Eric Wynalda inducted into the US Soccer Hall of Fame. One of the two first MLS'ers to achieve this honor. Congrats to Eric and thanks for the goal that put US Soccer and the SJ Clash/Quakes on the map. Always and forever my favorite footballer #11 Eric Wynalda. http://www.mlsnet.com/MLS/news/mls_news.jsp?ymd=20040505&content_id=1881&vkey=news_mls&fext=.jsp
Re: May 5th - Eric the Great Inducted This rocks. Because he was hyperactive as a kid, he had to overcome a lot to get to an elite level. Great Nat player, one of (if not *the*) best SF Bay Blackhawks ever, and of course, the scorer of the first goal in MLS history. Still not sure which nickname should go on his plaque. He was "Fluffy" on the Blackhawks, then "Waldo" on the Nats, but also "The Finisher" in early MLS propaganda. John Shrader mentioned this on KNBR this afternoon, too.
Re: May 5th - Eric the Great Inducted Love him or hate him, he also had to deal with attention deficit disorder to get where he is today in his post soccer career as well, be in broadcast booth or writing. Despite whatever was said about him or debating about the "could have beens" in his playing days, he's earned his spot in the Hall. So, congrats to Waldo. Cheers!
From today's Merc: Wynalda makes Hall, but holds grudge Apparently, he wants to go into the HoF wearing the colors of the Chicago Flaming, as a childish protest against Peter Bridgwater and Laurie Calloway, who "ruined his career." WAAAAAAAAAAAAH! "They made us wear ugly jackets." WAAAAAAAAH! (Egads, if he thought the jackets were ugly, what about the Clash uniforms? Huh?) Still, congrats to him, but this article puts an ugly spin on an otherwise nice moment. (If you get prompted for an email and password to see the story, enter "bigsoccer@bigsoccer.com" and "bigsoccer")
I'm sorry to hear that. Maybe we should ask them to let him in in an Earthquakes uni. I remember there were a lot of hard-feelings about Eric's attitude when I first started coming to the games in '99, and that he had a lot of problems with the previous coach, Calloway, but I never saw him on the field in a Clash uniform, he was injured so much at that time. I think the first time I saw him play was after he had been traded to Miami [?] and they played against the Clash at Spartan. However, his work in the broadcast booth has been excellent. Anyway, suck it up, Eric and go in in the Clash kit!!!
His bad blood with Calloway goes all the way back to the San Francisco Bay Blackhawks of the APSL, when he first accused Calloway of trying to sabotage his career because Calloway didn't want Eric missing so many club games for non-essential USMNT friendlies. Things obviously didn't get any better for their relationship in MLS.
Jim Rome (on KNBR 1050 AM) just mentioned Wynalda refusing to go into the Hall in Quakes garb. He says more on that coming up. FYI. (However, it's very typical of Rome to say he's going to get to a soccer story later in the show, then never get to it.)
Amazing how everyone seems to think he was a great player, how many teams in MLS let him go...four I think. He's just an example of another player that the league got too good for, if he had stayed productive he would still be playing in the league, what is he 34? Congrat's on the Hall but he should be happy he's not starting his career now because he might not have lasted too long.
I disagree. The problem for players like Wynalda, Lalas and Doyle is that they were already on the downslope of their careers when MLS kicked off in '96. They were more important to MLS from a name-recognition standpoint than they were as players. Did anyone else hear Rome? It was classic. He got off his blast at Wynalda, soccer, MLS, etc. at around 10:30. Wynalda's phone rang off the hook from friends telling him about it, so he called in later, and did a pretty good 10-minute interview with Rome. He defended wearing the Fire jersey in the HoF because he wasn't on the Earthquakes, he was on the Clash, and they don't exist anymore. He blamed San Jose sucking so much in the early years on "two British guys" (Bridgwater and Callaway), whom he called "dinosaurs." He discussed Adu, and feels too much is expected from him right now. Finally, he announced he's going to pursue getting a gig in the NFL as a kicker (sounded serious about it).
Umm.. you do know that in his last year, he led Chicago with 10 goals and 5 assists, while only playing half a season's worth of minutes, right?
Posted by Terp Fan: Amazing how everyone seems to think he was a great player, how many teams in MLS let him go...four I think. He's just an example of another player that the league got too good for, if he had stayed productive he would still be playing in the league, what is he 34? Response: Hey Terp Fan, at 34 he is the all-time leading scorer for the United States in international play! Scored the first ever MLS goal... He is quite deserving of the hall. If you look at the list of others that were up for induction, it wasn't even close! Please do your homework before posting a reply here!
Not surprisingly, Laurie Calloway has a different view of how things went down with Eric Wynalda and the Clash. Calloway is countering the accusation by saying Wynalda was responsible for his demise. It's no wonder the team sucked in the early years. Can't we just all get along? Calloway reverses Wynalda's story (SJ Mercury News)
Ah yes, brings back memories of when Eric payed for a plane to fly around the stadium during a game with a banner that said "Fire Calloway!". It's nice to see the love hasn't been lost... It's well documented that all three didn't help the Clash. Glad those days are past. Hopefully forever...
Don't you just love a cat fight like this? Maybe we should get the two of them to duel it out with bean bags on the center line at Spartan. Sounds like a couple of old ladies arguing over their ----.
Any such event should be followed by a cat fight between Steve Sampson and John Harkes. And then a cat fight between Wynalda and John Harkes if they both come out winners of their own fights.
As Columbus Crew midfielder Simon Elliott said while doing commentary on last year's Eastern Conference Finals... "Handbags at 20 paces!"