From the L.A. Times: The Los Angeles Galaxy and D.C. United will play an exhibition match at Honolulu's Aloha Stadium in February, but a better draw would have been the San Jose Earthquakes with Haleiwa-born forward Brian Ching, the first Hawaiian to play in MLS. Reported the Honolulu Advertiser: “Organizers said it couldn't be worked out.” That might have something to do with Anschutz Entertainment Group's holding on to the Galaxy and D.C. United while attempting to sell off the Quakes.
If it's before training camp begins, I wonder if he'll be brought in as a "guest player"? It's not unprecedented in off-season exhibitions.
maybe hes going to be traded to one of the two teams BEFORE the trip to Hawaii. We all know that MLS does what they want when they want.
...as evidenced by the way a neverending supply of great SIs and allocations find their way to LA even when there are other, more needy teams in the league that are due. I'll stop short of being a conspiracy theorist but it sure is curious. As for the notion of trading Ching....bite your cybertongue!
When i went back home to Maui in August, people are aware of Ching, too bad we won't be playing LA in Hawaii, most kats over there support Bay Area teams, like the 9ers and Raiders. Also, it would give the Kekeis(kids) a chance to see a Hawaiian playin pro soccer, and one they can look up too.
Yeah, it is too bad. I like the guest player idea, for him and the locals, but having a hard time stomaching Chingy back in the puke yellow and green, even for one game. I think I read that he's going back to Maui to get married this off-season, but I'm not sure if he'll be spending most of his off-season in Hawaii or here.
Hopefully, Ching can be used as some kind of guest of honor/MLS ambassador for this event, without wearing a different team's uniform. I'm also not wild about him playing in an LA/CHI "friendly" because Aloha Stadium has an artificial surface and he's had numerous leg problems in his still-young career.
Aloha Stadium replaced the old rug with FieldTurf before last football season (at the behest of the NFL). So their surface is no different than the Meadowlands or Cardinal or (gasp) Dragon.