He did the best he could to make it off the field without his emotions taking over and getting the best of him, the emotions of playing the last game on this field for this club that has been his home and family for basically 15-years.

“When I left the field and I saw my kids crying, that’s when it hit me, I realized it’s now over and I also realize how much they care and suffer in every game. I broke down when I saw that,” said Moreno about the culmination of his brilliant and record setting career with DC United.

Moreno’s son James, after leaving the field, sat quietly, crying at his father’s locker stall waiting for him to come back and take that black DC United uniform off for the last time.

“I never thought it was going to be this hard and I didn’t know what to expect to be honest,” said Moreno. “I can’t imagine what it’s like to lose a family because this is pretty devastating but I wasn’t prepared for this moment and I didn’t know what to expect.”

The 3-2 loss, even after taking the lead just 2-minutes into the match on a goal by his friend Santino Quaranta, was an afterthought. But perhaps most fittingly, Moreno later created and then scored the final goal of his career on a penalty kick to regain the lead in the 39th minute.

With that goal (133), Moreno jumped ahead of Jeff Cunningham for the all time league scoring mark and his 44 penalty kicks are by far the most in league history.

“Hittin’ into a hand for a PK, people think ‘lucky’ uh-no, not with him,” said United coach and Moreno’s former teammate Ben Olsen. “He does that stuff and he’s been doing that stuff for years and it’s a beautiful ending for him but I just wish we could have put it together.”

United goalkeeper Troy Perkins sent an immediate long ball down the left side aimed directly at Moreno for a quick counter. After collecting the ball with his typical fluidity and with a bit of perfect irony Moreno’s cross to Pablo Hernandez was inexplicably intercepted by the arm of Toronto Midfielder Julian de Guzman for the obvious penalty kick.

With very little to show for and justify his $1.7 million contract, de Guzman is exactly what Moreno never was-unproductive.

After picking up the ball and walking to the penalty spot, Moreno was met by goalkeeper Milos Kocic, who played with United a year ago.

“He was asking me where I was going to kick it. And I said you are going to have to guess,” said Moreno, managing a quick smile.

Kocic guessed right, extending hard to his left but still couldn’t get to another perfectly placed penalty from Moreno.

“He said he was going to chip him but I guess he had to shoot that one. He goes out on top again,” said a laughing Quaranta referring to the scoring title. “It’s important to me and I think it’s important to him but the way Jaime is, probably not.”

Though 10-years his junior, Quaranta formed a close relationship with Moreno who helped the young talent get through issues with drugs, alcohol and subsequent depression. So when Quaranta scored that first, he made a bee line to his friend.

“I love him. He’s like a brother to me. We’ve spent a lot of time (together) and he has done so many things for me and there is nobody else I wanted to see but him,” said Quaranta.

“We have seen this over and over and over. There is nobody like him; he turns, he cuts and I was watching him in the beginning and I was forgetting to run sometimes. He is the best player I have ever played with.”

United giving up the lead twice and subsequently losing was par for the year for this team but did not diminish the moment. And scoring that goal was no consolation for arguably the best player in the history of Major League Soccer.

“You guys know me I would have preferred to walk away with a win,” Moreno said. “Unfortunately we continue to make mistakes and we get punished and that has been our luck all year. It’s hard to explain the frustration that we have; we fall asleep 2-seconds and they always score so we never get the breaks.”

“It felt like it but in a lot of ways it sums up the season,” Olsen added. “Look, we are not good enough but saying that it’s important to put that aside and appreciate Jaime and once again he saves a little bit of magic for the last night and several times he looked the Jaime that we all know and love and has treated us to so many good memories, classy stuff.”

Speaking for Moreno’s teammates Olsen added, “They are gutted because they wanted to send Jaime out with a win, the goal helps, but certainly they wanted to send Jaime out.”

Jaime Moreno came to DC United from Middlesbrough in England in 1996 fully expecting to return one day to the soccer’s big time. Fifteen years later he is finally leaving.

But he is leaving with an unmatched legacy as perhaps the best player in the history of Major League Soccer and as one of Washington’s most decorated athletes in decades, if not the most decorated.

“It was pretty new, and I just wanted to play,” said Moreno. “I was in England, and I didn’t have a chance to play too many games so I decided to come to this league because I thought, it’s a brand new league, I might have a better chance to play and grow as a person and as a player.

“Always in my mind, it was just stay a couple years, get better and go back to Europe. Obviously, it didn’t happen; definitely, I made a good impression. Every other year, it was signing, and signing longer contracts until I realized it was 15 years later, and I’m still here. That’s how life goes.”

He was just 22-years old when he first caught the eye of then United coach Bruce Arena, making not just one, but two scintillating moves around one of his best defenders and also scoring a goal in the 2nd minute of Bolivia’s 2-0 win against the United States in a U.S. Cup match at RFK Stadium.

“I remember seeing Jaime blow by [former United defender Jeff) Agoos when Bolivia came into town at RFK," said United assistant coach Mark Simpson, who was the starting goalkeeper for United’s first championship in 1996. "The next thing you know, not even a month later, he was here and making his mark on this team and history and MLS.”

“I do remember. It’s just because Jeff is my friend, and I just don’t want to keep mentioning it over and over,” added a laughing Moreno.

Moreno, 36, despite limited minutes over the last couple of years is still the only player in MLS history to record over 100 goals and 100 assists and is still tied for the league’s all time goal scoring lead (132) with Jeff Cunningham, who caught up with him earlier this month.

He still regrets not returning to England, which is where his wife Louise is from, or some other major European league but in the end he chose responsibility over selfishness and stayed where his overall situation was good.

“I wasn’t good enough,” joked Moreno. “You gotta have good connections and life was good here. My kids were born here, and we just felt comfortable. Later, I kind of fell short in my career, so it was something that I’m always going to regret.

“At the same time, I can’t be ungrateful, because I have a great career, a great family, a good place to live and a lot of friends. I’m pretty blessed. Not everybody has that luxury of staying that many years in one team. I do realize that, and I’m always going to be thankful.”

It’s a rare occurrence in sports where one player stays in one place and has this great an impact on one franchise for so long. Technically, he does not have full “tenure” because as many sometimes forget, he spent the 2003 season in New York. But he is still the symbol of greatness for what this club used to be so it’s no accident that every trophy DC United has won has been with Moreno as a key figure.

“But the league is evolving,” said former teammate and current United coach Ben Olsen. “And it’s tough to tell if this will happen again, a guy like him coming in this league, staying this long and producing as much as he has, and also, holding as much silverware as he has.

‘That’s the thing, to me, we can talk about his goals and his being one of the best players. But to me, this team has only won championships with Jaime. That says a lot.”

Manchester United’s Ryan Giggs comes to mind when Washington Capital’s goaltender Olaf Kolzig and Washington Redskins corner back Darryl Green are the only other local athletes of tenure with only Green’s accolades even coming close to comparing to Moreno’s. Making it even greater is that MLS is now old enough to enjoy a bit of reverence and nostalgia as Moreno, and another great player, Chicago’s Brian McBride, bid farewell.

Green was on two of the Redskins three Super Bowl winning teams, was voted to the Pro Bowl seven times, All Pro four times, was voted onto the NFL’s 1990’s All Decade Team and of course, was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2008. His 20-years with the Redskins is tied for most seasons with one NFL team.

Kolzig played 12 full seasons with the Capitals, won the Vezina Trophy as the league’s best goaltender in
2000 and was the team’s starting goalkeeper in their only Stanley Cup finals appearance in 1998.

As they have come and gone, so have others. Norv Turner was the coach of the Redskins with Gus Frerotte and Heath Shuler as his quarterbacks when Moreno arrived and they have gone through countless more since. The Capitals and Washington Bullets were still playing at the Capital Center.

The Bullets leading scorer was Chris Webber in a lineup that also included Juwan Howard, Calbert Cheaney, Rod Strickland, Gheroghe Muresan and a guy named Ben Wallace deep on the bench, who left to win four NBA Defensive Player of the Year awards and a championship with Detroit in 2004…bad personnel decisions seem to follow all of the teams in the city apparently?

If you really break it down, the only Washington stars that really can compare to Moreno’s accomplishments are the Washington Senators Walter “The Big Train” Johnson and more recently, the Capital’s Alexander Ovechkin.

The latter is arguably the best in the world, has won all the individual honors he can win multiple times, is a true mega star but lacks one thing-a championship. Johnson played 21 seasons, all with the Senators from 1907-27, and won 417 games (second all time to Cy Young) with a career 2.17 era and his 110 shutouts are an all time record.

“It’s been kind of fast, actually, when I look back, and where I’m at it’s like, time flies, and I wish I was a little younger so I could still play , but that’s how life is. You gotta move on and see what’s my future.” Moreno said.

But to compare his career to others from another sport, Baltimore Orioles first baseman Eddie Murray and Redskin wider receiver James Arthur Monk, both Hall of Famers, are the best comparisons not necessarily for their statistical production but for their professionalism, standard of excellence and demeanor in this ‘look at me, me, me’, highlight reel seeking world of sports.

Murray garnered the most MVP votes in Major League history without actually winning the award but did what all the great ones do in all sports-he produced when it mattered most, at the critical times of a game or season.

Monk led the league in receptions (940) and also in consecutive games with a reception (183) when he retired in 1995 and was selected to the NFL’s 1980’s All Decade team.

But the one compelling trait of all three of these special players is that they neither enjoyed nor reveled in the spotlight-it was always about production.

Simpson’s fondest memory of Moreno came from that inaugural 1996 MLS Cup match. Lost in the bitter cold conditions and subsequent euphoria of the Eddie Pope game winning goal, was that Moreno drew all three fouls that led to all of United’s goals.

“He’s a very competitive guy, but a lot of those championships, he wanted to win them, but he put his stamp on the game. He’s done it in the games. He’s taken over games in those types of situations,” said Olsen. “There’s been nobody who’s been more valuable at this club, and it’s a sad day to see him go. But these things have to happen eventually, and hopefully, it’s a celebration this weekend and a positive spin on all the great things he’s done for this club.”

Moreno was a 5-time MLS Best XI, 8-time MLS All Star while only leading the league in goal scoring once (1997). But shockingly, he was never voted as the league MVP, despite seeing three of his former teammates win the award along the way-Marco Etcheverry, Christian Gomez, Luciano Emilio-some deserved and some not.

“The true fans understand it but he is not out and about screaming his own name-that’s me,” Olsen said with a chuckle. “If I had Jaime’s talent, I’d be on every commercial in this city. I’d have more Euromotor car commercials.”

“How should he be remembered in this community? Again, he’s been under the radar in the mainstream media in this community, unfortunately,” Olsen continued more seriously. “Now, in the Latin community, I think he’s going to be remembered very fondly, and as the legend he should be.

“But you know how the media is around here – we’re not always front page. He’s never been one to scream his name out loud to people. It’s a credit to him, and I’ve always admired that in him. He did what he did on the field, and he spoke on the field, and it was a beautiful thing.”

His career can be broken down into two segments-pre and post injuries. The 2002 season saw numerous, nagging leg injuries but the most severe were the two herniated discs in his back that nearly forced an early retirement and his trade to New York for Mike Petke and other considerations.

In his first go around, and what most likely attracted the suitors from England, Moreno could run at full speed with the ball, one of the rarest of skills and most difficult to defend. But he was always a savvy decision maker on and off the ball with great vision, which is what carried him through his second act as his legs failed him and the speed diminished.

“He was always a smart player. He didn’t have to be as smart when he had his legs but as he got a little older, the intelligence that he already had was heightened, said Olsen. ““There’s been practices where he’s literally walked through it because he has that sense of soccer that a lot of kids don’t have in this country.

“You think back to guys like [Carlos] Valderrama, and it’s like, how do these guys know there’s someone coming on my back, or how did he know that guy was there? He’s got that sense, and it’s produced magic.”

If he can be criticized for one thing however, even in England to some degree, it is that he often was not in the best of condition upon arriving at training camp which may have contributed to his injuries. “He ate too many fish and chips over there,” joked friend and teammate Santino Quaranta.

In response, he hired a personal trainer back in 2004, who works with many of the Redskins as well, to keep him committed and get his body ready for the interminable MLS season.

His one passion, outside of his family, away from the field is playing golf. He teased the low 80’s several years ago (I was a golf pro in my other life so I kind of know his game!) but gets it around in the low 90’s with the ability to occasionally sneak a round back in the mid-to-high 80’s.

Perhaps his most memorable, or dubious, moment on the golf course was turning the corner and hitting friend, and former United teammate Richie Williams with the cart and cutting him wide open.

All told, Moreno is the symbol of the greatness and what DC United once was but no longer is-an elite team and franchise. Even he could not undo the trail of bad personnel decisions, mediocre talent around him and couldn’t do anything to influence the calamitous stadium situation.

United’s methods and ideas are stale, all based on the past and what used to be for this club and Moreno’s departure may be culmination of this debacle they have created for themselves. Fortunately for Moreno, though he departs at a team low, he will only be remembered for his greatness.

With but two games remaining, DC United has precious little time to give its fans a reason to for hope for 2011. I think that they can do it.

As 2010 has seen the team bump along the bottom of a slough of despond, the players have slowly but consistently improved their shape and vision. Despite a lack of results, the team’s play has steadily improved.

The win in Colorado was historic in its own way and the loss last Saturday did reflect a long stretch of dominance in that game by an already depleted DC United which was missing half its starting defense on international duty. With a return to what has become “normal” player health, the side should perform well.

Now is a good time to try a few experiments to see just who can help next year and how. Let’s start with the epitome of mixed results, Branko Boskovic. He arrived with hopes on United’s part that he might be the creative midfield spark the team has lacked. It didn’t happen.

If his international success as the Montenegro Captain is any indicator, he is clearly a wide midfielder. Why not trade his location with rookie sensation Andy Najar? While the pressure of the “number 10” role is ill suited to a youth, there is really no pressure left in this dismal season. Turn the kid loose and tell him to have fun attacking.

The young Honduran clearly deserves Rookie of the Year honors in MLS and got more than a few votes for DC United’s MVP in the Press Box. There is no down side to seeing what else he can bring to the table.

Flank him with Boskovic and Carlos Varela to give him guidance and back him with the steady Clyde Simms or Stephen King. Move Santino Quaranta to forward with Pablo Hernandez and add a bit of speed to that aspect of the attack.

As the flanks become more contemplative and guileful, the front line gains speed. The forwards’ runs should give Najar a chance to use his own aggressiveness and speed to real advantage. Instead of defending against a Quaranta long cross to a speeding Najar, defenses will have more variety to solve.

To cover for the slower wings, keep the wide defenders further back. Ask Devon McTavish and Jed Zayner to overlap only rarely and focus on maintaining shape in a simpler scheme by trailing their wings.

If the wise wide elders tire, energy is available from Junior Carreiro. Danny Allsopp can add strength to the front line from the bench as well.

Like United, the Chicago Fire are out of postseason play and may well be experimenting themselves. Demonstrating the unusual nature of the 2010 season, the usually competent Fire join the Houston Dynamo and DC in disappointment.

The Dynamo are the only team that DC can catch on points, but the Houston side has two of their seven wins against United, guaranteeing the dregs to DC.

In a league where coaching should be at a premium, several historical heroes have experienced poor seasons. In particular, Houston’s Dom Kinnear and New England’s Steve Nicol have felt the sting of failure while Philadelphia’s Peter Novak at least has a new team to cite for lesser performance.

Chris Wondolowski continued his torrid goal scoring pace with a stunning goal just moments before halftime, following that up with another one early in the second half as the San Jose Earthquakes clinically dismantled futile DC United 2-0. With the win and Kansas City’s 2-1 home loss to Seattle, the Earthquakes clinched a playoff berth.

Both of Wondolowski’s goals came from nearly the same spot on the field and were barely contested. He has six goals in his last five games, eight in his last ten and with this pair, vaults over four players to second in the chase for the Budweiser Golden Boot with 14, just two behind Los Angeles’s Edson Buddle.

The match took a significant turn in just the 8th minute when Jaime Moreno and Brandon McDonald were ejected for exchanging head butts near midfield. During a Troy Perkins goal kick, Moreno had his left arm wrapped around the back of McDonald and as the two jostled for position, apparently head butted the stout defender, who in turn head butted the Bolivian star right back. Referee Alex Prus, after conferring with one the Assistant Referees, concluded that both actions were worthy of immediate red cards.

“Basically I was punched and I pushed him back and he head butted me,” said Moreno. “I would like him to show me what I did, but I got sent off and I didn’t even retaliate. I don’t know what they saw.”

Prus was also the referee two weeks ago when Ben Olsen and Houston coach Dominic Kinnear were ejected for both leaving the technical area to engage each other.

“I didn’t understand why they would have the same referee crew for our game again two weeks later after what went down but whoever it is made that decision and I think tonight you see why you shouldn’t do that,” said Olsen.

While United was the better and more aggressive side in the attacking third throughout the first half, they were still bereft of the closing idea to reward themselves for the hard work. Conversely, San Jose did what good teams do on the road-defend, counter and capitalize on their chances.

“It’s more of the same…The first half was good; the second half wasn’t,” said Olsen. “Regardless of the refereeing, we still have issues. It wasn’t their fault tonight it was ours fouling up two plays again. We have got to learn that every play counts and this league is getting better.”

Wondolowski’s smashing left footed volley was completely against the run of play but served as an eerily typical fate for the languishing home side. Tim Ward’s ball from the right flank floated over Clyde Simms and bounced in front of Jordan Graye, to Wondolowski whose perfectly struck volley just beyond the far corner of the 6-yard box beat Perkins to the upper corner at the near post.

“The first goal comes down to falling asleep; not being aware of the play and not being aware of what’s around us; letting the ball bounce in the box,” said Perkins. “Give him credit, he hits it really well. He puts it in a very tough spot.

“Obviously I am the first person that if I think I can get it I will raise my hand and say I should have got it but I don’t think I had a chance. He puts it in the upper corner and hits it with a lot of pace.”

“He was standing by himself but he was at a pretty bad angle,” added defender Jed Zayner, who shifted to central defense in the absence of Dejan Jakovic and Julius James who were both away on national team duty.

“Clyde was trying to shove off his man pretty good and he was dealing with him and it bounced after Clyde, Jordan maybe could have been closer to Wondowloski a little bit but hands down to Wondolowski and the bomb shot he hit.”

Scott Sealy should have extended the lead just seconds before Prus blew the fateful halftime whistle, wandering into the penalty area but his left footed shot sailed high and wide from 12-yards out.

“In a game like that, you get the first goal, it’s huge. They can just sit back and counter and that’s what they did,” said Zayner. “They stayed at the half line and they sat back and countered when we tried to shove it in there or tried find the entry pass, it’s so much easier when you are one goal up and especially you have nine men so they had the game.”

Wondolowski’s second came off a scramble in United’s box just 10-minutes into the second stanza. Bobby Convey floated a ball from the left channel that was slightly deflected on its way into the crowded penalty area. Perkins did not get enough oomph on his punch attempt to knock it far enough away with the ball finding the alone and omnipresent Wondolowski, who banged it in from near the back side corner of the 6-yard box.

“The second goal, maybe I gotta put more on it with the punch but saying that, I thought I put in the best spot I could have off to the side,” said Perkins. “It took a deflection on the way in and having to change my route to get there but saying that, I just got to do better.”

In the 81st minute, a cheeky little back heel from Eduardo near midfield sprung Brad Ring but his dismal effort from outside of the penalty area missed wide right with United’s defenders in tow. Ring did follow that up however with a deflected shot that dinged the crossbar five minutes later.

Not to be outdone at the other end a minute after that, Pablo Hernandez insistent refusal to shoot with his right foot cost him his chance for his first MLS goal. After two coy dribbles left him a clear shooting channel from some 10-yards out, he inexplicably pulled the ball back to his more comfortable left foot, allowing the reeling San Jose defenders to recuperate and spoil the chance.

Andy Najar has been the singular bright spot for DC United and may, and in many ways should, win the only trophy for this once formidable club during this dark and miserable season.

Contrary to the opinion of many, the media is not, and should not, be a cheerleader for this team or any other one. However, Najar should get serious consideration for MLS Rookie of the Year despite the failures of his team and organization.

“It’s a great joy. Ever since I started playing here I have wanted to win awards in this league and I will fight to the last game, to the last minute to see if I can earn that award,” said Najar, 17, through an interpreter of his consideration for the award.

“I think he has a real shot,” added United Assistant Coach and Technical Director Chad Ashton. “Not only is he our most dangerous attacking threat right now. But I would say he’s one of the more dangerous guys out wide in the league right now.”

Ashton will coach United in Colorado this Saturday following the ejection of Head Coach Ben Olsen after their 3-1 loss home loss to Houston last Saturday. Olsen apparently exchanged words with Dynamo head man Dominic Kinnear outside of the technical area earning the required one game suspension and $500 fine, which after review by the league this week, was increased to $1250. Olsen himself was the MLS Rookie of the Year in 1998.

The only other players in serious contention for the award are New York Red Bull defender Tim Ream and Philadelphia striker Danny Mwanga. Ream has started and played all 90-minutes in his 26 league matches this season while Mwanga has scored seven goals and added 4 assists in his 20 league matches of which he started 14. He does have an excellent shooting percentage scoring those goals on just 23 shots of which only 13 went on goal.

“He’s a dangerous, dangerous player and unlike Mwanga, who plays up front, and you can say okay, he has this many goals, Andy does a lot of things that don’t necessarily show up in the stat sheet,” Ashton added. “He probably even deserves more credit than what his actual stats are.”

While the flashier Mwanga is perhaps the sexier pick, MLS has awarded exactly half of the 14 previous trophies to defenders, including the last two and four of the last five. So with Ream playing meaningful minutes in more relevant games, he is not just an afterthought. However, Mwanga does not have the same total field responsibility as Najar and is frankly, not as dynamic on the ball as the young Honduran midfielder.

Najar has progressed nicely throughout the season especially in the defensive third of the field, playing in the back during a couple of the U.S. Open Cup matches. His only blatantly obvious moment of youth and lack of understanding was a poor defensive decision late in a match against Salt Lake in early August, allowing the home side to extend their lead despite United’s having most of the play for the previous 15-minutes.

However, that was not all his fault either as then coach Curt Onalfo, deciding to press the game to get that equalizer, removed a defender in favor of Jaime Moreno leaving Najar in a vulnerable position on the flank.

This kid can flat out play, and in reality, has a soccer IQ beyond his years and has been getting double teamed by most defenses instantaneously when he gets the ball on the flank, an honor typically only reserved for Moreno in recent years.

“He offsets defenses, he can take guys on the dribble, he can put good service in, he gets up and down the line and plays both ways offense and defense. I think the sky is the limit for him,” Ashton added. “There are still a lot of things he can do, a lot of things he can clean up but if his learning curve continues to be as good as it is, you are going to see big things from him in the future, not only in MLS but probably around the world.”

Last winter, United invited some 50 or so local college players, all with honors and accolades for some training sessions that also included Najar and according to Ashton, he was still the best player on the field. So Ashton and the technical staff had to figure out a way to convince the then recently hired Onalfo that they had a 17-year old kid that would be a major player in his team.

“So you can imagine over the phone during the winter once we hired a new coach and trying to explain to him that, ‘yes we have a very young player that is going to be a contributing factor to your team.’ We didn’t expect what Andy has done for sure and I don’t think anyone expected it to be as good as it has been,” said Ashton.

“His learning curve is unbelievable. Every training session he learns and what he has been able to take with what he’s learned on a day by day basis playing with professionals has been unbelievable.”

After being eased into the starting side by Onalfo, his talents became more and more evident with each game.

“I started without a lot of confidence but with the training and once the coaches and executives gave me the opportunity and that growth and the ability to play time and time again, I have gotten better and better and my confidence has grown and every time I step out onto the field, every minute, I have gotten better,” Najar said.

Though he speaks very little English, he has relied on the team’s two most experienced and decorated players, Moreno and Juan Manuel Pena, to help him learn and get through the moribund season.

“These guys have talked to me about being smart on the ball and understanding the game-when to get forward and very tactical things. Those guys have really helped me,” he said.