WASHINGTON ā D.C. United center back Jeff Parke has a unique perspective on some of Major League Soccerās biggest rivalries.
The 10-year MLS veteran has plied his trade on both coasts, entering the league in 2004 and spending several years with the the New York Red Bulls ā then the MetroStars ā before heading west for a number of productive years in Vancouver (in their USL First Division days) and Seattle. For nearly a decade, Parke took part in a couple of MLSās most fiercely contested match-ups: the Pacific Northwestās Cascadia Cup and its East Coast equivalent, the Atlantic Cup.
United are set to welcome the Red Bulls for the opener of the latter competitionās latest iteration on Saturday evening (7 pm ET, MLS Live), and Parke is set to take the field against his former club in a D.C. kit for the very first time.
"We were always on the losing end up in New York,ā Parke told MLSsoccer.com after Unitedās training session on Friday morning. āThis is when the D.C. teams were just so good ā Itās good to be down here and see this side of it now. I know up there every time we payed D.C. we hated them, wanted to beat them."
"From [D.C. United's] fans and players, it was always a scrappy, disrespectful kind of game. They never looked at us as a tough team ā they pretty much knew they were going to beat us.ā
The gap thatās grown between the Atantic Cup and some of MLSā newer, sexier rivalries has been caused by a myriad of factors, not the least of which are financial ā more bodies in seats, larger television numbers. To Parke ā who spent two years in central defense for the Sounders ā Seattleās rivalry with the Portland Timbers, which dates back to the 1970 in the old NASL, is fueled by something even stronger: hatred.
āA lot of the [Portland and Seattle] fans just honestly hate each other,ā Parke said chuckling. "Itās also the history ā thereās a lot more history in the Portland/Seattle rivalry. Every time you talk to a Seattle fan up there, theyāre like, 'Portland is scum.' You ask a Portland fan and theyāre like, 'Seattle is scum.' They flick you off when youāre in the bus, throw stuff at the bus, kids curse at you.
"The Red Bulls-United one is more players and clubs. The fans, maybe they donāt like each other, I donāt know. You donāt hear about it as much out here ā but up there, itās hatred."
Parke spent 2013 with his hometown Philadelphia Union, a spell that gave him some insight on the clubās rapidly-growing rivalries with their I-95 neighbors, D.C. and New York.
"I think the D.C.-Philly rivalry is the more contested of those two," said Parke. " I know when I played for the Union we were always eager to play D.C. The fans would always talk about how they hadnāt beaten D.C. at RFK, [and] they always geared up for that. It was always a chipper game. Philly-NY was more finesse, while D.C.-Philly had a lot more bite.ā
As for Saturday, Parke is eager to face his former employer. Heās surrounded not only by other veterans, but by a crop of younger players who might not fully understand the rivalry, something he says heās eager to change.
āWeāve talked about it all week, but until you live through it and play through it, itās different," said Parke. "I was on the other side, so I obviously understand it, I played in it and battled through it. Theyāll get a taste of it on Saturday ā theyāll see that the fans get feistier, louder.
"Theyāll understand it."