The Jimmy Conrad Roast on Twitter yesterday contained lots of lame jokes, some funny ones (the best of which are summed up here), and one brilliantly-timed honest revelation from a former D.C. United star.
I always tend to get complaints when I remind my readers about events occurring in the calendar year 2010, which has been conveniently erased from the memories of many United fans. So let's go back instead to the year 2004. To the MLS Cup Final.
It was November 14 and United had already shipped an early goal to the Kansas City Wizards in the 2004 MLS Cup Final. But second-year forward Alecko Eskandarian brought D.C. back shortly thereafter, fighting off a defender to put away a pass from Brian Carroll. He added another goal just minutes later. But this one came with some controversy.
Eskandarian collected an attempted clearance from Conrad and finished it on his own. Did the ball deflect off Eskandarian's arm? At the time, the forward was intentionally unclear in his response to that question.
"I didn't even know where the ball hit me," Eskandarian said. "It was just what you learn in youth soccer; you keep going until you hear a whistle."
But yesterday during the Roast, Eskandarian revealed the truth, giving Conrad and MLS fans league-wide some closure, seven years later.
Ever since MLS Cup 2004, I have been waiting for Jimmy to retire to get this off my chest... IT WAS A HANDBALL, JIMMY! #JimmyConradRoast
Well there you have it. United went on to the win the match 3-2, but hasn't been back to the MLS Cup Final since. And more often than not, important calls have gone against United ever since. Karma perhaps?