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July 31, 2007

Adu arrives in Lisbon

One of the most pleasant soccer-related experiences of the summer was watching Freddy Adu lead the US in the U20 World Cup. We finally saw his great promise begin to be fulfilled as he demonstrated with utmost clarity that he is one of the top five or 10 players of his age on the planet.

Steven Goff's Soccer Insider blog on washingtonpost.com is reporting that Freddy has finalized a five-year deal with Portuguese power Benfica, which we think is a great destination for him. The pace and style of play in the Portuguese Liga should mesh nicely with Adu's style, and their talented roster means that he won't be expected to carry the team on his own. That would have been a lot to ask of a player who only just turned 18.

In any case, he is being embraced by the fans in his new country. This video of his arrival at Lisbon's airport isn't quite Beckhamesque, but it's still a very impressive turnout for a young American soccer player.

Our congratulations to John Vicente, Hugo Varela, and all our friends at San Jose's Caso do Benfica. We think your team has signed a winner, and we look forward to watching Freddy for As Águias in the coming years.

Posted by Jay at 03:28 PM | Comments (0)

Danny Califf scores, Superliga continues

Today, we turn our attention to Denmark, where former Quake defender Danny Califf headed in the equalizer for his Danish club, Aalborg (AaB), in AaB's 2-1 Intertoto Cup win over Belgium's KAA Gent. That victory, paired with a 1-1 draw in the first leg, gives AaB a berth in the UEFA Cup.

Califf's equalizer came in the 30th minute, just two minutes after Adekamni Olufade scored for Gent. You can find a full match report (in Danish) here.

Califf looks pretty happy in that photo, but we have to wonder: Wouldn't he look better in blue next year?

* * *

We also promised some thoughts on the Superliga, the new competition between eight teams from MLS and Mexico's FMF.

Matches between teams from the two leagues are nothing new. We recall exhibitions with teams from south of the border back when San Jose was still the Clash, usually held on Wednesday nights in the middle of the MLS season. We also remember talking to members of the San Jose coaching staff in those days, in conversations that usually went like this:

Coach: "I don't know why we play these exhibitions. We're always going to rest our starters, which means we won't play our best."

Us: "Well, it's just a friendly. Won't it be good for your subs to get this experience?"

Coach: "Yes, but the fans of the Mexican teams, whom we are presumably supposed to be winning over, already think that their league is much better than MLS, and this will just reinforce that idea."

Us: "Good point. Maybe someday you'll get a chance to play these teams in a meaningful competition."

The CONCACAF Champion's Cup has served that purpose to some degree, but the motivation for winning the Superliga is easy to grasp: it's a relatively short tournament (five games, max) with a million dollar prize for the winners. And, so far, MLS teams have held their own, with a combined three wins, four draws, and one loss. The only team to be eliminated from the competition so far is Club America, generally considered one of the powerhouses of Mexican soccer, and two other equipos Mexicanos are on the ropes, Morelia and Pachuca.

Despite the impressive records of MLS teams in the competition, we won't go so far as to say that this competition will prove anything, even if it's won by a US team. The FMF sides are in their pre-season and all the matches are being played in the US, so there's an issue of home field advantage.

Still, it's great to see the rivalry between Mexico and the US, already well established on the international level, expand to the club level as well. Now, if we could just get a million dollar prize for the winners of the U.S. Open Cup...

Posted by Jay at 08:11 AM | Comments (1)

July 30, 2007

U.S. Women are ready for the Cup after 4-1 defeat of Japan

Spartan Stadium echoed with the sound of screaming fans again on Saturday night as the U.S. Women defeated Japan 4-1 in their fourth "Send-Off Series" match before the 2007 Women's World Cup, which will be played in China in September.

The match drew a crowd of 11,290, plus the reporters from our usual media suspects: the Merc, Sacramento Bee, and SF Chronicle. The US Soccer web site also provides a match report, quotes, and photos.

The Mercury News story was penned by Jon Wilner, who seems to have inherited the soccer beat from Dylan Hernanez and does a nice job covering the "local girl makes good" angle of the match. The Merc also provides a few photos from the AP's Tony Avelar.

The Sacramento Bee's Debbie Arrington was on hand to cover her area's own "local girl," defender Stephanie Lopez of Elk Grove, who is also taking corners for the squad.

The Chronicle's Michelle Smith focuses a bit more on the transition within the team—Brandi Chastain watching from the stands, Kristine Lilly scoring her 124th goal while earning her amazing 329th cap (more than double Cobi Jones' record number for the US Men), and a horde of youngsters just beginning to make names for themselves.

We've been watching the Superliga, too. We'll have some thoughts on that tomorrow.

Posted by Jay at 08:18 AM | Comments (1)

July 27, 2007

Media suggests ingredients for the Quakes' recipe for success

It's another busy day for us as we find that the regional media is again talking about soccer in a big way.

Last night, there was a friendly between Monterrey of Mexico and England's Preston North End, with Monterrey pulling out a 2-0 win. With nearly 10,000 on hand to watch the match at Raley Field, Sacramento Bee staff writer Bill Paterson writes, "Is pro soccer possible here?," and casts a longing eye towards the Earthquakes, for which we'll forgive him. What we find interesting about his story are his quotes from a man named Robert Gonzalez who attended the match.

Gonzalez, a Citrus Heights resident and former boys and girls soccer coach, admits to being a casual pro soccer fan who was watching his first major match and knew little about either team.

"I did all that coaching for so many years that I never really got a chance to see a pro match," Gonzalez said. "So when I heard about it, I decided to check it out.

"The atmosphere is something else. It would be great if we could get something going here. I think we are ready now."

We shouldn't draw a lot of conclusions from one person's comments, but we think Mr. Gonzalez is an interesting case study. A long-time coach who'd never been to a professional match, but who walks away impressed from the atmosphere and wanting more — could there be more people like that in the Bay Area? We think so, and we think the Casbah is up to the task of providing a significant portion of that atmosphere. The group grew significantly in the last few seasons and some former Casbah regulars had moved out of that section but joined in on Casbah songs and chants from seats on the sidelines. Given more time and room to grow, who knows? We may someday see a display like this one by the fans of Japan's Urawa Reds:

That's not going to happen overnight, obviously, but we'd love to see what a Northern California version of that looks like.

The issue of growing the Quakes' audience is also taken up today by Soccer America's executive editor Mike Woitalla, writing on insidebayarea.com. After getting in some digs on the team's past attendance — et tu, Mike? — Woitalla notes the importance of the youth soccer market but urges that it not become the team's primary focus.

The huge crowds that non-MLS soccer games draw and the increasingly impressive U.S. TV ratings for international soccer is evidence that there are enough soccer fans to make MLS and the Quakes thrive.

Indeed, there's a crucial difference between Pele's arrival to the United States in 1975 to play in the North American Soccer League and David Beckham landing in MLS.

Pele's challenge was to convert Americans into soccer fans. Beckham's mission is to turn American soccer fans into MLS fans.

The new Quakes challenge is to convince Mexican-American fans, who are able to watch every Mexican game live on U.S. television, to connect with MLS.

The new Quakes also must sell themselves to the Eurosnob soccer fans who spurn MLS, often without having seen it, but tune in to English Premier League or Spanish La Liga games on TV.

The arrival of Beckham and Mexican hero Cuauhtemoc Blanco to MLS this season will encourage a lot of soccer fans to check out MLS. If they like the quality of soccer from the rest of the players, then the Quakes have a chance finally to turn their rocky marriage with the Bay Area into a solid union.

Finally, the Fresno Bee covers this weekend's PDL playoffs by focusing on former Earthquakes reserve player Orlando Ramirez, who is now a defensive midfielder for the Fresno Fuego.

Posted by Jay at 06:39 AM | Comments (3)

July 26, 2007

Memories and forgetfulness

Welcome to Thursday at the SSV Blog, where today we will explore the vicissitudes of human memory—how long we remember and how quickly we forget.

On the side of remembrance, we give you Gary Singh of the Metro, who writes about "Old School Quakes" in this week's column. While the rest of us were lost in the euphoria of the news of our team's rebirth last week, Singh was a step further down the path, wondering "With what will this new team, this empty vessel, be filled?" He makes a few suggestions based on the team's history, focusing on former GM Johnny Moore, who always made sure that players pulling on an Earthquakes shirt knew that it meant something special.

In the land of forgetfulness, we present Kent McDill, sports columnist for Chicago's Daily Herald newspaper. In his column covering the week in soccer, McDill mentions the return of the Quakes, then adds the following:

The league plans to expand to 16 teams by 2010, and there is reason to believe one of those teams will land in the Pacific Northwest, which would give the Earthquakes a rival, so they don’t have to steal the L.A. Galaxy from its newest neighborhood rival, Chivas USA.

Yes, you read correctly—the Quakes wouldn't want to "steal the L.A. Galaxy" away from their roommates at Chivas. It's not like the Quakes/Galaxy rivalry has long been recognized as the best in MLS, or the two teams met in a 2003 playoff match that has been rightly called "the greatest game in MLS history." Certainly we wouldn't want that history to take precedence over the spectacularly one-sided, two-and-a-half seasons of the Galaxy and Chivas playing relatively meaningless regular season matches...

(He's right about one thing, though—we think a Pacific Northwest team would be a great addition to MLS, whether it's Portland, Seattle, or Vancouver.)

* * *

Speaking of Canada, we know that the fine folks at Earthquakes Soccer want their team to be the crown jewel of soccer in Northern California. But why not go a little further north?

We say this because Vancouver Island's Comox Valley Record newspaper reports today that the Tsawwassen Earthquakes, a U12 side, won the British Columbia provincial championships with a 1-0 win over Comox Valley’s High Voltage. Congratulations and go Quakes!

Posted by Jay at 08:17 AM | Comments (2)

July 25, 2007

OK—we know he's a Galaxy fan...

...but we're going to pass this along anyway.

Posted by Jay at 04:16 PM | Comments (0)

LA Times suggests potential Beane involvement in Quakes

As you might guess from their consistent record of doing more with less, the A's front office is packed with some of the greatest minds in baseball, from team president Michael Crowley on down. The best known of the bunch, thanks to the Michael Lewis book Moneyball, is general manager Billy Beane, and now the L.A. Times is suggesting that Beane may apply his unique perspective on player development to soccer.

"Billy is going to be deeply involved in soccer for us," said Lew Wolff, managing partner of the A's and now the Earthquakes.

"We're actually looking at some of Billy's concepts on how to evaluate players. We're trying to find out how we can apply some of Billy's thinking."

The Times story continues to say that Beane will remain focused on baseball for the foreseeable future, and he seems to recognize that quantifying the performance of a soccer player, for which statistical models are only now being put into use, will be an experimental endeavor.

Beane is neither foolish enough to say that he can translate baseball data into soccer models nor bold enough to say what revelations he might have had about evaluating soccer players.

"Is it different? No question," he said. "But there's something that can be measured on a play."

It's only in recent years that statisticians have tried to quantify the qualities that make good soccer players good. Fans of the EPL will recognize the league's Actim Stats, which "are derived from all the actions that take place during a match, including goals, shots on target, corners, fouls, offsides, passes, tackles, blocks and clearances."

Surely that type of information could be distilled into a more accurate reflection of a player's overall quality, but it's going to take a lot of experimenting to determine the exact formula to use in making an accurate assessment, particularly when it comes to recognizing the best talent in the youth ranks. It's an interesting idea; we just hope that the learning curve is confined as much as possible to the theoretical realm and not to the team itself.

In any case, the road to soccer stardom is littered with past "can't miss" prospects, so it's clear that there's room in the field of soccer scouting for novel analysis techniques.

* * *

In our wrap-up of last week's stories, we missed The Salinas Californian's take on the return of the Quakes, Quakes are back, time to rejoice. Columnist Embele Awipi, who is also the sports information director for California State University, Monterey Bay, salutes the return of the team and expresses great optimism that our fledgling side will immediately challenge for league honors, particularly when compared to our rivals from the south and their lackluster pre-Spice Boy record. It may be overconfidence, but we love his closing comment:

Here's hoping Los Angeles does improve, so that come 2008, the rebirth of the best rivalry in MLS has some meaning.

That's the spirit, man!

* * *

Finally, we'll pass along a video clip. We're probably not going to be talking as much about the accomplishments of former Quakes in MLS at this point, since we'll be playing against most of them next season, but we have to pass along this highlight reel goal from Dwayne De Rosario, scored last weekend against the Revolution. ¡Qué golazo!

Posted by Jay at 11:11 AM | Comments (1)

July 23, 2007

Ratto's opinions rate a zero

The euphoria of last week's announcements and our big celebration on Thursday night were still lingering this weekend when we read the Sunday column from SF Chronicle sports columnist Ray Ratto, "A bait and switch for Quakes fans."

Essentially, Ratto states that all of us Quakes fans are, as he puts it, "being played for suckers." To Ratto, we're just pawns in a big real estate scheme that AEG started when they owned the team.

On the surface, he makes a pretty good case. Did lack of a proper playing facility ("real estate," to Ratto) play a role in the team's departure in December, 2005? Yes. Does that same issue still face the team? Yes, although Ratto failed to report several details about that situation (negotiations are well underway on a deal that would build a stadium with no public money after a unanimous vote of support from San Jose's mayor and city council).

What Ratto also ignores is the spirit in which any of this is taking place. He's right to be suspicious of why the team left, because AEG never provided the front office with the resources necessary to make the team a success in the Bay Area. The story of the team's return, however, is one of redemption.

Finally, we have local owners. Finally, we have a management team with the ambition to make the Quakes a regional draw and, just as importantly, the knowledge and resources to make it happen. Finally, we have real progress towards a permanent home. Finally, we have a front office that we can believe in, the same way that we believed in the players and coaches wearing Earthquakes blue.

Ratto may claim that the fans have been used "like walleted piñatas," but what Ratto doesn't know—and hasn't bothered to ask—is that SSV's board has worked closely with Earthquakes Soccer and has had input on some big decisions, including the choice to stick with the Earthquakes name. Unlike the team's prior owners, AEG, the emotional investment of the fans in the team is recognized and honored by everyone involved in the Earthquakes, from Lew Wolff on down. We've gone from being abused at the hands of AEG to being respected and valued by the team's new owners.

Will we always agree with everything the front office does? No, of course not—we'll be just like the fans of any other team, in any other league, in any other sport. But a bunch of suckers? Hardly. That's how we were treated by AEG, but those days are gone.

We appreciate the attention from the Chron's lead sports columnist, we really do. But where was he three years ago, when Quakes fans had legitimate complaints? Mr. Ratto, you're a little late—the house has burned down already. Why don't you grab a hammer and help us build a new one? The foundation is in already.

Posted by Jay at 07:21 AM | Comments (2)

July 21, 2007

More press on team's return, plus Thursday night photos


About 150 very happy Earthquakes fans were on hand for Thursday night's party celebrating the return of the Quakes.

Welcome to Saturday, July 21, the day the world eagerly anticipates the next chapter in the story of an English magician facing difficult odds—but enough about David Beckham and his gimpy ankle.

As you can see above, we've had a few readers respond to our request for photos of Thursday night's big Quakesfest. Thanks to SSV founding member Tony Huston for the above photo and also those that appear further below in this entry. Napoleon Badillo also sent a link to his photos of the event on Flickr and informed us that Club Quake's William Ward also has some photos online. Our thanks to all the photographers!

Next, some news items:

Click the link below for more photos from Thursday night.

Posted by Jay at 07:43 AM | Comments (0)

July 20, 2007

Waking up from a dream plus two video features

With sleep still in our eyes on this early Friday morning, we can't help but think of the strange dream we had last night.

There were Quakes fans everywhere. Everyone seemed happy but there was also a sense of relief, as though a great burden had been lifted from all of us. The words "rebirth" and "redemption" were heard in the crowd, which added an almost spiritual air to the gathering. People stood on a bar stool and made speeches, old friends greeted each other again, and new friendsships were begun. At the same time, there was a sense of shock about it all, as though people were adjusting to a sudden change and weren't quite sure if it was real.

Then, waking, we walked by the hamper holding yesterday's laundry, and there was a t-shirt in it that said, "Return of the Quakes" on the front and "Quakes '08" on the back. Looks like it wasn't really a dream after all.

(Thanks to everyone who attended the party last night as well as our hosts at the downtown Brit. We neglected to bring a camera, so we're hoping our readers will post links to their own photos by leaving a comment below. We're told by the Quakes staffers who were there that another 45 or so season ticket deposits were taken, which means the estimated total number of season tickets purchased by members of SSV and Club Quake is pushing the 2,000 mark—and that's a full three days before tickets are being made available to the general public! Well done, everybody!)

* * *

Meanwhile..

Posted by Jay at 05:35 AM | Comments (4)

July 19, 2007

Time to celebrate! But first, the news...

First off, we'll take this opportunity to once again invite everyone to our "Return of the Quakes" party this evening at the Britannia Arms in downtown San Jose. We hope to see everyone their to celebrate our two-time MLS Cup champion San Jose Earthquakes—oh, and by the way, the MLS All-Star Game will be on TV starting at 6:00, too...

On to the news:

Posted by Jay at 07:03 AM | Comments (6)

July 18, 2007

It's officially official: Quakes are back in 2008

MLS has officially announced the return of the Earthquakes for 2008. Our favorite bit is this:

"While we are thrilled to bring Earthquakes soccer back to the Bay Area, we want to make one thing very clear: this is the dawn of a new era for professional soccer in San Jose," said Wolff. "We join the MLS at a very exciting juncture in the league's -- and the sport's -- history in the United States. With the development of new soccer-only stadiums, expanded national television exposure and increased fan and corporate sponsor support, coupled with this area's cultural diversity and long-standing interest in soccer, we expect a very bright future for this team."

Posted by Jay at 01:18 PM | Comments (2)

SJEarthquakes.com relaunched

Now that the commissioner's address has begun, there's a ton of new info at the Quakes' web site, including a particularly helpful FAQ, a message to fans from David Alioto, and SSV's official press release on the team's re-launch.

Not to mention a shot of the t-shirts being offered to those putting down deposits on season tickets, seen above.

Posted by Jay at 11:16 AM | Comments (0)

Quakes' return spurs media whirlwind

So, how's everybody doing today? Here at the blog, we're still recovering from yesterday—and no, there was no alcohol involved. (We're saving ourselves for Thursday night at the Brit.) The chain of events yesterday, while largely expected on our end, was nevertheless completely draining. We're back, and while the list of questions is long—Where will we play? Who will coach the team? Which players will have the honor of playing for the Earthquakes?—the elation of simply knowing we have a team with a dedicated, capable owner overrides everything else.

Here's a wrap-up of today's press reports:

Posted by Jay at 09:19 AM | Comments (1)

July 17, 2007

SI's Jonah Freedman reports Quakes are back for '08

SI's Jonah Freedman has some breaking (but unconfirmed) news: Aftershock alert! Quakes are back -- and here's what it means for MLS.

Needless to say, we're watching this closely and hope to have more information for you soon.

Posted by Jay at 01:08 PM | Comments (5)

MLS receiving added benefits from the Beckham effect

So far, MLS is getting everything it has hoped for—and more—from the signing of David Beckham, and he hasn't even played a match. The latest examples: Tickets are moving quickly at stadiums throughout the league in anticipation of his appearances and Adidas America reports that they've shipped over 250,000 Galaxy shirts.

Those kind of results have been anticipated by many, but there are other benefits of Beckhamania beginning to emerge as well. For example, we just noticed today that PA Sports Ticker, a real-time sports news information provider serving North and South America, Europe, and Asia, has begun offering lots of new MLS-related content. Their first edition of MLS Talking Points, which appeared yesterday, noted the beginning of three new features the wire service will provide. "Each Monday, PA SportsTicker turns the spotlight on the league and its stars. Every Tuesday we will run an MLS column and on Wednesdays we will focus on gossip around the clubs."

While the usefulness of a weekly MLS gossip column remains to be seen, we think it's great that MLS is finally getting the same depth of coverage that has long been offered to baseball, football, and basketball in this country. (Not only that, but Ian Parker's debut with MLS Talking Points is a pretty interesting read.)

Oh, and this just in: Real Madrid has just signed a marketing deal with Dave Checketts and SCP Worldwide to increase their presence in the U.S. More info at realmadridamerica.com.

Posted by Jay at 11:25 AM | Comments (1)

Are we there yet?

Those who might know are not talking, but David Pollak of the Mercury News adds to the speculation that the Quakes will be back for the 2008 season with a story headlined, "Wolff hints that a Quakes deal is imminent."

So what was Wolff's hint? Here's what Pollak says, along with a comment from league spokesman Dan Courtemanche throwing cold water on the rumor:

"We're not 1,000 percent there and we don't want to pre-empt any announcement from Major League Soccer," A's owner Lew Wolff said Monday. Wolff is asking MLS Commissioner Don Garber to make the Quakes an exception to league rules that require an expansion team to have a suitable home stadium in place.

Wolff said he would be in Denver when Garber gives his state-of-the-league address Wednesday, one day before the MLS All-Star Game there. Expansion is on Garber's list of topics, a league spokesman said Monday.

MLS vice president Dan Courtemanche did note via e-mail, however, that Wolff "is one of many potential expansion owners traveling to Colorado."

The only other news in Pollak's piece is that Wolff's group and the city signed a memorandum on Friday that "includes a reference to the fact the team could play in a temporary facility 'within the City of San Jose if possible' in 2008," and that Wolff again ruled out Spartan Stadium on Monday.

It all adds up to this: no definitive word yet. But for a look at the joy an expansion MLS team can bring, have a gander at The Buffalo News' story on Toronto FC, the newest team in MLS, which is averaging nearly 20,000 fans per game thanks to the fact that "there was already a soccer culture here, with so many people just waiting for something to grab on to." Gee, that sounds familiar for some reason...

Oh, and for more on the similarities and differences between professional soccer in England and the U.S.A., have a look at the BBC's piece on that very subject. Turns out that even the players who have been a part of both the EPL and MLS agree that the latter isn't exactly a cakewalk.

Posted by Jay at 06:05 AM | Comments (1)

July 15, 2007

Chelsea/America earns regional headlines

Looks like a good time was had by all at last night's friendly between Chelsea and Club America. We've heard several first-hand reports of the festive crowd and, while the play on the field wasn't stellar—each team made nine subs, which is a good indication of the attitude that both managers took towards this pre-season affair—the fans at least had the rare opportunity of seeing their heroes in person.

Between coverage of MLS, the USA U-20s, and the Chelsea/Club America tilt, the Chronicle devoted the entire third page of its sports section to soccer today. No ads, no baseball—nothing but the beautiful game. Dan Giesin provided a match report, paired with some impressive photos by Lance Iversen, and Anna Liu provided the human interest angle by covering the fans who were in attendance, whether they were supporters of Chelsea, Club America, or the Quakes. Well done, Chronicle!

As for the Mercury News, they are clearly hampered by the lack of a knowledgeable soccer writer now that Dylan Hernandez has taken his new position covering the Dodgers for the L.A. Times. At least, that's the only explanation that comes to mind for sending Jon Wilner, who normally covers college sports, to cover the match.

It's obvious from his story that Wilner knows next to nothing about the sport. He spends almost no time writing about the match—in fact, the only substantial thing he had to say about the game was "Chelsea won 2-1 on a goal by John Terry in the 84th minute." He didn't even mention the other goal scorers!

What really amazes us is this: Instead of taking the opportunity to interview any of Chelsea's world famous players, he spoke to Paul Smith, Chelsea's business affairs director. Can you imagine a soccer writer anywhere in the civilized world passing up a chance to talk with Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho, The Special One, or any of their high profile internationals to talk to Chelsea's business affairs director? It boggles the mind. Let's see—should I talk with any of the players on the most expensive roster in the entire world of sports or should I talk with the team's business rep? It's like covering the Oscars and interviewing Gwyneth Paltrow's agent instead of anybody who might actually walk down the red carpet. ("So I told Gwyneth to drop the demand for a guaranteed percentage of the box office in favor of a higher percentage of the DVD sales...")

What's really annoying about Wilner's story, however, is his gratuitous MLS bashing. It's not listed in the online story, but the subhead used beneath "A crackling good show" in the paper's print edition is "Chelsea and Club America excite in ways Stanford and MLS can't." The point is well taken regarding Stanford, who in the first year at their new stadium were unable to pack the stands, but I don't recall MLS ever holding any games at Stanford. It's a particularly ironic statement to make right now, since MLS has just introduced a new player, some guy named Beckham, and they're selling out stadiums across North America. On his Washington Post "Soccer Insider" blog, Steven Goff reported yesterday that "ticket sales for the Beckham visit to RFK on Aug. 9 are about to surpass 40,000, leaving about 5,000 remaining." Our bet is that a similar crowd would show up in the Bay Area to watch the Earthquakes play the Galaxy, and we hope we get the chance to see that someday soon.

As for the oft-repeated criticism that MLS somehow "minor league," that analogy just doesn't hold water. Soccer is not like baseball, a sport which is played professionally in one or two countries and there's a clear hierarchy in place. Part of the beauty of soccer is that it is played in different styles in different places under different conditions.

People are fond of pointing at the English Premier League, for example, and saying it's the best in the world, due primarily to the speed of play. It's worth pointing out, though, that a. they play in England, where it's almost always overcast and b. they play in the winter, when the high temps are in the 40s and 50s. If any English team came to the U.S. and tried to play in their usual style when it's 93 degrees with 98 percent humidity in Kansas City, they would pass out by halftime from heat exhaustion. (Actually, we saw the same thing in the 2002 World Cup when England wilted in the heat against Brazil.) So yes, the speed of play in MLS is typically slower than that in the EPL. Big deal. There are plenty of examples of MLS players who have done well in England, though: Brian McBride, Brad Friedel, Carlos Bocanegra, Joe-Max Moore, Clint Dempsey, Stern John, Ryan Nelsen, and many others all come to mind. It's simply incorrect to say that MLS is head and shoulders below the EPL.

Of course, people love to point out player transactions and movement as another way of demonstrating that MLS is minor league, but anyone who makes that claim is again demonstrating their ignorance of soccer. Thierry Henry just moved from Arsenal to Barcelona; does that mean England is a minor league to Spain? Michael Ballack moved from Germany to England last year—is Germany AAA baseball to England? People leave the Dutch league for England, Spain, and Italy all the time—is the Eredivisie minor league? If so, why has Ajax won the Champions League so many times? How come PSV has done so well in that competition the last couple years?

American sportswriters everywhere, let me save you a lot of trouble: You can't draw analogies to soccer from U.S. sports, where we declare a "world champion" at the end of every domestic season. Don't do it—you look stupid. Take the time to learn about soccer—the domestic leagues in nearly every nation, the international club soccer competitions, FIFA events pitting nation against nation. It's a big planet, and soccer is played all over it.

(Oh, and in case anyone thinks we're picking on the Mercury News just because they're the Mercury News, our highest compliments go out to photographer Patrick Tehan, who provided the best crowd shots anywhere from yesterday's match. Kudos to you!)

Posted by Jay at 12:42 PM | Comments (2)

July 14, 2007

50,000 at Stanford tonight

We've just been informed that there are close to 50,000 fans on hand tonight for the Chelsea/Club America match. Isn't it a shame that the universe of people who care about soccer is so small?

Posted by Jay at 07:30 PM | Comments (3)

July 13, 2007

SJ Business Journal: Lew Wolff gets city planning to play ball on rezoning idea

In today's San Jose Business Journal, reporter Lindsay Riddell writes that San Jose's planning staff "will recommend the city council approve the conversion of property Wolff is under contract to buy from industrial to residential, allowing the Oakland Athletics owner to build homes on the site. And the mayor thinks the plan will work, too."

The story can be accessed here, and they are now allowing access to the general public and not just subscribers as it was earlier. In any case, we'll provide a couple exerpts here. First, this quote from Joe Horwedel, the city's planning director:

"Our goal is to make sure we preserve our ability to accommodate the types of jobs we want in south San Jose and make sure Edenvale industrial area remains a strong job center so (development of) biotech (companies) can remain down there... That's the lens we've looked through as a planning department when looking at the employment land strategies and looking at does this help or hinder that. In looking at it, we think it meets the criteria laid out by the council."

That's a pretty strong endorsement of the zoning change from the city's resident expert on that subject. What's even better is that Mayor Chuck Reed says that he, too, believes that Wolff's proposal meets city guidelines.

"Now it appears there's at least a good possibility that (Wolff) can meet the guidelines," he says. "If you're going to have a no net jobs loss, the jobs capacity of a property needs to go somewhere and not just on paper. But there are nearby companies and project developers who want or at least have expressed interest in getting the job capacity so they can expand on their sites."

New guidelines also allow the construction of denser and taller structures on developed land, and the mayor says neighboring businesses are interested in that, which helped sway his opinion on the viability of the deal.

"One scenario is that all those jobs could go next door on any one of those three (neighboring) locations," Reed says. "With that bit of factual information, well, I can see a way this could work."

Of course, nothing is done until it's done, but the iStar conversion is the fulcrum for the entire housing/stadium/hotel/commercial development project. The fact that the mayor and the planning department believe that Wolff has met the city's requirements is very good news indeed.

Posted by Jay at 02:25 PM | Comments (7)

The joy of Becks

We're still eight days away from David Beckham's on-field debut and a whopping 23 days away from his first action against MLS competition (August 5 in Toronto), but Beckhamania is reaching an early peak today as he meets the press for the first time as a member of the Galaxy. (You can watch the press conference live online at 10:00 am on MLSnet.com or on HDnet television.)

Meanwhile, the circus has begun, as exemplified by the 12,195 hits returned in a Google News search for "beckham." The circus might seem like a distraction, but we at the blog welcome it. In fact, we embrace the circus, because out of the throngs of people who tune in or buy tickets because they want to see the latest Beckham hairstyle or shots of TomKat in the stands or any of the other odd reasons people will have to turn their attention to MLS for the first time, there's going to be a number of them who discover a love for soccer that they didn't know they had. Ultimately, his presence is going to help grow the sport, and that's just from the spectators' side.

Beckham's long-term impact has the potential to be much bigger. We can't help but think of the USA's World Cup teams in 1990 and 1994, and the trio of John Harkes, Tab Ramos, and Tony Meola, all of whom grew up in Kearny, New Jersey, and watched Pele with the Cosmos when they were kids. The experience of seeing soccer make headlines and pack stadiums in the U.S. helped set them on their own paths to the World Cup. American soccer culture is much larger and more vibrant now, but we won't know the true impact of Beckham's arrival until we see what kind of players this country is developing a decade or so from now.

Posted by Jay at 06:57 AM | Comments (1)

July 12, 2007

Introducing the Real LA Madrid Galaxy!

We at the blog have generally been supportive of the acquisition of David Beckham by that team down south, but we suspected that the team's owners would eventually overreach and do something silly in an effort to make an extra buck or two. Well, we need wait no longer—the Galaxy has unveiled their new logo and uniforms. While our opinion will surprise no one, we think they've made a terrible mistake.

Here's why, in pictures. The top row is Real Madrid's most recent jersey; below that, the Galaxy's new kit.

So, in one quick move, the Galaxy has thrown out the traditional colors that they wore while winning two MLS Cups in favor of becoming the world's largest vendor of Real Madrid knock-off jerseys. Bravo! What's more, they're spreading the idea that MLS is a league in search of an identity to the entire soccer world at an unprecendented scale. (Yes, they're selling a lot of jerseys, but they would have sold a lot of jerseys without throwing away what tradition they've managed to establish. Oh well.)

Posted by Jay at 11:22 AM | Comments (3)

July 11, 2007

Kansas CIty Star reports benefits to communities with new soccer stadiums

We've directed some criticism towards the Mercury News lately regarding their lackluster coverage of the proposed stadium for the Earthquakes. One way to challenge critics is to ask them what they would propose as an alternative, and today the Kansas City Star has provided us with a perfect example of the type of story we wish the Mercury News would print.

Their story, headlined "New MLS stadiums have been a boost for their communities," takes a look at three cities where MLS stadiums have opened in the last few years: Frisco, Texas, a suburb of Dallas which hosts Pizza Hut Park, home of FC Dallas; Bridgeview, Illinois, where the Chicago Fire plays in city-owned Toyota Park; and Commerce City, Colorado, the Denver suburb where Dick's Sporting Goods Park opened this spring for the Colorado Rapids. They speak to city officials and MLS players for their assessments of the facilities, all of which receive high marks.

We'd provide an exerpt here, but this story has too much valuable info in it to present just a few pieces. Check it out on the paper's web site at the link above.


Posted by Jay at 02:14 PM | Comments (0)

Time for another party!

You are cordially invited to the downtown Britannia Arms on Thursday evening, July 19, as SSV members and Earthquakes fans from all over will come together to watch the MLS All-Star Game. The game starts at 6:00 and admission is free. We'll be gathering on the Brit's delightful outdoor patio and, if necessary, taking over the inside as well. The MLS All-Stars feature a number of ex-Quakes, including Jimmy Conrad, Ricardo Clark, Dwayne De Rosario, Brian Ching, and Landon Donovan, so bring your voice and wear your blue. We believe this will be a fun night for all! (The Brit is open to all ages until its kitchen closes at 10:00 pm, so it's fine to bring your kids as well.)

The Britannia Arms Downtown is at 173 West Santa Clara Street between San Pedro St. and Almaden Ave.—click here for a map. The game starts at 6:00. We hope to see you there!

Posted by Jay at 07:18 AM | Comments (0)

July 10, 2007

Beckham frenzy begins, DeRo re-ups with Houston

Bill Hutchison of All Headline News offers a history of American soccer and a summary of the sport's recent growth in a story titled, "Never Mind Baseball, Soccer Is The American Game; Coming Of Beckham Directs Attention To World's Top Sport."

Hutchison details the long history of soccer in the U.S. (the first team outside England, the Oneida Football Club of Boston, was founded in 1862), the success of MLS in terms of both attendance and infrastructure development, and offers an appraisal on the potential impact of David Beckham's arrival. We agree wholeheartedly with this quote from MLS commish Don Garber: "I don't want anybody to think Beckham will save soccer in America; it doesn't need to be saved. Soccer is doing just fine. Beckham will help it do a little better."

Speaking of which, we're only days away from the July 13 press conference that will introduce Beckham to America and his July 21 MLS debut, the latter of which will see the type of expanded coverage from ESPN that is usually reserved for Super Bowls and the like. Once the match begins, you'll be able to see details from 19 cameras (including Skycam, super slo-mo cams and robotic goal cams), the Beckham Cam (which will follow its namesake exclusively), and a Celebrity Cam which will look for Hollywood's darlings in the Home Depot Center crowd. While this may seem like overkill to long-time MLS fans, it's nice to see the league get this much attention, even if it's for fashion as much as soccer.

Meanwhile, the word from Houston is that Dwayne De Rosario has re-signed with MLS through the 2010 season. Our congratulations to Dwayne, who gave Earthquakes fans one of our biggest thrills on a chilly afternoon in Columbus in 2001, and delivered many more memorable moments wearing the blue and white.

Posted by Jay at 08:01 AM | Comments (0)

July 09, 2007

And now, the weekend news wrap

After a few quiet days, the weekend news offered several Quakes-related stories—some good, some not so good. (And by "not so good," we mean that the quality was lacking, not that there was any bad news regarding the Quakes.)

The highlight was an interview with Lew Wolff on channel 2, KTVU. We've received several e-mails from blog readers about it although none of us at blog central were lucky enough to see it. Here's a brief review from one reader:

Just saw Lew Wolf on KTVU news...said he's "over the top convinced" about (the potential of) soccer in San Jose. Had his two grandsons (?) on his lap wearing Quake tshirts. Pretty good stuff.

Up in Sacramento, Bee columnist Marcos Breton suggests that the state's capital would be a great place for an MLS team. Last year's exhibition between two MFL sides at Raley Field drew 14,000 and they're hoping for a similar turnout on July 26 when Monterrey, another MFL side, will take on Preston North End, an English side known on this side of the pond for once employing USA star Brian McBride and former Earthquakes star Eddie Lewis. We agree, Sacramento would be a good choice for MLS—after the San Jose Earthquakes are playing in their new stadium, that is.

(Speaking of Eddie Lewis, did you know that he was voted "Player of the Year" for 2006-07 by the fans of Leeds United, his current club? According to Wikipedia, he's only the fourth non-British player to do so.)

Back in the local news, the Insight section of the Sunday SF Chronicle tried to come up with a thoughtful overview of the many stadium projects currently underway in the region, which includes the A's proposed facility in Fremont, the Quakes' quest for a permanent home, Cal's attempts to retrofit Memorial Stadium, and the drama surrounding the 49ers in their own bid at leaving Candlestick behind. Author Roger Noll, a Stanford professor emeritus, fails to impress, however, as he writes:

The proposed Earthquakes facility is near the intersection of Highways 85 and 101 and the terminus of the San Jose light rail, making local access good. But for fans from Oakland and San Francisco, the stadium might as well be in Sacramento. Still, the site is only somewhat more remote and has easier access than the San Jose State football stadium, so old Earthquake fans should find the new site attractive.

We were really surprised to see the Chronicle get this wrong. As our readers all know, Noll is describing the iStar site above, which plays a role in the stadium negotiations but will not host the stadium itself. That honor goes to the Airport West site, which offers not only good freeway access but is also near a Caltrain station and is on the proposed BART extension line, Professor Noll. As for the idea that the stadium may as well be in Sacramento for fans living in Oakland and San Francisco, all we can say is that people seem to be able to find their way to the HP Pavilion pretty well, and that venue has become the exclusive Bay Area stop for many A-list performers. Dare we say that people know the way to San Jose?

Finally, Richard Goff of the Washington Post's "Soccer Insider" blog drops a playful hint at an expansion rumor he's hearing:

-- MLS expansion is drawing closer and while one source tells me he thought the league would have something to announce during all-star week, another contact said it would be at least another 30 days. It's gotta be San Jose, right?

So, according to his sources, we may know more about the potential return of the Quakes in 10 to 30 days. (Hey, at least he didn't say "60 to 90." Ask a Metrostars fan how long that turned out to be.)

Posted by Jay at 10:40 AM | Comments (0)

July 03, 2007

More tidbits from SJ Business Journal story

It will be another few days before the San Jose Business Journal allows non-subscribers to see their story headlined "Wolff plans women's soccer team, plus new league office," but a trip to the newstand has put the article on our desk here at the blog.

We can't reproduce the whole thing—if the Business Times wanted the whole world to read it, they wouldn't be stipulating that only subscribers could read it online—but here are a few excerpts:

(Earthquakes Soccer executive vice president David) Alioto says a lot has changed since the Earthquakes were moved to Houston in 2005 after 10 seasons in San Jose playing at Spartan Stadium. Soccer has network television contracts and soccer-specific stadiums are being built across the country.

The Earthquakes say subpar facilities at Spartan Stadium and absentee ownership of the Earthquakes were to blame for low attendance in San Jose.

"We didn't have the revenue to drive signage, scoreboard advertising, parking, suites," Alioto says. "The Earthquakes couldn't generate the revenue to compete with other teams. A new stadium solves that."

The Earthquakes believe soccer would be successful here for both women's and men's teams with better marketing and a soccer-specific stadium that delivers a higher quality fan experience, Alioto says.

Business Journal reporter Lindsay Riddell also spoke with Tonya Antonucci, CEO of the Women's Soccer Initiative.

While Antonucci won't say if San Jose will be home to (the eighth franchise) for the not-yet-named league, she says she has received a letter-of-intent and capital contributions from the team's potential owners.

"With the ownership group, we've been exploring where to place the league office," says Antonucci, who lives in San Francisco... "And one of the options we'd like to consider is a California home base for the league. If we have a franchise in San Jose with the Earthquakes organization, it could be a very nice fit."

Antonucci says the league expects to announce details about a 2008 season in the next five to six weeks.

We'll leave you with the story's concluding paragraph:

"We really have an opportunity in the women's game," Alioto says. "And our commitment would be the same. If we're going to do women's soccer, we're not going to make money on it, but that's not our goal. Our goal is to be the soccer mecca for Northern California."

Posted by Jay at 11:22 AM | Comments (0)

Sharkspage covers Chivas/Busan I'Park tie

Turns out that Saturday's match between Chivas and Busan I'Park generated even more coverage than we realized.

Sharkspage offers photos, a YouTube video of Chivas fans celebrating in the stands (hey, AEG--how come Quakes fans never got to bring flags like that into the stadium?), and even some news about how Venezuelan fans reacted to the U.S.A.'s presence at Copa America.

Sharkspage also has a link to something we missed the other day: a great multimedia gallery by Maria Avila of the Mercury News.

Posted by Jay at 10:37 AM | Comments (3)

July 02, 2007

Washington Post's soccer blog draws big numbers

We're still a bit annoyed that the editors at the Mercury News saw fit to print the idea that "the universe of people who care about soccer is very small," so we'll keep publishing facts which belie that scurrilous opinion.

We've already mentioned that the U.S. TV broadcast of the Gold Cup final "attracted 41 percent more television households in the United States than the Stanley Cup finals clincher." Now, we have news that the Washington Post's "Soccer Insider" blog is that paper's second most popular sports blog, and is vastly more popular than those for the area's NBA, NHL, and MLB teams.

The word comes from the Post's soccer writer, Steven Goff, who is interviewed by Adam Spangler on the This is American Soccer blog. Here's a sample (Spangler's comments are italicized; Goff's are not):

The numbers on the Soccer Insider have been outstanding.

How do they compare to the other sports blogs at the Post?

Washington Post sports has 9 blogs. We are number 2 behind the Redskins.

That would have been my guess. Having lived for a short time in DC, as I did, you quickly learn the power of the Redskins over everything there, except maybe the White House.

Yeah. They will always be number 1, no matter what time of year. But for us to quadruple the blog numbers for the Washington Wizards, to quadruple the blog numbers for the Capitals. We’re quadrupling the numbers for the Nationals. Part of it has to do with the fact that I do soccer, not just one specific team, so that helps, and I think our appeal goes beyond the beltway, whereas some of the other local teams, people outside the area don’t care at all. So that is part of it. You know, we’re breaking stories nationally. We’re doing a little analysis of the national team. There is no national baseball team or national hockey team to follow on a daily basis, so the nature of soccer is different than other sports. So we’ve benefited from that.

So, yeah, numbers have been great, and hopefully they will continue. I like to provide a little bit of everything, from DC United to MLS, the national team, college soccer, a little international stuff. Women’s material, which will become more prominent as the World Cup approaches. And there are definitely people out there who enjoy the women’s coverage on the blog. I get a lot of negative feedback – why do you bother; no one cares – but most people say, hey, we can’t get this info anywhere else, so I think we are filling a void there also.

We're pretty sure that the Washington Post would recognize the foolishness of a statement like "the universe of people who care about soccer is very small." Let's hope the Mercury News recognizes the opportunity that may be headed their way soon and starts giving soccer the coverage it deserves. (You guys actually want to increase your readership, right? Here's an opportunity.) If the last week is any indication, with the paper's sudden flourish of soccer stories, they may be starting to figure it out already.

Posted by Jay at 06:58 PM | Comments (0)

July 01, 2007

Wolff ranked number one in Bay Area sports

Mercury News columnist Mark Purdy and the paper's sports editors have named A's and Earthquakes managing partner Lew Wolff the most powerful man in Bay Area sports for the second year running.

Purdy focuses on Wolff's progress in forging a stadium deal for the A's in Fremont, but there's plenty of soccer love in the story, too, including this bit from Wolff himself:

After all, when Wolff was asked to name the coolest part of being an owner, he didn't cite any business meetings. He talked about waiting for a plane at the Miami airport at 6 a.m. after returning from a recent trip to Brazil. Out of nowhere, a man walked up to Wolff and introduced himself, saying he was from the Bay Area and that the A's were his favorite team.

"That kind of thing with the fans - and especially the kids that identify with the A's and the San Jose Earthquakes - is what's really cool for me," Wolff said.

Of course, Wolff declined to hog the spotlight and instead passed along the Merc's kudos:

Wolff also noted that he has a "great partner" in A's co-owner John Fisher, who prefers to stay behind the scenes. And Wolff specifically cited such A's employees as General Manager Billy Beane, team president Mike Crowley and venue development executive Keith Wolff, Lew's son. Dave Alioto and Ann Rodriguez head up Wolff's soccer office in San Jose.

We're left with just one question from the story: Brazil? What was Lew doing in Brazil? (OK, it probably wasn't soccer related, but you'll have to excuse us if that's the first thing that comes to mind.)

• • 

The Merc also provides coverage of last night's friendly between Chivas and Busan I'Park, which drew over 12,000 to Spartan Stadium. The two teams played to a 1-1 tie, and local product Jesus Padilla entered the game in the 62nd minute for Chivas, getting a few shots at goal in a solid performance. Our favorite part was the blue "Los Terremotos" t-shirts being worn by the ball boys and ball girls.

• • 

We missed this story last week, but we wanted to pass along our congratulations to Santa Clara University soccer coach Jerry Smith, who has just been given a seven-year contract extension.

Posted by Jay at 06:32 AM | Comments (0)