Josh Wicks' Brain Explosion Adds to DC's US Open Cup Misery

One of the biggest precepts I keep in mind when I sit in a press box, a bleacher, or a seat is that if a team or player goes down fighting, that certain party facing defeat goes down with class.

On the contrary, the phrase "brain explosion" depicts someone who shows he or she is beaten by injuring the person responsible. To suffer a brain explosion is to cheat someone out of their career, out of bigger and brighter success, and leave them facing a nightmare they can never get out of.

A few years ago, a certain "badass" by the name of Mitch Cozad, who was a backup punter for a college American football team, stabbed the starter in one of the lower appendages.

Only a whippersnapper as gutsy (Or is it gutless? Or is there even a difference?) as Cozad would know if he did it wearing a ski mask or one of those black outfits worn by those Harriet Nahanee sympathizing hooligans living in British Columbia.

But that was a brain explosion worthy of a prison sentence. One of the extreme kind.

It leads us to that fateful day in the heart of the nation's capital, not too far from the houses of bureaucracy, litigation, and filibuster jibjab where the Capitol Steps minstrel show of staffers sing [sic] its praises.

The Seattle Sounders Football Club, in its 15th year of their current incarnation, earned their first championship trophy as a member of Major League Soccer, defeating DC United 2-1 at the Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington, DC on Wednesday.

However, their victory came with a price.

A blatant stomp by Josh Wicks on Colombian international Fredy Montero earned him a red card after Seattle took a 1-0 lead in the second half.

“To his credit, Josh kept us in there. But then Josh makes a mistake that costs us the game,” said United manager Tom Soehn. “I didn’t see it. But some of our guys said that they saw it.

"Whatever. The player doesn’t come in front of the team. You’ve got to be smarter than that. And any time you’re shorthanded you’re not setting yourself up to be successful.”

Wicks exited the pitch screaming at the assistant referees, a bitter and humiliated goalkeeper. Angry legions of fans on message boards spread unjustified, libelous rumours of steroid use and threw Wicks under the bus with the local shrinks.

The young man—bless his heart—tried to put a professional spin on an unprofessional, unsportsmanlike foot salute.

“I made a mistake and it cost us a player and it cost us the game, eventually,” Wicks said.

Of course, there were two other factors working against the hosts.

Firstly, DC United shot themselves with turnovers, and Seattle's counterattacking took its toll as the match progressed. Secondly, the US Soccer Federation shafted Seattle of hosting the US Open Cup.

Had the date been moved to accommodate the Seahawks' preseason tie, there could have been twice as many in attendance at Quest Field. On average, the Sounders have seen more than 30,000 flock to the XBox 360 pitch at Qwest.

Of course, there are those who will say that factor No. 2 is irrelevant to DC's breakdown. But the Seattle faithful may have felt that a little mea culpa was in order. And they got it.

Sounders manager Sigi Schmid knew that having their name on the base of the old DeWar Trophy would become a spur for the club and the city.

"This is just important for our club and our team. It's tremendous for our fans to be able to get this win and be able to take this back to Seattle with us," Schmid said.

"For qualifying ourselves for the CONCACAF Champions League next year, it's a tremendous thing for our organization.

"Teams need to win big games to start believing they can win big games and this is the first step on that process...It's always about winning championships and winning trophies."

But for Wicks, the incident after the Montero goal might as well be played in his mind many times over. It will be played continuously until his moment of redemption comes.

When will that happen? It may not come at all. As far as bitter DC United fans are concerned, Josh Wicks not only stomped Montero down, but stomped away all hopes of DC United defending the US Open Cup.

"It was a mistake on my part and I've got to learn my lesson," said Wicks. "The fourth official made a call and the ref made the final decision. That was it. I've got no excuses for it."

Thus, a terrible tax that a player of his type must take for seeing his tattered and torn tempest, that is his mind, turn to TNT in September. A sideshow, as a bunch of green and blue-clad players earned their medals and raised the US Open Cup meters away on the pitch with Thursday beckoning.

News flash, Josh Wicks: You got yourself a mess to clean up. Get it done, chop chop.