MyQuakes.com

The Quakes have introduced MyQuakes.com recently. It's a social networking website for san Jose Earthquakes supporters and fans. Hopefully it will turn out to be a great place for fans to network and communicate - only time will tell. It is a little "busy" for my taste - more glitz than function at this point, but again - maybe this will help fans to network and meet each other. H and I have both joined - so we'll see what happens!

Despite Another Loss, We Are Behind Our Guys

The Quakes drop their latest game (last night) 4-1 to the NY Red Bulls. The Quakes are on a slippery slope - one that leads to the bottom of the league table. What's happened? I won't harp on how much we miss Ronnie O'Brien. But even having Ronnie might not have made a difference this year so far - the team doesn't seem to be working as a.....team. I am sure the morale and confidence levels have dropped after each game not winning. My latest gripe is that when guys do finally get the ball in the box, they are looking to pass rather than shoot. The past several games we would have the ball in the 6 and we would make one pass too many. TAKE THE SHOT. You can't score without shooting.

US Open Cup, Quakes Update, Champions League, Where is Ronnie?

...alot of things to write about today.

Lamar Hunt US Open Cup - "What Happened?"

One of the oldest cup competitions in the sport and many have never heard of it. Those who have heard of it really don't care too much about it (MLS teams definitely do not see it as any priority - this can be seen when you watch Cup qualifer rosters filled with reserves and developmental squad lads). Basically what happened was that the Cup went the way of the sport of "soccer" in America (Baseball and American football took over and real football faded to the background of the American sporting scene.) I understand that back in the early 1900's, football leagues were heavily dependant on overseas talent and little development was being done to improve America's talent pool. Doesn't sound too much different from today's game! So the US Cup will probably stay in the shadows for eternity (and that's a long time!)

2009 Champions League:

Man Utd is heading to Rome after trashing Aresenal at the Emirates today (3-1, aggregate after 2nd leg 4-1). Man Utd dominated this game. Tomorrow is the showdown between Barca and Chelsea to see who will face Man Utd in the UCL finals. 1st leg was a nil-nil draw at camp nou. Tomorrow's game at Stamford Bridge will be interesting.

Quakes v. Chivas USA:

The Q's looked horrible again. Alot a credit does go to Chivas though (they are a great looking team right now). It reminds me of how the first part of the season was last year - we have little to no offensive threat on the field. Ryan Johnson will be marked be every team and so will Arturo. What has damaged the team the most? (3) Jason Hernandez injury (2) Darren Huckerby injury and (1) THE LOSS OF RONNIE O'BRIEN.

The team is not the same without Ronnie. Is he still available? I don't know for sure, but as far as I can tell, he isn't under contract with anyone right now. There was some web chatter about a possible interest by the Portland Timbers (that better not happen!). We need to get him back. I bet the supporters would be willing to pass the hat if that would help the front office get him back in the black and blue.

Post Game Meals:

I haven't posted much about the post-game meals H and I have had recently. We did hit Hot Pot City again after the US Cup game against NY. The meal was great as always. After the most recent game against Chivas, H wanted to go to a wildlife-themed restaraunt that he was familiar with in Campbell. I said that that sounds interesting. He told me that the specific focus was on avian species, especially one specific type of raptor. I thought, "Wow, intriguing." He mentioned that he knew a Theresa there, so I assumned this must have been one of the raptor specialists. Thanks H.

Oh, and by the way, this is H's friend Theresa...

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.

Endurance and Speed Skills

The Q's got steam rolled by the Sounders last night. We did have a couple of chances, but overall, the Quakes were never really in the game. The Sounders controlled the ball, passed with precision, moved without the ball, and were just a step or two ahead of every Quakes player. 2nd half revealed a weakness I see in the Quakes - endurance. The guys looked zapped halfway through the 2nd half. The Q's had great difficulty in sustaining any consistent possessions. It was hard to watch to tell you the truth.

QWest Field (Xbox 360 Pitch) was filled with energy and supporters. I am so envious of the support the Sounders already have in their first MLS season.

Any bright spots for the Q's? Joe Cannon is solid in net (he is just not getting the defensive help he needs). Ryan Johnson is doing everything he can - his efforts day in and day out are amazing.

Next games: The Quakes have a game this Wednesday (U.S Cup qualifier) vs NY Red Bulls @ the SB san Siro. The next regular season is Saturday vs. Chivas USA (the strongest team currently in the league). A very bumpy road ahead. We need Hucks and Jason back FAST or this is going to be a very tough stretch.

The Pyramid - Yes, Bring it to the USA!

The English Football "Pyramid". Is there a better way to structure team sports? Every sport should include promotion and relegation.

Level 1 - Premier League

Level 2 - Championship

Level 3 - League-1

Level 4 - League-2

Level - 5 Conference National

Level 6 - Conference North/South

Level 7 + it just keeps going......

American football has enough teams to at least have a couple of levels, right? Major League Soccer (MLS) United Soccer Leagues (USL) First Division, USL Second Division, USL Player Development League (PDL).

C'mon - single table for each level. Top 3 promote (except for the MLS of course) bottom 3 relegated to the next lower level (except for USL-3).

Major League Soccer

Chivas USA (13)
Kansas City Wizards (10)
Seattle Sounders FC (9)
Chicago Fire (9)
New England Revolution (8)
Toronto FC (8)
Colorado Rapids (7)
(T) DC United (6)
(T) Real Salt Lake (6)
Houston Dynamo (5)
San Jose Earthquakes (5)
New York Red Bulls (5)
FC Dallas (4)
Los Angeles Galaxy (3)
Columbus Crew (3)

USL – 1

Miami FC Blues (6)
Carolina Rail Hawks (6)
Puerto Rico Islanders (4)
Charleston Battery (3)
Austin Aztex (2)
Minnesota Thunder (2)
Vancouver Whitecaps (2)
Montreal Impact (1)
Rochester Rhinos (1)
Cleveland City Rockers (0)
Portland Timbers (0)

USL-2

Crystal Palace Baltimore (4)
Richmond Kickers (1)
Harrisburg City Islanders (1)
Pittsburgh River Hounds (1)
Bermuda Hogges (0)
Charlotte Eagles (0)
Western Mass Pioneers (0)
Wilmington Hammerheads (0)
Real Maryland Monarchs (0)

USL – 3 (PDL)

Chicago Fire
Cincinnati Kings
Cleveland Internationals
Forest City London
Fort Wayne Fever
Indiana Invaders
Kalamazoo Outrage
Michigan Bucks
Toronto Lynx
Des Moines Menace
Kansas City Brass
Real Colorado Foxes
Rochester Thunder
Springfield Demise
St. Louis Lions
Thunder Bay Chill
Carolina Dynamo
Cary Clarets
Fredericksburg Gunners
Hampton Roads Piranhas
Northern Virginia Royals
Reading Rage
Virginia Legacy
West Virginia Chaos
Brooklyn Knights
Long Island Rough Riders
New Hampshire Phantoms
New Jersey Rangers
Newark Ironbound Express
Ocean City Barons
Ottawa Fury
Rhode Island Stingrays
Westchester Flames
Austin Aztex U23
DFW Tornados
El Paso Patriots
Houston Leones
Laredo Heat
Rio Grande Valley Bravos
West Texas United Sockers
Atlanta Blackhawks
Baton Rouge Capitals
Bradenton Academics
Central Florida Kraze
Mississippi Brilla
Nashville Metros
New Orleans Jesters
Panama City Pirates
Abbotsford Mariners
Cascade Surge
Kitsap Pumas
Portland Timbers U23
Seattle Wolves
Spokane Spiders
Tacoma Tide
Vancouver Whitecaps Residency
Victoria Highlanders
Yakima Reds
BYU Cougars
Bakersfield Brigade
Fresno Fuego
Hollywood United Hitmen
Lancaster Rattlers
Los Angeles Legends
Ogden Outlaws
Orange County Blue Star
Southern California Seahorses

Ventura County Fusion

'Nuff Said! Let's get on with it.

Arghhhhhh! Another Draw.

We were without Huckerby. They were without Mr. Posh. We took a 1-0 lead after only a few minutes into the match after a great goal by Pablo Campos. Pablo showed me some things tonight - he looked much more active and faster than last week. I look forward to seeing Pablo providing an impact throughout the rest of the season.

Unfortunately, at least to my eye, the Q's again when into the mode of playing not to lose. It seemed like in the 2nd half that they began to sit back and try to protect the one goal lead. Well - as we all know - a one goal lead is never safe. Our pressure on the ball seemed to disappear as the game went on and LA got the equilizer in 70+ minute. We did have some great chances in the first half, but couldn't get that all important second goal.

Up next: 4/25/09 @ QWest Field to take on Seattle Sounders FC