By Ridge Mahoney, Senior Editor
Senior Editor, Soccer America
While chasing a specter in a black jersey last weekend — much as he'd done many years ago — a familiar memory flashed through the mind of Fire defender C.J. Brown.
''The reason I'm in the league now is we had a good run in the Open Cup and ended up against D.C. United, the best team around,'' recalls Brown, who as a member of the USISL San Francisco Seals reached the semifinals of the 1997 U.S. Open Cup by beating Kansas City and San Jose. ''Every time we play D.C. I remember that game.
''I remember chasing [Jaime] Moreno, and the same thing happened last game: I was chasing him and I wasn't catching him. 'Wow,' I'm thinking, 'this guy is still leaving me.'''
The Seals lost that 1997 game, 2-1. Brown fouled Marco Etcheverry for a penalty kick that Moreno converted, and D.C. added a second goal by Raul Diaz Arce when Moreno dribbled half the length of the field with Brown in futile pursuit.
Yet so impressed with Brown was then-D.C. assistant coach Bob Bradley that a few months later, as head coach of the expansion Chicago Fire, he took Brown with the No. 1 pick in the supplemental draft.
The last game of his first MLS season was MLS Cup '98 and Brown helped the Fire defeat D.C. United, 2-0, to lift the title.
THE SPITTING INCIDENT. Brown lined up against D.C. United at RFK Stadium last Saturday in the second game of their Eastern Conference semifinals. With the teams tied 0-0 in goals after a scoreless game at Soldier Field, few not clad in red believed Chicago had even a puncher's chance.
''Any team would feel that way,'' says Brown, who has been in and out of the starting lineup all season and reclaimed a starting spot a month ago. ''I know if we went on the road in the first game and came back with a 0-0 we'd say we'd win at home. They were in a good situation at home and we actually had a little more energy and a little more fight than they did.''
Chicago punched out the defending champion in embarrassing fashion, 4-0, and D.C. marred the tradition it brandishes so proudly. Christian Gomez had been lionized several weeks ago when, while serving a suspension, he joined the Barra Brava in the stands and banged away on a drum for most of the game.
But 10 minutes into the second half and United shockingly down, 3-0, Gomez stained his reputation and that of his team by spitting at Brown. Red card. Gomez slunk off the field having snuffed whatever faint chance his team had to overturn its fortunes.
''It's not part of the game because nobody deserves to be spit on,'' says Brown, who said in more than a decade of collegiate and professional play it had never happened to him before. ''I'd much rather be punched or kicked. That's disrespect to the game and disrespect to me, but it's over with for now. I move on.
''To be all honest, if it's a kick or a follow-through or somebody went up for a header and there's an elbow, those are part of the game. I understand that a little bit more. But spitting? That's just bad, personally, I think. I would never spit on somebody. The kicking, the bumping and all that stuff, that's the heat of the moment, but to spit means you don't respect that person one bit.''
Brown stayed cool, mindful that any retaliation could have extreme consequences.
''I was on yellow card points for that game so I was trying to be as nice as I could,'' he says. ''Everybody called me and said I handled myself well but I was burning up inside.''
Brown was born in Eugene, Ore., and grew up in Northern California, where he played sports other than soccer and standing up for yourself counted for a lot.
''My buddies at home called me and said they couldn't believe I let somebody spit on me so I'm the biggest punk in my neighborhood right now but it's all about the team winning,'' he laughs.
''I'd vote for Gomez as one of the best players in the league. Has that changed now? Yes, but before that I thought he was a great asset to D.C. United. He personally destroyed them that night.''
SHORING UP THE DEFENSE. Chicago has shuffled defenders in and out of three-man and four-man systems this season, and so Brown has been in and out of the lineup, which is unfamiliar for a player who'd played in 172 regular-season games and 24 playoff matches prior to 2005.
''We had conceded a lot of goals, more than we would have liked,'' says Coach Dave Sarachan of last year (44, third-worst in the league) and the first four months of the 2005 season, during which Chicago conceded at least three goals eight times. ''The system we're playing now defines his role even more as a man-marker. When it's that clear for him, it's better.''
Brown, 30, had played 20 games in the regular season, the fewest of any season in his MLS career.
''It has been frustrating,'' he says, ''but I believe in the team and if the team wins games without me, that's what it's about: winning. I come to training, work hard, and somehow I'm back in the lineup, which is awesome. Now I have to do what I can not to get out of the lineup.''