He's So Wondo! The continuing chronicle of Chris Wondolowski's career

In comparison to all the overrated , over the hill , highly paid superstars, Wondo deserved big time DP money throughout his career. He is 36 now and maybe it’s too late for him but if Pirlo made $6 million, at the same age, Chris should have been offered half that amount.

Either that or Fisher should buy him. a middle class home in Willow Glen, Los Gatos, Saratoga or at least give him what he gave Billy Beane. Or rather , a piece of the club.

 

GOONIES.

NEVER SAY DIE.

Alan Gordon, Sam Cronin & @bobbyburling with possibly the best @ChrisWondo congratulatory video! 🤣🤣🤣 #WondoWatched pic.twitter.com/dw8anHRbyW

— San Jose Earthquakes (@SJEarthquakes) May 20, 2019

 

I may or may not have been trying to mark @ChrisWondo on two of his 148 @MLS goals so I feel like I deserved a hug for my contributions! pic.twitter.com/NZQtH4hXME

— Jimmy Conrad (@JimmyConrad) May 19, 2019

 

2012 vs 2019: different times, same family pic.twitter.com/ARwhQuq4Vr

— San Jose Ultras (@SanJoseUltras) May 20, 2019

Comment re photo on the left. Wondo surprised the Ultras' capo by calling him to the stage to accept a framed and autographed copy of the photo at the SSV dinner in 2012.

 

It was a long time coming, but a record everyone with the #Quakes74 knew he would reach. Making MLS history: Celebrating Chris Wondolowski’s epic game of goals. My latest on Wondo's amazing day, for @ProSoccerUSAcom https://t.co/20MNGIHRDJ

— Robert Jonas (@robertjonas) May 19, 2019

 

Not surprisingly, Wondo is heavily featured in this week's MLS Extratime (including a ~15 minute interview): https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2019...mls-goal-king-chris-wondolowski-makes-history

 

I'm sure a lot of us are thinking the same thing... but I'm still on a high not that it happened finally, but HOW it happened. It wasn't a meaningless PK in a game we'd already lost where haters would just say "of course".

It was a monster game against a team that hadn't let in a goal in 3 matches. It was FOUR goals in one game, all from the run of play. And while the GK did make a mistake, 146 was as Wondo as a Wondo goal could be.

145 assisted by Shea Salinas... fitting
146 Wondo pounces on GK error for the record... of course
147 Espinoza pulled down and Wondo swoops in to finish... not so slow!
148 Great team goal from Quakes young/old, new/old... back post tap in perfect.

Go Wondo! Go Quakes!

 

The "mistake" was trying to catch a ball in wet weather.

Those of who sat (or stood) through the elements were rewarded. It was cosmic karma.

 

as mentioned earlier, amazing how underpaid Wondo is.

Should have been getting at least 3 million a year starting around 2012......Bradley and Dempsey are/were making close to 6 million a year, were/are they more productive than Wondo.......it's almost criminal how underpaid he had been during his peak years, but he acted as his own agent didn't he?

 

At the end of the day he probably didn't pass the eye test for other teams (top-tier MLS or any European clubs) so that limited what he could make. And wrongfully considered too old. Too bad for Wondo that he didn't get to see what he was worth financially or what he could do on a more talented squad. But good for us Quakes fans!

 

“...first four-goal performance of his historical, 16-year career.”



https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2019...eflects-breaking-landon-donovans-goals-record

 

We live pretty far away, and over the last few years have sold or given away a fair number of tickets as we have a toddler that's not easy to drag to every game. Every single home match this season I'd told my wife Wondo is going to score 2 goals today... she was really starting to roll her eyeballs.

For this game she didn't want to go with the rain and a giant list of major weekend tasks, but let me take the kid. He's still a little young to really get it but he's going to grow up knowing he was at this game! I grew up in Seattle and we were wearing primo rain gear so the weather was not an issue... probably made for a more entertaining game anyway!

 

i heard back from my rep today. #WondoWatch is definitely over. The FO only cared about breaking the record at 146. I can understand that in terms of they don't want to keep making pins everytime he scores. But I agree with you, from a marketing and twitter standpoint, they should have stuck with the same hashtag.

Anyhow, I gave my rep a couple of ideas for continuing the celebration, such as a contest to guess how many goals he has scored by the end of the season.

 

The Quakes never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.
-- Abba Eban

 

I think a lot of karma led up to and contributed to the Wondo4 game:

• the rain in May
• jetdog9 bringing his son to the game
• my hubby missed the game so I brought a lucky guest
• my STH rep missed a home game for the first time in 1.5 years
• Almeyda's half-joking prediction
• Richard Mulrooney was there

any other contributions?

 

When Wondo comes out for warm-ups, he always heads straight for my section acknowledging the crowd on the far sideline. Usually, I say nothing, but on Saturday I stood up and shouted at him (probably because there was really barely anyone else around to acknowledge), "Today's the Day!" He smiled and gave a raised-arm applause in his typical way. Not sure if it was reflex or if he foresaw what was to come. He must have known by then he was starting.

 

The presence of Frank Yallop and Jimmy Conrad

 

Great to hear Frank Yallop was there, that must've been it.

 

My 8 yr old grandson has discovered the Carvery sandwiches this season, and since the first time he had one the Quakes have won, so naturally, he's reluctant to "break the spell." He was starving when we got to the stadium, but he insisted on waiting until the game started to eat his sandwich because he'd always eaten it during the game, never before. He stared at his uneaten sandwich with such longing, but waited until kick-off. When Wondo scored, and after the game, he insisted that it was because 1) he ate a roast turkey sandwich from the Carvery, and 2) he waited to eat his sandwich. So I thanked him profusely, and he's convinced he had a part in Wondo's historic day!

 

It seemed like Wondo positioned himself perfectly on two goals.

I think he is trying to get back into the organization in some capacity....

 

That is awesome!

 

I ran into Yallop in the parking lot after the game and we talked for a little while. He has an ownership interest in the Fresno club, so he seems fairly focused on making that a success. He mentioned that he will always have a place in his heart for the Quakes. He also had kind words to say about Chicago for my Fire-fan friend who was with me for the exchange. Frank is a class act.

 

On Thursday I heard the song "Fire" by Arthur Brown.
On Friday I found a four leaf clover..
On Saturday I ran into an old acquaintance from Chico. (where Wondo went to college).
The stars were aligned. Thank you very much.

 

Reminds me of another guy who played, mainly, for just one team...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelé

 

Listen to Wondo’s interview in the ExtraTime ETR podcast. It’s in the first 10-15 minutes and It is the best interview of Wondo that I have ever heard (altho i haven’t listened to that many of his interviews). He sounds so relaxed and happy and not trying to play a team ambassador role.

• He thanked so many guys that he learned from: Yallop, Kinnear, John Spencer, Brian Ching, Stuart Holden, DeRo... can’t remember the rest...
• Secret to his longevity = he doesn’t have any big muscles to pull
• You can tell he has really been impacted by the changes Almeyda has brought

🚨🚨 NEW @EXTRATIME 🚨🚨

🍷 @ChrisWondo: Goal King & everyman
📈 @MLS Wk 12 Winners & Losers
👍 @CharlieDavies9 on new @NERevolution
📖 @ColumbusCrewSC turn the page on 3G era
📩 MAILBAG: @PhilaUnion want more love

👂🔊: https://t.co/KylR7usR5s

👀📺: https://t.co/Vc6C2Cak5K pic.twitter.com/ouR3Q6hdKn

— Extratime ⚽🗣🎙 (@Extratime) May 21, 2019