Jeff Curtin

United added some depth to central defense this week with the addition of Jeff Curtin via the waiver draft. The younger of the two Curtin defenders in Chicago, Jeff had one goal in three appearances (three starts mind you) for the first team in 2007. He's 6'-3", and he graduated from Georgetown with a business degree; both pretty nice attributes. Of course the first thing I do when I see a new name on the team is check his birth year: 1983! That means he is developmentally eligible

This addition serves to address what most of us thought to be United's biggest need: depth in central defense. And I think we now have an answer to the question that I previously posed of who will play if say, Namoff is injured and one of los Gonzalos has to sit due to a red card. Pat Carroll and Suppie Brandon Owens could compete with Curtin for that role, but Curtin's experience probably gives him the edge. But this could mean a whole world of trouble for undrafted rookie defender Dane Murphy.

The other United news item today was the team's decision to essentially blow off their match tonight against Chivas in the Texas Semi-Pro Soccer Fest to play them earlier in the day on a better field. Sounds like a PR disaster for San Antonio. But at least United won the scrimmage 2-1, with goals by Emilio and Niell. Soehn said in an interview that the team chose to travel to San Antonio because the weather and conditions would be similar to what they will experience in Jamaica, but it makes you wonder if it's even worth it.