For better or worse, I'm too invested in the Quakes after all of these years. There's no way that I would be more excited to watch a Bay FC game. But that's just me.
Awesome! I went to a Cubs game there about 40 years ago. Great vibe. If you don't have plans for the postgame, Kingston Mines blues club is only a mile and half away.
What’s the reason by the way? Why are Bay FC games, in your estimation, “more fun”? Just curious. Higher quality soccer? More wide open game? More fan engagement? More “festive” vibe? Better concessions?
Not specifically about Bay FC, but WaPo had an interesting article about the influx of teenage players in NWSL... https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/06/07/nwsl-teen-players/
The fans are actually excited to attend. I am sure some Quakes attendees are excited as well. For many of us long-timers, it has become a chore.
I watched quite a few games at Wrigley Field - taking the Skokie Swift. The fare, bleacher tickets, a program/scoresheet and pizza or hot dog came to under ten bucks. A fair amount under, IIRC. I always cheered for the Cardinals when they were in town, but the Cubs when they were playing the Pirates or Reds, etc.
As I’ve said, the starting is the easy part. Maintaining it over many seasons is the hard part, and in the Quakes case you have a relocation and many losing seasons to boot. But for me a Bay game could never be more exciting than a Quakes game, at least in terms of how invested I am. It would be like being invited to some neighbor kid’s game. I’ll watch and root for the neighbor kid and if the crowd is into it that’s great, but it won’t compare with seeing my own kid’s games.
My daughter traveled to Chicago for the game, and got a dozen people in her firm's Chicago office to join her (no idea who they were rooting for). Despite the rain, a very fun time. We have season tickets for Bay (daughter insisted) but not the Quakes, which feels markedly odd to me. I do enjoy the games, though. You see much less diving and acting than you do with the men, and the refereeing also seems more evenhanded. The women are focused on playing soccer vs trying to get away with fouling their opponents, which often seems to be the game plan for the men's teams. As a bonus, the people in front of us bring a dog to games, and it's fun to watch him too.
If the Quakes played Bay FC who would lose worse? this team was 1-10-1 heading into this game. honestly kinda speechless, it’s impressive you somehow lost to them lmao— ant (@sjx3o) June 17, 2024
#MontoyaOut I really don’t understand why these former USWNT and WC champion owners are suffering Albertin Montoya and Lucy Rushton any further. Watching BFC is like watching the Quakes. The only real difference in the 2 games right now is that the BFC stadium atmosphere is very positive and we enjoy that. But the coaching is deplorable.
I was at the game, and while things were festive, the atmosphere was not about soccer. Once again I wore my FC Gold Pride t-shirt. Walked the concourse countless times. Zero comments.
My son brought my wife and me to our first Bay FC game last night as a birthday present to her. The vibe is very different from a Quakes game. Not necessarily better, from my point of view, but different. The attendance was a bit better than at the Saturday 'Quakes game. Maybe 3/4 full versus 2/3. But the game was waaaay too similar. The Utah team is weak and Bay FC dominated for (almost) the entire game. They created lots of chances but missed every one of them with poor finishing. Then, at the very end of the game, 85th minute or so, Bay FC gives up a set piece goal. What a mess! My son thinks that PayPal park must have ben built over some sacred burial ground and both teams are now cursed !
San Jose is home to the worst coaches and worst GMs in the NWSL and MLS. What’s wrong with San Jose? Is it the water? The high cost of housing?
As a life long Quakes fan and a Thorns season ticket owner, the general lack of theatrics involving referee decisions and gamesmanship in the women's game more than makes up for the slight difference in speed of play some men's only game snobs think is unacceptable. That is up until the recent stupidity and entitlement the Thorns organization demonstrated in attempting to get Sophia Smith's red card for some obvious brain fart behavior on her part at their last home game. Instead of fining her for behaving like a dumb ass (and something I would expect from a men's game) they tried to get the red card rescinded and the league said grow the F**K up, doubled her fine and number of games suspended, revoked Thorns bond (whatever that is) and took away their remaining decision challenging options for this season. This I attribute not to the women's game in general but rather some nauseating entitlement the Thorns organization seems to have absorbed from the Timbers.