We’re still here!

Just a few miles across San Francisco Bay in Oakland, Christian evangelist Harold Camping believed that around sunset Saturday, May 21, the Rapture would begin.  At this point in time, he said, believers would go to heaven and non-believers would endure five months of hell on Earth. Well, in the South Bay the San Jose Earthquakes home game against the New England Revolution started at 7:30 PM (with sunset at 8:14 PM), and with about five months to go in the MLS season, I wasn’t quite sure if I should set off for the game or not.  But how could I miss the spectacular half time show would surely follow?

After Saturday’s rapture, Mr. Camping predicted that the world would then end on October 21^st 2011, which is coincidentally the day before the last game of the Quakes regular season against FC Dallas.  I knew Camping’s heart wasn’t really in it when I discovered that the lease on his Family Radio station, over whose airwaves the doomsday was predicted, does not expire until 2023.  Most of the fans seemed impervious to any signs of impending disaster – there was no panic buying of Korean barbecue, garlic fries or Boddingtons.  There was a 3.7 earthquake just north of Oakland just before kickoff, but even though we didn't feel it we were feeling confident, if not hopeful, of our second home win in a row.

Credit: Joe Nuxoll at Center Line Soccer

With no real scoring chances in the first half, the game livened up in the second half, with the first MLS goal for the Quakes’ Ellis McLoughlin.  While Lenhart attracted the attention of the Revs defenders, Wondo’s cross found the rookie’s head and he turned it past Revs’ goalie Matt Reis – great finishing skills for such a young player.  The Quakes will probably get another nomination for MLS goal of the week with Bobby Convey’s blistering 25-yard free kick in the 83^rd minute.  Convey’s insurance goal paid off when the Revs pushed forward for the remaining minutes, and pulled one back when Tierney curled a sweet shot past Jon Busch.    

SN: Surely you can't be serious? 
4th Official: Please don't call me Shirley.

During the game, Revs head coach Steve Nichol, was again doing his best “Alex Ferguson versus fourth official” impersonation, and by the end of the game he looked completely exasperated.  Nichol still looks a little lost on the bench without his assistant Paul Mariner, and maybe the Revs miss him in the same way Chelsea misses Butch Wilkins.  I have a recollection of a Revs game in Houston, where Nichol had already been banned from the touchline before the game, and Mariner stepped in for the evening only to get himself ejected by half time.  In the second half, the pair was in cahoots up in a sky box, and I’m presuming that the language was not spotless while discussing the ancestry and visual acuity of the match officials. 

Nichol didn’t ascend to heaven on Saturday, and as a non-believer he can now look forward to another five months of hell.  Rapture notwithstanding, the Quakes fans are all still here at Buck Shaw stadium, and the Quakes players, who had gone missing for a couple of weeks, are back too.
However, in contrast to Steve Nichol, we’re starting to believe again.  

A full match review can be found at Center Line Soccer here.
A polished version of this post can be found at UK_MLS.