Bye Kei

By: Ian | July 25th, 2008

And just like that, he’s gone. No more Kamara around these parts and in this blog. I spent the last few weeks cursing his name and his skills, but now I can’t help feeling a bit sad that he’s been traded to Houston. When he first arrived from Columbus, I was actually genuinely excited. I knew he was unproven at best, but he seemed ripe for the Yallop touch. Surely he would become a strong, quick goal-scoring machine in no time. At the time our only striker was Gavin Glinton, so it seemed like a young forward with “potential” was just what we needed.

Even as time went by and the goals were few and far between (only 2), I still had faith. Even as the critcisms reached a fever pitch and Kamara was portrayed by some Quakes fans as the worst striker in the history of the game, I held out hope. I believed that at a certain point something would click and the goals would begin to flow. But it never happened. Eventually even I gave up on him. I think it was the game against Chicago where Kamara missed a clear rebound following Salinas’ shot off the post, followed up the next week by a horrible miss after having a clear opportunity in the box against Chivas U.S.A. At that point, I joined the ranks of the Kamara-haters.

My girlfriend would hit me in the arm every time I made fun of Kamara during the home game against Colorado. She didn’t understand how I could be so mean to him, especially when a trivia item about Kei came up on the scoreboard, listing his hobby as “playing the African drums”. I understood what she meant, he is a human being after all. But its hard for the voice of reason to penetrate the irrationality of a soccer fan’s heart.

Now its all moot, because Kamara has been packed up and shipped out to Houston. It’s necessary in the long run and I agree with the deal giving us a first round draft pick next season. But he was one of the originals of this new era of the Quakes, for better or for worse. He went through the lows and struggles of this difficult first season with us, the fans. His two goals were memorable. The one against Colorado coming in our first win of the season, and I thought that would open the floodgates at the time. His second helped defeat Houston in an emotional game, and the high point of the season so far for Quakes fans.

See ya around Kei. You may not have set the world alight in San Jose, but for a little while, you bled blue with us. I guess Ryan Johnson will have to have a new dancing partner now. Good luck out there, and I hope you make it in Houston (just not against us).

Now for the Huckerby/Sealy era…