LONG POST WARNING. SUMMARY AT END OF POST. ....oh. And as for the fess up part? For me, I've always cared about and been interested in the players, their qualities, their struggles, challenges, successes, and improvements. So I have, and will keep, a strong attachment to the players - so I followed (and will continue to follow) current and former San Jose players. (Just like I follow Americans overseas and care about their progress and success.) I enjoy knowing DeRosario has all the moves to beat a player and only be a tiny bit off balance, but that he can't beat just one, so he'll beat a second, and a third, and by then he'll be so off balance he'll be falling down, so he'll shoot, but being off balance he'll probably hit the ball a bit wrong and it will only trickle to the keeper (or go well wide/high), but that every once in a while he'll manage to make good contact and score a golazo. ...usually against the Revs. Getting the know the player makes the game more fun for me. If it were just one of 11 guys in a jersey - any player would do - it wouldn't be as enjoyable. Like with Barrett, early in his carreer. He had all this potential, but his passing lagged (more 'clearance' than 'pass', more 'to-the-opponent' than 'to-a-teammate'). Then, he suddenly had the "pass it to 'Goos"-revelation. He'd win the ball, pass it to 'Goos, and watch it go somewhere useful. He'd found this way to be successful, and you could just see the confidence growing each game. A few weeks later, and he was playing high percentage passes to players other than 'Goos, and by the end of the season, he was playing a range of passes with a great rate of success, and he was playing his riskier passes at better times. Watching that development made the game more fun. Make that just any left-back in blue, "swap him, replace him, I-don't-care-cause-it's-about-the-front-of-the-jersey-not-the-back", and it's not as interesting to me. Or take early Mullan, or even better, Russell or Ibsen. These guys were fast. They could blow by guys, get to the end line, and get off a cross. Problem was, the cross would most likely be terrible. A high looping ball over everyone, or to the keeper, or a driven ball where no one was, or even a shank out of bounds. Knowing that made it all the more meaningful when they'd get off a good cross, right to Cerritos (or other). It made me cheer even more, I was even happier because I knew how unlikely that cross was. So, having said all that, I have to say that when it comes to the end of the game, I want SJE to win - whoever is on the field. Am I contradicting myself? Maybe, 'cause it's the team that makes me interested / invested in the player in the first place. Is that logic circular? Maybe: I like a team, so I get to know / like / support the players, if they leave the team, I feel invested in them and wish them success, so I continue to support them, but it still all starts with liking a team, so I'm already investing in the new players, and ultimately, success is determined by the team, so I hold the success of the team above that of the player, so in the end, even though I follow and support the players and ex-players, the bottom line is: Go Earthquakes!
I never really followed the Quakes that much before they left. I guess I was part of the problem. I went to maybe 4 Quakes matches and 2 Clash matches in my whole life. Only really followed Spurs and international football. If I had to root for an MLS team besides the Quakes, I'd say RBNY. I don't know why, but I really liked them last season except for Arena and Reyna. Arena's just a fat ugly dude who pisses me off and is always giving the refs shit (most of the time unjustly). Reyna just sucks. I realized in time that supporting Tottenham is great and it's easy to stay passionate about a team like Spurs, even when they're so far away, but it's really a whole different idea when you're supporting your local club. So I started supporting California Victory and that didn't last long unfortunately. I really liked those guys. They just didn't have the ownership or technical class to make it in the pro league. So now I'm a bit of a new Quakes supporter. They always call MLS a "mickey mouse league" on Fox Football Fone-In and I kinda agree, but I can already see it changing rapidly and I definitely want to be there. Count me in with the Beckham-admiring crowd. It could only be good for MLS, except for the being injured and losing America's trust part. In summary, my ideal match last year was that 5-4 Galaxy-RBNY match. I already hated LA, I've always hated Cobi Jones and the Galaxy, and I never really liked Donovan either. So seeing LA lose was brilliant. The city is full of douches. Seeing RBNY win was also great. But it was also enjoyable to see Becks put the ball anywhere he wanted to. It was pure class.
I haven't read all of the comments in this thread. I have watched maybe two or three MLS games since the Quakes left, and the Dynamo at Pachuca game. I've been rooting for the Timbers up here, though I didn't go to very many games in '06. I did better last season, made it to eight or ten games. Last season, I got roped into a fantasy league. So I ended up following games through the stats, but I didn't watch. I had several players from Cowlumbus on my squad, so I sort of know those guys and I like them. Thus, I'm happy to us that we now have Grabavoy and Kamara. I still haven't worked up the nerve to order DirectKick. I'm still pissed at MLS. A little less since I talked to that guy in their fan building group, but I'm still pissed. So I have nothing to fess up to. I did not order DirectKick in '06 or '07. I did not buy any MLS gear. I did not pay for any MLS tickets. I do feel guilty that I didn't go see our local Community College teams. The men's side won their league! And, they wore blue! Cool! The women's team finished 11-3-4 (w-d-l). I should have gone to see them too. GOOOOO QUAAAAAAKES!!!!! GO PENGUINS! (Hey! I've taken a class there.) - Mark
I did maintain a passing interest in MLS -- which isn't easy to do over here. But after all, MLS remains the focal point for the formation of the USMNT, which to me maintains a certain importance. But you know what helped ease the pain for me, last year? Geelong winning an AFL premiership cup, that's what!
You seemed to be the only person jazzed on him. Actually, you're more like the only one not bummed on him. Things are negative around here.
Kamara is young, fast, and big. He also has a couple of MLS seasons under his belt. I don't expect him to be great, but I bet he puts at least five or six in the net. We still need a big time striker mind you, but I am confident that JD and Frankie are working on it. GOOOOOO QUAAAAAAAKES!!!!! - Mark
You'd better believe that they are, Mark. I'm personally still harboring a pipe dream that they're trying to negotiate the release of Archie Thompson from Melbourne Victory, but while that's a longshot in actually happening, Archie probably wouldn't be in Quakes black and blue colors until June, since the transfer window's closing soon. But I agree with you here, on Kamara, and along the same lines of thinking of what was happening with us having Preston Burpo, before Joe Cannon got traded back to the Quakes: Kamara will be a "make-do" option in the meantime.
Actually, I've got pretty high hopes for Kamara. I think he has potential to develop into an excellent forward (he was on the developmental team that went to Spain, and he was one of the few players written up as looking dangerous and getting shots off against the Real Madrid reserve side.) That said, I'll be shocked if we start the season with only two forwards that have professional / MLS-level experience. I think Kamara would make an outstanding second-half sub this season - especially if we sign up an old-fella as our "experienced" forward.
I think Yallop and/or Doyle are on record as saying that they want to sign a proven / veteran scorer. I don't remember if it was specifically proven MLS scorer or just proven scorer. If they are looking exclusively for a proven MLS scorer I think the pickings are slim in terms of who would be available, and who would be a good fit. I remember combing through the league and running down a list, and not many names came up. Someone like Ruiz is not a good fit, and people like Ching are not going to be available, and then there are people like Cunningham who may or may not be a good fit depending on who you talk to.
I watched a lot of MLS last year simply to keep up on what was going on through the league talent wise. I actually found myself pulling for Toronto FC a bit. They have a great story, and the fans are fantastic despite a terrible season on the pitch.
Me too. High Hopes. He's young and fast. Hope we get lucky and he's more than just a second half sub. We still need another forward though to add to him and Glinton.