The 2010 season is the 15th season of MLS. That means that this year, Real Salt Lake is the 14th team to begin the season as defending MLS Cup Champions, since in the inaugural season there was no defending champ. In the previous 13 seasons, D.C. United was the defending champion 4 times (1997, 1998, 2000, and 2005) in each of the years after they won the MLS Cup. So, this season marks the 10th time in MLS history that somebody will come into R.F.K. Stadium as the defending MLS Champions. That phenomenon takes place this Saturday, when Real Salt Lake comes to town. I was looking up some information about these matches, and I saw a clear example of D.C. United's pride in defending home ground.

D.C. United is the only four-time champion in MLS history, and they also were the first champion, the first two-time champ, and the first three-time champ. D.C. United takes it very personally when somebody else wins the trophy that they consider rightfully theirs. Below, there is a list of D.C. United's matches played at RFK Stadium against the defending MLS Cup Champions. In the prior times that a team made their inaugural visit to RFK as the reigning champions D.C. United is 7-1. I need to state here that there should be 9 such matches, but in 2008 DC played reigning champs Houston in a game that was postponed due to rain and then rescheduled due to electrical failure. That year doesn't count. History isn't always a prediction for the future, but historically, whether D.C. United was good or bad, the defending champs' first trip to the home of the original champ was one to forget.