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February 11, 2008
Two Salinas stories
It's going to be a fun week for Earthquakes fans. The team takes the field twice this week, in San Jose on Wednesday night and in San Francisco on Saturday night, and we're looking forward to seeing, finally, the names we've read so often come to life on the field. Granted, the new Quakes have had only days to jell while Houston has had years, but with Nate Jaqua and Joseph Ngwenya both departing for Austria recently, the Quakes may actually have more forwards. (The Dynamo also traded Zach Wells, so San Jose may have more goalkeepers, too.)
It's not game day just yet, though, and today we've got two Salinas-related stories.
The first comes from Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America, who says that Earthquakes fans may soon see Salinas native Ramiro Corrales in blue and black:
Several sources confirm former MetroStar and San Jose defender/midfielder Ramiro Corrales is headed back to MLS from Norwegian champion SK Brann. Corrales left MLS as a free agent following the 2004 season. His MLS rights are still held by Houston, which retains players who were under contract to the old San Jose team before it headed east. However, a source confirms that San Jose and Houston have already worked out a deal to switch Corrales' rights to the new Earthquakes.
Our second Salinas story is biographic, not geographic. Embele Awipi's weekly column in the Salinas Californian focuses on Quakes draft pick Shea Salinas, whose knowledge of the California town that bears his name comes from the Internet:
"I do a Google search and Salinas pops up a lot," he said. "I've heard of the Salinas Valley and the wines that come from there, but I've never been."
Salinas also talks about growing up in Texas, digging post holes, and adapting to his new life in MLS. A good read and worthy of a click.
Posted by Jay at February 11, 2008 06:05 AM