Agree about strikers. They are becoming rare in this sport. Even the richest clubs in the world struggle finding one that is consistent. It's possibly a byproduct of the new way that players are developed, but top strikers are few and far between, and will be gobbled up long before the Dynamo can get them. All that you can hope for realistically is 10-12 goals from a good striker. We'll need to get more goals from midfielders, and defenders.
Heft, I once witnessed Clint Mathis hang 5 goals on Dallas in the Cotton Bowl in 2000. I think he was making a little over 90K that season! 14 years later in MLS and I would take a poor man's Clint Mathis for our forward corps. Indeed, American men that can score on a consistant basis is more rare than it was a generation ago. Slackers.
Thanks for the reminder. I forgot what it was like to actually to win a match, and then read about the agony of it on the opposing team's forum the next day.
when i first saw Clint Mathis against play with the USMNT, i thought this dude is going to be good and give Mexico fits for the next 10 years. i was more impressed by early Clint Mathis than early Clint Dempsey. i mean Dempsey wasn't bad he was just "eh" while Mathis was "fierce". in the end he was done being early-Clint Mathis by his late-20s. what the hell happened.
Re: Cummings From my understanding of the rules (under the current CBA) he is on a 3 + 1 contract, meaning next year would be his 3rd guaranteed year. So unless we trade/sell him we're stuck.
Possibly, but unlikely. If it makes you feel better those rules could change quite a bit with a new CBA.
Dang. I thought I read Omar's contract was up this offseason. The Andrew driver contract looks like a bad one too but not quite as heavy a cap hit. He signed a decent length.
I hate rules. Our team became so quality in the midfield and so dreadful with veterans up top and in the back. Then the injury bug. Such is 2014. He burst on the MLS scene there in 1999 with LAG and then got traded to Metrostars and really had an incredible season for them in 2000, like hitting the Dallas Burn up for 5 on their own field! One of the U.S.A.'s send off games for Japorea'02 was against Ecuador in Birmingham Alabama (yes Alabama was a terrific location back then, good pro-U.S. crowds) and Mathis got a straight red card from the ref and had to leave real early in the game that day. He was bossing the Ecuadorians as I saw it from the stands but an opponent with theatrics could wind a Clint Mathis up easy. To say that Mathis had a very intense engine is an understatement. He was a scrapper and being a southern boy he had what we see in Dempsey with our swagger for life. When Mathis got signed to a Bundesliga club in 2002, Hoffenheim iirc, after his quality performance for the U.S. at that mundial at forward and midfield, Mathis quickly earned the fans and supporters backing with his graft plus the craft. Then one day after coming on as a sub, where he thinks he should be starting, he instantly bags an equalizer, the supporters go bonkers and Mathis runs over to celebrate and, recall we are in Germany, takes the moment to tap his wrist like his watch was in need of fixing and that is a no no with any German football manager! It was not a career ending thing but after that he eneded up in Colorado and was their #10 for many seasons, surving our Karate Kid Rico when Rico was tasked to mark Mathis in our Dynamo's first ever game, and of course Rico (go re visit the game film, I have) stamps Mathis in his knee early in that first half and Mathis's pace was never the same after that play. He retired with LAG in a ceremonial signing back in 2010 irrc. Easily the most gifted striker of the ball our culture has ever produced as he was clinical with his right and left foot. Also, a sublime passer as well which was really something to appreciate as he got involved his teammates very well. He walks on water in Metrostars lore.
I thought Cummings re-signed or extended with Colorado in late 2011 or mid-2012 which made 2012-2014 his guaranteed years.
Cummings signed a new contract extension with the Rapids in May of 2012. http://www.coloradorapids.com/news/2012/05/rapids-re-sign-forward-omar-cummings Looking at his pay on the players union lists, that contract might not have went into effect until 2013. 2012 $81,999 $95,999 Colorado Rapids 2013 $225,000 $239,000 Houston Dynamo 2014 $250,000 $264,000 Houston Dynamo
Yes, but do you remember Ecuador vs. USA in '88 at Delmar Stadium ?? I was there. We lost 2-0. Could you imagine an USMNT match being played in anything like that today? That shows you how far football has come in this country in the last 30 years. It's come a long long way. And it's only going to get better.
I know of that friendly with Ecuador you speak of in 1988. At Delmar no less. Delmar is where our Houston Hurricanes FC last played! I was not able to make that U.S.A. match versus Ecuador, by that time in the late 80's, association football was off the radar save seeing my female cousing play club ball here and there. I recall U.S.A. playing Scotland in May of 1996 at some high school field in Connecticut. First time our guys finally beat the Scots. 2-1 that day with Cobi Jones getting the winner. Tracking just the NT level of love and stadiums hosting, from 1988 to 1996 to 2003 when we had our first U.S.A. vs. Mexico scratch and now what we witnessed across the nation with watch parties and public viewing of crowds of 20,000 folks enjoying the footy and the alegria from goals, the sport has come light years amigo mio. And to think that the sport is still mostly run by old NASL folks that came up with ideas like widing the goal, clocks and rules that avoid FIFA standards and all sorts of gimmicks, imagine when we have tried and true Americans that understand to just let the game be itself. I wasn't aware that soccer needed any type of "help".
In the early 90s the US played a few games at Willowbrook Park in New Britain, CT which was basically a high school stadium. I think Dom may have scored a goal there.
New Britain, CT is it! Good call. I know our Dom scored in Texas in '93 up at old Texas Stadium, versus the Ticos iirc.
Are you kidding?? Celt was there when they cut the king's head off and decided to kick it about thus inventing football in the process.
This is the sort of light-hearted joking about, always positive vibe, and intelligent posts that I fell so enamored with on this board back in 2007. You guys are joking aren't you?
2006 and 2007. When we were winning MLS cups, have a young Ching, DeRo, Waibel, Mullan, Davis, Erob, etc... How can things not have been happy then? The worst criticism was "Dom doesnt sub fast enough". Recently, things havent gone our way. Just about everybody has their own blog. Even @juvechelsea is happy being the king of SbyIves and left permanently. Facebook explodes with people btiching. All of a sudden, almost unexpectedly, we get a USMnT player, a new Honduran, and we win a game after many losses and ties. And westside cosmo is placed on a leash. How can we not be on a better mood? So, happy times may be here again. Enjoy while it lasts.