DC United loss at New England, 2-1

This one hurts. Hurts more than any other match this year. Losing 1 point here because of a faux penalty call hurts worse than losing 2 points to LA Galaxy earlier in the year because of a faux penalty call. Maybe that's because it was to one of our fierce rivals who look to be making a push up the table now that Twellman is back, or maybe it's because we deserved much better here.

I don't agree with the conspiracy theorists that this match, along with the Chivas-Chicago match on Thursday, is a result of the league encouraging fewer ties. I just think that MLS referees suck in general. But I can tell you for sure that I had no idea I was writing a premonition about United in Fullback's blog earlier today when I wrote "It was a shame to see such a great match between probably the two best teams decided by a terrible penalty call." That was written about Chivas-Chicago, but the same applies here. This was a really exciting and entertaining match. But matches like that need to be settled on the field. Not from the penalty spot after a little bump.


1. I felt like I'd just stepped into a time machine and traveled back to 2008 watching the chemistry between Fred and Luciano Emilio. They set each other up multiple times throughout the night, including Emilio's assist on Fred's goal. And if the crossbar was set just two inches higher, we would have won 3-2 because each of these guys hit the post in the first half.

2. That was probably Rodney Wallace's best match as a pro. He had one diving header just barely kept out by Matt Reis, and turned in easily his best performance defensively. Hopefully Wallace has hit the turning point and will actually emerge as DC's "best two-way player" as he was referred to by Rongen.


1. Josh Wicks had another productive start, making some key saves, despite giving up two goals. This was another positive step towards earning a permanent spot in the starting lineup.


1. I didn't see much of the usual sizzle from Chris Pontius in this one, despite consistently good service from Burch. And where was he on Shalrie Joseph's goal? Was he sprinting to keep up with Kenny Mansally so he wouldn't be able to get a quality cross off? No. He was jogging, and then stopped once he got to Ralston (who was already marked well by Jakovic) instead of running with Mansally.

2. Andrew Jacobson had a pretty good first half, but I would expect that from a defensive midfielder with the lineup that Nicol put out. He made it way too easy for Shalrie Joseph to score though on the first goal. Not only did Jacobson fail to mark up when Joseph should have been his man, but he actually knocked Wicks out of the way in the process.

3. I actually liked the starting lineup from Tom Soehn. It was nice for him to give Fred a chance at CAM again for the first time in around a year. But he was probably too late to make adjustments once New England brought in Kenny Mansally. We were getting beat nonstop by Mansally and Nyassi. I was thinking it would be good timing to switch to a 4-4-2 and bring in Janicki or McTavish as another central defender. Or how about Khumalo for Pontius to add a bit more speed on the wing? Soehn was right to make a change when he did, but a straight swap of McTavish for Jacobson and N'Silu for Emilio wasn't enough.

We can blame the referees all we want, but we need to look in the mirror a little bit as well here. A recurring theme this season seems to be a failure to punish our opponents by scoring more than just one goal when we're clearly the better team. It happened against Chicago, and now it's happened twice against New England.

Late breaking news! I just saw a replay again of the penalty call on FSC and Bretos seemed to think it was called a handball, not a foul. Rewinding and sure enough, the ball may have hit Jakovic's arm. I still feel like it's a crap call to hand the game to New England on a silver platter with a PK in the 90th minute on an unintentional handling, but it doesn't hurt quite as bad anymore.

Louis Crayton versus Josh Wicks versus Milos Kocic

Let's try out a different format this time for my much heralded "Versus" series. Here we'll take a look at each of our three potential starting goalkeepers (Louis Crayton, Josh Wicks, and Milos Kocic) on a number of different categories to see if we can come up with a consensus.

Stats to date:
Including Open Cup matches, these three aren't too different. Each has exactly one clean sheet. Crayton and Kocic both have a 1.33 GAA, and Wicks has a 1.50 GAA. But if it wasn't for Janicki's hand ball in the NYRB Open Cup match to set up a penalty kick, Wicks' GAA would have been 1.25, so this is a wash.
Crayton 0, Wicks 0, Kocic 0.

Shot-stopping:
Over the past year or so watching Crayton, we've seen him make a couple real good saves here and there. But I can also recall a few instances where he leaned the wrong way or was caught out of position. Wicks did have a great one-on-one save against Robbie Findley over the weekend, but the sample size is too small for him and Kocic to make a real determination.
Crayton 0, Wicks 0, Kocic 0.

Control of box:
Crayton is aggressive, and he usually gets what he goes after. I've said before about Milos Kocic that "he misses balls that he should punch, and he punches balls that he should catch."
Crayton +1, Wicks 0, Kocic -1.

Distribution:
I really haven't noticed any of our three goalkeepers being either substantially good or substantially bad at ball distribution. Agreed?Crayton 0, Wicks 0, Kocic 0. Communication: Tom Soehn has said himself that Wicks is the best communicator of the bunch. Kocic's struggles with communication seem best exhibited by his failure to call off Jakovic on a De Rosario goal earlier this month.
Crayton 0, Wicks +1, Kocic -1.

Game-changing ability:
My biggest criticism of Crayton over the last year has been that he always seems to do just enough to be considered a decent MLS goalkeeper. He makes the saves he's supposed to make, and very few goals against are really seen to be his fault. But rarely does he set himself apart by making big saves that no one would have expected him to make. Meanwhile, according to Soehn following Wicks' shutout of RSL, "This is the first time someone stepped up. ... He made some key saves at key moments and he managed the box well, he communicated well. It was the first time that someone separated themselves a little bit and said, 'I want this job.' "
Crayton -1, Wicks +1, Kocic 0.

Experience:
Louis Crayton has started 36 games for the Liberian National Team, and played for multiple European teams before coming to the US. Milos Kocic is a rookie. Enough said.
Crayton +1, Wicks 0, Kocic -1.

Salary:
While I don't believe that money should weigh very heavily on a decision for such an important position, if all else is equal, it could be the deciding factor. Crayton is set to make $178,000 in 2009 to Wicks' $42,000 and Kocic's $20,100. I'm not going to count this as a plus for Kocic though because I have a feeling the team would give him a bump up to a senior contract if he were to win a starting job, if the team's history is any indication (Burch and McTavish circa 2007).
Crayton -1, Wicks 0, Kocic 0.

Total:
Crayton 0, Wicks 2, Kocic -3.

Wow, that actually wasn't as close as I thought it would be. We should be careful though because the sample size is still too small on Josh Wicks for us to make a drastic movement. And it's hard to forget that he was cast off by the Galaxy of all teams not more than a year ago. But if Soehn's recent comments hold true, it looks like Josh Wicks is on his way to separating himself from the pack and winning the starting role. Is he the long term solution though? That's another debate entirely.

Any categories that deserve consideration that I missed? Feel free to argue with any of my findings in the comments section.

The Second Sixth

This is the second in a recurring series where we look at the DC United season, five games at a time. Of course I failed already because I miscounted and should have written this one last week, so this post is through the Chivas match, and does not include the scoreless draw with RSL.

Results: 2-0-3. 11 GF, 9 GA

Standings: Tied with Toronto FC for first place in the Eastern Conference

Statistical Leaders: Santino Quaranta (1 goal, 5 assists), Jaime Moreno (3 goals, 1 assist), Rodney Wallace (2 goals, 2 assists), Chris Pontius (2 goals, 1 assist), Luciano Emilio (2 goals),

Most frequent lineup:

What we liked:

• "Never say die" attitude - During these five games, DC scored five goals in the last five minutes, including two each in the matches against New York and Toronto.


• Chris Pontius's versatility - Inspiring much debate over on the Fullback Files, Pontius saw time at forward, right wing, central attacking midfield, and central defensive midfield. And while it's not yet been determined where his best spot is, Pontius is a scoring threat from anywhere on the field.


• The quiet emergence of the Phoenix - Santino Quaranta had five assists in five matches, and hardly anyone noticed. He's also shown some early season versatility, as Soehn moved him between the wings, CAM, and withdrawn forward positions.

What we didn't like:

• Too many mistakes - There are a few players on this team (Wallace, Burch, Jakovic) who will continually play well for 88 minutes or so, but one quick lapse in judgement can lead to one quick goal.
  
• The goalkeeping situation - Louis Crayton started three matches and Milos Kocic started two. I'm alright with having a healthy competition early in the season, but this needs to get figured out soon. We need a solid consistent #1 starter for the playoff stretch.

Defining moment: Chris Pontius's extra time goal to defeat the Red Bulls, just seconds after Emilio had tied the score. There wasn't a whole lot of skill to this goal, just a whole lot of hustle, from Pontius as well as Khumalo. This goal is a reflection of the excitement of the end of just about every match in this sixth of the season.

Overall impression: In the second sixth, DC United has shown an uncanny ability to come from behind late in games. And while that's admirable, and certainly exhilirating, it begs the question as to why they are so often in the situation where they need to come from behind. With one of the best offenses in the league, if the team is able to limit mistakes just a bit better, they are a legitimate championship contender. And those late game heroics could serve the team well in the playoffs.

DC United tie vs Real Salt Lake, 0-0

Let's put this in a different perspective. It makes sense that eventually DC United was going to go a full match without scoring a goal. Wouldn't you rather that match happen when we also don't allow a goal? And so I don't feel terribly about this uninspiring match as we extend our unbeaten streak to 9 in all competitions.


1. Josh Wicks looked entirely competent throughout the entire match. That's a rare quality in our goalkeeping situation this season. Was that enough to supplant Crayton as our #1 though? No, but it was certainly enough to extend the ongoing competition at least another few weeks.

2. Another good match from Dejan Jakovic. The defense was good in general last night. Although every time Real Salt Lake had a corner or free kick, it was hard not to have the feeling that they were going to score.


1. A fairly productive night from Andrew Jacobson. He did well to break up several plays in the midfield.

2. Christian Gomez looked like our best attacker, including one 40 yard sprint that I didn't know he had in him. But in a scoreless game, it's difficult to rate any attackers very highly.


1. Luciano Emilio was like a black hole. Every ball that went up to him was never seen again.

2. If I was an impartial observer, I would find Fred's misses to be comical. His terrible miss in the Open Cup match was forgettable because of the final score. But his terrible miss in this match could have cost us 2 points.

3. Jaime Moreno just didn't have it for once. Soehn was right to remove him at halftime.

So what did you think of this lineup anyway? On a hot humid night like this was, it makes more sense to me to let the rookies run around for 90 minutes than it does to start all the older guys. That way, we wouldn't have had to endure the sight of Gomez massaging out muscle cramps for the last fifteen minutes.

Does anyone else get the feeling that if RSL had managed to score a goal at some point, DC United definitely would have scored in the last five minutes?

DCUMD Contact Info

Now that I have the gmail app on my blackberry, I'll be responding to all emails pretty quickly. Our email address is:

Links

This blog is predominantly devoted to DC United, and in case you hadn't noticed, so are most of the links that we support. I tend not to link to general soccer blogs, but if you send me an email with a proposed link exchange, I'll certainly take a look at your site.

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What I am interested in though is marketing and promotion. If you're a marketing or PR guy looking to pimp a product that would fit in well with the focus of this blog, email me with your promotional idea. Because while I'm not in the blogging business for profit, I do love free stuff :)

DC United win vs. New York Red Bulls, 5-3

What a freakin' crazy match. DCU jumps out to a 4-0 lead within the first half hour, but then lazily(?) lets the Bulls back in it? Matches like this I think help to make our starting XI all the more clear in some situations, and cloudy in others. The argument of Jakovic versus Janicki may have ended tonight. But how do you decide between starting Pontius, Barklage, Fred, Khumalo, or Gomez, all of who looked fantastic in this match, in a crowded attacking midfield that also includes Quaranta and Wallace?

I'm a bit upset because I had an opportunity to go to this match, but decided to do the responsible thing and write my "final take home exam" paper. Damn UMD for interfering with my DCU. So I was following the match on twitter. Anyway, can't wait to see the video highlights. Until then, let's keep this real simple.


Chris Pontius, Boyzzz Khumalo, Christian Gomez, Brandon Barklage, Fred


Josh Wicks


Greg Janicki

DC United tie at Chivas USA, 2-2

Before this match, Bretos and Sullivan were discussing that this might be a potential MLS Cup matchup. And this game didn't really disappoint. You just hate to see such a good match decided by some poor officiating. How come we don't ever see poor officiating in our favor anyway?

DC United showed some heart once again here to be able to come back in the final minutes. Chivas looked like the better team for much of the match, but they really only deserved one of their goals, so 2-2 is a fair result. No one should be surprised that DC United scored more goals on Chivas than any other team has this season. But how come DC continues to allow so many goals to less than stellar offensive opponents?


1. After a really poor first half with a lot of giveaways, it was great to see Santino Quaranta take over in the second, including an assist to Emilio, a goal from 25 yards out, and a salute to his new baby boy.

2. Ah the return of the predator Luciano Emilio. Both of my top shelf guys here were penciled in my rail category after the first half, but scoring goals against the best defensive team in the league is a good way to get yourself out of the cellar.


1. Not a good starting lineup by Tom Soehn, but he redeemed himself because the Fred and Gomez substitutes both paid off. I was not a fan of the 3-2-2-2-1 formation, and the decision to start Olsen when he must have clearly been injured left us short a sub.

2. The more I watch Dejan Jakovic, the more he looks like a top level MLS center back. Yet we give up two or more goals in virtually every match. It sure feels like our back line is better than what we had last year, but that isn't showing in our goal's against column.


1. The rookie of the year candidate Chris Pontius looked terrible in the first half, and was rightfully replaced by Fred at the break.

2. Our biggest problem in the first half was a lack of linkage between the backline and the attacking midfielders. For that, I partially blame our holding midfielders Clyde Simms and Andrew Jacobson. This changed in the second half once Fred and Gomez entered the match.

But the bigger problem overall is our defense. As my comments on Jakovic above indicate, something needs to change on our backline. Even though so many goals given up seem to be from a lucky bounce or poor officiating, we can't keep making excuses, and someone needs to step up.

I'm still not sold on the 3-5-2 being our best formation. It makes sense for this team if only because we have so many good offensive players that you don't want to take another one off the field to make room for a defender. But at the same time, Janicki and McTavish don't deserve to sit on the bench the whole season. Either one of them would match up real well next to Jakovic in a back four. Soehn's excuse to implement the back three before the season was that we'd had a lot of changes, so less players actually improves communication. At this point in the season, communication and chemistry should no longer be an issue. I think it's time to give a traditional 4-4-2 lineup a try, even if only for just a week.

Marc Burch versus Avery John

We've seen debates emerge a couple times over the past few weeks as to who should be our starting left back. The reality of the situation is that Tom Soehn is likely to continue rotating players at just about every position for the foreseeable future. Marc Burch and Avery John each started one match last week, and they're probably going to continue to split time as long as both are healthy. But who should be our #1 top choice at that spot? Let's break it down…

Marc Burch

Positives:

1. Burchie-bomb - Although we haven't seen much of Burch-from-distance yet this year, he is much better in the offensive third than John. Whether crossing the ball from the left flank, or taking a free kick, Burch's left foot remains to be one of the most dangerous weapons on the team.
2. Educational background - Marc Burch graduated from the University of Maryland the same year that I did. That's got to count for something.

Negatives:

1. Consistency - Burch has been known to put together 85 solid minutes, but if you take one play off, that could be one goal for the other team. The only thing consistent about Burch is him getting beat for headers by Dax McCarty.

Avery John

Positives:

1. Experience - While age can be both a pro and a con, the 33-year old John has seen it all. And with 65 caps for the Trinidad & Tobago national team, John is second only to Moreno in international experience.

2. Position - John was the starting left back for the Revolution team that went to the MLS Cup Final three years in a row, and that was a 3-5-2 system.

Negatives:

1. Lack of chemistry - John has been with the club for less than a month, and has only made one appearance so far. With a defensive unit that already occasionally struggles with communication , it might take a little while for him to fit in.

2. Fouls - One of John's most commonly used defensive tactics is the foul. That can put the club in a tough spot sometimes.

So in conclusion, I'm giving the starting job to Burch because he has more positives than negatives. Yes, namely because he's a Terp. Now there's some expert analysis that you won't find in any other blog in the country!

DCUMD: Optimized for your pleasure

Just a head's up that you will be seeing several changes to this blog in the next few weeks. I just did a report in a grad school class on "Search engine optimization", and it got me thinking how poorly "optimized" this blog really is.

But other than some little behind-the-scenes stuff that you might not even notice, I'm going to try to finally get around to making some other changes. Like kicking out Mediate in favor of Wallace on the background image for one :)

Finally, I also set up a new email address because the yahoo one was so terribly flooded with spam. You can now reach me:

Jealous of the Washington Capitals

Yeah I'm jealous of the Caps, and it's not just because they're actually winning playoff games. The Caps are the biggest story in town these days, and rightfully so. Every casual sports fan in the DC area that I know has started following the Caps. And that's awesome. I'm one of them. I grew up watching the Caps, going to a couple games a year, but haven't paid attention to them for the last decade or so, until the second half of this season. But now with the Capitals forcing game 7 against the Penguins, the Caps are winning new fans all over town and their popularity is soaring.

And I'm jealous.

What does DC United need to do to get this kind of attention? They've dominated regular seasons in the past. They've won championships. But never have I heard this kind of buzz about United.

I researched some attendance numbers and was actually surprised to find that United typically averages higher attendance than the Caps. The biggest disparity was in 2007, when United's average attendance was 20,967, while the Caps' was only 13,929. But throughout the first half of this decade, both teams have averaged right around 15-16,000 or so. Unsurprisingly, the Capitals had their highest average attendance ever in 2009 with 18,097. Obviously a lot of those numbers have to do with the differences in arena/stadium sizes, but it's still some interesting data.

But I don't think attendance numbers really tell the whole story. Maybe yearly tv ratings would be a more meaningful gauge, but what I'm really talking about isn't quantifiable. What I'm talking about is BUZZ. Everyone in my office tomorrow morning will be talking Caps/Pens.

So what can United do to earn that kind of attention? They're never going to have the best player in the world like the Capitals do. But they've had the best player in the league several times, and that hasn't helped.

I think it's all about marketing. Luciano Emilio was the MLS MVP in 2007, yet the casual sports fan in DC has never heard of him. Because the team isn't covered heavily in the local papers or on local news channels. That's not easily fixable, but if I'm working in United's marketing department, I'm shoving Chris Pontius and Rodney Wallace down the local sports directors' throats right now. We have some of the most exciting soccer players in the US on our roster right now, young and old. It's about time for the general population of this area to start taking notice.

Rant over. LET'S GO CAPS!

DC United tie vs Toronto FC, 3-3

What an incredible contrast from the previous match. Even though they both ended in ties, this was a much more inspired DC United club, playing against a much more inspired opponent. The match against Kansas City earlier in the week saw two offensive subs (Gomez and Emilio) enter the match and have no impact. This match saw two offensive subs (Moreno and Pontius) enter the match and score two goals.

I watched this match online at the same time as I was the watching the Capitals on mute. Funny coincidence that both games ended regulation at almost exactly the same time, and the score of each at that time was 3-3. Unfortunately for the Caps, it couldn't end that way. But for United, a tie seemed like a fair result to a really exciting match.


1. That was a real nice team setup on the opening goal by Ange N'Silu. His first goal of his MLS career, and a good overall match.

2. Jaime Moreno and Chris Pontius should have started. I'm still trying to figure out who was playing where when we had Moreno, Pontius, Emilio, Gomez, and Quaranta in the match. That's some firepower!


1. Milos Kocic and Dejan Jakovic each had their best halves of the season in the first. Kocic looked comfortable grabbing every cross that entered the box. And Jakovic had several nice tackles, and was calm in distributing out of the back. But their total lack of communication led to the first goal.

2. Bryan Namoff looked good wearing the captain's armband (which was a bit of a surprise since Gomez, Simms, and Emilio have all worn it ahead of him in the past). Namoff is having a fantastic season so far, but his failed toe poke on Toronto's third goal just isn't going to cut it against DeRo.

3. I liked Devon McTavish in central midfield. His left-footed cross helped set up the opening goal. I love how we have competition at just about every position right now. Olsen and Simms are the unquestioned starters at defensive midfield right now, but McTavish put in a strong challenge against Jacobson for the first backup in that slot.


1. This may have been out of character, but I saw too many giveaways by Clyde Simms in this match. And where was he on the last goal?

2. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but I do believe that Serioux was Rodney Wallace's man to mark on the second goal. Which would mean that's the second time this year he's given up a goal on a free kick.

Five points from three matches in eight days was a couple short of our goal. But this stretch of matches was a huge credit to our early season depth. DC started 19 different players between the two matches this week. Only Namoff, Simms, and Wallace started both. And with KC falling today, and Chicago tying New England, we were still able to hold onto sole possession of first place for at least another week.

DC United tie at Kansas City Wizards, 1-1

Maybe it's just me, but I found most of that match to be pretty boring. What I saw were two teams who didn't seem inspired, and a whole lot of players on each side who may have been content with just one point while still at or near the top of the Eastern Conference, and with another game just three days away. In a way, that's understandable this early in the season when some of the other traditional Eastern Conference powers are caught in the lower half of the league. But on the other hand, failing to fight for two more points that are up for grabs is inexcusable.

I'm probably being too hard on the boys. The team knows that the goal of this stretch of 3 games in 8 days was to earn 7 points, and we're well on our way to doing that with a home match against Toronto forthcoming. I also take pleasure from the feeling that we are a more talented team than Kansas City, and we would beat them in a home-and-home playoff series.


1. This was Andrew Jacobson's best match since joining the MLS. The fact that Davy Arnaud disappeared for most of the match had a lot to do with Jacobson.

2. I'm not sure whether or not we actually have a goalkeeping controversy. Different from Kocic, Louis Crayton was in complete control of his box. At no point was I nervous when Crayton came out to punch a cross. He might not be a top 5 keeper in the league, but he's the best one on this team.


1. For the second game in a row, we saw Rodney Wallace score one goal, and make a mistake that led to another. Should we just chalk it up as another learning experience? Wallace has so much potential, and I look forward to the day when he's able to play two halves at the same high level as he played the first half.

2. In our first viewing of Avery John in a United uniform, we saw pretty much what we expected. He's fairly solid defensively, but gives up way too many fouls. He's good depth, but I don't think he'll be beating out Burch for the starting left back job.


1. Luciano Emilio and Christian Gomez had virtually no impact on the match after entering in the second half. That's a bit disappointing from two of our biggest stars, and not a good example for the youngsters.

What I like most about DC United right now is our depth. We've got 22 (out of 24) players on our roster who are capable of starting. This kind of depth would have worked wonders last year in the middle of the Superliga debacle and when we were battling multiple serious and lasting injuries. Hopefully we won't find ourselves in either of those situations this season, but it's nice to know that we'll be able to handle ourselves if we are.

Oh yeah and by the way, wasn't Wolff offsides??

DC United win vs FC Dallas, 2-1

DC United looked like the better team for all 90 minutes tonight, but the first 60 sure were scary. Even though they had threatened to score so many times, and it seemed hard to believe that they would end the night with a bagel, it was hard not to be nervous about witnessing another lost point or 3. But ultimately the better team prevailed, thanks mainly to the greatest player in league history.


1. Even before he scored, Jaime Moreno was clearly the best player on the field. And even before he scored AGAIN, there was no question that Moreno is back in top form.

2. Christian Gomez was constantly dangerous in his 30 minutes of action, including an awesome assist on the willing goal.

3. Bryan Namoff continues to be one of the best and most consistent defenders in the league. Screw the talk about Barklage, I think Namoff could be a candidate for our next #10 with now three assists on the season.


1. After missing the Open Cup victory, I understand now why so many fans were unsure about Milos Kocic, despite his clean sheet. Not much Kocic could have done about the goal tonight, but he misses balls that he should punch, and he punches balls that he should catch. Increased experience will help as he continues to gain more chemistry with his back line, but I'm not willing to crown him as our Varlamov quite yet.

2. That wasn't quite as productive of a match as Chris Pontius is used to, but I just like the fact that we've got a guy who can fill in at central holding midfield when necessary, in addition to also playing on the wing, CAM, and withdrawn forward.


1. That's at least two goals this year that I think can be blamed on Rodney Wallace. I'm ready for Fred to return to the starting lineup.

This match was interesting in that we went in thinking that we had a big advantage on the wings, but both of our goals came right up the middle of the park. Credit our veterans Gomez and Moreno for that, showing the rookies how its done.

Another interesting piece mentioning: In the FSC pre-game show, Chris Sullivan said that he had spoke to Will Chang earlier, and Chang said that he'd had conversations with Tom Soehn about a three-year plan that involved rebuilding with youth. That comment probably raises more questions than answers. Did the three-year plan start this year or last? Because this is the first year that we've made much of an attempt to rebuild with youth. So does that mean that Soehn is pretty much guaranteed two more years? It makes a lot of sense to me that the team is making a concerted effort to rebuild this year with their collection of aging superstars.