The sun is coming up over the mountains here in Salt Lake City, with kickoff against Real Salt Lake about eight hours away (6 p.m. ET). One of the overwhelming thoughts from everyone here is the excitement at playing on the grass field at Rio Tinto Stadium, rather than the concrete at Rice-Eccles. Previously, visits to Utah have not gone well for D.C. - after capturing a win during RSL's expansion season in 2005, United has lost each of the previous three years, including a 4-0 drubbing last season. The team will look to improve that record today.
A few broadcasting notes - to watch the game on TV, you'll need to either watch MLSnet.com's MatchCenter or via the Direct Kick television package. The game's English radio broadcast will be delayed on WFED 1500 and WTOP 820, until after the Nationals baseball game. You can, however, listen to Tony Limarzi's radio call live on via MLSnet.com. And, the Spanish radio broadcast will be live on the following AM stations: 1540, 1390, 1600.
Now, that we've caught you up there, here's a whole bunch of articles you'll want to read before tonight's game:
- Deep Team and Long Season Keep United's Roster in Flux - By Steven Goff (Washington Post)
- Quaranta gearing up - By John Haydon (Washington Times)
- N'Silu heads United size surge - By John Haydon (Washington Times)
- United eager to check out Real Salt Lake's new digs - By Craig Stouffer (Washington Examiner)
- United hope to avoid Rocky Mountain low - By Charles Boehm (dcunited.com)
- Modest Real Salt Lake goal: two wins in a row - By James Edward (Desert Morning News)
- RSL seeks rare two-game winning streak - By Steve Luhm (The Salt Lake Tribune)
Be sure to check out dcunited,com's gameday edition for additional information and for the game's lineups this afternoon.
In the meantime, let us know what you think about today's game - can the guys reverse the losing streak in Utah? Who do you think we're going to see in the lineup? Finally, how about dropping in a score prediction? We'll choose from those who guess correctly and award two tickets to an upcoming United home game.
