Nah, just starting a trend JK. I'm excited about Gray coming back, so I wanted to see some gray-specific conversations, thats all!
That refers to our former in-stadium announcer, who posted here for many years, but is now pissed off and wants nothing more to do with announcing soccer. I hear that he does the PA for the minor-league SJ Giants baseball team. This is truly unfortunate that he doesn't want to announce Earthquakes games, because the guy is one of the best in-stadium PA announcers I have ever known. He sure as hell beats the guy we've got now.
At least partly because AEG (and by association, MLS) are double-dealing, back-stabbing, no-good lying bastids!
"Prodigal son Gray happy to return to Quakes" (Wednesday, 6/11/08) Gray is happy to be back in the fold with San Jose. Photo by John Todd/Centerlinesoccer.com/isiphotos.com. GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
I'm glad Gray is back with the team - I think (and hope) he'll play an important role for us over the next few years. On the other hand, I am curious why we didn't pick him up when he was without a team. Was it because of the salary? Was it because Yallop wanted Glinton from LA and he'd already taken Vide and Riley to fill the "Gray" role? In the end, we got him, and that's what matters (for SJE). I also found the article's Yallop quote interesting: Not much to add to that quote - I just found it revealing.
I was wondering that too. Why didn't they claim him off the waiver wire when he was released by the GALS 2 months ago ?
My guess is that they were not that high on him, but injuries / concerns about depth caused them to reconsider. At the time he and other players were waived I think Doyle made a comment about how they didn't acquire anyone because they didn't feel it was really an improvement over what they had. Interesting that Gray considers himself a central midfielder, considering I think he's spent most of MLS career playing wide mid or outside back. I'd be interested to see how he'd do at a-mid. He had been an offensive player in the US U20's so he's got some offensive skills. And his size would give him some presence there, allow him to win headers and harder to knock off the ball.
Interesting points. I'm really glad that we got Kelly back. I always liked him as a player. Right now, I want him to settle in as our d-mid. His awareness of his position and role against Cowlumbus was great. If he can play that way consistently, it should help Ned blossom at the a-mid role. If we were to move Kelly to a-mid, who would play d-mid behind him? Ramiro? Vide? At the moment, I want Kelly at d-mid, move Ramiro to left mid or left back when Ivan gets back. I think that's the way to go. GOOOOO QUAAAAAKES!!!!!! - Mark
Yeah, short term, he did pretty well at d-mid. Play him there for now, or maybe outside back. But I just have a feeling there's some untapped potential there in a more offensive role. It could turn out that he loses the ball every time and it was a bad idea. But I've seen him slice through the center of the pitch pretty well a few times. This (opportunities to start on expansion team) may be the last chance he has to really realize his potential and avoid becoming a more marginal MLS player. He started off well his rookie year in Chicago and then it's been a bit downhill from there. C'mon Kelly, put the clothing design software, the guitar, and the laid-back NorCal personality aside for a moment, and seize the moment. (You can design clothes, play guitar, and be laid-back all you want in the off-season and post-retirement).
"Gray visits Montague Elementary" (Friday, 6/13/08) Kelly Gray speaks to the students of Montague Elementary. (San Jose Earthquakes) Earthquakes defender Kelly Gray speaks to the students of Montague Elementary. (San Jose Earthquakes). GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
So far I've been very happy with Kelly Gray's performance. I Think he & Cochrane did quite alright in the middle.
I'm very happy with him too. Actually I like how he stood up for the team yesterday...even if cost him (us) a yellow card....I know one day he will be a great leader in our team.
Thought Kelly did a great job stepping in at center back. He was pretty solid there and had some great long passes out of the back to Ronnie O'Brien on the wing. Never really thought of Kelly as a center back but I guess FY knows what he's got and what he's doing.
The clapping for the yellow thing was not smart, but I agree I kind of liked seeing the intensity. He had kind of a furrowed brow semi-mean look in the game. I think he might have actually gotten something from the "mean" lessons he took from ERob. Too bad he doesn't seem capable of growing facial hair. That would help. Somehow the guy seems to be a better player this time around with the Quakes. More confident and less prone to mistakes. He may be seeing this as possibly his last opportunity to make something more out of a career that started promising and then kind of slowly went downhill. And for his hometown club. That's gotta be worth something. He's from the general neighborhood that I now live in so I find myself rooting for the guy a little harder.
Wow, it's been a couple of years since I last posted on BS - feels good to have my first new post be about a local. I agree that Kelly has come back to SJ with more of an "edge" than he had in his last rotation, and I'm happy to see it. Maybe joining a squad-in-progress will inspire him to step into a leadership role. I dearly miss ERob, and I know Kelly's temperament will prevent him from taking that role, but having a bit of grit on the back line will be good for us. Regardless, he is an incredibly nice guy and I wish him the best. SL
Before reading the link,I went Oh Oh, I smell a fine from the MLS Originally posted by Kelly Gray Now I'm sure a fine from the league is coming to him....well someone has to do it, right ? GO QUAKES !!
The league or FIFA or whoever is in charge of these idiots needs to fine or punish these officials somehow who keep making dumb & stupid mistakes.They think that just because they are the officials on the field that they can do anything they want someone needs to come down hard on these crows !!! Good for you Kelly ! ! ! I salute you