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January 19, 2008
Donovan, Houston, and Salinas
Unless we were having an extremely vivid dream yesterday, we could have sworn that we wrote an entry for the blog about Ann Killion's Friday column speculating about Landon Donovan's potential return to the Quakes. We'd like to blame its loss on some sort of cyber snafu, but we suspect the problem sat somewhere between the chair and the keyboard, so we'll try to re-summarize today.
As mentioned, Killion asks, with the return of Ryan Cochrane, Joe Cannon, and Frank Yallop to the Quakes, if Donovan is going to be next. This issue has been discussed at length in the press and there are two facts that have emerged over and over: Donovan has a no-trade clause in his contract and his wife, actress Bianca Kajlich, has a TV series that presumably shoots in LA. Those would appear to be two pretty strong indications that we won't be seeing Donovan in San Jose at all this year.
Here's the thing, though: Killion has been spooky accurate with some of her predictions so far. Back in September, before the Quakes had a GM or a coach, she wrote, "I can't promise that (Frank) Yallop will be the new coach of the expansion Earthquakes... but I wouldn't be at all surprised if he was," and, "Don't be surprised, when the Earthquakes are finally put together, to see familiar names involved, such as John Doyle."
Time will tell if she's right again.
We had a couple other items yesterday. First off, congrats to former Earthquakes hero Dwayne De Rosario, who has been named Canadian player of the year. Also, Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America has an interesting item in his blog. First off, he writes that SUM is negotiating with both Real Madrid and Barcelona for potential appearances in the U.S. this summer. Either one would be likely to fill the Coliseum, but we're particularly fond of the idea of seeing Barcelona there, with their star-studded lineup of players like Messi, Ronaldinho, Eto'o, and Henry.
Soccer America is also reporting that Houston will be playing two games against the Quakes prior to the Dynamo's appearances February 20 and 23 in Honolulu in the Pan Pacific Cup.
The story also has this tidbit: "Yallop and Kinnear have been discussing trades as well as the two-game series, with Yallop seeking players willing to return to the San Francisco Bay Area. Yallop is trying to land former San Jose and MetroStar defender Ramiro Corrales from Norwegian club SK Brann, but he is not out of contract and his MLS rights are held by Houston."
Also in the rumor category is today's entry by Chicago Tribune writer Luis Arroyave on his blog, which states that he "heard that Pat Noonan could be on his way to the Colorado Rapids and Pablo Mastroeni could join the San Jose Earthquakes."
Stay tuned...
Now then, back to today's regularly scheduled programming, "The Shea Salinas Story." Although at least one wag at the Quakes' SuperDraft party couldn't resist asking, "What? Johnny Walnut Creek wasn't available?" when Salinas's name was announced, he appears by all accounts to be a great selection. An outside mid with speed and the stamina to run the flanks for 90 minutes, it's easy to see why he was the team's top choice.
If you're looking for the GM's perspective on acquiring Salinas and the team's other plans for filling out the roster, check out this article on MLSnet.com. If you'd like more info on Salinas himself, Mercury News writer Elliott Almond has that covered :— he even spoke with Salinas's mom and high school soccer coach. Here's the Quakes' press release on the pick.
Our congratulations also go out to the other local players who were selected yesterday (thanks for the list, Noah!):
13. New England: Rob Valentino, USF. hometown: Cave Creek, Arizona
24. DC United: Andrew Jacobson, California. hometown: Palo Alto (Gunn HS)
26. Chicago: Peter Lowry, Santa Clara. hometown: Fair Oaks
32. New York: Luke Sassano, California. hometown: Huber Heights, Ohio
39. Kansas CIty: Matt Marquess, Santa Clara. hometown: Palo Alto (Gunn HS)
45. Dallas: Jamil Roberts, Santa Clara. hometown: Fremont (Washington HS)
46. Los Angeles: Brandon McDonald, USF. hometown: Glendale, Arizona
51. Los Angeles: Matt Hatzke, Santa Clara. hometown: San Jose (Bellarmine Prep)
(Oh, and our condolences to those last two. We hope you guys are inspired by Brian Mullan, Brian Ching, Craig Waibel, Joe Cannon, and even Frank Yallop, all of whom successfully escaped Los Angeles to proudly wear Quakes blue.)
Finally, the Santa Cruz Sentinel has a story on yesterday's SuperDraft party.
Enjoy your weekend and we'll see you on Monday.
Posted by Jay at January 19, 2008 09:22 AM