Say You Want A Revolution

Since the team's inception in 1995, I've considered myself a fan of the New England Revolution. I can't say I attend many games or even watch them on TV, but I keep track of how the team is doing, who the players are, etc. As a result, I've been there each time the Revolution have made the playoffs, particularly the MLS Cup.

The 2002 MLS Cup was a disheartening experience. The game was played in Foxboro and I watched in person as the Revs were knocked off by a Carlos Ruiz goal 21 minutes into sudden-death overtime. In 2005, I watched on TV as the Revs failed to score during all of regulation and overtime, eventually falling to the Galaxy yet again by that same 1-0 score.

This time around, the opponent was the Houston Dynamo. The result was supposed to be different with dynamic forwards Taylor Twellman and Clint Dempsey leading a scoring charge while rock-solid midfielder Shalrie Joseph held down the center of the field and goalkeeper Matt Reis continued his en fuego postseason play. But during regulation, it was same-story-different-year, with the teams battling to a largely soporific 0-0 tie. Then, finally, the Revs broke through when Twellman scored New England's first MLS Cup goal in 300-plus minutes of playing time with seven minutes left in overtime. Finally the tides had turned and the Kraft family would be raising yet another banner in Gillette Stadium.

But the catch was that overtime was not sudden-death. The teams had to keep playing, and the Revs committed one of the cardinal sins of soccer, giving up an equalizer off Brian Ching's head a mere 71 seconds after taking the lead. Like this year's World Cup final (but without the head-butt) the match was destined for penalty kicks. The Revs went down 3-2 in the shootout when Pat Noonan pulled a Roberto Baggio and sent his shot high. But Reis came up with a save of Brad Davis' shot to even up the tally. With the Dynamo up 4-3, Jay Heaps had the chance to send the penalties into sudden death. He choked -- big time -- gently tapping a weak roller to the left side of the net that Pat Onstad easily scooped. It looked like Heaps almost didn't want to score. Game, set, match, championship -- Dynamo win, Revs lose.

With three Cup losses in a five-year span, the Revs are now the Buffalo Bills of the MLS. Well, at least until next year when they will win it all. Don't believe me? Just wait.

P.S. As you may have noticed, It's A Magical World has made some minor adjustments to its format. Most notable is that postings are now labeled by category and can be sorted by category or date, using the listings in the left-hand margin of the page.