Let me be the first to say.....Who gives a rat's ass about this game? If I want to sleep I'll do it at home, not at this snorefest. Let them pander to the mexicans and south american crowd for their overpriced tickets. As for San Francisco...
Fixed your quote. Trust me, it has nothing to do w/ "pandering", it has more to do w/ knowing the Bay Area soccer market and showcasing a world-class stadium, two things you could only hope the Quakes had. Your soccer ignorance is ... frightening. FYI: Boca Jrs. is an historic side, the home club to the legendary maradona. you may have heard of him. He played for Argentina. You may have heard of that country. It is very, very far south of here. Boca Jrs. is also the squad of a legend in the making: Carlos Tevez. You will hear more from this guy, especially when he gets sold to a Big Euro Snorefest club that will pay tens of millions of dollars for him. Club America ... has some awesome players as well (Navia, Cuatemoc Blanco [hate him or love him, he's been one hell of a footballer lately]). Besides, they'll prolly own your team shortly.
I hope the players tear up the field and make the baseball players cry like little babies. By the way, another miss opp for the Quakes to participate in a DH and help raise their visibility. And I thought CA was buying the Quakes. What's up w/ that?
Well, perhaps this is proof that CA isn't. I think you're right - if they were, they'd've scheduled this somehow as a DH. Now if only my friend with Giants season tickets was on AIM right now... But how can they play soccer in a baseball stadium? In the middle of baseball season? For one thing, the stadium's the wrong shape. For another, there's a big dirt area on the field, with a big lump in the middle of it. How does that work?
A soccer field fits just fine at SBC with one goal in front of the left-field fence and the other in front of the 1st-base dugout. As for the dirt infield, they will probably just play on the dirt NASL-style, with the mound flattened. Previous soccer games there have been in the winter when they had a full grass field installed for the college football games played there.
Carlito, Carlito, Carlito. I know you're fighting the good fight against the Blue heathens in NoCal, but the chip on your shoulder when it comes to any disparagment of Ibero-American footy is getting pretty big. It is possible for someone to not be a big fan of Latin American soccer in general, and watching the reserves of two of the hemispheres biggest bunch of divers and hackers try not to injure each other on a baseball diamond probably isn't what many soccer fans would consider two hours well spent. Not to mention that it is possible for two teams with an ass-load of history to put on a stinker (Hi, I'm the 2003 Champions League Final) Worst of all, however, is that your didn't have the word "Houston" in it once! You're slippin' son!
Ok., SJ fans, it's now time for me to take on the Yellow Republic heathens in SoCal... Eric B, it's just that I truly believe that awareness and familiarity of SoAm footie is critical to attracting Latinos to MLS. Going to see CA play and then capping on them w/ a colleague/neighbor who's an Atlante fan is a great conversation starter and a great way of building friendships. It's just like when you see a mother and/or a father w/ a toddler/infant and you go ga-ga over their child, no matter what race or nationality, those parents are really appreciative of your admiration. Admiration and respect are 2 key components to breaking down social barriers, in this case soccer and bringing MLS to the SoAmie snobs so that SJ doesn't get moved to Houston [happy now?]. Call me idealistic, but that's just my 2 pesos.
Hey Carlitos, Why are you posting so often in our board? They don't let you speak in the galactoscum board? MD
Finally something worth looking at in that stadium other than the stadium itself and the views from it.
Couldn't have said it better and for burrito-boy to get it from a fellow SoCal scum is priceless indeed
The bay area soccer market? If this was about playing to an ethnic group they'd have some Japanese teams in there. Boca and America would draw a much bigger crowd in L.A. or Sacramento (if they had a proper place to play the match). The bay area isn't the first place I think of when I think high concentration of hispanics. I'm from SoCal and grew up in the central valley. I lived in the bay area for three years and can tell you just by walking down the street there aren't as many hispanics as most other places in California. I guess it would be an all right game. I won't be there though. Will be on my way to Celtic/Chelsea that morning.
Oakland. It's in the Bay Area. and I bring a lot of fans to Spartan. So I like to know what's going on w/ this lil' franchise in order to support MLS in NoCal, to try to be a little informed. Beerking, I hope that Tevez, Navia or Cuatemoc never get the opportunity to take it to USMNT or an MLS side. But it makes soccer funner to know what the hells going on outside one's own narrow window. I also find that by doing so, it's easier to bring ppl to MLS games. I hope for the Quakes sake more ppl could do that so that this franchise could stay. I'd hate for the only game in town be Mexican nats or MFL club friendlies. Although I'm sure there would be plenty of Galaxy fans around to rub it in to make you feel better.
Cuatemoc? Do you mean Blanco? I am afraid that he has already had that opportunity and was found to be severely wanting, basically having his futbol glutimus maximus shoved up between his shoulder blades. Remember 2-0?
Certainly. But I don't think he was playing as well as he played during the 2004 Clausura championship. He's definitely on a roll. Will he continue to play red-hot for 18-24 months? Who knows.
According to the Merc's massive two-sentence coverage of this game, Boca won 3-1 on goals from Guglielminpietro, Carreno, and Ledesma. Already down by three, America scored late in the game on a PK by Ortiz. Anyone go to this? How was the attendance and atmosphere? How's SBC Park for soccer?
There were 17,110 there. That's got to be considered a disappointing turnout, although fans of those teams knew most of the stars would be missing due to Copa America. Here's the article from the Chron (SFGate.com): Boca scores easy win by Jorge Ortiz. Much better article than the Merc, but then again, the game was in SF.
Yeah I went. It was a pretty entertaining game, I love seeing Club America getting their asses kicked . Boca dominated virtualy the entire game and played some elegent futbol at times (I think I'm becoming a Bostero). The atomosphere overall was great, I stood with the tiny Boca Barra and they had a lot of funny and filthy chants. The CA group was not even as loud as the Casbah but when the rest of crowd got worked up it was a bit intense, I guess it's just the acoustics of Sparten but SJ crowds never make that much noise . The pitch at SBC was very small, no wider than Sparten Stadium and maybe even not as long. On the whole though SBC is a pretty and picturesque place for soccer. Oh ,I forgot to add, when we first got to the stadium the were showing clips of the Earthquakes and LD on the big screen there. Somebody in the front office was thinking!
Went because I work walking distance from SBC and coworker had his club team friends going. First time at SBC for most of us. Cons: Poor sightlines. Lower deck is sloped so gradually that many fans are too close to field level. Not good for watching soccer. Field Width. I believe the field width was only 66 yards wide. Can't be sure, could be optical illusion from low angle. Soggy sod over dirt. Obnoxious Airhorns. Classless America fans throwing ice and beer. Pros: Stadium and environs. Vibrant place for a new SSS right next to the train station I arrive at daily from Santa Clara. Boca Juniors playing hard and schooling CA.
There were 17,110 there. That's got to be considered a disappointing turnout, although fans of those teams knew most of the stars would be missing due to Copa America. Boca scores easy win by Jorge Ortiz. Much better article than the Merc, but then again, the game was in SF. I was at the game as well, I enjoyed it, especially some of the young guys from Boca that came on in the second half impressed me. I have been trying to look for a match report, or something like it, to see the starting line ups and the names of the players. Anyone know where I can find this?
I don't have a match report, but I do have the game notes, which have the roster. If you are interested, please send me a PM as I can't send attachements from within BigSoccer. Anne (with the Quakes)