Wizardscharter
18 Oct 2005, 07:18 PM
Last weekend members of the Cauldron, Kansas City’s fan group, and other assorted KC fans traveled to Pizza Hut Park in Frisco for the first time. The list of bad tings about the trip is short, I’ll give them to you.
PHP isn’t finished yet, so the outside of the building fits right in with the majority of Frisco; think piles of dirt and concrete, eyesore, under construction, etc. It takes you forever to get anywhere in or outside of the stadium. Inside the concourses are wide, but not wide enough apparently to hold 24,000 thirsty and hungry people. Football goalposts on the pristine fields outside are regrettable, Texas having a shortage of football fields, etc. The gigantic tower at one end that holds the corporate logo is rust colored, flat ugly, and detracts wholly from what could have been a highly aesthetic and scenic open end. Architects messed up the lighting angle so that they reflect directly off the glass of the luxury boxes and cause huge front row glare. Pay extra for the front row and get glare…thanks. It’s an 8-hour drive from South KC, which means it’s much longer for you. Lastly, KC doesn’t have one like this yet, our local politicians being less open with their wallets to greedy billionaires.
That’s it, that’s the list. If I didn’t mention it, be assured it was of quality, or will be.
STREAKS
16 – RSL Road Winless
12 – RSL Winless
8 – KC Winless
6 – DAL Road Winless
6 – RSL Home Losses
5 – KC Home Winless
5 – CHV Home Winless
3 – CHV Home Losses
WHY THEY DIDN’T DESERVE TO BE THERE
Chivas USA – Chivas was the only MLS team to be swept 12 points to 0 in an MLS regular season series. Zuniga was the second worst GK to ever play in MLS. Only Carlos Delgado, whose only 90 minutes yielded no saves and 4 GA was worse. 18 points overall, 67 Goals against, and Senior Cue’s admission of, “We may have underestimated the quality of play in MLS.” Um, yeah. Feel free to continue to do so.
Columbus Crew – Greg Andrulis gets some of the blame. Also137 Shots on Goal, 35% SOG percentage, 4.28 SOG/game – All MLS lows. It’s worth noting that all 3 numbers experienced improvement under Coach Warzycha.
Real Salt Lake - 20 league points, 30 Goals For, 8.52% Finishing Percentage, 19.1% of shots on goal scored. All MLS worst marks.
Kansas City – Jeff Bradley beat me to it, but KC will now have the dubious honor of being the MLS team with the highest point total to miss the playoffs. Even with expansion, that one should stand for some time. KC’s 12 ties is the point equivalent of going 4-8-0. 5 of 8 playoff teams have more losses.
In a division without an expansion team KC earned just 4 points in their last 8 games. Five of those were played at Arrowhead. During the regular season KC treated leads with the same cavalier attitude that a teenager typically would regarding money. The total number blown is between 15 and 20, I didn’t have the constitution to research it, sorry.
RECORDS
4 teams failed to score against another MLS team during the ’05 season. CHV v DC, NE v COL, LA v CLB, and SJ v DC.
1.387 – Kevin Hartman’s GAA, his personal season low. It’s a worst so it goes here. Still the fact that this is a worst is quite an accolade for Hartman.
-17 - Goal Differential for CHV beyond the 75th minute. Yes, that’s by far a new record low for any team in any :15 period.
2 - RSL Road Points
0 – RSL Road Wins, 0 for 16.
.94 – RSL Goals/Game. Sets new MLS low.
NUMBERS
-10 – Goal Differential for RSL in the first 15 minutes. In golf they say you can’t win anything on Thursday, but you sure can lose.
0 – Number of players with 10 cautions. Guevara had 9 in just 26 games.
8.71% - CLB Finishing. Goals/Shots
19.17% - RSL “ONFIN”. Goals/Shots on Goal. You can give up 5 quality chances to RSL and still keep a shutout.
35% - CLB Shots on Goal Percentage.
2 – Total Goals in NE/CHV Series
2 – Goalmouth Blocks for DAL & SJ
3 – Players with 2 ejections, Guy Melamed, Eddie Robinson, and Jaime Moreno. Melamed earned his in just 14 games – best luck in the USL1, Guy.
3 – CHV Home Wins.
4 – CHV Wins
10.6- COL SOG/Gm
18 – CHV Points
19 – Games Played for Carlos Ruiz. He didn’t bother to show up to receive his pre-game award for DAL player of the year, it was sponsored…ouch.
19 – GK losses by DJ Countess
22 – CHV and RSL Losses
72 – COL Cautions
30 – RSL Goals For
67 – CHV Goals Against
72 – COL Cautions
78 – Hacks for Simu Valikari
124 – Offsides for MET
102 – Fouls Suffered for Alejandro Moreno
125 – MET Corner Kicks
9,691 – KC Home Attendance
12,526 – SJ Road Attendance
Teams tend to run in cycles, especially in leagues with a Cap. If your guy or your team is featured here, no worries; it will most likely get better. On to the playoffs.
-WC
PHP isn’t finished yet, so the outside of the building fits right in with the majority of Frisco; think piles of dirt and concrete, eyesore, under construction, etc. It takes you forever to get anywhere in or outside of the stadium. Inside the concourses are wide, but not wide enough apparently to hold 24,000 thirsty and hungry people. Football goalposts on the pristine fields outside are regrettable, Texas having a shortage of football fields, etc. The gigantic tower at one end that holds the corporate logo is rust colored, flat ugly, and detracts wholly from what could have been a highly aesthetic and scenic open end. Architects messed up the lighting angle so that they reflect directly off the glass of the luxury boxes and cause huge front row glare. Pay extra for the front row and get glare…thanks. It’s an 8-hour drive from South KC, which means it’s much longer for you. Lastly, KC doesn’t have one like this yet, our local politicians being less open with their wallets to greedy billionaires.
That’s it, that’s the list. If I didn’t mention it, be assured it was of quality, or will be.
STREAKS
16 – RSL Road Winless
12 – RSL Winless
8 – KC Winless
6 – DAL Road Winless
6 – RSL Home Losses
5 – KC Home Winless
5 – CHV Home Winless
3 – CHV Home Losses
WHY THEY DIDN’T DESERVE TO BE THERE
Chivas USA – Chivas was the only MLS team to be swept 12 points to 0 in an MLS regular season series. Zuniga was the second worst GK to ever play in MLS. Only Carlos Delgado, whose only 90 minutes yielded no saves and 4 GA was worse. 18 points overall, 67 Goals against, and Senior Cue’s admission of, “We may have underestimated the quality of play in MLS.” Um, yeah. Feel free to continue to do so.
Columbus Crew – Greg Andrulis gets some of the blame. Also137 Shots on Goal, 35% SOG percentage, 4.28 SOG/game – All MLS lows. It’s worth noting that all 3 numbers experienced improvement under Coach Warzycha.
Real Salt Lake - 20 league points, 30 Goals For, 8.52% Finishing Percentage, 19.1% of shots on goal scored. All MLS worst marks.
Kansas City – Jeff Bradley beat me to it, but KC will now have the dubious honor of being the MLS team with the highest point total to miss the playoffs. Even with expansion, that one should stand for some time. KC’s 12 ties is the point equivalent of going 4-8-0. 5 of 8 playoff teams have more losses.
In a division without an expansion team KC earned just 4 points in their last 8 games. Five of those were played at Arrowhead. During the regular season KC treated leads with the same cavalier attitude that a teenager typically would regarding money. The total number blown is between 15 and 20, I didn’t have the constitution to research it, sorry.
RECORDS
4 teams failed to score against another MLS team during the ’05 season. CHV v DC, NE v COL, LA v CLB, and SJ v DC.
1.387 – Kevin Hartman’s GAA, his personal season low. It’s a worst so it goes here. Still the fact that this is a worst is quite an accolade for Hartman.
-17 - Goal Differential for CHV beyond the 75th minute. Yes, that’s by far a new record low for any team in any :15 period.
2 - RSL Road Points
0 – RSL Road Wins, 0 for 16.
.94 – RSL Goals/Game. Sets new MLS low.
NUMBERS
-10 – Goal Differential for RSL in the first 15 minutes. In golf they say you can’t win anything on Thursday, but you sure can lose.
0 – Number of players with 10 cautions. Guevara had 9 in just 26 games.
8.71% - CLB Finishing. Goals/Shots
19.17% - RSL “ONFIN”. Goals/Shots on Goal. You can give up 5 quality chances to RSL and still keep a shutout.
35% - CLB Shots on Goal Percentage.
2 – Total Goals in NE/CHV Series
2 – Goalmouth Blocks for DAL & SJ
3 – Players with 2 ejections, Guy Melamed, Eddie Robinson, and Jaime Moreno. Melamed earned his in just 14 games – best luck in the USL1, Guy.
3 – CHV Home Wins.
4 – CHV Wins
10.6- COL SOG/Gm
18 – CHV Points
19 – Games Played for Carlos Ruiz. He didn’t bother to show up to receive his pre-game award for DAL player of the year, it was sponsored…ouch.
19 – GK losses by DJ Countess
22 – CHV and RSL Losses
72 – COL Cautions
30 – RSL Goals For
67 – CHV Goals Against
72 – COL Cautions
78 – Hacks for Simu Valikari
124 – Offsides for MET
102 – Fouls Suffered for Alejandro Moreno
125 – MET Corner Kicks
9,691 – KC Home Attendance
12,526 – SJ Road Attendance
Teams tend to run in cycles, especially in leagues with a Cap. If your guy or your team is featured here, no worries; it will most likely get better. On to the playoffs.
-WC