********ING HILARIOUS. I had to go to a wedding today, so I missed the game, and now I can't get the highlights off of MLSNET.com, so I have to take your word for it. When I saw "Guillermo Ramirez" on the score sheet, I was like "who the ******** is that?" Took me a second to imagine that Pando might have scored.
He took off the shirt, ran over to 138 and draped it over the corner flag. Then he put his elbow on top of the flag and just stood there looking at LARS.
Blackhawk, did you win your game? Has Herc had any goal celebrations at home that didn't involve LARS in some way?
I wish. Although I am happy that I got to score, but we failed to make it out of the group stage. LAPD won the tournament. First time ever to play on artificial turf and it SUCKS. My entire left leg looks like I laid down a Harley at 100 mph on gravel. Nasty stuff. After the first goal Herc went to the bench area and not to LARS. I think he might actually like SS2??
Sure seemed that way in the ESPN piece. I was still getting to my seat when Herc scored - so I didn't see his first celebration. Congrats on your goal. Nice to know the LAPD is good at something. I kid. Cops are ok.
You guys remember last year when SS1 took Jovan off early, and he ran straight into the locker room? I don't think Jovan likes to be pulled. SS1 was fired shortly thereafter.
I hope you're right about this. I watched his main competition (I guess), Burciaga, tonight & he was awful. He was torched by Gaven on a long run & took him down in the box - no PK call, but it was deserved. So much for Burciaga's vaunted speed advantage.
aww how come theres no video for this thing it was on HDnet since theres highlights available... why no streams? damn galaxy game had to be at the same time as the UCLA game
The second yellow on Borchers looked like total ****************. Herc kind of just pushed himself in front and went down. It was maybe a foul and a free kick. Borchers had two fouls, no verbal warnings, and was out of the game after 20 minutes. Nice reffing. Tainted the victory for me. Couldn't believe Colorado signed Guti from Real Madrid. Turns out it was just Eric Denton with Guti's pelo... and Eric Denton's skills. The Donovan goal after the Albright pass and Cobi cross was the goal of the night. When the highlights are up, watch the near post run Donovan makes. Couldn't believe he beat Cannon to the ball and nailed it inside the post. The textbook buildup made it even better. Herculez won't win rookie of the year, but he should. Got a bit lucky on the first goal after a poor first touch and mistake by the defender. Hammered it home with absolute authority though. On the second goal... well... I hope Donovan is taking notes on how to finish when you're 1v1 with the keeper. Herc has it down to a ********in science, and Donovan missed another gift this evening. Pando's goal was as hilarious as it sounds. We were yelling "SHOOT" and chuckling every time he touched the ball anyways... so when it came time for the PK and we saw Pando lining it up, the anticipation built and built until we all finally agreed that if he missed it we would explode in a cacophony of laughter. And then he hit the post and the ball bounced in off Cannon's back, as if two dueling Gods were fighting over whether or not El Pando deserved a gol, and we just died. Tears streamed as uncontrolable guffaws poured out of our gullets. Happiness mixed with hilarity. 4-1. What a ********ing team. And thanks to the cuz for free tix in 130. And ups to the sideline seaters who joined us in a chant or two. And apologies to that group of children that was waiting on the stairs looking at us like while we serenaded "You Sucks" upon the starting lineup. We didn't see you until it was too late.
right on about herc. we've definitely found our finisher. now if only some of that would rub off on joseph, kiro, and pando.. (i'm leaving out naldo since i don't expect him to be w/ the team much longer.. don't disappoint me Galaxy FO!)
Wasn't Borchers the last defender on Herculez? If the last defender prevents a goalscoring opportunity with a foul, that's a red. It didn't have to be a bad foul.
Definitely better than last Saturday. He broke up some plays and had the nice through ball to Herc that resulted in the first goal. Also did a really good job of checking back to the defense to provide an outlet through the middle of the field. As a lot of people always say about Pete, he did "all of the little things". Unfortunately, he's still not as quick and ferocious on defense as Nagamura and doesn't have the vision or passing of Kirovski or Grabavoy. He's a perfect central midfieler partnered with someone else in a 3-5-2, but he seems the odd man out in a 4-4-2, except he keeps playing. The question becomes what happens when Nagamura is healthy again? Grabavoy has been excellent these last two games playing as a pinched-in winger, so I guessing that Kirovski might be the odd man out (especially after Sampson subbed him out, and not Vagenas or Grabavoy at the 64 min. mark last night). I also went back and watched the hightlights this morning, to see if I missed anything while providing my limited play-by-play. A couple points: 1. I really, really like Herc. He was making excellent runs all night long. Finally, someone is using the space that Donovan creates because of his presence on the field in an attacking, intelligent way. And Grabavoy is the #1 playmaking finding Herc in that space. 2. The first yellow on Borchers was weak. The second was totally deserved. 3. Marshall shadowed Cunningham all over the field, and that contributed to the Rapids goal. Cunningham was all the way out at the sideline and Marshall was with him when the ball got whipped into the box. Our players covered correctly - Albright slide over to central defense and Cobi dropped back to cover Albright's spot and got to the cross, but little Cobi can't head out the ball with the power of Marshall or Albright and it landed right at the feet of Beckerman. Vagenas ran over to try to block the shot, but it deflected off his outstretched foot, leaving Hartman flat-footed. Compared to the bone-headed defensive lapses of past weeks, I can live with that. Hartman also made one excellent "gato-like" reflex save on Cunningham late in the game. 4. Herc now has the #1 and #2 best goal celebrations of the year. After his second, he ripped off his shirt, ran over to the corner-flag in front of the Riot Squad, draped his shirt over the corner flag, then rested his elbox on top of it and struck a pose for the Squad. You could actually see Brian Hall shaking his head in amusement as he pulled the yellow card out of his pocket... 5. Maybe a little luck is what Pando needs to get going... 6. Grabavoy and Herc should be starters from here on out until their play dictates otherwise... 7. Check out Donovan's goal if they ever get highlights up on MLSnet. It probably won't win GOTW, but it is a textbook example of team play. Cobi and Albright played the give and go perfectly. Albright had the ball and made a run towards the middle of the field. The Colorado D shut him down and he passed it back (I think to Vagenas). Vagenas passed it up to Cobi on the wing. Cobi held it until his man committed to him, then passed it square to Albright and took off down field. Albright did a perfect wall pass back to Cobi behind the defense (notice the quick, sharp passing going on here!). As Cobi is running down the ball, Donovan starts his run into the box. He drifts toward the far post, drawing his defender with him, then just as Cobi reaches the ball, Donovan pivots and breaks near post. Cobi hits a nice, driven cross across the six-yard box and Donovan slips between two defenders to the near post and heads it in. Perfect execution from our three Nat Team Stars! But I wouldn't get too excited just yet. Let's see if the team can string together a couple of solid performances like this before we start getting our hopes up for a good post-season...
Nice game recap, Tricky. I'm excited about the game, but I will officially keep my hopes in check until after Wednesday. I'm worried about Herc, though. Any chance we could lose him due to accumulated yellows?
Herc's post game comments: On scoring two goals: "I just try to give the fans what they want. It's my job."
Before going to the match, I was thinking to myself why I was going to watch 2 mediocre teams play in a potential draw. I prayed that tonight would be different & that the Galaxy would make it worth my time & money. Prayers answered. Pando's goal was freaking hilarious. I had a feeling that something strange would happen and what do you know. I couldn't help but laugh after it went in. Preaching to the choir: Give Herc a raise. The dude really works his butt of and he's paying divedends. I'll give SS2 a little credit for giving Herc playing time. Perhaps Stevie should dump his discovery, Naldon't, to free up money for Herc's raise. We played like a team. Too bad there were no bacon-wrapped dogs for me to celebrate the winning occasion. Off-field highlight: Saw Drew Carey. Even responded with a "Hey, how you doing?" when I greeted him.
I saw bwhd vendors in plain view all over lot 13 and the lot above and even on the sidewalks around the stadium after the game, plying their trade for all to see without the paranoid "any minute I'll have to pack up an run" disposition I noticed earlier in the season. I saw at least a dozen different vendors. In fact, there were so many of them that I turned to my wife and mentioned that Topper's request to Hamilton must have been granted . . . if only Topper told him to sack Naldo, too.