Welcome, Danny Califf

I can't say he knocks my socks off yet, but he seems comfortable out there, works amazingly well with guys he really doesn't know, and distributes the ball around a la Agoos (BTW, I had the pleasure of tailgating with a guy who was co-captain with Goose on their high school team in Dallas. Cool stories!).

Plus, he came REAL close to scoring in the second half (and close to hitting the post with his head)!

I'm a little more conservative in my opinion, but, he's looking O.K. so far....




P.S. If anyone still has their SJ Mercury from Saturday, isn't that his picture on the front page in the story about new churches???

 

I thought the same thing when I first saw the photo yesterday morning, but I don't think it was Danny.

 

It's early to really tell, but it does seem that Robinson has been playing much better since Califf has been in there next to him.....could be coincidental timing, but I think not. It's not as obvious in the games at Spartan because you can't always here what the guys are yelling, but in the Reserve game Califf was clearly more vocal than the other defenders, providing positive support as well as direction to the other defenders and midfielders. It seemed like he was doing some of this last night......so I would say that Califf's contribution is not just what he physically does, but the fact that he is helping ERob to get more confident out there.

 

The tatoos help. That sacres the opponents off. He should keep the short sleeve even in winter.

 

Hehe. The thing is that they hurt. And he's still having them done. I asked him if when he gets it done (every time he gets back to LA) and then playes if it hurts. He said yes. I'm sure he can take it though! But it feels like a stinkin' bruise any time you touch it (at least mine did, and he agreed).

 

Califf seems to be playing within his limitations. He's not trying to do anything too fancy. Just good solid play. But his real value to the team is that he's directing the other defenders. That's exacty what we need out of our central defenders!! Now, if he can just keep that up through the end of the season, I'll need to find some vegetarian Crow Cake to eat!

And I will be more than happy to do so.

We could have a very solid defense with Barrett, Eddie, Califf, Waibel, Aloisi, and Cochrane next season. Presumably Barrett, Eddie, Aloisi, and Cochrane will all continue to improve. Califf and Waibel are clearly MLS caliber starters now. Get well soon eh Craig?! And who'd have thought three years ago that we'd be saying that about Waibel? So this could be good for us in the long run.

Now we just need new I/O's and a stadium!!

GO QUAKES!!

- Mark

 

Exactly. And something that went frequently unrecognized: "He's too slow."

 

This is so damn true! What kinda joke of a reserve league is this anyway?! I thought we'd have a whole reserve side. But most of the reserves who end up playing are roster players. And what's the point of having rules and forcing other guys to leave games for minutes when they can just decide to waive them any time they want. Kinda weird....

 

Quakes' D anchored by Califf's return

http://www.mlsnet.com/MLS/news/mls_news.jsp?ymd=20050608&content_id=32560&vkey=news_mls&fext=.jsp

 

The "reserve league" is for those players who aren't playing in the "first team" matches, so sure, it includes some roster guys. But of course, we, and other teams, have had a lot of injuries this season, so we've been short handed for the reserve matches.

And Califf played in a reserve match to test his fitness. He had not yet played in a single league match. So the reserve match was to see if he could go for most of a match.

GO QUAKES!!

- Mark

 

Off topic a bit; but, does anyone have a picture of his ink work?

 

yaa i dont know if you guys remember me sayin that danny's my cousin, but i just got done talkin to my grandpaps, (dannys number one fan)...and danny told him that he absolutely loves playin out there for san jose. So i mean, thats one thing we can count on, he wants to go out and suceed for the quakes. and like i said earlier in another post, good solid play is all dannys about...with a bad knee or not, he definitly knows his position better than most, and knows what to do out there in crunch time. I also love how he got that full sleeve of tatoos, its funny cause the guy couldnt be any nicer off the field. hah. Im just excited once we get out lineup healthy again...once that happens, im bettin on the quakes makin a huge run for it.

pssh dannys a stud...i love the guy

 

He is really awesome! And a totally nice guy! It's funny how people have this perception that people with tattoos are mean badasses. I mean Beerking has tattoos and he's actually a nice guy! Me on the other hand, I have one..... And well, yeah, I guess I get your point....

 

Funny how ex-Gal players become nice guys when they come to play for the Quakes. Must be the cool Bay Area air. Actually I think there's more to it than just perception. Don't know about Lalas, but I think Dom weighs character pretty heavily when he selects players.

 

I used to have a crush on him before he was a Quake.... But only when he played for the US!

 

"...and second-year pro Chris Aloisi moving into Waibel's right back spot..."
Now I understand why his head is shaved.

 

My wife has tattoos, three of them. Of course, she also intimidates some people. But know that she's a sweetie.

GO QUAKES!!

- Mark

 

I think that the evil, cheating, water-stealing, smog-breathing galactoposers have a fair number of players who are real jerks, and some players who are just the supporting cast. Ching, Mullan, and Waibel all said that some players for the filth are real primma donnas and that they are treated differently than the other players. So they like it here. It could be that Califf and Aloisi hold the same view, or that their former comrades told them San Jose is a good well run team. In any case, both seem to be happy to have escaped The Smog.

GO QUAKES!!

- Mark