#Fail To The Redskins: The New York Giants won the Super Bowl Sunday night, but most of the D.C. Council seemed to be thinking about a different football team, one that wasn't eligible for the sort of playoff run the Giants made this postseason even though two of their five victories in 2011 came against the new champs. Ward 8's Marion Barry kicked the party off:

You know, the Redskins suck. I'm tired of watching everyone else in the Superbowl. Aint been right since they left DC. #dciswhereskinsbelong

— Marion S. Barry, Jr. (@marionbarryjr) February 6, 2012

But Yvette Alexander weighed in from Ward 7, as did Mayor Vince Gray. Barry, meanwhile, spent the rest of the evening using his new hashtag. And the parody account @DCCouncil (the real council account is @CouncilofDC) pretended various D.C. elected officials were in Indianapolis at the game, which at least one follower didn't realize was a joke. When the home team stopped playing football a month before the Super Bowl, alas, this is the sort of stuff that people spend their time on. Wait 'til next year? -2

United In D.C.: Along the same lines that Barry was tweeting on, since the Redskins left and the Nationals got their own digs, there's only one fulltime tenant at RFK Stadium these days (unless you count the fauna that also call the stadium home). And now D.C. United looks likely to stay in the lease until they can get a less ramshackle home of their own. The only major local pro team to win a title in the last 20 years is close to a deal with the District to reduce its rent so it doesn't lose money just in time for next month's season opening match. +2

Unemployed, Employed, Same Thing: Some D.C. government workers have figured out an ingenious "make money quick!" scheme: Pretend they're not working. According to authorities, the District has paid out more than $800,000 in unemployment benefits to people on the city's payroll since 2009. The workers have been fired, but if the checks on fraud are so lax that the city didn't notice it was paying unemployment to people it employed, we might try to put a claim in ourselves, too. -4

Virginia Is For Gun Dealers: If you're the type who likes to buy a new weapon every day, you may soon find yourself heading over the Potomac more often. Virginia is on the verge of repealing a long-standing one-gun-per-month purchase limit, presumably because the deer population is exploding so quickly that hunters need to be very heavily armed. Chances are this will mean more guns sold in Virginia wind up in places like D.C., of course, but hey—what do rural Virginia lawmakers care about that? -2

Friday's Needle rating: 45 Today's score: -6 Today's Needle rating: 39

Signs, Signs, Everywhere Signs: Important typographical news doesn't tend to break that often, so when it does, it's big. The District, it turns out, is switching up the look of street signs in the city for the first time in decades, bringing the latest highway design thoughts to D.C. Gone are the block capital letters, replaced by narrower, lowercase type. The one down the block from you won't change overnight, though: DDOT officials say they're replacing the current signs as needed, switching to the new design instead of the old one whenever whatever happens to existing signs that causes them to need replacement happens. +3

Cash Rules Everything Around Me: Want to get elected to local office in D.C.? Chances are you'll soon find yourself talking to real estate developers and other deep-pocketed corporate interests (unless, that is, you don't particularly want to win) about fundraising, thanks to local laws that allow multiple contributions from corporate partnerships controlled by the same person. This November, citizens may have a chance to vote that law out, if an initiative launched today by a handful of good-government activists makes it to the ballot. To qualify, the initiative will need to collect 22,723 signatures in the next 180 days. And then it'll need to somehow prevail in November despite all the corporate cash that'll go into defeating it. +2

Have It Your Way: Scientists have finally discovered something potentially more harmful to your health than eating fast food—having it delivered. Burger King is trying out delivery at 10 restaurants in the D.C. area, offering combinations like 10 burgers/20-piece chicken tenders for $14.49 (intended to feed a family, we hope) and in the process, removing the slight amount of exercise required to walk to your car, drive to a drive-through window, and consume their crap somewhere other than your own home. No word on whether they'll eventually get the ordering to work with Siri so no one has to burn any calories at all in the course of ordering. -2

Yesterday's Needle rating: 25 Today's score: +1 Today's Needle rating: 26

Most Valuable Canadian: Around June 27, D.C. United suddenly began scoring a lot more goals than they had earlier in the season. The reason? That was the day the team traded ineffective midfielder Dax McCarty to New York Red Bull for Dwayne DeRosario, a Canadian international who scored a total of 16 goals this year. DeRosario was named Major League Soccer's 2011 most valuable player today—a feat that's even more impressive because United missed the playoffs. DeRo, as he's known, also won the league's Golden Boot award for leading scorer. Maybe United should just start recruiting people from north of the border. +4

Library Expansion?: The Martin Luther King Jr. Library has taken its fair share of abuse from people who don't like Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's design for the building over the years. But rather than recommending tearing it down, a panel of experts assigned to look at the library's future came up with a new plan: Build more of it. The proposal would add two stories, renting them out to commercial tenants for $4.1 to $5.5 million per year, to help finance up to $250 million in renovations to the rest of the facility. No word on whether that would help keep it open seven days a week. +2 (Correction: Due to an editing error, this post originally misspelled Van der Rohe's name.)

Bienvenidos, Wilson: After being freed from captivity by kidnappers in his native Venezuela, Washington Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos decided to head back to D.C. for a few days. Nationals doctors checked him out and pronounced him fine. But Ramos isn't fleeing Venezuela for long—he's heading back to his winter league baseball team at home next week, presumably with a better home security system in place. +2

Prince Of Persia: The latest twist in the saga of Georgetown socialite Viola Drath's murder—it was a hit by Iran! So says Albrecht Muth, the late Drath's husband, who is the man authorities say killed her. Muth, a German, says he's a general in the Iraqi Army, which theoretically makes the Iran connection at least geographically plausible, if not likely. This trial is rapidly getting too weird to be turned into a movie. -1

Yesterday's Needle rating: 50 Today's score: +7 Friday bonus: +2 Today's Needle rating: 59

Stealing Home: Washington Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos is one of the team's up and coming stars. Which may be why Venezuelan gunmen took him from his home near Caracas last night; if you can't ransom a millionaire baseball player for a hefty sum, who can you kidnap? Fortunately, authorities in Venezuela say they believe Ramos is alive. Unfortunately, his family hasn't heard from the men who took him hostage. Games in the country's winter baseball league went ahead today as planned. -3

Location, Location, Location: Houses in D.C. aren't just expensive—they're also small. A new study by Realtor.com shows the median home size is 1,000 square feet, while the median price is $432,500. That could buy you a 3,890 square foot, 5-bedroom house in Omaha, Neb. Of course, then you'd live in Omaha, Neb. -1

Thanks For The Monuments: Climbing the Washington Monument appears to be addictive. The same team of engineers that rappelled down the obelisk in September looking for earthquake damage did it again today, setting up equipment to begin preparing the monument for winter. We didn't realize the Washington Monument was basically a summer vacation condo rental where you had to be sure to take the patio furniture in. The engineers have also, of course, scaled the National Cathedral; if not for the Height Act, they'd probably have a lot more stuff to climb around town. +2

So Long, Soccer?: The official policy of Major League Soccer is that D.C. United can stay at RFK Stadium, but not for the price it's paying in rent now. So said MLS CommissionerDon Garber, who went on to mock RFK in a media conference call by talking about the various fauna that have taken up residence in the stadium. If United can't adjust its lease, or build a new stadium in the area, or build one in Baltimore, the league will move the team. Which would mean not a single pro sports team left in D.C. that's won a league title in the last 20 years. -2

What Will Keep United In D.C.?: Baltimore wasn't playing when it decided to make a bid for D.C. United, which isn't happy, or profitable, playing at RFK. (Fans, meanwhile, aren't happy with the team's inability to make the playoffs.) Major League Soccer has been surveying fans up I-95 about how they'd feel about a soccer team moving to the city, apparently to see whether a relocation would be viable. In response, United supporters here are circulating a petition to District officials and investors, saying the team should be able to build a stadium at Buzzard Point, near the Nationals ballpark in Southwest. The cynical prediction: No stadium for United, which is the only major D.C. team to win a championship in its league in the last decade, but the city does wind up dumping hundreds of millions of dollars into a Redskins practice complex. -1

Key Bridge, Don't Fall Down Now: The bridges in the D.C. area haven't gotten great reviews lately, but sometimes a politician needs a convenient prop. And so it was that President Barack Obama brought his campaign to invest in infrastructure to the Key Bridge, speaking with Rosslyn behind him about the manifold joys of public works projects. The recent Wilson Bridge reconstruction, the White House says, has cut bottlenecks dramatically. As for the Key Bridge, it's not in such great shape—Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood exhorted Congress to spend some money fixing it up soon, lest Obama give his next Georgetown speech in front of a pile of floating rubble. +1

You Don't Have To Go Home, But You Can't Stay Here: The last time bad weather settled in during a wintertime rush hour, the city hit levels of gridlock not seen again until the August earthquake. Theoretically, that'll change this winter. Instead of letting everyone go whenever they feel like leaving, the federal government will tell workers when to leave or tell them to stay until roads are clear. We still recommend tele-commuting the next time it snows, though. +2

Boots Off: Budget cuts have left city and state governments around the country trying to do—as the irritatingly chipper phrase has it—more with less, and D.C. is no exception. The latest round of cuts, though, may be good news to anyone who has a habit of parking illegally: The District Department of Public Works has laid off 30 people, cutting in half the number of parking enforcement officers devoted to booting cars. -1

Yesterday's Needle rating: 37 Today's score: +1 Today's Needle rating: 38

No Ifs, Ands, Or Butts: Last year's odd criminal on the loose in suburban D.C. retail establishments was the semen sprayer, who approached women in grocery and craft stores near Gaithersburg and, as the name implied, squirted semen on them from a bottle he carried. This year? It's the butt slasher. Police released video of the man they believe has cut six women on the ass while shopping in malls near Fairfax. We can't imagine what the next weird crime trend will be, but then again, we couldn't have imagined these, either. -2

Ice Cold: Last month was the hottest on record here in the District. Which means two straight days of high temperatures below 90 degrees, which we've now had, count as bona fide news. Sure, it's been cloudy and raining on and off all day, but at least it's safe to go outside without plunging into an ice bath immediately upon returning to climate control. How many more days until December? +3

Criminal, Arrest Thyself: First it was amnesty parking tickets; now the District is holding a turn-yourself-in event for anyone facing a bench warrant on a non-violent felony or misdemeanor. The city did the same thing four years ago, rounding up 500 people, all but 10 of whom left the courthouse the same day after getting processed. So now's the time to go commit some petty crime! +1

Uncle Sam Wants You: In the glory days of D.C. United's early years, getting called up to duty with a national soccer team was no big deal—Marco Etcheverry and Jaime Moreno were always playing for Bolivia, while stalwarts like John Harkes, Eddie Pope, Roy Lassiter, Richie Williams, and Ben Olsen frequently played for the United States. Sadly, lately, United has fewer stars, which means fewer international matches. But goalkeeper Bill Hamid is heading to the U.S. training camp for a friendly against Mexico next week, getting his first call-up to the senior squad at only age 20. Tim Howard will probably still get the start, but not bad for a kid from the club's academy. +1

Yesterday's Needle rating: 48 Today's score: +3 Today's Needle rating: 51

Bank Busted: Feeding families who can't afford to keep enough food on their own tables was a difficult job before the economy collapsed. But these days—with more and more people in the region needing to turn to food banks—it's gotten even harder. The Capital Area Food Bank says it'll have to start charging member agencies a fee of 10 cents a pound for fresh vegetables, in order to offset higher fuel and food costs. Fortunately, Congress is ready to step in and make things better... er, wait, no, Congress is actually considering cutting $800 million from federal food assistance programs. Never mind. -3

Plug In: Electric vehicles are supposed to be the wave of the future, but for now, few people drive them—and few people know where to charge them. Add one charging spot to the list, though: Union Station opened a power outlet for the no-emission cars today. Drive into the station's garage, pay the regular parking fee, and you can charge your electric car all you want. Too bad the movie theater in the food court closed, or you'd have somewhere to go while you waited. +1

Play to Win: The D.C. Lottery wants to make sure people know how to play its new online gambling—er, sorry, gaming—site when it goes live later this year. So they're going to let you practice. Two new wager-free games will debut on the lottery's website, iGaming, late next month. No word on when Apple's Steve Jobs will buy the name, forcing the lottery to start over with its branding. +1

Oh, Canada: The dominion to our north is best known as a hockey powerhouse, not a soccer stronghold. But don't tell D.C. United, which now has two Canadian national team stalwarts on its roster: United traded for five-time Major League Soccer all-star midfielder Dwayne DeRosario late yesterday, doubling its Canadian quotient (injured defender Dejan Jacovic is the other). Brandon McDonald, a defender, also came to RFK via trade yesterday. Might this year be the first since 2007 for United to make the playoffs? +2

Yesterday's Needle rating: 46 Today's score: +1 Today's Needle rating: 47

But Saturday's USA/Mexico matchup for the CONCACAF Gold Cup title, which I caught on over-the-air no-pay channel 15.1, the D.C. Univision affiliate, was entertaining from kickoff to the final whistle—six goals, none of them flukes or penalty kicks, the last of which was deserving of that fave utterance of English-speaking soccer d-bags everywhere: Brilliant!

The match had scads of local poignance, too. We got to see Freddy Adu on a big stage, and looking like he belonged.

To nutshell Adu's soccer career in his former hometown: He came in like Bryce Harper and went out like Tamir Goodman.

Adu was born in Ghana but grew up in Potomac, and was a known quantity on soccer fields in our area in grade school. At 12, he was recruited to play with the U.S. U-17 national team.

There was a even a birther movement of a sort surrounding Adu, as folks who couldn't believe he was so far ahead of all the homegrown kids in his age group hinted that his African birth certificate was forged.

He signed with Major League Soccer as a 13-year-old and was assigned to D.C. United, and was hailed as the youngest athlete to play for a professional American sports league "since 1877."

The hype leading up to his professional debut in 2004, United v. San Jose Earthquakes at RFK, was nauseating. And, as is so often the way with soccer, the reality didn't live up.

The game was televised live by ABC just because of the kid's presence. But to the dismay of a crowded stadium and the network television audience, United's head coach, Peter Nowak, kept Freddy on the bench when the game started. Adu's reputation and relationship with the coach never really recovered.

It ended with a whimper in 2006, when Adu was traded from United to Real Salt Lake for a reserve goalie named Jay Nolly.

Since then he's bounced from Euro club to Euro club. Unless you've also heard of Jay Nolly, you've only heard of one of Adu's post-MLS teams—Benfica, AS Monaco, Belenenses, Aris, Çaykur Rizespor. ("Caykur Rizespor" sounds painful, but treatable...)

But there was Adu on international TV Saturday night, with the U.S. team in the Gold Cup final. And starting! That move by U.S. head coach Bob Bradley was almost as shocking as Nowak's decision to keep Adu on the bench back against San Jose in 2004.

Though the match was played at the Rose Bowl, watching USA/Mexico from the Rose Bowl was like watching a Redskins/Steelers game at FedExField—you couldn't tell who was the home team. I was rooting mainly for Adu and a good game, and went away happy on both counts.

And while wearing his adopted country's colors, Adu played aggressively and set up both U.S. goals in the 4-2 loss to a Mexican team that you didn't have to be Andres Cantor to tell was a lot better than our squad.

I looked up Adu's bio this morning and saw that he's listed as having just turned 22 years old.

Really? 22? I feel like I've known of the guy for more than 22 years.

Hell, now I wanna see that birth certificate.

Bridge Loan: As May rolls along toward Memorial Day weekend, visions of the Delaware and Maryland beaches start dancing in District residents' heads—until those visions turn to nightmares of being stuck in traffic on Route 50 for hours and hours. Add to those nightmares this year a new fright: the $5 Bay Bridge toll. Current tolls, charged only on eastbound trips, are $2.50, so that sounds like a big jump. But since the rates haven't been raised since 1975, and the current cost is actually less than the $2.80 charged for a round trip when the bridge opened in 1952, it's not such a bad deal—especially since in 1952, there was only one bridge. -2

When You Walk in the Door, You Want to Win for Sure, Play What?: No matter what all the books about how to beat the system will tell you, playing the lottery and expecting to emerge with a profit in the long run is a bad move. Need proof? The D.C. Lottery's latest scratch-and-win game, "Smokin' Hot Dice," features a $1,000 grand prize—with 0 percent odds of winning, according to a published notice in the D.C. Register. Turns out the notice actually rounded down; the odds of winning are, in fact, 1 in 240,000. Virtually guaranteed! -1

Be a Dentist: Certain jobs seem like they could easily be done without the need for any government licensing—running a weekly newspaper, for instance, which is the sort of thing any idiot can do. Then, there's things like dentistry, where you sort of want to make sure the person drilling your teeth actually knows what they're up to. A Leesburg, Va., couple apparently decided licensing was optional, according to Loudon County authorities, and set up a dental office in their basement. The office had a waiting room and reception desk, but without official certification, it's not clear whether they could get their hands on one critical tool of the trade: Novocaine. -1

Home for United?: The District's only team in the five most popular U.S. sports leagues to win a championship in the last 20 years is D.C. United, which has done it four times since Major League Soccer got started in 1997. (Even if their performance the last few years makes the glory days seem like fuzzy memories.) So naturally, the District's only team in the five most popular U.S. sports leagues that desperately needs a stadium, but can't find a place for one, is also United. The team has looked at four sites in D.C. and several in Maryland. But now things may have gotten so dire that officials are taking an offer from Baltimore seriously. Suggestion to United management: Apparently the way to find a permanent home in D.C. is to keep losing. It worked for the Nationals, the Capitals, and the Wizards! -3

Yesterday's Needle rating: 72 Today's score: -7 Friday bonus: +2 Today's Needle rating: 67

Embassy for Sale: If local real estate listings are any indication, there may be some budget cuts on the way for Central African Republic. The nation just put its embassy's office space up for sale, for $1.3 million. Diplomats aren't usually fond of giving up anything in the way of comforts, so if a country is unloading part of its mission's property portfolio, chances are they really need the money. Note to any aspiring international real estate magnates: The listing says the building, in Kalorama, is "in need of work." -1

United in D.C.: The only major D.C.-area pro sports team to win a championship this century, D.C. United is also the only tenant at RFK Stadium besides the occasional concert or high school football game. Baltimore has been trying to lure the red-and-black north, but now comes word that United is looking at several sites for a new stadium here in the District. The bad news: The city can't actually afford to spend any money on a facility for D.C. United. The good news: Would anyone really notice if the Nationals were evicted and that ballpark got turned into a soccer stadium overnight? +2

The Potomac Is Not Our Oyster: There are few pleasures as simple as sitting out by the water on a sunny day and prying open fresh oysters as they're harvested. Alas, you won't get the chance to do that on the Potomac any time soon—the Potomac River Fisheries Commission has ruled against a proposal to allow oyster farming on piers along the river. Oyster farming is being used in the Chesapeake Bay to improve water quality (the bivalves filter the water) and increase the oyster population (the better to eat them on the half shell or fried up in po' boys). The Potomac, apparently, is going to stick with its preferred catch: Transgender fish. -2

Cold as Ice: Thanks to La Niña, the region still hasn't gotten much in the way of real snow this winter. What we've had plenty of is the dread wintry mix—which, meteorologists say, we can look forward to even more of tonight. Sleet, freezing rain, snow, slush, and whatever other gross muck nature can throw down will begin this evening and continue through the morning. Only 62 days until spring! -2

Friday's Needle rating: 52 Today's score: -3 Bonus for MLK Day: +2 Today's Needle rating: 51

The gathering, titled “Scoring Big: The Business of Sports,” is headlined by Dan Snyder and Ted Leonsis, but the supporting cast will include Robert Tanenbaum and Marla Lerner Tanenbaum of the Nationals and D.C. United's Will Chang.

For now, this crowd should talk more about business than sports. Every panelist owns a team that finished in last place within the last year. (Though, to be fair, Leonsis has had regular season successes with the Mystics and Caps, and he bought the woeful Wizards after their horrid 2009-2010 season. But after last night's rout in Philly, they're 0-17 on the road under new ownership and show no inclination to not again finish at the bottom.)

Perhaps that's why, despite the local-centric flavor of the event, Chang is identified in the gathering's press release as being "owner of D.C. United and the San Francisco Giants."

Nothing's gone right for Chang on or off the field since he took over United, which used to be the MLS's flagship franchise but spent the entire 2010 season in the cellar and finished a whopping 29 points out of first place in the Eastern Conference and has used up all its chits in getting the city to build a soccer stadium. But his United bio confirms he "is also on the Executive Committee of the ownership group that owns the San Francisco Giants Baseball Club and ATT Park."

The Giants, eh? Good on him.

Wonder if Chang's got his World Series ring yet. And if so, will he flaunt it in front of Snyder, Leonsis and the Tanenbaums, like Troy Aikman does to Joe Buck in FOX's fabulous "It's good to have a ring!" ads?

Hope so!

The forum will kick off Tuesday at 8:45 a.m. before a live audience, and will also be streamed live at www.washingtonpostlive.com. Those not in the house can ask questions of Chang or his ring-less co-panelists via the paper's website.

Baltimore United?: Has there ever been a more nefarious, underhanded state than Maryland? Our northern neighbors have embarked on a campaign to snatch D.C. United out of the District and relocate the team to Baltimore, putting out a study predicting up to $6.4 million in state and local revenues if the Maryland Stadium Authority built United a new home. Those revenue projections would fall short if the team keeps playing as badly as it did this year, which reduced attendance. We're with United no matter what, but we'd prefer not to have to take a MARC train to the matches. (In other soccer news, Barcelona will play Manchester United here on July 30—if Barça wants to move to D.C., then maybe we'd be okay with Baltimore moving north.) -2

You Want More Bikes? You Got More Bikes!: If the frigid weather lately has you longing for a nice bike ride, you are officially in luck. District Department of Transportation and Arlington County officials have secured money to expand the popular Capital Bikeshare program, with 20 new stops in D.C. and 16 new stations in Arlington. Ride them now, while you still can, before DDOT boss Gabe Klein departs and takes all the bike lanes away with him. (They fit very nicely in a carry-on.) +3

Hail Mary: This hasn't been the best year for the Washington Redskins. But this Sunday, as they stride into battle behind quarterback Rex "Sexy Rexy" Grossman, the team may have some help from a higher power. Donald Wuerl, the archbishop of Washington who was recently elevated to cardinal, has officially converted from Pittsburgh Steeler fan to Redskins devotee. Which means that if the Jacksonville Jaguars beat the Redskins, it's because God is dead. +2

Ants Beware: The District's population of giant anteaters expanded by one today—a baby was born at the National Zoo to proud anteater parents Maripi and Dante. It was the third anteater born at the zoo since the pair arrived on loan from Nashville in 2006. And yes, this item officially means it's a slow news day. +2

Yesterday's Needle rating: 59 Today's score: +5 Erev Christmas Eve bonus: +2 Today's Needle rating: 66

It's Just Lunch: One man is at the crest of his political power, having just swept to office unchallenged except by a few write-in votes, a bugler, and the Socialist Workers Party. The other? Well, he's seen better days. Such will be the backdrop as Almost Mayor Vince Gray joins President Obama for lunch on Dec. 1. Strangely, Obama didn't see fit to mention the lunch date during his televised press conference this afternoon; Gray announced it at his own event in the morning. Where they'll get together hasn't been announced yet—perhaps in an effort to keep Still Mayor Adrian Fenty from crashing the date? +2

Heeeeeere's Jason!: The elections last night didn't just send Gray officially to the Wilson Building and give the United States its first-ever orange presumptive speaker of the House—they also left Utah Republican Jason Chaffetz in charge of our fair city, at least as far as the House of Representatives is concerned. The good news: City Paper will have no shortage of material over the next two years, as Chaffetz meddles with District affairs whenever things look awry to him from his cot in the Rayburn Building. The bad news: Everything else about Chaffetz taking over. -3

Who Needs a Diploma?: The Washington Wizards' new rookie guard, John Wall, is the one making headlines lately. But D.C. United midfielder Andy Najar—who dropped out of high school in northern Virginia to join the team this season after coming up in its academy—was named Major League Soccer's rookie of the year today. That's little consolation for United fans who suffered through one of the team's worst seasons ever (but it might make the autographed Najar cards sent out to anyone who renewed season tickets a little more of a prize), but hey, at least United isn't working out JaMarcus Russell. +1

Don't Drink the Water: A few years ago, the news that fish in the Potomac River were spontaneously changing genders made a bit of a splash, then faded away. Now male fish in the Susquehanna appear to have egg cells in their testes. Might there be some pollutant that's causing this alarming phenomenon? Might some sort of government agency want to look into it? (Our bet: Probably not.) -2

Yesterday's Needle rating: 47 Today's score: -2 Today's Needle rating: 45

Four years ago next month, just before being elected mayor, Adrian Fenty came to RFK Stadium for a United game and told the fans what they wanted to hear.

The money lines of Fenty's speech:

“It is great to see over 20,000 fans here at RFK supporting D.C. United. It is my hope that [United] fans will soon be coming to your brand new soccer stadium at Poplar Point in Anacostia. World class fans, and a world class team like D.C. United, deserve a world class stadium. And I am going to make it a priority to help you build that stadium.”

No soccer stadium was ever built during his first term, and if voters give Fenty a second term or not, it's mega-doubtful United will get a home inside the city anytime soon.

A lot of United fans, including Nicole Gara, a follower of the team from Day One who is quoted in the column, haven't forgiven Fenty for not living up to the pledge he made in 2006 in that pre-election speech. Gara, a longtime Capitol Hill resident, will be thinking about the lack of follow-through when she stuffs the ballot box with a vote for Vince Gray on primary day.

But then there's Paul Sotoudeh. He's the president of the Screaming Eagles, the D.C. United fan club and tailgating geniuses. (Gara is titled "Ticket Mistress" for the same club.) Sotoudeh, who turned 37 this week, says he will be voting for the first time as a D.C. resident this election season. He's spent his whole life in the area, but outside city limits—grew up in Rockville, adult life in Northern Virginia — but Sotoudeh just moved into the District proper this summer. He says that his image of D.C. as dysfunction junction, which he got from watching TV reports and reading newspapers in his formative years during the Marion Barry Era, kept him in the suburbs all these years.

But when D.C. United came around in the mid-1990s, he began spending more and more time downtown, and his fear of the city started to break down. And Sotoudeh, just relocated from Baileys Crossroads to Foggy Bottom, now credits the soccer team for getting him to leave the 'burbs and add his name to D.C.'s resident and voter rolls.

"I remember back to Barry's first term, when there was a lot of hope for him, but then there were years of problems—the developer sellouts, the blizzard where he didn't pick up anything, and didn't shovel anything for weeks while he was at the Super Bowl—and the disconnect was there," Sotoudeh says. "But then I started going to United games after college, and the team not only brought me into the city, but I'd stay there after games. I was a kid without any real ties to D.C. proper, and the team really bonded me to the city. Now I'm living here, and I can really say this is the end of a process that was started by D.C. United."

And, Sotoudeh says, much as he'd hoped to have a new stadium for his beloved United, he's not going to hold that against Fenty when he goes to the polls.

"I know there's a lot of anger with Fenty about the stadium," Sotoudeh says, "But I intend to vote for him anyway. I can't hold it all against him. I wanted a stadium, and I know RFK isn't viable. But I don't think anybody could have made a new stadium happen by snapping their fingers, given what happened with the economy. Fenty has taken care of things in the city, that's my perception, and things just work better here now than they used to. That's important."

He has some advice for the next mayor, whether Fenty stays or Vince Gray comes in. "United fans want a stadium, but they realize what the situation is," he says. "But they absolutely do not want any more empty promises."

Here's the itinerary for the traveling party, released last night:

Couple stick-outs here. First, not even a drop-by at R.F.K. Stadium, the only pro soccer venue in the city and the home of D.C. United, the flagship franchise of America's top soccer league? Could this mean team management's criticisms of RFK as unsuitable have merit*?

And, B: These World Cup people think they can start a tour of the Washington Monument at 8:30 a.m., then beat the rush hour traffic and be atFedExField by 9:30 a.m.? Didn't anybody tell them FedExField isn't anywhere near the Washington Monument or anything else worth looking at?

*More to come in this week's pulpy Cheap Seats