Every so often an individual must step up and make a decision that will impact the group. This was the case on Saturday where decisions were made that lead to a good tailgate, but an inconsistent and disappointing Metro Game with DC United winning 1-0.

Attendance

Armed with tons of extra tickets and a plea to invite friends to see youngster Freddy Adu and DC United play the playoff-bound MetroStars, one would have figured attendance would have been better than it was. Idiots in attendance included Brian, little Joey, Joey, Ofer, Ronen and myself. Guests include Arel (Ofer's other son), Carmine, Lori (Brian's wife), Ryan and Risa. Missing in action were Idiots Drew, Greg, Jason, John, and Paul. (Insert Lame Excuses Here)

Tailgating

Throughout the week Weather.com was predicting afternoon thunderstorms which were scheduled to start right when we were going to begin tailgating. Normally we try to make the indoor/outdoor tailgate decision on Friday, but we decided to wait until early Saturday afternoon to make the call. The weather forecast hadn't changed, but since we're approaching the end of the season, I made the call that we should defy mother nature and take a chance: we were going outdoors.

My friend and guest Ryan displayed his outdoor survival skills showing up to the tailgate prepared with chairs, table, tarps and a little survival tent called "Al". It was cloudy throughout most of tailgating and about an hour into it we started to feel some raindrops. Ryan sprung to action and retrieved "Al". After completely unpacking "Al", Ryan had a choice to make: should he eat the burger waiting for him or put "Al" together? The rain wasn't very noticeable, so Ryan opted for the burger. Opting for the burger proved to be the wise decision, because the raindrops stopped pretty quickly and "Al"'s assembly proved unnecessary. What's the point of this long rambling paragraph, you might ask? We came into the day prepared for anything, but had luck on our side for enjoyable, beer-filled, mostly-dry tailgate. (I'm certainly glad my decision was the right one, because I would have never heard the end of it if Weather.com's forecast turned out to be true.) Sadly, the MetroStars weren't as prepared.

The Game

Bob Bradley made the decision to start the same lineup which proved to be successful the previous week versus the team soon to be known as FC Dallas. I'll be honest: much, much, much alcohol was consumed at tailgating. In fact, so much so I have to say I only remember a few "highlights" and the final score. I reluctantly say thanks to MLSNET and the Metro Soccer Report, I was able to jog my memory and be disappointed all over again. My recap isn't overly detailed, so if you want the real full scoop, checkout MLSNET recap linked below.

In the ninth minute of the match, an excellent long pass by Mike Magee to John Wolyniec led to Woly taking a one-time shot towards the goal. The ball got past DC Keeper Nick Rimando, who was at the edge of the box to confront Woly, but DC defender Ezra Hendrickson came out of nowhere and saved the ball from going in inches away from the goal.

DC got on the board with the only goal of the game in the 24th minute with Freddy Adu scoring his 5th goal of the season and second at Giants Stadium. Adu's shot went in goal after it deflected off of Jeff Parke.

The Metro's only real next scoring opportunity came later in the first half, with a one on one match up between Amado Guevara and Rimando. Rimando was able to save Amado's shot and keep the Metros scoreless.

Subs seen in the game for the Metros included Pablo Brenes, Cornell Glen, and Fabian Taylor, but sadly Bradley made the decision to keep the King on the bench. The decision makes firstrowidiots.com's coverage of the game a little less exciting by eliminating the need for this week's installment of Drew's excellent King and I column. The Metros will be without many starters for next week's final regular season home game due to injuries and national team call-ups, so the King should get some playing time.

Post-Game

It's rare the post-game gets a mention, but a little incident happened on our way out of the stadium. Some visiting DC United fans tried to challenge us for the title of who's a bigger idiot by picking a fight with probably two of the biggest guy's in our group: Brian and Joey. A DC United fan, who clearly had too much alcohol, shoved both Brian and Joey. Brian and Joey were smart enough to make the decision to walk away rather than teach the fan a lesson. The decision certainly saved Brian and Joey a trip to a place that would have been familiar to Brian from earlier in the season (a jail cell) and the DC United fan in a ride in a Jersey ambulance.

I'm firstrowidiots.com's Keith and I approve this message.