Some Soccer News for Thu May 3, 2012
STARTERS
Here is video of Jozy Altidore crashing into a concrete wall (covered by plastic sheeting) on the side of the field head first. It does not look good.
-Starts around the 1:10 mark.
-Greg Seltzer of MLSsoccer.com reports that the club is hoping Altidore is just suffering from bumps and bruises.
dN
3 MLS games last night - 13 goals scored! You want action? They brought action!
dN
The Herald of Glasgow reports that American Bill Miller is negotiating to take over Rangers FC.
MINNESOTA STARS FC
Will you be there?
Match & Score:
-Sat May 5
Minnesota Stars FC v Atlanta Silverbacks - 7:30pm CT
Venue: NSC Stadium
IMSoccer News uses their podcast to interview Minnesota head coach Manny Lagos. I love listening to Manny talk soccer. Download or listen here.
NOTICE
Sign up today for MLS Fantasy Soccer Manager, and then become a member of the du Nord Futbol league using this code: 3815-897
There are 140 teams in our league!
LateNight504FC managed by Alan Kansas is still in 1st Place!
TASTIEST MLS GAME OF THE WEEKEND
At 6:00PM CT on Sat May 6 in BC Place stadium its the Vancouver Whitecaps FC v San Jose Earthquakes.
DU NORD AT THE CONTROLS
du Nord at the Controls - Tue Apr 24, 2012 - new music mix at Spotify.
STORY OF THE DAY
The USA National Amputee Soccer Team is in having a fundraising campaign to raise $250K in their quest to make it to the World Cup!
They have a donor who will match EVERY donation made thru May 6, totalling up to $10,000, AND for every $25 donation you'll receive an official warm up shirt.
Get involved!
BIG EUROPEAN CLUB MATCHES
Race for the title in the five biggest European leagues:
Premier League - 2 games left
83 Manchester City (+61 GD) - NEXT: Sun May 6 at Newcastle
83 Manchester United (+53 GD) - NEXT: Sun May 6 v Swansea
Serie A - 2 games left
78 Juventus - NEXT: Sun May 6 at Cagliari
77 Milan - NEXT: Sun May 6 at Inter
Ligue 1 - 3 games left
73 Montpellier - NEXT: Mon May 6 at Rennes
70 PSG - NEXT: Sun May 5 at Valenciennes
68 Lille - NEXT: Mon May 6 v Caen
Bundesliga
CHAMPION! - Borussia Dortmund
La Liga
CHAMPIONS! Real Madrid
HMMMMM, VERY INTERESTING
Greg Seltzer of MLSsoccer.com looks at how American Thomas DiBenedetto plans to bring the team he bought, Roma, to prominence.
FACT OF THE DAY
Sad night for San Jose brass last night as their high powered goal scoring team only drew 8,734 fans.
And please don't give me that crap about mid-week games etc etc. Its an old and very lame excuse.
Of course San Jose stands tall & proud in comparison to the leadership of the New England. They encouraged a whopping 6,149 into the stands last night.
-I am so sick of ripping New England ownership for their lack of caring about their team. Those poor fans must feel abused and abandoned.
STAT OF THE DAY
Jen Chang of Sports Illustrated writes about Everton's advanced use of statistical analysis.
VIDEO OF THE DAY
Some stunning goals to see here:
As great as Fredy Montero's goal was for Seattle last night....
It has nothing on Papa Cisse's goal for Newcastle yesterday afternoon though. Wooooooow!
(Look how many people behind the goal have their mouth agape when Montero hit that bomb last night! Including the ball boy.)
PICTURE OF THE DAY
Click here to see the best MLS photo so far this season.
-From Center Line Soccer!
MLS MATCHES & SCORES
WEEK 9
-Wed May 2
New England Revolution 2-1 Colorado Rapids - NER goals by Saer Sene & Fernando Cardenas. CR goal by Jaime Castrillon.
Venue: Gillette Stadium
Atten: 6,149 Seattle Sounder FC 2-0 LA Galaxy - SS goals by Eddie Johnson & Fredy Montero.
Venue: CenturyLink Field
Atten: 39,002 San Jose Earthquakes 5-3 DC United - SJE goals by Steven Lenhart(2), Chris Wondolowski(2) & Justin Morrow. DCU goals by Dwayne DeRosario, Daniel Woolard & Hamdi Salihi.
Venue: Buck Shaw Stadium
Atten: 8,734 -Fri May 4
CD Chivas USA v Chicago Fire SC - 10:00PM CT
Venue: The Home Depot Center
-Sat May 5
Toronto FC v DC United - 3:30PM CT
Venue: BMO Field
Seattle Sounders FC v Philadelphia Union - 3:30PM CT on NBCSN
Venue: CenturyLink Field
Vancouver Whitecaps FC v San Jose Earthquakes - 6:00PM CT
Venue: BC Place
Real Salt Lake v New England Revolution - 7:00PM CT
Venue: Rio Tinto Stadium
LA Galaxy v New York Red Bulls - 7:00PM CT on ESPN
Venue: The Home Depot Center
Sporting Kansas City v Montreal Impact - 7:30PM CT
Venue: Livestrong Sporting Park
Portland Timbers v Columbus Crew - 9:30PM CT
Venue: JELD-WEN Field
-Sun May 6
FC Dallas v Colorado Rapids - 6:00PM CT on Galavision
Venue: FC Dallas Stadium
Bye: Houston Dynamo
MLS STANDINGS
EAST
21 Sporting Kansas City (+9)
15 DC United (+3)
13 New York Red Bulls (+4)
9 New England Revolution (-3)
8 Chicago Fire SC (-1)
-----
8 Houston Dynamo (-1)
8 Montreal Impact (-6)
7 Philadelphia Union (-3)
7 Columbus Crew (-4)
0 Toronto FC (-10)
WEST
22 San Jose Earthquakes (+11)
19 Real Salt Lake (+5)
16 Seattle Sounders FC (+7)
14 Vancouver Whitecaps FC (+1)
12 Colorado Rapids (+1)
-----
115 total points
12 FC Dallas (-2)
10 LA Galaxy (-2)
9 CD Chivas USA (-5)
7 Portland Timbers (-4)
MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS
General News
Jeff Carlisle of ESPN on a handful of topics - Martin Rennie, Kamani Hill, and the LA goalkeeper situation.
COLUMBUS CREW
Adam Jardy of the Dispatch wonders if the Crew are playing it too conservative.
DC UNITED
Craig Stouffer of the Examiner reports that DCU has formed a partnership with PDL team Baltimore Bohemians, which is owned by the son of the owner of the Baltimore Orioles baseball team.
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION
Matt Reis got his 100th win last night.
-No word on how many wins Shalrie Joseph has.
NEW YORK RED BULLS
Brian Lewis of the Post talks to Juan Agudelo who should be on the game day roster this weekend for the first time since he had knee surgery 6 weeks ago.
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES
Elliot Almond of the Mercury News writes about the Quakes biggest offensive output in a long long time.
SEATTLE SOUNDERS
Don Ruiz of the New Tribune with several quotes from players and coach of both Seattle and LA after last nights game.
NASL SCOREBOARD
Matches & Scores:
-Wed May 2
Carolina RailHawks 3-3 Fort Lauderdale Strikers - CR goals by Brian Shriver & Nick Zimmerman(2). FLS goals by Lance Laing, Walter Restrepo & Mark Anderson.
-Sat May 5
Minnesota Stars v Atlanta Silverbacks
San Antonio Scorpions v Tampa Bay Rowdies
-Sun May 6
FC Edmonton v Carolina RailHawks
Standings
10 Puerto Rico (+6)
9 Fort Lauderdale (0)
8 Tampa Bay (+2)
6 Minnesota (+1)
5 San Antonio (-3)
4 Atlanta (-2)
4 Carolina (-1)
1 Edmonton (-3)
COLLEGE SOCCER
PPL Park in Chester PA will to host the 2013 NCAA Men’s College Cup.
AMERICANS IN EUROPE
Game Action:
DENMARK - Superliga
Clarence Goodson - Brondy - Thu May 3 - played the full 90 as they won the game 3-2 v Silkeborg.
Conor O'Brien - SonderjyskE - Thu May 3 - went the distance but got beat 5-0 at Horsens.
Brad Rusin - HB Koge - Thu May 3 - came on as a sub in the 66th min but lost 2-1 at Midtjylland.
dN
Coming Up:
ENGLAND - Championship Division - Promotion Playoffs - Semifinals - 1st Leg
Jonathan Spector - Birmingham - Fri May 4 at Blackpool
AMERICANS IN MEXICO
Game Action:
La Liguilla - Quarterfinals - 1st Leg
Edgar Castillo - Tijuana - played the whole game but lost 1-2 v Monterrey.
Joe Benny Corona - Tijuana - started and went 71 min as they lost 1-2 v Monterrey.
Greg Garza - Tijuana - on the bench as they lost 1-2 v Monterrey.
Jose Torres - Pachuca - played the entire game but lost 1-2 v America.
dN
Coming Up:
La Liguilla - Quarterfinals - 1st Leg
Herculez Gomez - Santos Laguna - Thu May 3 at Jaguares
MEXICO
Clausura - La Liguilla
The two higher seeded road teams opened with wins last night.
Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Wed May 2
Tijuana 1-2 Monterrey - Tij goal by Raul Enriquez. Mon goals by Jesus Zavala & Angel Reyna.
Pachuca 1-3 America - Pac goal by Leobardo Lopez(PK). Ame goals by Jesus Molina & Christian Bermudez(2).
-Thu May 3
Jaguares v Santos Laguna
Tigres v Morelia
2nd Leg
-Sat May 5
America v Pachuca (3-1)
Monterrey v Tijuana (2-1)
-Sun May 6
Santos Laguna v Jaguares (-)
Morelia v Tigres (-)
If the teams are tied after the two legs, then the higher seed advances.
CANADA
Canadian Championship - Semifinals
Vancouver got a road win last night to take firm control heading back home, while Montreal & Toronto played a scoreless game giving advantage to Tor in the return leg.
Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Wed May 2
Montreal Impact 0-0 Toronto FC
FC Edmonton 0-2 Vancouver Whitecaps FC - VW goals by Eric Hassli & Atiba Harris.
2nd Leg
-Wed May 9
Toronto FC v Montreal Impact (0-0)
Vancouver Whitecaps FC v FC Edmonton (2-0)
ENGLAND
Championship Division - Promotion Playoffs - Semifinals
Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Thu May 3
Cardiff 0-2 West Ham
-Fri May 4
Blackpool v Birmingham
2nd Leg (1st Leg scores included)
-Mon May 7
West Ham v Cardiff (2-0)
-Wed May 9
Birmingham v Blackpool (-)
SPAIN
Sid Lowe of the Guardian on Real Madrid winning the league championship yesterday!
ITALY
Paolo Bandini of the Guardian writes about Juve fighting for the title and Fiorentina fighting amongst themselves, plus a round up of the rest of the midweek games in Serie A.
Amy Digby of Sports Illustrated looks at the remarkable season that Andrea Pirlo is having at Juventus.
-Pirlo was basically swept out the door at the end of last season by Milan.
COPA LIBERTADORES
The Knockout Stage
Boca and Vasco held serve at home. While Corinthians were held scoreless at home.
dN
Round of 16
Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Tue May 1
Cruz Azul 1-1 Libertad
- CA goal by Javier Orozco. Lib goal by Pablo Velazquez.
Atletico Nacional 0-1 Velez Sarsfield
- VS goal by Ivan Bella.
-Wed May 2
Boca Juniors 2-1 Union Espanola - BJ goals by Juan Riquelme & Santiago Silva. UE goal by Sebastian Jaime.
Emelec 0-0 Corintians
Vasco Da Gama 2-1 Lanus - VG goals by Alecsandro & Diego Souza. Lan goal by Mario Regueiro.
-Thu May 3
Deportivo Quito v Universidad Chile
2nd Leg (with 1st Leg scores included)
-Tue May 8
Libertad v Cruz Azul (1-1)
Velez Sarsfield v Atletico Nacional (1-0)
-Wed May 9
Union Espanola v Boca Juniors (1-2)
Corintians v Emelec (0-0)
Lanus v Vasco Da Gama (1-2)
-Thu May 10
Fluminense v Internacional (0-0)
Universidad Chile v Deportivo Quito (-)
Santos v Bolivar (1-2)
Here is video of Jozy Altidore crashing into a concrete wall (covered by plastic sheeting) on the side of the field head first. It does not look good.
-Starts around the 1:10 mark.
-Greg Seltzer of MLSsoccer.com reports that the club is hoping Altidore is just suffering from bumps and bruises.
dN
3 MLS games last night - 13 goals scored! You want action? They brought action!
dN
The Herald of Glasgow reports that American Bill Miller is negotiating to take over Rangers FC.
MINNESOTA STARS FC
Will you be there?
Match & Score:
-Sat May 5
Minnesota Stars FC v Atlanta Silverbacks - 7:30pm CT
Venue: NSC Stadium
IMSoccer News uses their podcast to interview Minnesota head coach Manny Lagos. I love listening to Manny talk soccer. Download or listen here.
NOTICE
Sign up today for MLS Fantasy Soccer Manager, and then become a member of the du Nord Futbol league using this code: 3815-897
There are 140 teams in our league!
LateNight504FC managed by Alan Kansas is still in 1st Place!
TASTIEST MLS GAME OF THE WEEKEND
At 6:00PM CT on Sat May 6 in BC Place stadium its the Vancouver Whitecaps FC v San Jose Earthquakes.
DU NORD AT THE CONTROLS
du Nord at the Controls - Tue Apr 24, 2012 - new music mix at Spotify.
STORY OF THE DAY
The USA National Amputee Soccer Team is in having a fundraising campaign to raise $250K in their quest to make it to the World Cup!
They have a donor who will match EVERY donation made thru May 6, totalling up to $10,000, AND for every $25 donation you'll receive an official warm up shirt.
Get involved!
Race for the title in the five biggest European leagues:
Premier League - 2 games left
83 Manchester City (+61 GD) - NEXT: Sun May 6 at Newcastle
83 Manchester United (+53 GD) - NEXT: Sun May 6 v Swansea
Serie A - 2 games left
78 Juventus - NEXT: Sun May 6 at Cagliari
77 Milan - NEXT: Sun May 6 at Inter
Ligue 1 - 3 games left
73 Montpellier - NEXT: Mon May 6 at Rennes
70 PSG - NEXT: Sun May 5 at Valenciennes
68 Lille - NEXT: Mon May 6 v Caen
Bundesliga
CHAMPION! - Borussia Dortmund
La Liga
CHAMPIONS! Real Madrid
HMMMMM, VERY INTERESTING
Greg Seltzer of MLSsoccer.com looks at how American Thomas DiBenedetto plans to bring the team he bought, Roma, to prominence.
FACT OF THE DAY
Sad night for San Jose brass last night as their high powered goal scoring team only drew 8,734 fans.
And please don't give me that crap about mid-week games etc etc. Its an old and very lame excuse.
Of course San Jose stands tall & proud in comparison to the leadership of the New England. They encouraged a whopping 6,149 into the stands last night.
-I am so sick of ripping New England ownership for their lack of caring about their team. Those poor fans must feel abused and abandoned.
STAT OF THE DAY
Jen Chang of Sports Illustrated writes about Everton's advanced use of statistical analysis.
VIDEO OF THE DAY
Some stunning goals to see here:
As great as Fredy Montero's goal was for Seattle last night....
It has nothing on Papa Cisse's goal for Newcastle yesterday afternoon though. Wooooooow!
(Look how many people behind the goal have their mouth agape when Montero hit that bomb last night! Including the ball boy.)
PICTURE OF THE DAY
Click here to see the best MLS photo so far this season.
-From Center Line Soccer!
MLS MATCHES & SCORES
WEEK 9
-Wed May 2
New England Revolution 2-1 Colorado Rapids - NER goals by Saer Sene & Fernando Cardenas. CR goal by Jaime Castrillon.
Venue: Gillette Stadium
Atten: 6,149 Seattle Sounder FC 2-0 LA Galaxy - SS goals by Eddie Johnson & Fredy Montero.
Venue: CenturyLink Field
Atten: 39,002 San Jose Earthquakes 5-3 DC United - SJE goals by Steven Lenhart(2), Chris Wondolowski(2) & Justin Morrow. DCU goals by Dwayne DeRosario, Daniel Woolard & Hamdi Salihi.
Venue: Buck Shaw Stadium
Atten: 8,734 -Fri May 4
CD Chivas USA v Chicago Fire SC - 10:00PM CT
Venue: The Home Depot Center
-Sat May 5
Toronto FC v DC United - 3:30PM CT
Venue: BMO Field
Seattle Sounders FC v Philadelphia Union - 3:30PM CT on NBCSN
Venue: CenturyLink Field
Vancouver Whitecaps FC v San Jose Earthquakes - 6:00PM CT
Venue: BC Place
Real Salt Lake v New England Revolution - 7:00PM CT
Venue: Rio Tinto Stadium
LA Galaxy v New York Red Bulls - 7:00PM CT on ESPN
Venue: The Home Depot Center
Sporting Kansas City v Montreal Impact - 7:30PM CT
Venue: Livestrong Sporting Park
Portland Timbers v Columbus Crew - 9:30PM CT
Venue: JELD-WEN Field
-Sun May 6
FC Dallas v Colorado Rapids - 6:00PM CT on Galavision
Venue: FC Dallas Stadium
Bye: Houston Dynamo
MLS STANDINGS
EAST
21 Sporting Kansas City (+9)
15 DC United (+3)
13 New York Red Bulls (+4)
9 New England Revolution (-3)
8 Chicago Fire SC (-1)
-----
8 Houston Dynamo (-1)
8 Montreal Impact (-6)
7 Philadelphia Union (-3)
7 Columbus Crew (-4)
0 Toronto FC (-10)
WEST
22 San Jose Earthquakes (+11)
19 Real Salt Lake (+5)
16 Seattle Sounders FC (+7)
14 Vancouver Whitecaps FC (+1)
12 Colorado Rapids (+1)
-----
115 total points
12 FC Dallas (-2)
10 LA Galaxy (-2)
9 CD Chivas USA (-5)
7 Portland Timbers (-4)
MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS
General News
Jeff Carlisle of ESPN on a handful of topics - Martin Rennie, Kamani Hill, and the LA goalkeeper situation.
COLUMBUS CREW
Adam Jardy of the Dispatch wonders if the Crew are playing it too conservative.
DC UNITED
Craig Stouffer of the Examiner reports that DCU has formed a partnership with PDL team Baltimore Bohemians, which is owned by the son of the owner of the Baltimore Orioles baseball team.
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION
Matt Reis got his 100th win last night.
-No word on how many wins Shalrie Joseph has.
NEW YORK RED BULLS
Brian Lewis of the Post talks to Juan Agudelo who should be on the game day roster this weekend for the first time since he had knee surgery 6 weeks ago.
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES
Elliot Almond of the Mercury News writes about the Quakes biggest offensive output in a long long time.
SEATTLE SOUNDERS
Don Ruiz of the New Tribune with several quotes from players and coach of both Seattle and LA after last nights game.
NASL SCOREBOARD
Matches & Scores:
-Wed May 2
Carolina RailHawks 3-3 Fort Lauderdale Strikers - CR goals by Brian Shriver & Nick Zimmerman(2). FLS goals by Lance Laing, Walter Restrepo & Mark Anderson.
-Sat May 5
Minnesota Stars v Atlanta Silverbacks
San Antonio Scorpions v Tampa Bay Rowdies
-Sun May 6
FC Edmonton v Carolina RailHawks
Standings
10 Puerto Rico (+6)
9 Fort Lauderdale (0)
8 Tampa Bay (+2)
6 Minnesota (+1)
5 San Antonio (-3)
4 Atlanta (-2)
4 Carolina (-1)
1 Edmonton (-3)
COLLEGE SOCCER
PPL Park in Chester PA will to host the 2013 NCAA Men’s College Cup.
AMERICANS IN EUROPE
Game Action:
DENMARK - Superliga
Clarence Goodson - Brondy - Thu May 3 - played the full 90 as they won the game 3-2 v Silkeborg.
Conor O'Brien - SonderjyskE - Thu May 3 - went the distance but got beat 5-0 at Horsens.
Brad Rusin - HB Koge - Thu May 3 - came on as a sub in the 66th min but lost 2-1 at Midtjylland.
dN
Coming Up:
ENGLAND - Championship Division - Promotion Playoffs - Semifinals - 1st Leg
Jonathan Spector - Birmingham - Fri May 4 at Blackpool
AMERICANS IN MEXICO
Game Action:
La Liguilla - Quarterfinals - 1st Leg
Edgar Castillo - Tijuana - played the whole game but lost 1-2 v Monterrey.
Joe Benny Corona - Tijuana - started and went 71 min as they lost 1-2 v Monterrey.
Greg Garza - Tijuana - on the bench as they lost 1-2 v Monterrey.
Jose Torres - Pachuca - played the entire game but lost 1-2 v America.
dN
Coming Up:
La Liguilla - Quarterfinals - 1st Leg
Herculez Gomez - Santos Laguna - Thu May 3 at Jaguares
MEXICO
Clausura - La Liguilla
The two higher seeded road teams opened with wins last night.
Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Wed May 2
Tijuana 1-2 Monterrey - Tij goal by Raul Enriquez. Mon goals by Jesus Zavala & Angel Reyna.
Pachuca 1-3 America - Pac goal by Leobardo Lopez(PK). Ame goals by Jesus Molina & Christian Bermudez(2).
-Thu May 3
Jaguares v Santos Laguna
Tigres v Morelia
2nd Leg
-Sat May 5
America v Pachuca (3-1)
Monterrey v Tijuana (2-1)
-Sun May 6
Santos Laguna v Jaguares (-)
Morelia v Tigres (-)
If the teams are tied after the two legs, then the higher seed advances.
CANADA
Canadian Championship - Semifinals
Vancouver got a road win last night to take firm control heading back home, while Montreal & Toronto played a scoreless game giving advantage to Tor in the return leg.
Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Wed May 2
Montreal Impact 0-0 Toronto FC
FC Edmonton 0-2 Vancouver Whitecaps FC - VW goals by Eric Hassli & Atiba Harris.
2nd Leg
-Wed May 9
Toronto FC v Montreal Impact (0-0)
Vancouver Whitecaps FC v FC Edmonton (2-0)
ENGLAND
Championship Division - Promotion Playoffs - Semifinals
Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Thu May 3
Cardiff 0-2 West Ham
-Fri May 4
Blackpool v Birmingham
2nd Leg (1st Leg scores included)
-Mon May 7
West Ham v Cardiff (2-0)
-Wed May 9
Birmingham v Blackpool (-)
SPAIN
Sid Lowe of the Guardian on Real Madrid winning the league championship yesterday!
ITALY
Paolo Bandini of the Guardian writes about Juve fighting for the title and Fiorentina fighting amongst themselves, plus a round up of the rest of the midweek games in Serie A.
Amy Digby of Sports Illustrated looks at the remarkable season that Andrea Pirlo is having at Juventus.
-Pirlo was basically swept out the door at the end of last season by Milan.
COPA LIBERTADORES
The Knockout Stage
Boca and Vasco held serve at home. While Corinthians were held scoreless at home.
dN
Round of 16
Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Tue May 1
Cruz Azul 1-1 Libertad
- CA goal by Javier Orozco. Lib goal by Pablo Velazquez.
Atletico Nacional 0-1 Velez Sarsfield
- VS goal by Ivan Bella.
-Wed May 2
Boca Juniors 2-1 Union Espanola - BJ goals by Juan Riquelme & Santiago Silva. UE goal by Sebastian Jaime.
Emelec 0-0 Corintians
Vasco Da Gama 2-1 Lanus - VG goals by Alecsandro & Diego Souza. Lan goal by Mario Regueiro.
-Thu May 3
Deportivo Quito v Universidad Chile
2nd Leg (with 1st Leg scores included)
-Tue May 8
Libertad v Cruz Azul (1-1)
Velez Sarsfield v Atletico Nacional (1-0)
-Wed May 9
Union Espanola v Boca Juniors (1-2)
Corintians v Emelec (0-0)
Lanus v Vasco Da Gama (1-2)
-Thu May 10
Fluminense v Internacional (0-0)
Universidad Chile v Deportivo Quito (-)
Santos v Bolivar (1-2)
4 Comments:
Never understood where your disdain for my club comes from. You take every opportunity you can to knock the Quakes. I can take that when you're attacking the team (though it's often unfair) but now you're attacking our fans?
Have you ever been to Buck Shaw? 8,734 on a Wednesday night is a fricking TRIUMPH! That figure is less than 2,000 shy of capacity for a game that a lot of fans won't get home from before 11.30 or so. That may not mean much in the "Heartland", where they don't have work in the morning, but it's an issue for us.
But you "don't want to hear about that". Fine. Here's another factor you can ignore: MLS and AEG burned our fan base to the ground when they stole away our championship team to hand to Houston. I know plenty of good people in the Bay Area who cannot get over the heartbreak caused by that betrayal.
The fact that the Quakes front office you choose to besmirch, can regularly attract 11,000 people to a shelterless college park to watch a (till recently) struggling expansion team - is REMARKABLE.
(The fact that that same FO will draw a 55,000 sell-out crowd to Stanford Stadium for our mid-summer California Classico victory over LA Galaxy on 30th of June, is BEYOND REMARKABLE).
We have a modest fan base in the Bay Area. We always have. Even in title-winning years we averaged 13-17k at Spartan Stadium. But that modest size masks a group of passionate, knowledgeable, loyal football fans that KEPT THIS LEAGUE GOING when the majority of Portland, Seattle and RSL's bandwagon-jumping fanbases were still thinking soccer was for "fags".
Much as I love every player who has pulled on an Earthquakes jersey, they are not the reason I wait up til 3.30am to watch my team play. The reason I am a Quake for life, is the belonging I feel as a member of the hardiest, most loyal fanbase in America.
You never gave the Wizards the same grief when they were "only" drawing 10,000 loyal fans to a ballpark.
There is no crisis in San Jose, we know who we are and where we are going. I wouldn't swap our 8-12,000
hardcore support for any other fanbase in this league.
My apologies for ranting. I admire your website and what you do, but like Ives it would do you a service not to comment too broadly on situations you clearly lack an insight on.
Cheers.
ManchesterQuakesFan
I am so glad that you passionately support your team. I am behind you 100%.
But I have never once bagged on a fan of the Quakes. I do have a huge problem with cheap ass ownership and can't even put 10,000 in the seats no matter what night of the week it is in an a metropolitan area of over 10 million.
They should have NEVER been given ownership of a team until a stadium deal was done.
But I doubt the same people who cheap ass their way through ownership of the Oakland A's would have succeed with that team either.
I want this league to succeed but until all the owners have a vision of forward thinking its not going to fully happen.
I can appreciate what the owners of Dallas, Columbus, Colorado and New England did in the early days to help keep the league afloat, but those days are long past and excuses are just that, excuses.
And I have no idea where you get the impression that people in the heartland don't get up and go to work early in the morning.
If KC can do it, then San Jose with a metro area 4 times the size better do it in a big bad way.
No need to apologize for ranting. Say what you believe and say it loud. I will do the same, and I will respect you completely for it.
Thanks.
Actually I can clearly remember Bruce ragging on KC for drawing less than 10k a couple years back. And Columbus and anyone else whose front office he perceives as phoning it in.
That being said, getting the perspective of people on the ground in those cities is invaluable, so I really appreciate your post and perspective from San Jose, a city I haven't visited in some 10 years.
There is also one concern that almost no one mentions regarding attendance. I would go to more games if I'm guaranteed getting tickets (I avoid scalpers for personal reasons).
For small venues, getting in is no guarantee (especially now that they are winning) and I don't want to drive an hour and not get into the stadium, not when the game is live on TV.
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