The problem is that he's trying to measure (or judge?) effort, as opposed to achievement. He's rated us pretty lowly (last year), which I think skewed a lot more toward achievement (or lack thereof) and missed out of the massive efforts of our club to get the stadium deal done. So he credits us for the stadium deal now, but missed the massive effort (which is what he's trying to measure) that went into it in '11. The failure on the field of course was totally on us. Terrible signings like Zura, and Andre Luiz (who almost never played), the failure to make anything of Ramon Sanchez, the abject failures like Glinton, Kamara, Campos, Glen, Sealy, and more. But, our owners brought our team back from the dead. They had to improve Buck Shaw just so we could play there. Then they made more improvements to Buck Shaw. We signed Hucks. We signed Geo (and failed to use him well). So there's been some up and down for sure. But the fact that it's really tough to get a stadium deal done in San Jose, and yet we've done it. That should count for a lot. So in part, our improved "ambition rating" is based on our on field achievement, rather than our efforts. I need to write him a letter about this. I like what he's trying to do, but I think he needs to tweak it a little bit. On the one hand, the GoatShaggers are terrible. On the other hand, Vergara had the cajones to buy the rest of the team, sack the coach and GM and bring in new people. That shows ambition. It shows effort. They might not achieve much, but these are moves that are probably necessary to improve the club. (I might have kept Robin Fraser and just spent more money on players.) GO QUAKES!! - Mark
On a different topic, I learned today that Alaska flights from Portland offer priority boarding to Timbers fans. I understand Alaska is a sponsor, but shouldn't we get the same privileges at SJC?
They should do the opposite - make people wearing a San Jose Earthquake jersey board last! That would be awesome.
Need an airline sponsor first - Jet Blue? On the "ambition rankings" I would rank EQLLC #1 for trying to do the most for the least amount of money, and based on last year's results, succeeding .
Alaska Airlines also has a 737 with Timbers livery on it, i almost veered off 101 when i saw it last year taxing at SFO
Speaking of airports and the Earthquakes, I noticed while traveling over the holiday that terminal B at SJC has a gift store with a nice little selection of Quakes gear.
IT'S ABOUT TIME!!!! But hey, this is extremely cool. Where in terminal B is this? I'm going to have to check it out next time I fly "home." Seriously, we've been needing this since at least '96. How did we manage this? Must be another coup for Team Kaval? GO QUAKES!!! - Mark
I was in terminal B this morning at 5:30, and I did not see any Earthquakes anything. Too bad, because I could have used a glimpse of something uplifting. Alaska does promos during our games, so I assumed they were a generic MLS sponsor, not just a Timbers sponsor. I will trade my early boarding privileges for a custom Quakes plane. I might even be motivated to fly Alaska again.
I fly out of SJC every two weeks or so... Terminal A has two stores with Quakes gear, the one across from security prominently displayed in the front and center of the store (the other one is around the corner from security and was toward the back right). I hadn't noticed anything in Terminal B, but I usually park in A and walk through to B (easier security); Ii wouldn't surprise me if all of those type of stores had the same stuff in every terminal.
It was one of the stores opposite the boarding gates. The store also carried stuff for the other sports teams, as well as SJSU. I asked the clerk how sales were, and she said ok, but, not great.
For Quakes gear, I would expect it to get a lot better with the opening of the stadium, and possibly some kind of minor rebranding?
I'd prefer a program offering season ticketholders the opportunity to purchase a seat on a Quakes chartered flight, and a room at the team hotel, to a designated away match each year. This is the way to build hard-core, organic support that will last well beyond when the new-stadium smell dissipates (or the airline sponsor merges into oblivion). Allowing the Ultras (and Ultras-at-heart) to travel with the team to lend support during the 2013 CCL tournament would be a great place to give it a test drive.
NO REBRANDING!!! We are one of the oldest and proudest clubs in MLS! NO Rebranding!! NO! GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!! - Mark
I wasn't saying it doesn't happen. Players or coaches encouraging playing thru injuries happens all the time. I was saying it is BS and unethical to encourage a player to play injured for the good of the team. That Phoenix suns article was terrific. Has anyone ever noticed how many trainers sit on the Galaxy bench during home games? I'm guessing they have at least 2-3 trainers out there.
I think that characterizing a sports hernia as a muscle pull is not correct. A hernia is a protrusion of something through the wall that normally holds it in place. That's a lot more severe than a "muscle pull". Read these articles on webmd and wikipedia. Also note that besides symptoms and manipulation, a sports hernia is increasingly diagnosed with an MRI. http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/tc/sports-hernia-topic-overview http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletic_pubalgia
A sports hernia is not a true hernia (a hole in the muscle) -- it's a term that is used for any one of a constellation of injuries that can be as straightforward as an aggravated muscle pull. In which case rest, not surgery, is usually prescribed. Also, the recovery time from hernia surgery is about 2 weeks, much shorter than from surgery for athletic pubalgia, which seems to take 6 weeks or longer. (My oldest had a congenital inguinal hernia that was discovered at age 5; he was racing around again a few hours post-surgery.) Some people think you can avoid sports hernias with proper stretching and other techniques, and that you should be able to treat most of them without surgery. Have our players had more surgeries than players on other teams?
NO! None of that! We fought for our colors, our crest, our name, and our history! I do not want any further changes. If they make the blue jerseys primary, I'd be pumped, and I half expect that, but I don't want any further rebranding. We aren't a loaf of bread, we are a soccer club, and clubs have tradition. GO QUAKES!!! - Mark