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

Discussion in 'San Jose Earthquakes' started by TyffaneeSue, Sep 22, 2011.

  1. due time

    due time Member+

    Mar 1, 1999
    Santa Clara
    The beep test is a combination of speed and endurance AND fitness. It's likely that Shea and Wondo have developed good fitness habits in the off-season that some of the youngsters haven't yet. And Shea isn't so far over the hill that the speed drop off is significant yet. Also, I think people continually under-appreciate Wondo's athleticism. You don't finish in the Calif HS top ten in the mile unless you are one hell of an athlete. Top ten in Calif HS, puts you probably at top 20-30 in the COUNTRY.
     
  2. JazzyJ

    JazzyJ BigSoccer Supporter

    Jun 25, 2003
    Endurance and fitness yes. And efficiency. Speed, not so much. It tops out at around 4s for 20m. They can all easily run that pace. But it's all about endurance at that point.
     
  3. Earthshaker

    Earthshaker BigSoccer Supporter

    Sep 12, 2005
    The hills above town
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Remember, Wondo's Kiowa name is "Bau Daigh", which means "warrior coming over the hill". It's often confused with the Kiowa name , "Bau te Daigh", which translates to, "over the hill warrior".
     
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  4. JazzyJ

    JazzyJ BigSoccer Supporter

    Jun 25, 2003
    Actually, the full direct translation of Bau Daigh" is "warrior coming slowly but surely over the hill".
     
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  5. bsman

    bsman Member+

    May 30, 2001
    MadCity
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Is it just me, or does Kiowa look a lot like Gaelic?
     
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  6. falvo

    falvo Member+

    Mar 27, 2005
    San Jose & Florence
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    Italy
    Wow what a dialogue! Don’t you just love the off-season?
     
  7. SoccerMan94043

    SoccerMan94043 Member+

    May 29, 2003
    San Jose
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    "... while no one's looking"
     
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  8. Earthshaker

    Earthshaker BigSoccer Supporter

    Sep 12, 2005
    The hills above town
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Maybe the first person to put it into writing was Welsh.

    And Bau Daigh looks a lot better than Bow Die.
     
  9. Goodsport

    Goodsport Moderator
    Staff Member

    May 18, 1999
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
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  10. JazzyJ

    JazzyJ BigSoccer Supporter

    Jun 25, 2003
  11. Goodsport

    Goodsport Moderator
    Staff Member

    May 18, 1999
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Not to mention that with this upcoming season, Chris Wondolowski will surpass Jeff Agoos (4) and tie both John Doyle (5) and Ramiro Corrales (5) for most seasons as the team's captain (at least in the MLS era).

    Making Wondo's team captaincy run even more impressive is that he'd also been the team's vice-captain for three seasons beforehand (2011-2013). Including 2018, that's eight consecutive seasons of him being in the team's top two on-field ranks. :)

    Of course, that begs the question: who'll take over the team's vice-captain spot now that Víctor Bernárdez (who'd been the team's vice-captain throughout Wondo's captaincy until now) is gone? :confused:

    GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! :cool:


    -G
     
  12. Goodsport

    Goodsport Moderator
    Staff Member

    May 18, 1999
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    A bit more team captaincy trivia: the only other MLS-era team captains not mentioned in my previous post above were Wade Barrett (2005) and Nick Garcia (2008). ;)

    I'm not sure who the team's vice-captains were prior to 2008, but Jason Hernandez was the team's vice-captain from 2008 to 2010.

    GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! :cool:


    -G
     
  13. SalinasQuakesFan

    Mar 27, 2010
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    “Wondo is the captain of the team, and will be for the whole season whenever he’s on the field,” said Stahre, “and, hopefully, he will be captain for many more seasons.”

    That doesn't sound like a 100% guaranteed starting spot to me.
     
  14. JazzyJ

    JazzyJ BigSoccer Supporter

    Jun 25, 2003
    You wouldn't normally name a "super sub" as your captain. Of course things can change as the season wears on, but I think he is a lock starter as the season opens. And the last part of that sentence indicates that Stahre doesn't necessarily think that the end of Wondo's career is imminent.
     
  15. don gagliardi

    don gagliardi Member+

    San Jose Earthquakes
    Feb 28, 2004
    san jose
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    One of Jeff Agoos' captains armbands is in the Soccer Legacy Collection at History San Jose.
     
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  16. Goodsport

    Goodsport Moderator
    Staff Member

    May 18, 1999
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    That's cool! :thumbsup:

    Will it stay there permanently or will it later make its way to the eventual Avaya Stadium (or whatever the stadium's new name will be after this season) Museum wing? ;)

    GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! :cool:


    -G
     
  17. don gagliardi

    don gagliardi Member+

    San Jose Earthquakes
    Feb 28, 2004
    san jose
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    The near term goal is for the stadium to display the museum collection. I continue to advocate for this with Quakes management.

    My personal long term goal is for a freestanding San Jose soccer museum. That will require a sea change in Americans' views about soccer and San Jose officials' views about museums. But I hope to live long enough.
     
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  18. Goodsport

    Goodsport Moderator
    Staff Member

    May 18, 1999
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
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  19. don gagliardi

    don gagliardi Member+

    San Jose Earthquakes
    Feb 28, 2004
    san jose
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
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  20. JazzyJ

    JazzyJ BigSoccer Supporter

    Jun 25, 2003
    Very well-written article. Warshaw was a Stanford student with a 3.6 GPA in political science, and I think his mom is a political science professor.

    To answer Eddie Robinson's question, the answer is "Moreno".

    “If you look at 2006 when we moved to Houston, we had Ching, Moreno, DeRo, Mullan,” says Eddie Robinson, a teammate of Wondolowski’s on the Quakes and Dynamo. “Who are you going to pick a young Chris Wondolowski over?”

    Also, the article didn't mention that it took even more fortunate circumstances for Wondo to really get a chance to start some games in 2009. IIRC a couple of forwards went down with injury. So he got a start and he scored, and that led to another start or two and another goal or two, etc., and the rest is history.
     
  21. Goodsport

    Goodsport Moderator
    Staff Member

    May 18, 1999
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I can't speak for 2006 since to this day I've never watched the Houston Dynamo except when they've played against the San Jose Earthquakes, but Moreno was quite good with the Earthquakes in 2005 and I imagine that he was still at least that good the following season with the Dynamo.


    That sounds about right except that I think Wondo's play here was merely average during the second half of 2009 (after he was traded from Houston for Cam Weaver, who briefly became a goal scoring machine over there immediately afterward). IIRC, it was at the very beginning of 2010 when Wondo, who at the time was 3rd or 4th on the team's forward depth chart, started because of injuries to the forwards above him.

    2010 ended up being his breakout year and, perhaps not coincidentally, saw the team return to the postseason for the first time in the post-Golden Age. :)


    GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! :cool:


    -G
     
  22. jetdog9

    jetdog9 Member+

    Nov 14, 2007
    Bay Area, CA
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    #2472 jetdog9, Feb 28, 2018
    Last edited: Feb 28, 2018
    You couldn't replace Moreno, he had the best goal celebration with the gun-slinging thing and the fans wanted the possible opportunity to see that!
     
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  23. JazzyJ

    JazzyJ BigSoccer Supporter

    Jun 25, 2003
    Yeah, looks like he only scored 3 goals for the Quakes that year but it wasn't in all that many starts. It was enough that you wanted to see more. And then, yeah, 2010 was the breakout year.
     
  24. jetdog9

    jetdog9 Member+

    Nov 14, 2007
    Bay Area, CA
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Yeah, I remember the 2009 goal against KC late in the game was a huge one, signs of more to come...
     
  25. bsman

    bsman Member+

    May 30, 2001
    MadCity
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Aly was a great guy, to boot. Always enjoyed talking to him, whether when he played for us or when he came back with other teams. That's another thing he has/had in common with Wondo -- they're both really friendly, approachable, and "normal".
     
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