Because I like you and think you’re special, here’s a quick transcript of Rob Stone’s interview of Kevin Payne from yesterday’s ESPN2 broadcast.

Stoner: Were the quotes by Freddy earlier this week to the media the cause for the suspension or were there other activities that led to it?

Kevin Payne: Well, Rob, we’re not really discussing the details of the suspicion that specifically. Let’s just say that it was a combination of things that occurred and didn’t occur that led to the decision by Peter Nowak to suspend Freddy for one game.

Stoner: When coach Nowak told you about the suspension what was that conversation about?

Kevin Payne: Well, he was considering it earlier in the week. He wanted to see how the week went. He ended up concluding that it was the right thing to do. I arrived from travel in Chicago just a couple hours before game time. Peter told me that’s what he decided to do and I support him 100%.

Stoner: How has the team handled this suspension?

Kevin Payne: I think the team’s handled it pretty well. I think everybody wishes it hadn’t happened, I’m sure including Freddy. But we’ve got a pretty mature group, and a pretty focused group, and I’m sure that we will move on, and we will do our best to defend our championship, and I’m sure Freddy will be a big part of that.

Stoner: Kevin, looking ahead what is Freddy’s status for next Sunday’s game two as you guys host Chicago.

Kevin Payne: Well, I don’t know. Again that’s obviously up to the coaching staff. But my understanding from Peter was that as far as he was concerned once this particular disciplinary action took place then the event was over.

I suppose that puts to rest the uncertainty Steven Goff expressed about Freddy Adu’s availability for next week’s game.

I’ve been hemming and hawing about what to say about good ole Chivas USA. I had some ideas. Maybe I’d talk about savoring the little victories, or perhaps it’d be good to say a word for the Great Gringo Hope, El Guzano. But none of that really seemed right.

Then today I was standing in line at the supermarket and there it was. As soon as I saw that gentleman with his son I knew that’s what I wanted to talk about. The kid must have been round about ten years old and it was obvious from the cleats and the uniform that the two of them had just come from the boy’s Saturday morning youth soccer game. Not such an uncommon sight, I know. It was his uniform that impressed me.

A Chivas replica.

See, I am not currently residing in what you’d call a major metropolitan area. Indeed, some people would call it the sticks. But even out here, right there in front of me in the express lane at Safeway, was evidence of the Chivas cachet and magic.

I thought differently at the start of the season. I thought the Chivas de Guadalajara supporters were sophisticated soccer consumers and they’d reject the inferior, ersatz American product. And, well, in part I was right. But at the same time I completely underestimated the Chivas mystique.

That mystique, that aura of prestige – that is what MLS teams must race to achieve for themselves. And in that race CD Chivas USA, one of the worst teams in the history of Major League Soccer, a team that only came into existence this year, has a head start.

Peter Nowak had a chance to put the Freddy Adu mess behind him and his team, and get on with the playoffs. He blew that chance big time.

Earlier this week Freddy Adu went public with what should have been an internal team matter, and he was wrong to do so. As DC United’s coach it was Nowak’s responsibility to make sure the situation was resolved in time for his team’s playoff game on Friday night.

Adu made his comments on Tuesday. By Wednesday the team was in damage control and the Washington Post ran a quote from Kevin Payne reporting that “Freddy said what he had to say and it’s over with,” and that “It’s a bigger deal to the media than anyone in our locker room.” Similar reports came in from MLSNet and the Washington Times.

By all accounts it seemed that Nowak had a firm grasp on the situation and was handling it appropriately to insure that it wouldn’t interfere with the game against Chicago. But clearly Kevin Payne had his facts very wrong. It wasn’t over with and it was a big deal in the locker room.

It turns out Nowak had allowed the affair to fester all week. And on Friday, in a move that seemed calculated mostly to humiliate Adu while confirming Nowak’s authority, the mess came to a head with the coach giving Adu an ultimatum to apologize to his teammates before the match, or - it would seem - serve a one game suspension. Adu refused to participate in his own dressing down and was suspended.

Perhaps Adu should have swallowed his pride and apologized. And maybe Freddy’s a schmuck for not doing that. Or maybe he’s just a teenager. (And perhaps those two things really aren’t that different.) That, however, is not the point.

This is the point: Peter Nowak never should have allowed it to come to that. That it did was Nowak’s failure. If there was a locker room problem then Nowak should have dealt with it in the locker room immediately. Instead he let it drag out so long that it effected the game against Chicago. And by suspending Adu for a game rather than disposing of the situation quietly and privately he also succeeded in making it even more of a public spectacle than it already was.

And what good has Nowak accomplished in doing those things? Will this suspension ameliorate the conflicts in the locker room? I quite doubt it. It will probably just make them worse. He’s given the players even more reason to be aggravated with Adu, and he’s put Adu in an intractable situation. Has the suspension put an end to the public spectacle? Not at all. It’s given it new life and an entirely new sub-plot, namely the contest of wills between Nowak and Adu. Did the suspension help Nowak’s team? Judging by its dismal offensive performance (zero shots on goal) in a 0-0 draw against the Chicago Fire, I’d have to say no to that as well. DC United sorely could have used Adu on the field.

Peter Nowak always says the team comes first. Had Nowak found it in himself to take charge of the situation and put a quick end to it on Wednesday or Thursday then it’s quite likely his team would be better off tonight. It’s also quite likely that by now the whole sorry Freddy Adu affair would be well-forgotten yesterday’s news. But he didn’t have it in him to do that. This week Peter Nowak failed the team.

Freddy Adu’s failure began this mess. Peter Nowak’s failure compounded it and prolonged it.

“I will show you that I’m a ninety-minute player.”

Freddy Adu is not the first big name on DC United to complain about playing time. In the early days of the 1996 season an until then less than impressive Marco Etcheverry became so frustrated with his lack of playing time that he complained directly to Bruce Arena. He insisted that he had not come to MLS to be subbed out, or - worse yet - subbed in during the second half. He was better than that.

In response Arena challenged Etcheverry to be the player he claimed he was. “I will show you that I’m a ninety-minute player,” replied Etcheverry. Arena gave him the chance to prove himself, and Etcheverry rose to the occasion and took the team to championship after championship.

There are many ways to think about Freddy Adu’s most recent outburst, but I keep coming back to that confrontation between Etcheverry and Arena. That was a pivotal moment for DC United. Without it the team never would have achieved everything it has. Arena gave Etcheverry the chance to achieve greatness and Etcheverry did great things with that chance.

The question is not whether Freddy Adu’s situation is comparable to Marco Etcheverry’s. Nor is it whether Adu as a player is comparable to Etcheverry. The question is whether Peter Nowak could give the same sort of challenge and chance to Adu as Arena gave to Etcheverry.

Does Adu have a real opportunity at DC United to prove that he’s a ninety-minute man? If we’re going to be honest then the answer is likely no. It’s unlikely that he can displace Christian Gomez, and it’s even more unlikely that Nowak would change his formation to put both Gomez and Adu on the field at the same time.

If as many believe Freddy Adu is destined for great things, and if Nowak cannot do for him what Arena did for Etcheverry, then perhaps Adu should seek another team where he’ll truly have the chance to show them he’s a ninety-minute player.

When I decided to do this series of postmortems it didn’t really occur to me that I’d be writing about the Kansas City Wizards so early in the game. You see, I have great confidence in the MetroStars to choke when the choking time comes. That choking time was earlier today against Chivas USA. I thought the Goats were gonna win that one, and that today I’d be writing about everyone’s favorite debacle instead of Kansas City.

About Kansas City? Have I got something pithy to say about them? Nope.

See, I don’t understand the Wizards. This is basically the same team that went to the MLS Cup last year. This is the team that came within a whisker of the Supporters Shield. And where it isn’t the same team they have - for the most part - upgraded.

So what happened? Is it that old clap-trap about standing still while everyone else got better? Naw. Was last year a fluke? Nope. Were they just unlucky? Don’t buy that either. Was it their move to the stronger Eastern conference? I don’t think so. Was it the loss of Matt Taylor. No, Taylor’s departure isn’t really what you’d properly call a loss.

What was it? I don’t have an answer.

The failure of the Wizards to make the 2005 playoffs just doesn’t make sense to me. They should have been a legitimate contender. Without a clear “on the field” answer I am left to wonder if the Sword of Damocles hanging over the club’s head ever since Lamar Hunt announced his decision to sell the team wasn’t the real cause of this season’s undoing.