bring the franchise back to it’s glorious past.
Adu is shorter than 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighs less than 160 pounds, but he may have more talent than any American soccer player ever. He was offered a $750,000 contract from Italian top-flight club Inter Milan when he was only 10-years-old. He turned it down, and every other contract offer since, until signing on to the Major League Soccer draft last spring, under the one stipulation that he play for DC United.
The most gifted budding soccer star in the United States and perhaps in the world is starting his career in D.C., at a stadium with its own Metro stop for a team that offers incredibly affordable tickets. There is no excuse that should keep Georgetown soccer fans away from RFK Stadium and DC United’s games this spring. The team that was once the League’s crown jewel, winning three league titles in the first five years, may not return to the top right away. But with Adu on board, there will still be plenty of action and excitement. And then there’ll be even less of an excuse for Hoyas soccer buffs to skip out on the act.
