Quakes-related Bay Area newspaper articles (Friday, 12/16/05)

A separate thread about this article already existed here:

https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=279837

I have a feeling that particular article, and perhaps Purdy's and others, will spark enough discussion to warrant separate threads.

 

WOW! Multiple articles in multiple Bay Area newspapers. We're finally making some progress. Now, hmmmmm......if we only had a team...

 

Even the Sacramento Bee had a Sports Page 1 version of the Merc article...

 

will all of you join me in writing purdy to let him know what f#^$% idiot he is. this guy has got such a chip on his shoulder and feels so terribly threatened by our sport--it would be funny if it wasnt so damn pathetic. so its okay if SJ supports baseball--his preferred sport but not soccer? does he even read his own newspaper, the numbnuts! if he did he would see that the owner of his beloved A's Wolff has expressed interest in buying the expansion quakes for a possible return in '07.

i'll say it again purdy: you're a soccer-hating *ssh*le and should stick to barry bonds bashing. oh yeah, you're a hack writer too.

 

My head is about to explode. Let's see, we've got:

• articles about the Quakes leaving

• articles about the $80 proposal to "re-attract" an MLS team to SJ

• article by sportswriter ridiculing above proposal

• article by another sportswriter insinuating that professional soccer fans are arrogant and deceitful for suggesting that lack of a pro team will kill off youth participation in the sport (funny I don't remember anyone arguing that)

• editorial by MN

• threads on everything from Garber's news conference to "thank you" threads to prospects for re-attracting a team, etc.

I'm on overload, don't know where to begin and don't really have the time to digest everything.

 

This kind of says it all:

``My guess is politically what's going on is there are some people willing to support that deal to make Earthquakes fans happy immediately, but this is never going to happen,'' Cortese said. ``Those are bogus sources of money they're pointing to.''

 

Cortese is positioning himself for the mayoral race, and it is becoming increasingly clear where he stands in regards to supporting the return of soccer to San Jose. Bad timing again for us to have to do some public convincing in an upcoming election year, candidates are going to want to stand out from the pack, and someone(s) will be choosing the stadium deal to get attention.

 

lets make sure Mark Purdy hears from us today...he needs to shut all his holes.

mpurdy@mercurynews.com

 

Hmmm. I read it twice, and agree with a lot of it. Expect a LOT of readers who aren't hardcore soccer fans to agree w/Purdy on this.

Those of you irate about today's Purdy column, I'd love to see you elaborate on which of his "points" you disagree with.

 

i dont dispute that MLS is not a 'world class league', after only 10 yrs in existence, what reasonable human would? but it's our country's top league, and our local team, so my anger comes from his derogatory comments when he's never bothered to express his opinions about the Quakes or MLS before. criticize the deal all you want, but to belittle the league is to ignore the fact that the league is growing in size, caliber, and popularity. well, everywhere but northern california.

 

Ironically, the Quakes finally made the front page above the fold. What a way to get there.

 

I can't go through all of these articles right now. Can someone please point me to an article that has player quotes about the move.

Thanks.

 

I'm really curious to see which of the players are angry, which are PC (I'm a pro, I'll play where I have to, just happy to be here...), and which are happy (?).

I think there's another thread just speculating on what the different players will say... but I don't feel like starting it - probably too much troll bait there and I can't take that right now.

 

I only read the Merc and Chronicle articles this morning because I get both in hard copy. Out of those, the the SF Chron article linked in post #1 of this thread had the most I saw, w/quotes from Dom, Waibs and Mullan:

EDIT: Typos in above quote are SFGate's...

 

Andrew Hill is one of the most troubled schools in the south bay. Kersten was doing a wonderful job with the girls soccer team there.

This is the kind of thing we are losing with this move.

 

Absolutely. Nobody can really be thrilled about having to pick up and move after settling down here.

Good luck to the players, and their families during the transition to Houston.

 

Thanks for those quotes BlueMeanie. It's just as I suspected. OMG it just rips my heart out. These guys along with us fans are simply pawns in a nasty game about money.

This area is such a unique area. The fans of the Quakes are equally unique...like no other fans in MLS. Every player that has come or come back to our team over the past 5 or 6 years - even if they came from our much hated rival to the south - became quickly acclimated to this uniqueness.

Our guys settled easily into the comfort of a culture of great coaching and fiercly supportive and truely loving fans. To maintain the standards of what the Quakes stood for, the ones who came but didn't fit into this culture for whatever reason were quickly recognized and let go. In turn the players reached out to us by doing everything in their power to represent the uniqueness of the club and please us fans by bringing incredible energy into everything they did as Quakes - both on and off the field. We, the fans and the team had an unbreakable bond. What pride!

Looking at that picture of Dom and Wade with the Texas hat men, our guys look so out of place and lost. Will Houston fulfill that bond? Does Houston understand our guys and their style of play? Will Houston understand that our guys are missing us, the fans, half of their heart and soul?

How sad.

 

Just e-mailed this ass. Also, just for the hell of it I cancelled my subscription. Made me feel good.

 

Message i sent him:
"Though you've mellowed alot in your old age, your anti-soccer feelings have re-surfaced in your articles, reminding me of your out-and out hostility you had for the sport when you first moved here during the NASL era. I kind of thought you'd gotten over your predjuces but obviously you haven't."

 

I LOVE IT. Keep it up gang! QuakesPaPa helped me to realize just how long Purdy has 'hated' soccer. He's so blind to the future--i hope he's a day trader in his spare time.