“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.”

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.

Since scoring over 50 goals on their way to the Supporter’s Shield in both the 2006 and 2007 seasons, this slippery, ominous conversation has hung over this team every year since, leaving them using dubious phrases like “points out of playoff contention” and “within striking distance” just seven games into the season.

“We’re coming off what we think are two very good performances even though we didn’t get the result last weekend, and we’re just looking to build on that,” said United boss Curt Onalfo.

United were the better side and created several opportunities early on before fading a bit later on in their 1-0 loss last weekend at Dallas. They take on Colorado this Saturday, a team they have had little trouble with at home over this same time frame.

“I approach every week differently based on how I feel, and how we performed. After last week, I don’t think there’s a person – the two coaches of FC Dallas came up to me and said, that was a game you should have won,” Onalfo said. “So we performed well but we fell short. That’s not a time to be berating and being negative with the group.

“There’s heart-to-hearts that we have to have as a team to make sure that we progress,” he continued. I’m focusing on the good from that last game, I’m not looking back, I’m looking forward. We know we need points coming up…All the way until the world cup break, we want to make sure we’re in striking distance so that we’re a team that can make the playoffs.

‘That’s what our goal is. Having said that, we need points desperately. We’re seven points out of playoff contention right now if the season was to end, so we have some ground to make up and we need to make sure that that happens Saturday.”

Over the last two seasons however, these slumps have occurred later in the season after relatively strong starts.

A year ago, United scored 11 goals in their first seven matches with their slump coming later in the season, scoring three goals only twice after July and just nine goals in their final ten matches.

In 2008 it was a barrage or bust. They scored four goals twice in April and three once in May but two of those outbursts were against a subpar Toronto side that finished just three points behind United at the bottom of the table. Other than that, they scored one or less in their first ten matches and scored three goals just once in the last half of the season.

Conversely during June of both of these seasons, the goals flowed like high tide on the Chesapeake Bay. In 2009, United scored 7 goals in their four games that also included their obligatory shutout loss at Colorado. The year prior, they scored an astonishing 13 goals on their way to winning all four of their matches, including a 2-1 come-from-behind win at Chicago.

Up to this point in the season, United have needed to get an early lead and then hold on to get results. Through injuries and perhaps unwarranted expectations, the team has not been able to put in a full 90-minute effort yet this season.

The winning formula during those two high octane seasons were dynamic personalities injecting their creativity and thoughts to a dynamic free flowing attack. The vision of the attack during a successful pre-season and into the early part of the regular campaign was most likely the same. However, more than any other facet is the one that is most noticeably absent.

“We have a bit of a chance to recover this week; a lot of the boys have played a lot of games but we are going to keep being positive,” said newly inserted forward Danny Allsopp. “I think we have taken some things out of the game, especially the last two games, where we feel like we are headed in the right direction and on another day we could have taken something out of last weekend’s game and we have some positives to build on.”

“We have had to adapt with all of the injuries but that’s up to the coach to get the team to play how he wants and you have to change things from time to time and try and do what he wants,” continued the burly Aussie. “What ever gets thrown at you, you have to deal with it and do the best you can.”

The insertion of Santino Quaranta as the central attacking midfielder is still a work in progress and if the recently fielded teams are any sign, that experiment is over. Andy Najar, 17, was Onalfo’s next choice but leaving that role to a teenager with no professional experience is a risky route though the potential for greatness is clearly evident.

The most recent design, Clyde Simms and Kurt Morsink, both holding midfielders by trade, is diametrically the opposite formula. With these two patrolling the middle of the park, the attacking approach has been far more simple and direct and though it has produced marginal but somewhat promising results, it may seem to place a limited ceiling on growth.

“It’s just a matter of execution,” Onalfo said. “We’re very organized defensively, we’re putting in a real honest effort on both sides of the ball and then we’ve been attacking well. Now it’s just a matter of, instead of hitting the post and the goalkeeper coming up with big saves, we have to make those big plays going forward. We also need to be more precise, we need to be more intelligent with our final pass, and that’s the point of emphasis right now.”

United re-signed Luciano Emilio to a contract thru July but he is currently not fit enough to play an entire match. The often inconsistent Brazilian scored 20 of the 56 goals they scored in that 2007 season on his way to being named MLS’ Most Valuable Player.

“It’s going slowly but we have to keep working to give my best performance but I knew it was going to be harder because the last two months I didn’t play,” Emilio said about when he may be available for the full 90-minutes.

“I don’t know because this is the first full week of training because of so many games but I think it won’t be long. My performance is not as good as normal but I am working hard to be able to give my best performance.”

Onalfo’s recent first choice alongside Allsopp has been Adam Cristman; a unique combination due to their similarities in more ways than one.

“We seem to work well and we probably look similar…But there is some difference with the way that we play; maybe the way that we were brought up playing soccer and all that and I don’t want to say too much about that.”,” said a joking Allsopp about the twosome’s physical similarities and styles.

“Certainly they bring a work ethic that’s been contagious through the team,” said Onalfo about his tandem. “Adam has the ability to get in behind, he’s got very good pace and he’s extremely strong, and has done well – as has Danny. Danny scored two good goals here at home and it’s just a matter of progressing and making sure they continue to get better, and when they have the chances, take them. “

The game was never a contest from the start and the Titans season is now over. Eliminated from the playoffs, Tennessee looks towards other goals. First off was Christmas night, a game versus a Chargers team that had won nine straight games. The Titans needed a win to keep their playoff hopes alive but could not deliver. Vince Young has taken this team from 0-6 to 7-7 and back in the playoff talk. The problem was they ran into a San Diego team playing December ball like no other in the league. They have not lost in December since 2006 for a total of 18 straight. Phillip Rivers picked the Titans defense apart going 21-27 for 264 yards and two touchdowns. He is playing just as well as any of the top quarterbacks in the league. On the other side of the ball it was Tennessee playing like they did while they were going 0-6. Young had his worst game since he took over going 8-21 for only 89 yards with two picks. He also had a key fumble when he was sliding for a first down. The one bright spot continues to be Chris Johnson and his ability to get yards. He ran for 142 yards on 21 carries with a touchdown and needs only 128 to get to 2,000. He would have probably gone over 200 on Christmas night if the Chargers didn’t have such a big lead. So next week is the last game of the season and they will play to get Johnson to 2,000 and possibly, if he can get 234 yards, pass Eric Dickerson’s mark of 2,105 yards. They are also playing for a .500 but a good point needs to be mentioned. If the Titans lose to Seattle next week they would get better positioning in next year’s draft and would play a better schedule. Now no one wants to play to lose but just thought I would mention that.

New York Jets 29 Indianapolis 15

See this is why I have a problem with pulling players at years end. If you are going to do it why let your key players play into the third period? I can see playing them a series or two or maybe even a quarter. Not only that they did it in their home finale of the season. Way to treat your fans to a good game. So with the score 15-10 Jim Caldwell decided to pull Peyton Manning in favor of Curtis Painter and it bombed. Painter was greeted rather rudely and was hit often. He even fumbled on his second series that turned into a touchdown for the Jets. So perfection is gone and what is the point to the Colts. Let us remember that the ultimate goal is to win the Super Bowl. It doesn’t matter if you win all your games or go 8-8. Still as a fan you would have wanted to see how it would have panned out next week had they won this game? The loss helped the Jets and hurt the Ravens making the last week of the season one to remember. So the main guys will rest next week in preparation for the playoffs. The media and the fans will second guess the decision for weeks to come but if Indy can win the big one it wont matter. If they don’t win it all it will be questioned into next season. They better hope that the likes of Austin Collie and other young players are not hurting their rhythm by not playing with Manning too much.

Houston 27 Miami 20

This is why they play the game as they say. When the season began the Texans had aspirations of a playoff berth for the first time in franchise history. As the season progressed things began to slowly unravel. They lost key games and kept making the mistake that have hurt them in years past. As the season has come to a close they are playing the brand of football they had hoped to play all year. On this day they looked great jumping out to a 27-0 lead as Matt Schaub had two quick scoring passes and Arian Foster chipped in with a 17-yard run. Kicker Kris Brown also had two field goals in the first half for 27-3 lead. They had to hold off a Dolphin 20-point rally but still looked like a team ready to make its first postseason appearance. Foster looked good running for 97 yards and Andre Johnson had five catches for 71 yards and a score. The defense held Miami to just 60 yards on the ground with Ricky Williams getting just 35. On the other side of the coin they did allow Chad Henne to go 35-55 for 322 yards too. So now they play to win next week and wait for the help they need. They have played hard and coach Gary Kubiak knows what’s at stake and the team is playing like it too. Let’s see if they can accomplish their goal and what they will do if they get there.

New England 34 Jacksonville 7

Another team in search of the postseason with jobs on the line is the Jags. On Sunday things did not go as planned when Tom Brady and Randy Moss put on a show that all but eliminated Jacksonville from playoff contention. They saw Brady go a near perfect 23-26 for 267 yards and four touchdowns. Moss had a huge day with three touchdowns on four catches. Maurice Jones-Drew failed to get 100 yards again getting just 63 on 18 carries. They managed just 275 yards of offense and David Garrard was picked off twice. When they had any kind of drive it was killed, as they were 4-11 on third down efficiency. They made Wes Welker look like one of the best receivers in the league as he caught 13 passes for 138 yards and leads the league with 122 catches. They failed to get to Brady and remain one the worst teams in the league as far as sacking the opposing quarterback is concerned. So they will need to win next week and get a lot of help or its lost season. If they do not make the playoffs changes will be needed and most of the time it starts with the head coach.

Yet, there’s the other side.  While some guys can’t wait to get away from their well-paid group of “friends” who either weren’t paid enough or weren’t worth their paychecks, hence the going home after game 162, there are some guys who don’t want to go home.  Why?  You’ve heard phrases like Life begins at 40, right?  For ballplayers, Live begins at home once the season ends.  In other words, the responsibility of thinking basically only about yourself every day ends abruptly.  Now you need to think about the wife or live-in girlfriend and the kids.  The younger guys might end up going home to where their parents live; maybe not the same house, but likely the same town.  Since most kids aren’t buddy/buddy with their folks, and since most Thanksgiving dinners are not the stuff of a Norman Rockwell painting, most MLB kids do not look forward to seeing Mom & Dad every day for the next 5 months.

For some players, there’s surgery.  Read the Notes section a day or two after the last game of the season and you’ll see this player and that player are suddenly scheduled for some sort of surgery, ranging from minor to Six Million Dollar Man rebuilding, the kind that you’ll hear about as spring training begins and ends and our Six Million Dollar Man is wearing jeans every day instead of a jock.  If you’ve ever had surgery, any kind of surgery, it’s not fun.  Some guys know already they’ll have to go under the knife the first or second week of October.  Some guys know but are in denial about it, just like they’ve been in denial about how bad their team is, and will continue to be, in order to get to this point in the season.  Some guys just think they’re sore right now and are in for quite a surprise once they take that exit physical.  And then the fun of the off season, of not having to travel all the time or live in a hotel half the time or hang out with a band of jerks most of the time or get badgered by the media the times when you screw up doesn’t really matter because you’re going to spend much of your upcoming time rehabbing.  If you lust for the upcoming 5 months, surgery is like a cold shower.

The upcoming off season isn’t really an off season for some players.  Some are going to fly to Arizona or Hawaii or Mexico or Central America and keep playing.  There’s the Arizona Fall League for the game’s more elite prospects and the Caribbean League for those who either come from that part of the world or need to get better at their game.  Some will keep playing because they simply love to play baseball.  They grew up playing ball all year round.  Why stop just because they’re adults?  Others live for the Caribbean League because they are stars down there.  Even if they’re not big shots in the States, they may be legends-in-the-making south of our borders.  There are always fans willing to pay to scream your name.  There are always ladies will to whisper your name in your ear.  There is always the pull of fame and its perks.  When the MLB season ends, the fun for some has just begun.

Finally, there are the guys who are going to spend the entire off season either being courted by teams and sponsors – your elite free agents – or guys doing the courting – your 25th man free agents.  These are the guys who will feel the stress of looking for work starting 15 days after the last game of the World Series.  Some guys will love the process.  It’ll be their Caribbean League equivalent, getting loved and cheered by front office executives, media personnel and fans in cities you could love if the money is right.

Other players will hate the process.  There’s either the stress of squeezing as much money as possible in a bad economy from the winning bidder and then living up to your new billing as The Next Big Thing or there’s the stress of your phone not ringing.  There’s that stress of knowing your agent is working to get 28 other guys jobs before he gets to you.  Which means the available jobs won’t be as lucrative as you had dreamed, or the city you’ll have to settle for isn’t on a coast, or you might be insulted by not getting any offers until Christmas and New Year’s and MLK Day and Valentine’s Day pass you by.  There’s the stress of waiting and wondering why you skipped playing in Puerto Rico this off season when you could have been showing off your skills instead of protecting yourself from possible injury.  Add in that you potentially don’t like your wife (or she doesn’t like you), your parents bug you every day, and, quite frankly, you don’t have anything to do and suddenly miss the camaraderie of hanging out with a bunch of jerks all the time and you’ll begin to long for the end of the off season.  Soon enough, you’ll find yourself telling people you can’t wait for 2010, when The New Season Cometh and you can get away from the reality of a cold winter without baseball.

Jimmy Scott is probably the greatest pitcher you’ve never heard of.  Visit Jimmy Scott’s High & Tight to read more from Jimmy and guests Desi Relaford, Eric Valent & Cassidy Dover.  You’ll also hear a new interview every Monday morning with former MLB players, agents, wives and others; giving new outlooks on this great game we call Baseball.  Go there now to hear Jimmy’s latest interviews with Rollie Fingers, Desi Relaford, Brent Mayne and MLB Umpire Hunter Wendelstedt.  You can follow Jimmy on Twitter or Facebook.

For every Mussina and Koufax and Williams, there’s a Willie Mays or Steve Carlton or Jim Palmer, guys who had greatness, lost it with age, but couldn’t let go. Joe DiMaggio had a very good season in 1950 and a pretty good season in 1951, at the age of 36. But he sensed the inevitable and left. He was done. Why tarnish what would soon become legendary?

People are going to look back at Mike Mussina’s 2008 season, as time passes, and consider it a greater achievement than they do now. That’s how history works. Good things become better, bad gets worse.

Remember 2007? Mussina, at 38 years old, went 11-10, battled injuries, only threw 152 innings and had had the highest ERA of his career at 5.15. You think fans wanted him back for 2008? You think the team did? No. Which only will help his legacy. Expectations for 2008 were not such that fans or anyone on that team – they’re lying if they say it – thought he’d win 20 games this year. The hope was for him to not drop off any worse than 2007 because he was done. His body was breaking down. He didn’t have his stuff anymore. You know fans didn’t want him on that staff this year.

But something happened. Mussina defied expectations and had one of the best seasons in his career. The cheers were stronger than since he’d signed his first free agent deal with the Yankees before the 2001 season, leaving the former rival (former because they’ve stunk for 11 years) Baltimore Orioles. He played himself into a career 270-game winner and forced people to ask, “Are you coming back?” It’s better to be asked that than, “Do you have to come back?”

And, apparently, Mike Mussina is not coming back. He’s doing this his way, avoiding more injuries, more time away from his family. He’s got all of the money he and his kids and their kids will ever need. He’s put in 18 years. He missed a perfect game by one pitch. He won 20 games in 2008. He played in a World Series and played for the New York Yankees. The only thing he didn’t get was that ring. At almost 40 years old then, you need to weigh one thing: What’s more important to me now, doing all the work, putting in all the time and effort to hopefully win that World Series ring or staying home and being the husband and father he’s never been before.

Mike Mussina has conquered life on the diamond. It appears his next challenge will be conquering it off the field. Best of luck, because the next 50 years may be even harder. Still, if only we could all go out like Mike Mussina, we’d all go out on top.

Jimmy Scott is probably the greatest pitcher you’ve never heard of. To read more from Jimmy, just click on his website, Jimmy Scott’s High & Tight, which you can find at www.jimmyscottshighandtight.com. There you’ll hear interviews with MLB players, wives & agents and find new perspectives on this great game some of us call Baseball. You can contact Jimmy through email: jimmy@jimmyscottshighandtight.com.