Six years ago today [R]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuqHJs9gkZ4"]YouTube- "We Believe" The Story of the 2003 San Jose Earthquakes Pt 3[/ame]
Ahhhh, good times.

 

Should be required viewing on a yearly basis. I have a ticket auctioned at Club Quakes with the autographs of all of the goal scores from the game.

Dam, I had forgotten the beautiful crosses from Mulronney. Agoos and Ekelunds free kick in the 2003 final are the best ever free kicks in my book for the Quakes.

Sadly, we are a long ways from having a team even close to that team. Frankly, I doubt that we will ever...

 

My favorite is the one with the English commentary from Tortino and his cohort, the LA radio announcers. It's just great hearing their jaws hit the ground, and their inability to comprehend.
Hard to believe it's been six years.
Go Quakes!

 

and lol at the [R] tag

it makes me sad that I wasn't a Quakes fan in those days

Ah well...I'll be here for the next miracle

 

Frank seemed so much happier then...........

 

Man,

Still gives me the chills! My throat hurt for a week from yelling so much. Good times.

 

classic...

That was a wild day/night...

 

I believe that it was drizzling on that cold night but that didn't matter because what was happening at the moment in that stadium was such a memoreable and awesome experience ! very electrifying & shocking moment ..... and it was much sweeter a few days later to win it all in that same year ! and in the SCUMS BRAND new stadium ! ! which they had just inaugurated in 2003

 

Man, I was there and I will never forget that night. While all the players have either retired, played for other teams (like LA) or even disappeared, that night collectively they defined what the Quakes should always be. It was a team with fighting spirit, good team work, good chemistry and in general good skills. Our current team doesn't have much of these elements yet but I hope they will slowly bring all these back.

 

i remember getting there late, because of picking up my wife from the airport. we arrived as the scum scored the 4th goal. the remainder of the game was amazing, i just couldn't believe what i was seeing in front of me. when we tied, i was shaking. and when Faria scored the winner, i thought i was gonna faint in the stands. i remember telling my wife, prepare yourself, i'm gonna fall down, my hands were tingling.

unforgettable night.

 

Thanks for posting that reminder, Three. A little bit of group therapy was in order, I think.

 

Being both a Quakes fan and a Buffalo Bills fan, I've had the pleasure of witnessing and enjoying the greatest comebacks in both MLS and NFL history. (The Bills beat the Houston Oilers, 41-38 in January 1993, erasing a 32-point third-quarter deficit.)

There are some interesting parallels. Both games occurred in the preliminary round of the playoffs after losing regular season finales to the same foe (the Bills lost 27-3 in Houston the week before. The Quakes lost a home and home regular season series to LA before entering the playoffs and, as I recall, scored only one goal in all of October). Both comebacks came before the home fans and were completed in overtime. And in both instances, the comeback kids went on to the championship game (the Bills lost their third of four consecutive Super Bowls, while the Quakes won their 2d MLS Cup.)

The parallels tend to end there. The Bills' comeback is widely celebrated in Buffalo, where I don't believe a single citizen is unaware of it. Most San Jose residents remain unaware of what the Mercury News dubbed at the time "the Greatest Game No One Saw." (As I recall, there was no picture accompanying the postgame story, because they didn't send a photographer.)

Last month, after attending the Quakes match in Toronto, I visited an exhibit at the Buffalo & Erie County Historical Society celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Buffalo Bills. (Why isn't the Oakland Museum doing something similar for the Raiders?) One feature of a much larger exhibit is a "living room" setting with a huge flat-screen TV opposite a large sofa visitors can sit in and watch a perpetual loop of the telecast of the greatest NFL comeback game. Flanking the living room are curio cabinets with lots of Bills memorabilia over the years.

When in a couple years the History San Jose Soccer Legacy exhibit opens in conjunction with the new soccer stadium, I envision something similar to showcase the greatest comeback in MLS history and introduce it, in most cases for the first time, to the residents of San Jose and the Bay Area.

 

Without a doubt the greatest night of my life. Only problem was I knew then that my sporting life had peaked at age 21, as I will likely never experience a night like that again.

 

When I watched that youtube video, I seemed to see Simon Elliot. Right? He had more hair back then.

Seeing Little Fish and Medusa again just reminds me they are still very disgusting. I don't think I dislike any current MLS player more than them. I would say Medusa is even more annoying than Little Fish.

 

I remember verbally abusing Lalas as he waited to be subbed ( i don't remember if he ever came in) ...I remember Cobi Jones' mom talkin smack after they went up 4-0 on agregate...I remember believing right after Agoos' goal.
It was by far the best soccer game I have ever been to.
Take that Brazil vs France in WC '86 @ Jalisco.

 

Yes, Simone Elliot was one of the Scummers then. No doubt about it. That's the first time I've heard the nickname Medusa, but I assume that's the one whose nickname in Chilean Spanish means "Brillo." And El Pescashit was definitely there as well.

 

While I have my problems with Ruiz, you will notice that he was one of the few LA players congratulating the Quakes...Plus, you can see how far out of shape he has gotten the last couple of years...

 

It's great to reminisce about this Greatest Ever MLS Match. Brings back excellent memories. My wife left the room after the filth scored their second goal. She couldn't handle it. I ran and told her about our first goal. Then I ran and told her about our second goal. She came back and watched with me. And there was much rejoicing!



BUT, we need to be building new memories. We need to build a club that wins both on and off the field. We need leadership and vision, both on the pitch, from the coach, and from the GM and Front Office. I see very little leadership in our organization. I see guys who could step up, but I also see their efforts thwarted. I like David Alioto, but he needs a serious dose of Quakes consciousness. How can he not have our guys wearing blue? Why did he change the logo? How come no one in the organization says: "Losing is intollerable." I don't even hear that from Frank and Ian. I don't hear it from JD. "We're having a tough year." No, we suck! We lost a lot of games this season before the end of the first half. That's not OK.

We need a new coach.
We need a new GM.
We need two or three new starters.
We need some new marketing.
We need to get some love from the local media.
We need a new vision that includes a path to the promised land.

I am getting very tired of this lackluster attitude. It is embarrassing to be a fan of this team.

Go Quakes!!

- Mark

 

These videos are a great post. Quite a bit of the core of this team still exists, and that's why in the playoffs, I am rooting for Houston. They would still be Quakes if we had given them the fan base they deserved. Our new Quakes will get better, but we are still coming up short on a successful fan base. (that's just a statement, no finger pointing intended.)

 

That's a real stretch, and it sounds like an AEG quote.

 

What I meant was that those Quakes were a great team, with so much heart, who deserved to have at least 15-20k fans root them on every week, instead of 5-7k.

But hey, AEG is water under the bridge. forgeddaboudit.