8/16 There's nothing more exhilarating than pointing out the shortcomings of others

[kpaulson]

Revs
Dorman’s been dandy of late - Boston Globe (http://www.boston.com/sports/soccer/articles/2004/08/16/dorman146s_been_dandy_of_late/)

Revs pointed at stretch run - Boston Herald (http://sports.bostonherald.com/soccer/view.bg?articleid=39994)

Metros-FC
Nhleko, Dallas burn Metros - Daily Record (http://www.dailyrecord.com/sports/pro/sports8-metrostars.htm)

Pushing 90: Burn gets another late goal in 1-0 win - Dallas Morning News (http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/stories/081604dnspoburn.5cd37.html)

BARREN METROS DROP A STINKER - NY Post (http://www.nypost.com/sports/26970.htm)

Olympic Soccer
Iraq continues its run, defeats Costa Rica 2-0 - NBC (http://www.nbcolympics.com/soccer/5039280/detail.html)

Surprises Keep Coming for Iraqi Men in Soccer - LA Times (http://www.latimes.com/sports/soccer/la-sp-olysoccer16aug16,1,4879824.story?coll=la-headlines-sports-soccer)

Outside Iraq, an Iraqi Reason to Believe - NY Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/16/sports/olympics/16iraqis.html)

Day Old Articles
For Revolution, this tie looks good - Boston Globe (http://www.boston.com/sports/soccer/articles/2004/08/15/for_revolution_this_tie_looks_good/)

Fire shoots a blank - Daily Southtown (http://www.dailysouthtown.com/southtown/dssports/pro/155sd5.htm)

Rapids pour it on in 2nd half - Chicago Sun-Times (http://www.suntimes.com/output/fire/cst-spt-fire151.html)

Crew, Galaxy can’t find way to the net - Cbus Dispatch (http://www.1460thefan.com/tf.php?story=dispatch/2004/08/15/20040815-E3-01.html&msg=1&regtype=1)

Donovan dominates: Quakes beat Wizards 2-0 - KC Star (http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/sports/soccer/mls/kansas_city_wizards/9403595.htm?ERIGHTS=4443757404929544713kansascity::bigsoccer@bigsoccer.com&KRD_RM=0hmjgkhkoipggggggggggghohg|Karl|Y)

Neither Galaxy nor Crew exit their funk - Daily Breeze (http://www.dailybreeze.com/content/sports/3410625.html)

Galaxy offense still on hold - OC Register (http://www.ocregister.com/ocr/2004/08/15/sections/sports/soccer/article_203790.php)

[Red Card]

[QUOTE=kpaulson]Revs

BARREN METROS DROP A STINKER - NY Post (http://www.nypost.com/sports/26970.htm)
[QUOTE]

Team loses composure in last 18 minutes, loses game it should not have lost, in stoppage time no less. I was expecting him to continue along the line of: "What soccer in this country needs are those endless timeouts that they have in the NBA during the closing minutes of the game! Let the coach settle the players down and stop the other team's momentum!"

The beauty of soccer is that the players are on their own, to succeed or fail.

OT, Eddie Johnson should be on the nats. He is not surrounded by a big-brother helper (Gaven has Guevera, Ching has Landon), but he is better!

[stinky]

[QUOTE=Red CardOT, Eddie Johnson should be on the nats. He is not surrounded by a big-brother helper (Gaven has Guevera, Ching has Landon), but he is better![/QUOTE]


no he shouldn't. etched in my mind is EJ blowing chance after chance, especially a sitter, in the U-20's championsip in the UAE and laughing after he missed it.

i'd rather bruce concentrate on develping buddle or ching.

[afgrijselijkheid]

etched in my mind is EJ blowing chance after chance, especially a sitter, in the U-20's championsip in the UAE and laughing after he missed it


:rolleyes:

[purojogo]

Neither Galaxy nor Crew exit their funk - Daily Breeze (http://www.dailybreeze.com/content/sports/3410625.html)

[/url]
"So with a perfect storm of tedium and mediocrity gathering, it was perhaps inevitable that the two teams would set sail to a 0-0 stalemate Saturday at Home Depot Center before an announced 21,285. But perhaps most dispiriting of all for MLS is that this was a game between teams with the best record in the Western Conference and the second-best in the East."

....
"But in a league where optimists would say parity and realists would say mediocrity has become established, neither team did itself much harm with the performance"
.....
"But that was about it for excitement as neither team showed much initiative or creativity in midfield."


And this is supposed to be the time of the season when all teams "will play for the 3 points, huh?" :rolleyes:

i'm starting to think the reason median attendance is so "stable" (or another way of saying, "not going up", Adu notwithstanding) is the all too frequent games in which only one team plays and the other would just be happy with a point, relying on hustle for 90 minutes to defend their point, or hope for the miracle counter (like Dallas).... wonder why big crowds are not there?.....

[dawgpound2]

"But that was about it for excitement as neither team showed much initiative or creativity in midfield."


And this is supposed to be the time of the season when all teams "will play for the 3 points, huh?" :rolleyes:

i'm starting to think the reason median attendance is so "stable" (or another way of saying, "not going up", Adu notwithstanding) is the all too frequent games in which only one team plays and the other would just be happy with a point, relying on hustle for 90 minutes to defend their point, or hope for the miracle counter (like Dallas).... wonder why big crowds are not there?.....


I will argue that while Andrulis waited too long to sub to try for the W, the Crew were attempting to win. My Galaxy on the other hand, blew chunks.

I want to hereby apologize to Bob Gansler and the KC Wizards and their fans for EVER stating that Gansler and his team played boring soccer. Not true, especially in comparison to the garbage the Galaxy have been putting out on the field of late. Not even close. The Wizards look like Real Madrid offensively compared to my hideous team. A disgrace!

Again, my sincerest apologies to the offensive juggernaut known as KC.

[Sachsen]

Again, my sincerest apologies to the offensive juggernaut known as KC.


Don't worry, we looked crap on Saturday so you're not alone.

[Americano e Orgulho]

no he shouldn't. etched in my mind is EJ blowing chance after chance, especially a sitter, in the U-20's championsip in the UAE and laughing after he missed it.

"Estou rindo para nao chorar"

I'm laughing so I don't cry.

[Red Card]

[QUOTE=Red CardOT, Eddie Johnson should be on the nats. He is not surrounded by a big-brother helper (Gaven has Guevera, Ching has Landon), but he is better!


no he shouldn't. etched in my mind is EJ blowing chance after chance, especially a sitter, in the U-20's championsip in the UAE and laughing after he missed it.

i'd rather bruce concentrate on develping buddle or ching.[/QUOTE]

EJ == Adriano

[10 fan]

Fame Game tickets on sale (http://www.thedailystar.com/sports/2004/08/16/spdfg.html) - Oneonta Daily Star

Americans balance national team, English Premier League (http://www.usatoday.com/sports/soccer/national/2004-08-15-americans-britain_x.htm) - USA Today

Burn controls match for win (http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/sports/9413066.htm) - Fort Worth Star-Telegram

[FlashMan]

"So with a perfect storm of tedium and mediocrity gathering, it was perhaps inevitable that the two teams would set sail to a 0-0 stalemate Saturday at Home Depot Center before an announced 21,285. But perhaps most dispiriting of all for MLS is that this was a game between teams with the best record in the Western Conference and the second-best in the East."

....
"But in a league where optimists would say parity and realists would say mediocrity has become established, neither team did itself much harm with the performance"
.....
"But that was about it for excitement as neither team showed much initiative or creativity in midfield."




I agree with John Harkes. This was not one of those desultory 0-0 draws. It was an excellent game and the Crew took it to the Galaxy on the road from the outset, and were unfortunate not to come away with 3 points. I don't know what game that reporter was watching.

[Detective40oz]

I thought the LA/Columbus games was one of the most entertaining of the weekend. Watching Kyle Martino shred LA time and time again..if he keeps playing like this he'll get another shot with the Nats, easily the best player on the pitch in that game. And then there was Ruiz's blind Right leg over left heel back heel shot on goal attempt. It was a very exciting game with plenty of good runs. Now I can't say the same for the Metros/Burn game..that was a snoozefest!

Due to some people's beliefs, 0-0 games can be exciting.

[FCDarkness]

EJ == Adriano

EJ == Cate

[FCDarkness]

And this is supposed to be the time of the season when all teams "will play for the 3 points, huh?"
i'm starting to think the reason median attendance is so "stable" (or another way of saying, "not going up", Adu notwithstanding) is the all too frequent games in which only one team plays and the other would just be happy with a point

let me preface this by saying I thought the CLB-LA game wasn't that bad and it did look like the Crew were going for 3, they just didn't finish their chances (some of which were saved by the post/crossbar).

I'm starting to buy into the theory of midseason attendance being sorry because of a lack of teams going full out for three points, thus creating stagnant soccer games. Fans come out at the beginning, after they've had to do without their teams for months, and at the end, when the races heat up and teams end up playing in true must-win games. A lot of American soccer fans like to choose the EPL over MLS because of things like pace, superstar players, and high quality of play. Most of that league's stars are concentrated on the 4 or 5 teams those europosers root for. The bulk of them wouldn't know Joey Barton from Joey Franchino, but they'd still watch a match like this weekend's Fulham-Man City just because it was EPL. What keeps them watching a game like this is the intensity with which these teams play every match. Fulham, on the road in the first week of the season, with the score tied 1-1, subbed Brian McBride on late to try and steal 3 points. The game never slowed down, the teams never conceded a draw (even though that was the end result). Someone needs to tell the MLS guys that if you go for the road win 3 times you only need to succeed once to get the same amount of points you would get trying to grind out three road draws. They also need to let them know that this is a young league trying to grow its fanbase and if they don't pick up the quality of the product on the field the fans will stop coming and a lot of them will be out of jobs.