- Sealy looked uninterested and had his most anonymous game of the season.  I guess he had his mind on Europe already.  Thanks for the service Sealy, he did provide a big improvement over Kamara in that middle part of the season.

- Shea Salinas had his best game of the season by far.  It is obvious that he is learning from Huckerby.  He made several long runs and cut backs on that left side that were vintage Darren.  Shea has always had the willingness to take defenders on, but now it seems he has learned a few more tricks to mix it up and fool defenders instead of doing the same approach over and over.  I also think he is better on the left side than the right.  It gives him an opportunity to make those cut backs which were giving the Toronto defense fits.  His long run, putting the ball past one opponent on the flank, then making a cutback and beating two defenders, ultimately winning a penalty, was a perfect ending to the season for the team and for Shea.  We need to keep this kid.  I wasn’t convinced before, but I am now.  He is going to be a star.  I can still hear people singing in my head.  Shea-Shea-Shea, Shea-Shea-Shea, Shea Salinas, Shea Salinas.  (to the tune of Shake-Shake-Shake, Shake-Shake-Shake, Shake your booty).  Remember it for next year. 

- Ryan Johnson is my hero.  I always knew it before but it was confirmed yesterday.  He works hard every minute of every game, and there’s never any question of his dedication.  What was a bit different yesterday was his willingness to use tricks as well as power to beat defenders.  I don’t know if it was simply a matter of being relaxed and confident, or he’s learning some new things, but he made a wonderful run, feinted a pass, and then knocked the ball forward to attempt a side-footed shot which almost went in.  Later he made a few shimmies and step-overs to beat defenders, which weren’t just for entertainment’s sake but were effective.  We’ll need a forward to replace Sealy, but Johnson needs to be a starter next year. 

- Alvarez was good last night, especially when he casually back-heeled a perfect pass that released Ronnie down the flank.  I’m still unsure of his best position.  He gets outmuscled up front sometimes, and I still think Ronnie and Darren are the best bets on the flanks.  An attacking mid role is not out of the question, because he’s best when he has room to take on defenders, though that’s not really Yallop’s system.

- Wow, did we miss Corrales.  Yesterday only reinforced the fact that Ramiro is absolutely key in the midfield.  He wins balls,  provides steady and accurate distribution, and provides good cover for the defense.  I would go so far as to say that if he wouldn’t have been injured, we would be in the playoffs right now.  I started off the season as someone who felt that Ramiro had always just been a standard Quakes squad player, to a great admirer of his role within the team and his abilities. 

- We might’ve seen Lima’s last game in a Quakes uniform.  I have a feeling based on his comments on Centerline Soccer, that he won’t be coming back.  We’ll need a replacement for him next year.

- Loved the lap around the pitch by the players at the end. 

All in all, it was a good season and we have a lot to look forward to next season.  The last game is truly critical, for a mental reason if nothing else.  If we had lost, there would’ve been a downcast mood throughout the offseason.  This win instead inspires a mood of confidence that can be built upon. 

Well, that’s all folks.  Let me know what you thought about last night’s game.

Up next, look for my season awards, a rating of each player’s performance over the season, the best moments of the season, and then we’ll start talking about the expansion draft. 

‘Til then, enjoy the win!

I never cease to be amazed by people’s knee-jerk reactions to blame the referee.

Self-criticism beats ref bashing 11 times out of 10.

It was always bound to end this way really.  Once the Quakes were confirmed as coming back to the league, most people predicted a kind of “friendly rivalry” developing between the new and old Quakes.  That was always a delusion.  When such strong emotions are invested in something, you can’t just turn them off or tone them down to a lukewarm, happy medium, instead, they can only transform into strong emotions of a different sort.  After living and bleeding with those ex-Quakes through trials and tribulations, when suddenly they score on you, its a betrayal.  Add to that fact the lingering trauma and hard feelings attached to the “theft” of our team, and the two cups won by “our players”, and you have a recipe for fireworks.

Believe me, I know, because at the first preseason game against Houston, I clapped politely at the returning Quakes players in those horrid orange jerseys.  Once they scored against us, I was calling them “traitors”.  I’m sure it works the other way too.  For those ex-Quakes, it must be hard to be heckled by those who once supported you.

But that’s not enough, every rivalry needs some good villains too.  In this case, we have a trio.

Exhibit A: Brian Ching.  Hacks Cochrane in the first meeting of the season.  Then celebrates his goal this past Saturday by running up to the Quakes fans in a blatant display of “f off”. 

Exhibit B: Kei Kamara.  Oh yes, the newest of ex-Quakes.  I defended Kamara longer and harder than most, and even when he left for Houston, I had no hard feelings.  After all, it’s not his fault that he couldn’t hit a luxury condo in downtown San Jose with a tennis ball.  But he had to run his mouth about “wishing he was in Houston earlier”.  Add to that a healthy helping of diving, arguing with every official in the zip code, and getting into it with his old teammates, he took the lion’s share of the fans’ ire (including a classic “we started winning when you left” song).

Exhibit C: Eddie Robinson.  This was always his fate given his tendency to be a first-rate hack.  I overlooked these tendencies when he was a Quake, because he seemed to bleed blue.  But let’s face it, over the last couple of years in Houston, he has become less of the elite defender he once was (he was awesome in 2005, taking the ball effortlessly away from Eddie Johnson on one memorable occasion) and more of the outright thug.  To top it all off, he throws up four fingers to the Casbah after a round of heckling on Saturday.  The audacity of this guy!  Did he forget that two of those rings were won in a Quakes jersey?

So there you have it, a trio of villains and a new rivalry getting more intense with every game.  Fouls and hard challenges were not in short supply, and the crowd was way more abrasive than normal.  Hey, I’m grateful, there’s nothing better than a good rivalry.  There are exceptions to my hate, however.  I can never find it in myself to heckle Craig Waibel (an honorary Quake forever), Brian Mullan (the consummate professional), or Pat Onstad (the lovable Canuck). 

As for the game itself, a draw was a fair result.  The Quakes did themselves no favors by playing the ball in the air, as the Dynamo have a marked height advantage.  Our strength is when we keep the ball on the carpet.  Our early struggles this season were down to the fact that we didn’t have the skill to play on the ground, nor the size to play in the air (with our “target man” being the aforementioned Kamara).  However, Houston were pressing heavily (a trademark of Yallop-Kinnear football), forcing the Quakes into long balls.  Our main offensive engine, Huckerby, found himself faced with two or three defenders every time he received the ball.  Yallop will have to to adjust the gameplan for next Saturday, when the rivalry continues in Houston, in what will be the toughest game in our final home stretch to the playoffs. 

Look for a review of where we stand in the playoff race on Wednesday, with a match preview to follow. 

So What the Hell Happened? A tie is what happened which leaves us in the same place we were before the game which leads me to wonder, did yesterday even happen at all? And the game… hmmm… scrappy. We decided the theme of the first half was “gaping wound” and my friend, the huge Roma fan, giving full credit to Chris at the Roma blog, pointed out that since Houston did a pretty dern good job of shutting down the San Jose offense and severing much of the connectivity between the midfield and the forwards, this “strikerless formation” should be called the “silicon clusterfuck.” Also, I have to give props to Bobby Boswell for containing Huckerby throughout most of the game. God, I can’t believe I just wrote that. And I’ll be spending the rest of my day scrubbing my fingers until they are raw and bloody.

Speaking of Blood… “biohazard” Nick Garcia got a few good headers in there after he got hurt. And every single one was cringeworthy for sure.

Speaking of Cringeworthy… sorry guys. I have a little soft spot for Kei Kamara and secretly hoped he’d score. I know all y’all think he’s a lousy traitor but cut the kid a little slack. I mean there is a creepy video on the internets of him chopping wood in Sierra Leone. My friend spent much of the first half debating what exactly did San Jose receive for his trade? He finally settled on a bag of kettle corn.

I Promised Myself if I Won the Bucket of KFC Coupons, I’d Give Them All Away on This Blog. I didn’t win. Sorry everyone.

Seats Right Behind the Players’ Benches Do Have A Few Advantages. We watched Brian Ching ever so slowly warm up during the second half and spent much of that time yelling “change the game Brian!” Dude, we didn’t actually mean it. We also had a pretty good view of Ching and a few fans exchanging unpleasantries right after he scored. Lotta love out in San Jose last night. Lotta love.

Oh Hello, it’s the Return of Shea Salinas! Where ya been? My first comment was “time to earn that $30,000 salary!” My friend’s response? “It’s like working in the mall, but he’s more physically fit.”

Personal Highlight? Finally getting a hold of a friend of mine. After I lost my phone, I lost his number and the fool never bothered to respond to the bajillion Facebook messages I left him. Luckily I found him amongst the Ultras and also found out he’s gonna be a dad. Congratulations!

And the Man of The Match? DeRosario’s hair. Good lord it’s like a work of art. And it takes a lot of planning and effort to have a fro that looks that amazing. My friend and I both hoped he’d show up to that Britannia Arms thing just so we could ask him what in the hell he did to get such beautiful, symmetrical hair.

Oh right, and that Britannia Arms thing? Ummmm… full disclosure. The last time I was in downtown San Jose I was at a swanky hotel bar having drinks with the Cheetah Girls and their entire Disney entourage. How did I wind up there? Don’t ask. And the situation was pretty effin awkward, to say the least. So hanging out in the back patio of a bar surrounded by pretty much the entire San Jose team and a few Houston players was just a teensy bit less awkward than that.

So the next game is away, at Houston. Not feeling too positive about this one so shit should really depend on how the other teams in the West fare this coming week. Hopefully Ian will give an update on what’s up with that. And I’ll leave you with some Local Love. If you’ve ever seen pictures from or been to Burning Man, you’ve likely seen a lot of the large scale artwork displayed in the middle of the playa. You know, those 10 to 20 foot sculptures. Hard to miss, really. Well, one of the warehouses where much of this stuff gets built is in trouble. The Oakland fire department was forced to shut down Nimby after a fire broke out this past Wednesday. The tenants, with help from the city of Oakland, are looking for a new place to finish their work and could use a little help and support. So everyone reading this post should take a few moments to check out the link above, or even subscribe to their twitter feed. A.R.T. y’all.

We win, I have a fun & relaxing time at the game, then my friends and I go somewhere else and get wasted.

and today I receive this message in my Facebook…

After the game, come out to The Britannia Arms Downtown to watch Earthquakes players be celebrity bartenders for the night. All tips go to support the Earthquakes Community Fund.

ORLY?!?!? Well, I guess that’s settled then. So I wonder who is going to volunteer for this? And will they be well versed in all the varieties of girly mixed drinks out there? Can they make a perfect dry martini? Will they remember everyone’s order if there’s a rush on the bar?

And most importantly, WILL STUART HOLDEN BE THERE?!?!?! Hell yes we all saw those amazing pictures of him getting molested in a bar by women twice – nay – three times his age and clearly having a laugh over it. All I gotta say about that is, Stuart, I’ve got nothing but mad love and respect for your “I don’t give a fuck” attitude. If I see you at the Britannia Arms on Saturday, I will A) not molest you and B) buy you a drink. For reals. I’m not lying. Uh… are you 21 or over?

Apologies to SF over at The Offside Rules for the photo-caption-style-jack, but it was too easy to pass up.

I consider myself pretty level-headed for a blogger and message board poster, and I try to keep things in perspective, for better or for worse. Allow me now to throw that all out the window, as I will refuse to be critical about any of the Quakes. Everyone gets MOTM today. We won, They lost. More proof positive that God hates the Galaxy.

Ta da.

One of them must need something to do, right?

Sean disagrees with a call, and he’s pissed.

I know I usually play the “good cop” on here, defending ref’s decisions and the like (still don’t think Casey committed a foul last week), but that PK call really was atrocious. Even if Eric Denton didn’t exist, and it was just Johnson and Ibrahim (I think those were the players), it would have been a dubious call. The TFC player was already have falling, and the Quake did bump him, but it would have been a 50/50 call. But Denton was already there, in front of them, and cleared the ball away! Am I missing something here? The TFC player had no chance to even challenge Denton for it, so … ? Thank God for Joe, or else I would have been super livid.

Man of the Match: Jason Hernandez. I think one of his best games of the year, shutting down a speedy attack with Ibrahim and Cunningham.

And then the Quakes scored, and I forgot all about that, and began dreaming about playoffs and dandelions and lollipops and dreamsicles.

And then Conor Casey scored, and I was just pissed.

Not in the Frank Yallop kind of pissed (more on that later), but in a why-even-bother-scoring type of pissed. For me, the worst part of the goal is that it is EXACTLY how we scored against Columbus a few weeks back, with O’Brien crossing to Johnson. Cooke, like O’Brien is a superb crosser of the ball. And he had enough time to trap the ball. Take four or five steps back, and the flight a ball in. Johnson was the closest one to him, that is to say, he was about as close to Cooke as I was to the game today.

As for the “foul”, I really didn’t see much of it. Thanks to my brand-spanking-new DVR, I replayed it (and all replays) 5 times, and I still really couldn’t come up with much. Casey really didn’t push off all that badly, and I didn’t see anything else around that could have been called. Like Luis Bueno said over at his blog, “Perhaps the grind of losing game after game and not scoring game after game has finally gotten to Yallop, at least enough to the point where he can’t really hid his emotions any more.”

Did we deserve to win this game? No. But it never feels good to give up a lead, especially for a team that is starved of points.

* Like suzanne said in the previous post’s comments, the Quakes controlled the first half, and had the majority of the chances.
* My prediction skills were top notch
* Red Card Riley strikes again! (See below)
* Ronnie O played well, was in the majority of the Quakes highlights in one way or another
* That being said, he got turned inside-out by Gonzalez on the second goal
* If that’s his best try at a clearance, we might as well leave Smarte up front.

I hate to play the optimist once again, but if a couple deflections go our way (or don’t, as it were), I think we have a much different game on our hands. I am leaving the rest of this up to you, my faithful readers. Thoughts on the match? Fill me in.