Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Perspective II

On Sunday evening, as I was watching the Columbus Crew effectively deal with a ten-man Colorado Rapids with a 4-1 victory, I wondered if it was some weird new metric football formation that MLS was trying out.  The inability of the Quakes to do the same on the previous day was still rankling, and I decided I was still far too depressed to cook.  A quick phone call to my favorite Chinese restaurant, and twenty minutes later I had some high-fat and therefore incredibly delicious food – well, you have to give your Lipitor something to do. The meal was completed with the obligatory fortune cookie, at which point I unfurled the paper and found:
“Dispel negativity through creative activities”.  
Taking the message to heart, I determined that my next post would be more positive, and for the second time this season I took a look at perspective based on a couple of items from the Earthquakes web site.  
  • The Aztecas of Watsonville: The ESPN documentary, “The Save”, is one in a series of six short documentaries collectively known as HERoics that focuses on women’s courage and perseverance; they will be aired on ESPN during the Women’s World Cup. The film tells the inspirational story of probation officer Gina Castañeda, who designed a gang intervention program based on soccer – The Aztecas. San Jose Earthquakes players attended a special screening in Watsonville.  “When I first heard about the Aztecas program, I was excited to get out there and interact with their kids. Their story is an inspiration to me and my teammates,” said Earthquakes midfielder Ellis McLoughlin, who was joined by Steven Lenhart, Joey Gjertsen and Kelly Gray. The Earthquakes have also donated tickets to The Aztecas program to attend the July 2 match against the New York Red Bulls at Stanford Stadium. 
  • Community spirit:  Quakes forward Matt Luzunaris knows the ravages of cancer all too well, and he takes every opportunity he gets to join forces with local children's hospitals.  Matt and Sam Cronin hung out and took photos with eleven children fighting various illnesses at Benioff Children’s Hospital, and handed out mini soccer balls and Quakes stickers. The San Jose Earthquakes put a lot of smiles on their faces, and were asked to visit again soon.  Later in the week, Matt and Anthony Ampaipitakwong later visited the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital 20th Anniversary celebration in Palo Alto.  While Ampai’s slender hips hindered his participation in the hula-hoop contest (thirty seconds is pretty weak), Matt progressed to the final:  "I gave it everything I had, but Hailey was on cruise control - there was no chance I was going to outlast her".  The pair spent the afternoon signing autographs and posing for photos with young soccer fans who had fun trying to pronounce Ampaipitakwong:  "Seeing the smiles on kid's faces is as rewarding as it gets - it's an honor to be a part of such an amazing milestone for the hospital".
These are both examples of how life can throw anyone some pretty serious and dangerous curve balls, and how the Quakes have stepped up in support of these organizations, and the players have shared their time with people in need of a smile or encouragement.  

So, the Quakes had an embarrassing performance at home - with salt in the wound from the fact that it was against the LA Galaxy in the California Clasico.  Quakes fans had to put up with the jeers of the Galaxative fans - and frankly I didn’t have any snappy comebacks for them.  The outcome of the game has obviously sparked extensive discussion, and many have been vociferous in their criticism - I vented my own viewpoint as a fan in the bleachers on Sunday.  Now, I've readjusted my perspective and I'm ready to move on and accept the result; I'll be in in my seat, next to my buddies, supporting the Quakes at their next game.

In the meantime, for anyone who still needs to drown their sorrows, or would just like a refreshing cocktail on a summer evening, Messrs. Ring, Morrow and Beitshour will serving drinks at The Old Pro pub in Palo Alto on Wednesday June 29th from 7 until 9 PM.



Sunday, June 26, 2011

Only the Ultras brought any fireworks.

I woke up from my nightmare, somewhat dazed and confused, with my fingers clenched around a dense tuft of grass.  Mexico’s Dos Santos had just curled a gorgeous shot into the top left corner of the goal, just over Lichaj’s head, for the final goal in their victory over USA in the Gold Cup.  I fumbled for the remote of my new big screen TV; when I couldn’t find it I remembered that I was watching the game from my picnic blanket on the pitch at Buck Shaw stadium with other Quakes season ticket holders. 

My head gradually cleared, and I recollected a different 4-2 score line from 1966 and Kenneth Wolstenholme’s famous (if you are English of a certain age) commentary of England’s one and only World Cup victory: “Some people are on the pitch – they think it’s all over – it is now”.  I reached over for my soda and reflected on my nightmare: the San Jose Earthquakes second half performance in the home leg of this year’s California Clasico. 

The Quakes came out to a tumultuous roar, and the 1906 Ultras burst out their glaring rockets to accompany the Star Spangled Banner.  After a bright start of vigorous attacking football, an injured LA goalie, and then a red card for his replacement, the Quakes fans were engaged in the game and became optimistic we would get three points.  As Bruce Arena cast his eye over the LA squad for a third keeper, he picked Mike Magee, who is listed at 5’ 9” - an inch shorter than Jon Busch.  Magee donned Saunders’s shirt (listed at 6’ 4”) and gloves which only served to accentuate his diminutive stature – he looked so comical that three points looked to be a certainty.

The fact that Magee finished with four saves on the afternoon, with three occurring after the 80th minute, speaks to the ineffectiveness and lack of creativity of the Quakes offense to capitalize on the situation in the second half.  To be sure, Arena rearranged his team into a 5-4-0 ‘stone wall’ formation to protect the inexperienced ‘goalie’, but the Quakes still stuck with four men at the back, not pushing Burling up until the last ten minutes. 

The Quakes fans became increasingly frustrated, and their heckling of Bruce Arena faded as the game progressed.  The Galaxy held on for a 0-0 draw, and embarrassed Quakes fans examined their shoelaces as they shuffled out of the ground, with more than a few boos tossed in as the team exited.  It would only have been worse if this had been a nationally televised game.  Oh wait - never mind.

Surprisingly, the Quakes front office didn’t seem as embarrassed and considering the outcome of the game, you have to admire the positive spin on their web site:  “Quakes earn a point at home against league leaders”.  Hmm:  No Beckham or Donovan, no goalie, no backup goalie, no Earthquakes goals. Apparently no shame either?    

Only the 1906 Ultras brought any fireworks to the California Clasico
The organization is breaking out all of their marketing strategies to fill Stanford Stadium for the New York Red Bulls next weekend; there are plenty of inexpensive deals and as an added enticement there will be a spectacular fireworks display after the game.  Attendance at this week’s LA game was a franchise-record 10,872 – sadly, I have to think that few of the first time visitors (who undoubtedly contributed to that figure) saw enough fireworks from the Quakes to encourage a return visit.



Tuesday, June 21, 2011

The Beckham Hex-periment.

Sorry fans! I just read this week’s training report out of LA, and it looks like David Beckham's appearance at  Buck Shaw stadium this weekend has been hexed again.  It’s a long time since he’s played such a small, austere stadium - the two home games in which he played for LA were held at the Oakland Coliseum, and he missed the first game at Buck Shaw while he was still recovering from the torn Achilles tendon that kept him out of the 2010 World Cup.  It would have been a great opportunity for the fans to see the soccer superstar at such close quarters. 

Photo: Robert Mora/LA Galaxy
Love him, or loathe him, Beckham is undeniably more than a football star – he’s also a fashion and style icon who hobnobs with British royalty.  Many British tabloids have made the most of Posh and Becks as social climbers, but remember that Wills is the president of the English Football Association, and he and Becks worked together as part of England’s unsuccessful bid for 2018 World Cup.  As an England team player and captain, and with his involvement in the London 2012 Olympic Games, his readiness to represent his country has never been in doubt.  Unsurprisingly, his patriotic endeavors have led to questions regarding his recent commitment to MLS when he attended William and Kate’s wedding, and fulfilled Olympic commitments in the middle of the soccer season.  Working with or perhaps even playing for an Olympic soccer squad might be one of the few ambitions left in such a storied career: Beckham has played in FA Cup Finals, won League Championships in England and Spain and known the triumph of qualification and tragedy of the finals that is England World Cup football.  

At the grand old age of 36 a veteran Beckham can look back on a career that has taken him to Manchester United, Real Madrid and LA Galaxy.   MLS fans all remember his loans to AC Milan, but not many people look back on his spell on loan to Preston North End with any frequency.  In February 1995 manager Alex Ferguson sent the twenty year old on a month's loan to the England's fourth-tier team, where he scored two goals in just five games - one a free-kick set piece and the other direct from a corner. Although his time at Deepdale was short (unlike his shorts that were long - check out this picture from dailymail.co.uk) Beckham has claimed that the loan spell was a vital part of his development. 


Flash forward to March 2011, and the loan system is still a great way for young players to get regular playing time that they may not otherwise get with the first eleven of their parent club.  Quakes midfielder Simon Dawkins, who is currently on loan from Tottenham Hotspurs, is scoring at a similar pace to Beckham’s at Preston with four goals in nine games.  Dawkins, who grew up just a dozen miles from Beckham, is a long term prospect with Spurs and has a contract that will run to June 2013.  He made his debut for the Earthquakes in the season opener, a 1-0 loss to Real Salt Lake, and scored his first goal on April 2 in the 2-2 tie with Seattle Sounders FC. Since then he’s shown an uncommon poise on the ball and an innate awareness of his teammates position resulting in some great give and go goals against Houston and DC United.

Photo: Joe Nuxoll at Centerlinesoccer.com
The royal newly-weds William and Kate will be visiting North America in early July, winding up in LA July 8-10 – I wonder if the irresistible draw of David Beckham will take their itinerary to the Galaxy versus Fire game at Home Depot Center on July 9.  Their attendance at Buck Shaw the same evening is even less likely than David Beckham’s this weekend, but they would be more likely to see a goal by an English player if they came to watch Simon Dawkins play against the Philadelphia Union.  

Thursday, June 16, 2011

New stadium smell.

Quakes media manager Frank Stranzl went on a pilgrimage to Camden Yards during the team’s road trip to Washington DC last week.  On a sunny afternoon on April 6, 1992, Rick Sutcliffe threw the first pitch in the now famous baseball park built just two blocks from Babe Ruth’s birthplace.  Incorporating the same brick work as the old B&O warehouse along right field, this beautiful stadium has context and substance, and the retro design became the paradigm for many of the ballparks that came afterwards.

This week, the Quakes will be facing the rebranded Kansas City Wizards – Sporting KC – in their brand new Livestrong Park.  A smaller stadium purpose built for soccer, the $200M venue opened on June 9, 2011 against the Chicago Fire. The Quakes staff will have the opportunity to evaluate the new facilities, get some useful ideas for the Earthquakes stadium, and discover exactly what ‘new stadium smell’ is all about.   

Just imagine if we could amalgamate the best traits of Camden Yards and Livestrong Park as we consider the new Earthquakes stadium design.   Comparing a baseball park to a soccer pitch is not as awkward as you might think: Kansas used to play in a minor league baseball park, while Portland recycled one into a fabulously feverish pitch.  Since Quakes owner Lew Wolff owns a professional baseball team (well, the Athletics) and a soccer team, maybe he’s ideally placed to consider incorporating the best of both worlds.

Capacity:  Camden Yards holds 46,000 seated fans, while Livestrong Park holds around 20,000 – average for soccer stadiums - with canopies that cover every seat, 2000 club seats and 36 sky boxes.  The last Quakes stadium projections we saw were around 15,000 seats and potential to expand to 20,000.  Of the current soccer specific stadiums, the Home Depot Center in Carson holds the most at 27,000, but wouldn’t it be great if one day the capacities of MLS stadiums were similar to baseball or European football stadiums? 

Playing surface:  I won’t consider any grass alternatives – nothing plastic has a smell that evokes soccer as much as freshly crushed grass and mud.  At Livestrong Park, the grass pitch has SubAir under soil heating and cooling systems, with dimensions of 75 yards by 120 yards.  The pitch is larger than every field in the English Premier League and 5 yards longer and 1 yard wider than Buck Shaw – 490 extra square yards to dribble, pass and tackle in.  The asymmetrically proportioned Camden Yards has Kentucky blue grass – while the field dimensions haven’t yet been configured for soccer, the proximity of the fans to the foul lines, would surely make for a great soccer atmosphere. 

Franchise player: While technically not part of the stadium structure, both the Baltimore Orioles and the San Jose Earthquakes have produced home grown heroes who define the club; their connection with the fans definitely contributes to the stadium atmosphere.  From 1983, to 2001, Iron Man Cal Ripken was the lynch pin of the Orioles, first as shortstop then as third baseman. Danville native, Chris Wondolowski, coincidentally also wears uniform number 8 and generates similar fan interest.  Cal stayed with a single club, the Orioles, his entire career, and we all hope Wondo does so with the Quakes.  Wondo was originally signed by the Quakes in 2005, and though he was kidnapped to Houston for a couple of years, we all know that he was temporarily a zombie Quake. 

In the meantime, we'll be here..



Tuesday, June 7, 2011

A Grand Day Off: No Reserve\ations.

I sigh as I miss the turn to get into the Nutrilite Training Facility, the location for Monday’s reserve game between the Quakes and LA Galaxy.  The road is not easy to find now that the demolition is complete and the landmarks (such as they are) have been torn down, so I pull a U-turn at the next signal and take another stab at it.  As far as terrain, think bare concrete wasteland abutting the San Jose airport, with a sprinkling of gravel and several pot holes left over from a day in the life of Blackburn, Lancashire.  At first you’re not certain it’s the right place, and then you see a few cars, and then notice the Earthquakes sign over the recently unpadlocked entrance. The pitch has lush, supple grass, but is surrounded by a chain link fence topped with razor wire – it feels like a scene from Escape to Victory, but a remake in which Vinnie Jones plays a really good grounds keeper. 

I park next to the Galaxy team bus, and briefly consider letting its tires down – after all it’s an intense rivalry between the northern and southern California cities, which is maintained even for reserve games.  I shake the feeling off, and go in and pick a spot half way between the goal and center lines, unpack my folding chair, and settle down to watch the tail end of training.  My chair is pushed back against the fence and is still only six feet from the touchline; I feel unexpectedly nervous at my exposure to wayward soccer balls if anyone should miss their pass. 

I recognize most of the Quakes team – the first team players have finished training and are running wind sprints behind the southern goal, which I shall name here “The ‘In-N-Out Burger’ End”.  The reserves are chipping shots at each other or finishing their stretches in front of the northern goal, hereafter named “The Bleak End”.  There are some new faces – in particular I am interested to see Sercan Güvenisik, a Turkish player who most recently played for Munster of the 3rd Liga in Germany; he wants to play in MLS, and he’s paying his own way to be on trial here today.  Casting my eye over the Galaxatives, I recognize two players: Jovan Kirovski, a former Quake, and Frankie Hejduk, recently arrived from 2008 MLS Cup winners Columbus Crew. At 36, I have to think that this former USMNT player will have a fill in role with LA, yet even here he still carries himself with an experienced swagger that the younger players have yet to master.

The referee’s whistle blows, the game begins, and immediately I am struck with the frequency and intensity of the physical contact; I hear thwacks, grunts and crunching noises I’ve never heard before.  The players are yelling intently, their eyes bulging, highlighting their availability with fingers pointing to the open space they would fill if they got the ball.   I feel the draft from the Quakes rookie goalie, David Bingham, who is controlling the back field with windmill arm gestures, and shouting to his defense as soon as the ball crosses into the Quakes half. I hear Quakes defender Brandon McDonald controlling everybody else, directing traffic and encouraging or berating his team mates as circumstances dictate.   For LA, Hejduk’s superior skill is immediately apparent and he confidently distributes the ball and I can also hear him shouting his own encouragement to LA’s younger players. 

And when I say ‘encouragement’ here, we all know that’s a euphemism.  Even in the friendly confines of the undersized Buck Shaw Stadium (already likened to a tin shed on MLS_UK by Jon Parker ) we cannot hear the details of the players’ verbal communication.   At the reserve game I hear the kind of offensive language that got me in trouble at school - and which I always imagined was sent in the direction of the referee or opposing players, but didn’t really expect to hear it between team mates.  My ears are still burning with Kirovski’s ‘f***ing c***’ directed towards nobody in particular after a poorly placed pass – does he kiss his mother with that mouth? 

The fast paced game ended 3-0 to the Earthquakes – so the LA team bus tires remain unmolested for the short drive back to the airport.  It was a good day for the not-so-young Turk who scored two goals:  a header off a set piece in the fifteenth minute, and then another past the keeper seven minutes later.  Ellis McLoughlin, himself signed after trials earlier this year, scored the third as the clock wound down.  The intensity of play when you are fighting for a position on the starting squad, coupled with the proximity of my flimsy chair just feet from the sideline, made for an entertaining day off. 

I was so close to the action that I avoided eye contact with Quakes coach Frank Yallop, just in case he thought I needed a run out.