Washington Spirit fans protest, D.C. United’s Ola Kamara on his good form, and more: Freedom Kicks for 9/24/2021

Good morning! I made a classic error overnight, leaving my bedroom windows open because it was so pleasant out when I went to bed. Out in the burbs, the temperature dropped to 60 degrees, maybe even lower, and I am officially cold! Don’t forget to shut your windows, or to put on some sweats and grab an extra blanket, or do literally anything to deal with your circumstances.

So anyway here are the links of note:

Ola Kamara has rocketed up MLS’s scoring list. Here’s how he got there. | Washington Post
Ola Kamara has hinted at how he became D.C. United’s highest single-season scorer in over a decade through a lot of hard work and a mentality change this past winter, and Steven Goff had a chat with him going into more detail into what that entailed.

Goff also reported two new investors for the Black-and-Red:

The Washington Spirit are, as of right now, on course to host Kansas City NWSL on Sunday, but one thing that won’t be going on: the Spirit Squadron participating with drums, banners, chants, or flags.

I want to throw in here, just to emphasize the level of step this is for them, that the Spirit Squadron kept loudly supporting the team in the legendarily bad 2018 season. Last year during the Fall Series, they showed up to chant from the parking lot of two different stadiums they couldn’t even enter (including from a parking garage up in New Jersey).

There’s more bad news off the field on the Spirit front office front:

These losses might not impact the standings, but they impact the long-term future of the club in a huge way. Will they be able to find good candidates to fill these positions? Will fans want to stick with the team? It’s a situation that feels completely untenable at the moment, and it doesn’t appear to be on its way to a solution any time soon.

The Truth About Baltimore’s World Cup Bid | Baltimore Sports and Life
Baltimore’s World Cup bid hasn’t gotten much talk, but it’s an interesting possibility, as this piece gets into.

And now that thing about the bus fire:

“As you may have seen, our bus caught on fire” is a fairly incredible turn of phrase.

Yes, the Zebras Are Still Running Loose in Maryland | Washingtonian
The loose zebras are still out there. If 50 is backed up tomorrow, my alternate path to Audi Field might take me right by Upper Marlboro, which is now a zebra-held territory in my book.

I wasn’t online too much yesterday, and these are the things I have. Hit the comments with more links if you’ve got something I missed. Enjoy your weekend!