remember he was a Rev?), but New England got an equalizer from Leonel Alvarez. As I recall it wasn't much of a goal, but a collision between a young goalkeeper named Timmy Howard and Johnny Torres allowed the ball to trickle in. Not to be denied, however, the Metros pushed for a winner and got one two minutes into stoppage time when Mark Chung dented the crossbar with a rocket, and Adolfo "El Tren" Valencia was there to calmly head the rebound into an empty net. Of course, 2001 was the year Mathis blew out his knee and the MetroStars' best chance at a title run did not materialize.
7. 2002, Los Angeles 2, D.C. United 1, at the Rose Bowl
The beginning of the Carlos Ruiz era. After D.C. sub Ali Curtis put United ahead in the 76th minute, "El Pescadito" scored twice, the second on a penalty kick in overtime (remember overtime?) to give the title-bound Galaxy an Opening Night victory against a D.C. team that was embarking on its third consecutive playoff-less season.
6. 2005, MetroStars 0, Real Salt Lake 0, at Giants Stadium
OK, this was not a good game, but anyone who braved the wind and rain for this one will always remember it as the most bizarre game in league history. Seriously, you have to watch some tape of this one to believe what the wind was doing to the ball. Calling it a monsoon doesn't even do it justice.
5. 2003, Kansas City 3, D.C. United 2, at Arrowhead Stadium
Just a good old-fashioned back and forth game in K.C. Preki gives the Wizards an early lead but Mike Petke and Santino Quaranta answer to give D.C. the lead before halftime. United tries to dig in an defend, but Chris Klein ties things up in the 61st. This was the final year of OT, and Chris Brown took advantage of the extra minutes to make K.C. winners on opening night. Gates ribs for everyone!
4. 2006: Dallas 3, Chicago 2, at Pizza Hut Park
This game is what you call a barnburner. Chad Barrett for the Fire. Arturo Alvarez for FC Dallas. Chris Rolfe for Chicago. Roberto Mina for FCD. Back and forth it went, until a new face in red and white hoops appeared on the scene. Big Kenny Cooper, who came on as a 65th-minute sub and headed home a Bobby Rhine cross for the winner. Again, if all openers could be this good. Five goals, 27 shots, 15 shots on goal, end-to-end action, effective substitutions. This was an MLS Instant Classic.
3. 2004: Los Angeles 3, New England 2, at The Home Depot Center
Always fun to look back on nights that you think are going to change the face of the league, and this was one of those nights (even though in retrospect it didn't change much). Anyway, for a night it looked like Andreas Herzog and Jovan Kirovski were poised to tear up the league. Herzog was carving up the Revs with his left foot, scoring once and assisting on another, while Kirovski scored the winner with an absolute missile of a right-footed shot in the 69th minute. Oh well, neither guy turned out to be as good as their initial impression, but it's always fun on Opening Night to think big.
2. 1996: Los Angeles 2, MetroStars 1, at the Rose Bowl
This one's my personal favorite only because I was in the house, along with nearly 70,000 fans who were getting their first glimpse of MLS. Was it a good game? Who knows at this point. I know the Galaxy looked big-time compared to a MetroStars team that would release several of its starters (Danny Barber anyone?) before its next practice session, but after Cobi Jones and Arash Noamouz gave the Galaxy a 2-0 lead, Giovanni Savarese scored on a nice little header and the end of the game got pretty hairy. In the end, my final memory is of Jorge Campos being carried off the Rose Bowl field by fans, his neon-colored goalkeeper gloves held triumphantly above his head. Pretty cool stuff.
1. 1996: San Jose 1, D.C. United 0, at Spartan Stadium
Honestly, this was not a good game and it was clear from the start that Spartan Stadium was too narrow for a professional soccer game, but sports are about defining moments and it'll be hard for anyone to ever top what Eric Wynalda provided as time ticked down on what looked to be an Opening Night washout (which would've been followed by a shootout). If you're any kind of MLS fan, you remember Waldo 'megging Jeff Agoos and curling the prettiest little shot you'll ever see just inside the far post. I was in a bar in New York City with some of the original Metros and their fans and everyone left the building that night feeling pretty good about this new soccer league called MLS.
Jeff Bradley is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine. Send your comments and complaints (200 words or less, please) to Jeff at jbradleyespn2003@yahoo.com and he promises to read (but not respond to) all of them. The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author's, and not necessarily those of Major League Soccer or MLSnet.com.
