* First, the Big Kahuna itself, the Quakes official website is reporting that Yallop will be tweaking the line-up a bit, with Corrales moving to left back and McDonald and Ribeiro manning the central midfield.  I pushed for Corrales at left back earlier in the season, but it seems a bit strange timing to make the move now with Zaher putting in some solid performances.  It does show that Yallop sees that Corrales has been struggling in that central midfield, but is not willing to simply bench him.  McDonald should be an improvement in the midfield, with a lot more athleticism and bite than either Elliott or Corrales can offer. Ribeiro still has to prove that he is not just an USL reject.

* Centerline Soccer is busy as always.  They comment on McDonald finally getting the nod in midfield, while pointing out that a pairing of McD and Ribeiro might not provide the needed creativity or invention to generate some attack.  Given the poor performance of our central midfield this season both offensively and defensively, I’ll settle for some steel and bite and actually getting in the opposition’s way now and then.  We’ll deal with the creativity once the transfer window opens.  They also report on Huckerby’s status, who will sit out this game in order to fully recover from that nagging quad injury.  It sucks to be without the Hucks, but we do need him to be healthy for the rest of the season.  This looks to be his last season as a Quake, and it would be a shame for him to sit out most of it.

* Whenever an aging European star even hints that they might possibly think about perhaps playing at some point in the MLS, it raises hopes to unrealistic heights.  The most recent example is Pavel Nedved, whose mere mention of a desire to play in the MLS set hearts aflutter.  I wouldn’t bank on him coming to the Quakes or any other MLS club, however.  It is most likely just another groundless flirtation to add some more negotiating leverage to Nedved’s cause.

* If you haven’t yet read the excerpt from Grant Wahl’s upcoming book, “The Beckham Experiment”, do it now.  I mean it, clink on this link right now, whether you’re at work, in summer school, or wherever and feast your eyes on some juicy gossip about that scummy team down south.  Grin with joy as Judas himself tears into Goldenballs with all he can muster.  Wow, to be a fly on the wall on Beckham’s first day back in the L.A. locker room.  ”So, Becks, do any light reading on the plane over?”

* Check out Alex Davidson’s (my co-host for Under the Blue Banner) blog about the recent USMNT upset of Spain.  While you’re at it, start following Under the Blue Banner on twitter.  This Sunday’s show will be on at 10:30 a.m. due to the Gold Cup games that afternoon.

* Finally, in that same glorious tradition of shameless self-promotion, head on over to World Soccer Reader, to hear my take on Bobby Convey’s troubled time in San Jose.

That’s it for now folks.  Don’t drift away, head back to this blog next week for some more Earthquakes fun.  Go Quakes!

With John Doyle and Frank Yallop now in charge and the expansion draft just around the corner, there seems to be enough movement in Silicon Valley to start an Earthquakes blog on this site. I frequently comment on some of the other MLS blogs here and am a somewhat irregular blogger for australia.worldcupblog.org so I figured – hey – those are qualifications enough… right? Anyways, the news I read Thursday morning (Landycakes recently had lunch with Yallop and other SJ staff members!), threw me into such an angry and frustrated yet confused state, that I immediately felt the need to have a forum to vent about all things Quakes. I may have lept first before thinking this through because I have not figured out how I’m going to justify blogging for San Jose while simultaneously rooting for Chivas USA (or as I lovingly call them – Baby Chivas), but I think I’ll just cross that bridge when I get there.

As the months roll on, I’ll be combing the internets for Earthquakes news and posting the interesting bits along with whatever completely subjective opinions I have… all the while waiting very impatiently for the 2008 season to begin. I’m personally looking forward to drunken Caltrain rides to “The Shaw” and (if the rumors are true) watching the biggest MLS rivalry ever ever ever recommence in the biggity O – Oakland! Hell yeah!

So I’m a Norcal native (I was ~30 miles from the epicenter during the Loma Prieta earthquake) and I’ve got just enough Bay Area cultural snobbery in me to refuse to order cable/satellite television meaning I’m currently on a quest to find a proper bar to watch the games at. Any East Bay readers are welcome to give me suggestions (preferably in or around the downtown area) and I predict there will be a bit of local love tossed around on this site from time to time. With that in mind, I encourage all Bay Area sports fans to visit my friends over at The Bay Easy for updates, predictions, or just random chit chat.

So here’s to the two time MLS champions expansion team!