GGW Proposes D.C. United Stadium In College Park - FILED UNDER: zzzzzz, Shatzer Bait

Perfect for CP. Major debt as a result of Debbie Yow’s sketchy finances. Not perfect for DCU but as a UMD supporter and MD resident, I absolutely love this idea.

Do DCU fans, as a group, want to sit in a beer-less stadium to cheer on their team? The UMd campus is virtually dry. Notable dry spots are Byrd and Comcast. Would a futball stadium be dry for Terp matches and wet for DCU? That would be a huge cultural shift for on-campus athletic events. Otherwise, the idea of a shared facility on the campus seems an idea well worth exploring.

Back when United appeared likely to be moving to the Largo area of Prince Georges County, many fans were very much opposed to the idea of locating the team outside the District.

Am I right to assume those minds have been changed by now?

With Mayor Gray still showing absolutely no interest in providing any assistance for our stadium search in the District, I’d be perfectly happy with saying Eff Em and moving to either Maryland or NoVa, as long as its within 5 miles of the Beltway, and within 1 mile of a Metro stop.

Everyone knows about our problems with the DC government. They stabbed the team in the back over Poplar Point, and now are about as interested in a real stadium discussion as they are in a trip to the DMV or dentist.

Meanwhile, as has been pointed out numerous times, MD needs money. They have land. United needs land and an interested partner in the process. It makes sense, at least on a surface level. I have no idea how interested MD is in having a pro team on campus. I do know that local residents would pitch a fit over the added traffic and noise, because they complain about everything. It might take the state house doing this despite town or county complaints for the university’s health.

Angry College Park NIMBYs wouldn’t be the only issue. The 51% of our fans from Virginia would be inconvenienced (the 395 straight shot to RFK would become 395 to 295 for about 15 minutes, then another 10-20 minutes getting around or through campus). We may view the people who complain on the internet about anything in Maryland being “on the moon” as whiners or people who don’t care that much about the team, but last time I checked those guys are buying tickets, buying shirts, buying beers, and at the same price as the diehards among us. Like it or not, those casual Virginia fans that will complain if the stadium isn’t a 5 minute stroll from their house have to be considered.

All that said, United is a beggar at this point, and as such can’t be choosy. If the team or MD came out tomorrow and said they wanted to discuss this idea, it would instantly be our best hope at staying, and by a wide margin. As such, I would have to embrace it wholeheartedly.

On Twitter earlier, I compared a stadium outside the city but still DC metro to scraping out a 2-1 win over TFC. That was based on the hypothetical idea of getting a stadium, and just debating the placement. For me, inside DC is obviously the dream (in this comparison, a 3-0 win over the Galaxy, with Beckham getting a red card and Moreno coming out of retirement to dribble the entire LA line-up before walking the ball over the goal line). However, the object in both is still the same: Win the game. Build the stadium. College Park is not an ideal solution, but it beats the hell out of our current situation.