Is “our little expansion team” a good nickname or bad?

By: Melissa | March 26th, 2008

I know the season is upon us because Luis Bueno created a new “2008 rankings” tag on the Sideline Views blog and posted his first list. San Jose is dead last. But, Bueno added the quip: “Only one way to go.” Double true. There are a handful of season previews for the Quakes online now but quite possibly the best one is from Jeff Carlilse at MLSnet. He does a great job laying out the issues: specifically Kamara’s inconsistency and our lack of depth not just up top. He also does a great job outlining possible solutions such as Cannon’s suggestion the opening road schedule is a chance to “grind out some results and bond a little bit.” And Carlisle brings up that little bit of somethinsomethin our head coach is known for described as “Yallop’s steadying influence”

San Jose will also rely heavily on Yallop’s steadying influence. The Canadian took his lumps last year in L.A., although the Quakes’ underdog role is one that fits him better than the glamour-team persona adopted by the Galaxy.

The one-time MLS Coach of the Year successfully cultivated such a blue collar attitude during his previous stint in San Jose, one that saw him turn the Quakes from a laughingstock into one of the league’s best teams.

And after reading a few of the season previews, it certainly does seem there are low expectations for our little expansion team this year. But after watching their performance during the Carolina Cup games, I still think they’ve got a shot at the playoffs. My main worry though is how easily Angel broke through the Cochrane/Garcia impenetrable wall. We’ve got more designated players this season so I expect to see those guys kill our defense over and over. And we can’t have that because then there will be less time for Joe Cannon to “kiss babies, shake hands and pose for pictures.”

So the Quakes head up to Portland on Friday for their last pre-season game against the Timbers and I should go ask Sunderland blogger and Portland resident Lucas if he still wants to guest-blog about the event. If I forget, I’m pretty sure Bob at the Timbers Offside will have a write-up on the game as well.

And your Song of the Week is my other favorite video nominated for the youtube awards (it also lost to Chocolate Rain). My car is dead but Oakland’s own Trunk Boiz know how to roll. And on a side note – just how many fans do you think the A’s are gonna lose when they move out of Oakland?