Rooting Interest: KC. ‘Cause I think they’ll be good.
Result Expected: 1-0 to KC
What happened…well, I’ll start sticking that on the bottom.

Oh, all the gestures one can think of…so many, but none so apt as the one at left.

OK Commissioner Garber: this is just getting stupid. If you can call what unfolded in the second half tonight as the fruits of multiple initiatives, your product is serving up the bruised mess from the bottom of the barrel. The transparency you bragged about last week doesn’t matter when it produces refereeing decisions that transparently suck. Whomever that ref was – don’t know, and it hardly matters ‘cause there’s another twit on either side of him waiting to call the next game – he didn’t manage the game so much as approach it like a crappy parent…toasted on wine and valium oblivion. I think it’s fair to say both teams suffered their share of missed calls, but when the ref finally woke up and took an interest in calming things down, the vibe recalled a valium-weary mother suddenly noticing the wailing of her brats and stirring to mete out totally random punishment.

Now, I understand the need to draw some kind of line at Josh Wolff’s aggression, which was indisputably directed to the head area. But if that's a red, my aunt is my father. Hell, I don't even think that's a booking until things escalate. That only goes double after letting, say, Shavar Thomas get away with choking (I think it was) Jack Jewsbury in a corner-kick scrum during the first half. Then to start dishing out yellow cards when KC’s players justifiably wigged out a little…well, it just smacked of, again, bad parenting: lay down the rules early, clearly, and consistently or don't lay them down at all. And if/when someone breaks a leg, don't be surprised when Child Welfare Services shows up at your door.

And all that’s before getting to Santiago Hirsig getting sent off. Weird night. And another picture for that appears at right. Then again – and I’ve hinted at this before…ah! That lead practically wrote itself; I had a ready topic at the very least. To be clear about this, bitching about refereeing just kinda goes with the game; this isn't a crisis, so much as it's an aggravation - and a comical one - and, hence, just a little shocking. But so much more happened tonight. Moving on…

Three Thoughts re: KC Wizards
1. Hartman: His Best, His Worst, All the Hits
In career terms, even on annual terms, I see Kevin Hartman as the most underrated ‘keeper in Major League Soccer (MLS). He’s second to damned few as a shot-stopper – a talent he demonstrated tonight several times – and he’s not bad on crosses, either (at least not when that “wily veteran” (read: astute cheat) Jesse Marsch doesn’t low-bridge him). But Hartman also threw a friggin’ femur out to his detractors tonight, when he rumbled toward the corner flag and got beat to the ball by Maykel Galindo thereby leaving the goal wide-open, albeit to a tight angle. Such flat-out baffling decisions no doubt hobbled Hartman’s climb to the pinnacle of his sub-speciality…but I’d take him in the nets any day of any week for the past decade. Oh yeah, and he saved the shot that came off his blunder. So there.

2. Claudio Lopez Earns Last Year’s Paycheck
D-a-m-n. What a goal. It’s no Wolyniec special (hey, I love what I love and who I love), but the set-piece goal Lopez scored tonight looked an awful lot like the aging Argentine working under last year’s warranty. Just a brilliant shot - and, as the announcers noted, unstoppable. If you haven’t seen it, check the highlights when they come up….totally worth it….unlike Chivas’ equalizer, which was fine, but hardly impressive.

3. Hanging with the Best…until the moment of total crippling, anyway.
Chivas bullied KC all over the park over the first 35 minutes: they owned every loose ball and wrestled the rest of them away from KC players as if they tussled in different weight classes. Then came the final 10 minutes of the first half. Then KC strolled out of the half-time locker and put the screws to Chivas all over again – and in such a way one can only assume Curt Onalfo gave a speech that mixed Shakespeare and Vince Lombardi (OK, slight exaggeration). Whatever happened, KC found all kinds of joy – and easy access - down Chivas’ left to the extent that fouling became the only option…with #2 above resulting therefrom. Unfortunately, for all who want to know what the hell is going on with the league, something we can't figure out till they're allowed to play the goddam game, the ref took the game into his hands and neutered it...with his teeth.

Thoughts re: Chivas USA
1. Tonight’s Most Ironic Moment
2009 has seen Chivas scrap out a reputation for pushing the envelope to bursting on physical play. They have shoved, chopped, and bulled their way to more wins, well, than any other team in the league. Thug-In-Chief Atiba Harris finally drew a card on reputation tonight – and that’s swell – but that doesn’t come close to the evening’s most ironic moment. No, that came around the 35th minute, when “Little” Lance Watson shoved Jesse Marsch off the ball in KC’s corner. To hear of Marsch, one of the league’s most uncompromising players, waving his hands for the foul? That is your most ironic moment of the evening. I don’t necessarily begrudge Chivas for playing hard; it’s brought them success after all. But there’s something unseemly about whining when other teams dish back the hard stuff. So, message to all other MLS clubs: hit back and hit well.

2. A very Greco-Roman First Half (or, “The Tight Confines of Community America Ballpark”)
I know the following venues rate as large: the Home Depot Center, The Dick (as in Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Colorado)…and that’s it. I’m frankly ignorant of such things, though I shouldn’t be given what that can mean to a team like Chivas USA. Thanks to tonight’s commentary (see parentheses above) and evidence of the eyes, I know Community America Ballpark is a small field; the same goes for San Jose’s current home and, no doubt, a few others. One has to think that makes life easier for a team like Chivas, who clearly relish clogging the middle of the field with flailing limbs and tangles of bodies. The point here is Chivas’ comfort with scrapping up the middle gives them an edge in a number of away venues…just not The Dick. It looked like wrestling practice out there during the first half, so small wonder Chivas held the edge through that period. The secret is to play around these guys…even if only to soften up the middle.

3. Stars, Rising and Falling (or, better, flailing)
I was mildly shocked to hear that Paolo Nagamura is only 26. Small wonder he’s having something of a career season, seeing as he’s hitting his prime. His comfort going forward counts as the most visible improvement, but the fact he’s given up fairly little on his defensive game only adds to his value as a player. So, call that one a rising star in the Chivas camp. Then you have the meteor crashing to Earth that is Sacha Kljestan. When I get back to reading again (a project already…um, two days underway), I’ll no doubt come across a discussion of Kljestan’s contract, when it expires in particular. If this is a “contract year" the lad needs to pick it up…and several things along with it. Sure, he limped off the field tonight, but that would only count in his favor if he hadn’t gone missing from the field for so much of the season. Suffice to say, it’s a case of strange days in the less glamorous half of LA (psst…that’s Chivas’ side…just in case that wasn’t (blindingly) obvious).

Final Result: 1-1 at KC.