5-31-2004: Stop breaking the law, a-hole!

"I think so," Tony Meola was saying Sunday night, before the Kansas City goalkeeper lost to the MetroStars, 1-0, at Giants Stadium. "I think we need to take advantage of the next 12 months, see what happens. I hope, I assume, I expect that Major League Soccer has big plans. Hopefully, some of these stadiums get rolling in the next months, and we can make a dent in the hockey thing. I hope we do. I think we can. Certainly we attract a similar crowd in terms of movement of the game, off the puck and the ball."

I agree with the big plans and stadiums developing, but I think Meola is giving his team far too much credit when they play on the road.....big crowds won't go to KC's road games if they keep playing the way the do....

"Sakiewicz swears his team will be playing in a new, 25,000-seat stadium in Harrison, N.J., by 2006, although there are bond issues that must be approved by Hudson County and the town of Harrison."

Now I'm worried

"The game looked destined to be a double shutout for 70 minutes — Wolyniec's header was the home side's first shot on goal. Kansas City (3-3-2) managed two before halftime, leaving Meola and Metro keeper Jonny Walker as bored as the 9,109 fans who endured from the stands. "

Can't argue with the truth, yet it is hard to say it was an unexpected thing to see this game turn into a boring affair.....

 

Its total B.S. the way KC plays on the road. I went to the Metros game last night and I must say that was the most boring live soccer game I have ever seen in my life. The crowd was really pissed off about it. Some people were even yelling for a refund. I'd love for KC to fire Gansler. It makes me laugh to hear Meola's quote in that article about hockey and then see the display his team puts on. That is not only not going to make any new fans it is also going to drive away existing ones.

 

The writer of the New York Daily News article deserves a raise based solely on the fact that he, unlike the vast majority of his contemporaries, is actually aware of the position boxing and horse racing once had in this country.

 

On this date.....

• 1982 - Chicago Sting beats New York Cosmos 4-3 at Giants Stadium to win 1982 Trans-Atlantic Challenge Cup.
• 1985 - US loses to Costa Rica 1-0 in a World Cup qualifier in Torrance, CA, ending bid to reach the 1986 World Cup.
• 1998 - Ross Paule of the Colorado Rapids scores two goals 67 seconds apart in a 2-1 win over Kansas City.
  

Today's Birthdays

• Brooke Shields is 39

 

5-31-2004: the rest of the story

MetroStars snap skid, 1-0 -- The Star-Ledger (Newark, N.J.)

Wolyniec's mark enough for Metros win -- Daily Record (Parsippany, N.J.)

Wizards stumble again on the road -- The Kansas City Star

Metros go to head of class -- New York Daily News

Wolyniec's deflection goal gives MetroStars 1-0 victory -- Home News Tribune (New Brunswick, N.J.)

Wolyniec, Metros get back on track -- Herald News (Paterson, N.J.)

 

• 
  
  You mention Brooke Shields but not Clint Eastwood?

 

Only 9 goals were scored in the five MLS games this weekend. Three were own goals (Kamler, Jolley (2)). One was a pk. So only five of the goals were from the run of play.

Three Western teams were shutout. All 5 goals in the Western division came in one game.
In the East four goals were scored, and each was a game winnter -- four games were decided 1-0.

The KC-Metros game was indeed boring, as was the DC-NE game, which I was unfortunate enough to attend. I think the level of play in MLS has actually gone down this year. Is it because veterans have been cut for salary reasons?

 

This is how I remember MLS starting last year. The year before was the same, I believe. Wait a month or 2.

 

All-Star Game tip of iceberg for MLS, Real Madrid - Chicago Dailly Southtown

CREW REVIEW - Cbus Dispatch

Galaxy scorch Burn with help from Jolley - Daily Breeze

 

Would you like to do this every day?

I also didn't mention Lea Thompson (33), Gregory Harrison (54), Tom Berenger (54), John Bonham (56), Joe Namath (61), Johnny Paycheck (63), or Prince Ranier II (71). I try to find at least a couple soccer-related birthdays and one non-soccer-related birthday every day, and some days there just aren't any relevant soccer-related birthdays that I can find. I put the first recognizable name that was on the list.

 

Bit of trivia not included in the 100-cap piece:
Agoos and Balboa debuted in the same game (Jan 10, 1988), along with Tab Ramos. Cobi Jones and Joe-Max Moore also did (Sep 3, 1992). In Reyna's first international, the only other first-timer was Dario Brose.

 

Oh, Lord, that'll stoke the fires in MLS Expansion for the next several years. "They've talked to Cuban! They've talked to Cuban! Actually talked to him! I mean, he's not interested, not now, and maybe never, but they talked to him! How can Paul Allen not be close behind?"

 

While I hope Kirovski's first goal gets ruled an own goal (it'll help me in my MFLS league), right now it's still considered his goal. And since when is an own goal not in the run of play?

Were you saying this after the two recent weeks when the league scored four goals per game?

 

This year, we lost Joe Addo, Stephen Armstrong, Edgar Bartolomeu, Chris Carrieri, Leo Cullen, Ali Curtis, Chad Deering, Brian Dunseth, Dario Fabbro, Rodrigo Faria, Wolde Harris, Ezra Hendrickson, Antonio Martinez, Chad McCarty, Brian West, and Richie Williams to the salary cap. I can't remember watching any of these guys and thinking how much they were doing for the quality of the league. Compared to the quality of the players replacing them (Parke, Arnaud, Leitch, Peguero, Dempsey, Valakari, etc.), I don't really think it's possible to claim that their absence is hurting the league.

 

http://sports.bostonherald.com/soccer/view.bg?articleid=30029]Revs forwards are in reverse: Club's ranks thin up front[/url] - Boston Herald

 

OTOH, The Metros goal was a thing of beauty.

 

Goals scored through first 43 games:


2004...99..2.30
2003..110..2.56
2002..116..2.70
2001..131..3.05
2000..134..3.12


That being said, the 1-0 Fire game Saturday night (which few of you saw) was wide open and pretty exciting.

All the standard inequality caveats apply in comparing one year to the next.

 

Kenn -- you've used the goals count from last week and the games count from this week. Here's a corrected table:


2004...108..2.51
2003..110..2.56
2002..116..2.70
2001..131..3.05
2000..134..3.12

 

Thank you. I was using the stats on MLSNet.com that said they were updated, but apparently they weren't. Cheers.

 

Which are pretty much in line with the full-season goals/game numbers from 2000-2003: 3.14, 3.23, 2.96, 2.85. Unless someone believes that MLS's quality has declined steadily since 2000 (when Joe Addo led the league in minutes), the argument that fewer goals means lower quality doesn't really stand up.

 

I don't believe goals=quality. I think for that average or less-than-average fan, few goals=boring and they may think it's not a quality product, but I certainly have seen exciting 1-0 games and 5-4 games that were crap. I just presented those numbers (and thanks to numerista for correcting them) because someone was talking about low-scoring games and boring play.

I've yet to see a coherent definition of "quality of play." It seems as though most think it's like pornography - "I can't define it, but I'll know it if I see it."

 

This is my standard definition. It's imperfect, but it has some explanatory force.

It's quality play when neither team makes any (or many) mistakes.

It's an astonishing game when both teams play quality ball, and yet both score a large quantity of goals.

It's a lousy game when both teams make a lot of mistakes, and it makes no difference whether a lot of goals are scored or not.

If one team plays flawless ball, and the other team makes mistakes, then it depends which side you're rooting for as to whether it was a good game or not.

 

I have no problem with low scoring games, as a matter of fact, I have seen some very exciting 0-0 games. The problem I have is when teams have 10 men bunkered behind the ball the whole game and go in looking for a 0-0 draw. I actually think this is KC's game plan on the road. It really sucks to watch. When I see how scoring is down this year it really makes me wonder if eliminating overtime hasn't caused more negative soccer because its easier now for teams to get a tie so they play it safe.