Mr. Warmth
22 Oct 2007, 09:25 AM
http://bp1.blogger.com/_yxROJtWD0Sg/RxyaGzGU_rI/AAAAAAAAAHc/BLBlDeaxBac/s400/ubecks.jpg (http://bp1.blogger.com/_yxROJtWD0Sg/RxyaGzGU_rI/AAAAAAAAAHc/BLBlDeaxBac/s1600-h/ubecks.jpg)
I'm sure that would have been a great headline for ESPN and Skysports, a real underdog story. Too bad for them it was former Man United reserve and lower division journeyman, John Thorrington who provided the goal that sent Cobi Jones into retirement, and Beckham and Donovan back to their domineering wives for the winter. Now, the only press MLS is getting out of this is the Sun and Telegraph ripping Becks for indulging his wife's need to be seen and desire to get those crazy thetans out of her head before the intergalactic warlord Xenu shows up to wage war on mankind. Maybe David will get a second chance in Space Jam II - Electric Bugaloo, where he helps a team full of misfit B-list stars and Warner Brothers animated characters save the earth from the merciless Warlord, thankfully brought to our attention by L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology adherents.
Anything is possible with Travolta & Cruise bankrolling. Battlefield Earth II opens Thanksgiving Weekend.
Things had set up pretty well for the Galaxy with RSL shoving Fernando Clavijo's Rapids down the stairs in a wheelchair with Robbie Findley's later game winner in Denver. But from the second minute, Chicago needing only a tie, decided that it wouldn't be wise to allow any the recent referee shenanigans that had benefited the Galaxy over the last 7 or so games, launched wave after wave of attacks on the Galaxy goal, only to see them turned away by Bazooka Joe or go over and wide on some of Chicago's most horrendous finishing of the season.
But while Chicago failed to connect on any of their first half assaults, the pressure did keep LA from mounting any sort of offense, with only 5 shots and 1 SOG for the whole game. Chicago's long serving veterans did their part as well as Chris Armas and CJ Brown had arguably their best performances of the season after looking like retirement fodder more much of the season before the arrival of new coach Juan Carlos Osorio. Their play combined with the calm determination of Osorio signing, Wilman Conde and Armas' heir apparent in Logan Pause to shut down the Galaxy midfield allowed the Fire's attack to flow through Chris Rolfe and designated player signing, Cuauhtemoc Blanco for 22 shots and 10 shots on goal.
But the special treat, in the eyes of MLS marketing wonks, came when Beckham entered the field. Clearly, hanging around the Cruises and Travoltas has helped Beckham because he seemed to be playing about 2 seconds in the future, compared to the rest of his team. Either that, or the Yallop/Lalas gamble on experience and pedigree versus youth and skill finally caught up with the Galaxy. Another special gift to the ticket holders that were forced to purchase the Beckham ticket along three or four other less glamorous matches was Landon Donovan's special performance that he reserves for Halloween and other special events like "US National Team games in Europe" where he played the entire match in his Invisible Man Halloween costume.
Ideally, MLS, ESPN, FoxSoccer would have preferred to have both Blanco and Beckham in the playoffs to pad attendance and interest, but John Thorrington, who was cut by the Fire in the pre-season after two injury filled seasons and one goal (2005 GWG vs. LA Galaxy), and only re-signed as a secret weapon (http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=599697) a scant six weeks ago by yours truly, lobbed an onrushing Cannon in the 93nd minute to obliterate the wet dream of the marketers and send Club Atletico Hollywood crashing out of the playoffs and me with a smile that has yet to subside.
Playoff predictions:
Thursday
Chicago 1 - 0 DC
Saturday
RedBull 2 - 1 Revs
Chivas 2 - 0 KC
Dallas 0-0 Houston
I'm sure that would have been a great headline for ESPN and Skysports, a real underdog story. Too bad for them it was former Man United reserve and lower division journeyman, John Thorrington who provided the goal that sent Cobi Jones into retirement, and Beckham and Donovan back to their domineering wives for the winter. Now, the only press MLS is getting out of this is the Sun and Telegraph ripping Becks for indulging his wife's need to be seen and desire to get those crazy thetans out of her head before the intergalactic warlord Xenu shows up to wage war on mankind. Maybe David will get a second chance in Space Jam II - Electric Bugaloo, where he helps a team full of misfit B-list stars and Warner Brothers animated characters save the earth from the merciless Warlord, thankfully brought to our attention by L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology adherents.
Anything is possible with Travolta & Cruise bankrolling. Battlefield Earth II opens Thanksgiving Weekend.
Things had set up pretty well for the Galaxy with RSL shoving Fernando Clavijo's Rapids down the stairs in a wheelchair with Robbie Findley's later game winner in Denver. But from the second minute, Chicago needing only a tie, decided that it wouldn't be wise to allow any the recent referee shenanigans that had benefited the Galaxy over the last 7 or so games, launched wave after wave of attacks on the Galaxy goal, only to see them turned away by Bazooka Joe or go over and wide on some of Chicago's most horrendous finishing of the season.
But while Chicago failed to connect on any of their first half assaults, the pressure did keep LA from mounting any sort of offense, with only 5 shots and 1 SOG for the whole game. Chicago's long serving veterans did their part as well as Chris Armas and CJ Brown had arguably their best performances of the season after looking like retirement fodder more much of the season before the arrival of new coach Juan Carlos Osorio. Their play combined with the calm determination of Osorio signing, Wilman Conde and Armas' heir apparent in Logan Pause to shut down the Galaxy midfield allowed the Fire's attack to flow through Chris Rolfe and designated player signing, Cuauhtemoc Blanco for 22 shots and 10 shots on goal.
But the special treat, in the eyes of MLS marketing wonks, came when Beckham entered the field. Clearly, hanging around the Cruises and Travoltas has helped Beckham because he seemed to be playing about 2 seconds in the future, compared to the rest of his team. Either that, or the Yallop/Lalas gamble on experience and pedigree versus youth and skill finally caught up with the Galaxy. Another special gift to the ticket holders that were forced to purchase the Beckham ticket along three or four other less glamorous matches was Landon Donovan's special performance that he reserves for Halloween and other special events like "US National Team games in Europe" where he played the entire match in his Invisible Man Halloween costume.
Ideally, MLS, ESPN, FoxSoccer would have preferred to have both Blanco and Beckham in the playoffs to pad attendance and interest, but John Thorrington, who was cut by the Fire in the pre-season after two injury filled seasons and one goal (2005 GWG vs. LA Galaxy), and only re-signed as a secret weapon (http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=599697) a scant six weeks ago by yours truly, lobbed an onrushing Cannon in the 93nd minute to obliterate the wet dream of the marketers and send Club Atletico Hollywood crashing out of the playoffs and me with a smile that has yet to subside.
Playoff predictions:
Thursday
Chicago 1 - 0 DC
Saturday
RedBull 2 - 1 Revs
Chivas 2 - 0 KC
Dallas 0-0 Houston