Rooney making D.C. debut at new stadium

As D.C. United ushers in a new era today by swinging open the doors on its new $400 million stadium, Audi Field, Wayne Rooney is the key cornerstone. As much as any one person, he’ll be charged with writing the next chapter, either helping a young team that has struggled mightily for the past 11⁄ seasons or serving merely as a marketing novelty whose biggest impact is generating headlines and selling tickets. He comes to Washington as a player who once earned upward of $30 million because he could find the net like few others in the world, a larger-than-life athlete who’s the career scoring leader for both fabled Manchester United and the English national team. Rooney, 32, has played 675 professional matches and another 112 with the national team. “I believe I can come in and help the team, but also the team obviously can help me,” Rooney said. “It’s the right time for me.” Rooney made the rounds these past two weeks and was greeted with much fanfare across the region. He was met by a few hundred fans when he arrived June 28 at Dulles International Airport. He was introduced to international media at a news conference downtown, and this week he was a featured speaker at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new stadium. from the organization came in 2015 and 2017, when JHU was ranked 13th. Earlier this summer the Blue Jays were ranked 12th by Lindy’s and 18th by Street & Smith’s. Johns Hopkins posted a 9-2 record, won a ninth consecutive Centennial Conference title and advanced to the NCAAPlayoffs for the seventh consecutive year in 2017. Head coach Jim Margraff’s Blue Jays have won at least nine games in each of the last seven years and Hopkins’ 52 wins in the last five years are the fifth-highest total among all Division III teams. Johns Hopkins opens the season on Thursday, Aug. 30, at 7 p.m. when the Blue Jays host Randolph-Macon.