Our beloved D.C. United may have crashed and burned (again) in the MLS playoffs this season, but life goes on. Also, the playoffs go on — right in our backyard, in fact. Many moons ago, Washington was picked to host the 2007 MLS Cup this Sunday at noon, at RFK.

Time to put aside your grieving and check out the game. Tickets start at $30, maybe even less on Craigslist. When else are you going to see a Championship game in any sport for that much? Probably never. Plus, that price includes a halftime performance from Jimmy Eat World. Our advice is to get up early on Sunday, take in a tailgate or two, and enjoy the final, regardless of the fact that it’s the Houston Dynamo against the New England Revolution (the generally crotchety Paul Gardner previews it here). Here’s our guide to the teams:

HOUSTON DYNAMO
The second best team in the Western Conference during the regular season, the Dynamo are the team most experts picked to win it all this year. They’re led by attacking midfielder Dwayne De Rosario, a Canadian goal-scorer who used to sport corn-rows and do stupid, faux-NFL goal celebration dances. Brian Ching is their other big “star” — he’s the first Hawaiian ever to play for the U.S. Men’s National Team. A good finisher and strong in the air, he hurt his calf in the last game against Kansas City and looks doubtful for the final. Stay tuned. As a team, they’re fast and physical and typically high scoring. The team used to be in San Jose, first as the oddly-named “Clash” then as the ominous, but fitting “Earthquakes”. When they moved to Houston, they tried to call themselves Houston 1836 (as a reference to the year the city was “founded,” a practice found in names of European teams like “1860 Munich”). After the initial name was announced, the Latino community in Houston got up in arms, suggesting that 1836 was merely the year White Americans decided to take over the region. They then changed the name to the more culturally-inclusive “Dynamo”. They are the defending MLS Cup champions.

After the jump: the remainder of the Houston briefing, the New England briefing, and D.C. United notes.

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