Quakes beat the Rapids 1-nil

Can you believe it? The Q's have one their 2nd straight home game - beating the Colorado Rapids on Sat 5/1 at Buck Shaw. It wasn't an easy win - trying to hold on after Wondo scored tha games first goal, but Joe Cannon made some key saves and helped the team capture 3 more points.

Lisa got her free "facebook update" ticket, H, Dave, Ed, and I (along with jr. member Sean) kept the beat going in Sec 108. Where was Sharon? At an Eagles concert at the Tank. Will we ever see her again this season? She has missed some of the best games we have seen t he past 2 years. Hope to see her back this coming Sat as we face the Red Bulls.

Dave, H, and I grabbed a bowl of pho after the game (somewhere on El Camino Real).

The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup (Part 1)

What is the U.S. Open Cup? Searching the internet provides you no lack of information on the history of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup competition. It is the oldest cup competition in U.S. football and one of the oldest in the entire world (est. 1914). It is an annual domestic club competition along the same lines as the prestigious Football Association (FA) Cup in England (a competition amongst all professional and amateur clubs in England).

Here is an experiment for you – ask people you know if they know what the Lamar Hunt Cup is. If they are not sure – ask them if they have heard of the U.S. Open. Of course they know of the USTA’s U.S. Open at Flushing Meadows, NY (tennis) and the USGA’s U.S. Open (golf). Lamar Hunt? “I have no idea what you are talking about.” Well, many “soccer fans” in the U.S. have never heard of the Lamar Hunt Cup.

Why is this such an unknown event amongst US sports fans, including “soccer” fans?

(Next: Part 2 “What Happened?”)

Quakes update:

The Q’s played a U.S. Open qualifier game last night at the SB San Siro vs the NY Red Bulls. Only reserves from both teams started and played most of the game. Why would a team not field their starting 11 in order to qualify for one of the oldest domestic cup competitions in the world? More on this later.

Next game: Saturday May 2nd against Chivas USA at the SB San Siro.

2008 MLS Cup

Well...today was the 2008 MLS Cup finals. I don't think much of the rest of the U.S. knew about or cared about this match - especially since today is a Sunday with its full array of American gridiron offerings.

The Columbus Crew battled with the NY Red Bulls at The Home Depot Center in So Cal. I caught the game at Raliegh's in Berkeley. All of their tvs were tuned in on gridiron (both the niners and raiders were on tv). A very nice bartender switched one of the monitors for me to the football game - thanks so much! The game wasn't bad - Columbus just wore NY down and took the MLS Cup 3-1.

...I'd sure like to be at the finals one day - supporting my Quakes! Watch out for the Quakes in 2009!!

1 "friendly" and 1 "must win"

There will be 2 Quakes games this week at the SB San Siro. The first one is tomorrow night vs CD FAS - an international friendly. Don't expect the first team out there on the pitch for this one. CD FAS is a top club from El Salvador. The big game will be on Saturday when we take on Chivas USA - a must win as I see it if we are going maintain an outside chance to get into post season play. Chivas is one of the teams that is also fighting for a playoff spot in the Western Conference. Currently they have 39 points (2nd to Houston with 43). The Q's only have 30. RSL, Colorado, and FC Dallas are the teams we are trying to catch (this is why the FC Dallas tie last week really hurt us). This week: NY @ RSL, Toronto @ Dallas, and Colorado @ LA. (The Galaxy is behind the Q's with 29 pts. Ideally - Quakes win, RSL and Dallas lose, and Colorado and LA tie).