A Warm, Wet Blanket

I'm back from hot, dry So-Cal. In Palm Springs the car thermometer said it was 113 out. But at least it was a dry heat.

It was about 30 degrees cooler in Frisco this evening. But it was a wet heat. Humidity and heat, as we Houstonians know, is like having a warm, wet blanket thrown over you. And that whole game was like a wet blanket. The bright spot: we got one point on the road.

With over 40 fouls between the two teams, it was a chippy affair to say the least. There was absolutely no rhythm to either team, but I'd say that FCD had the edge in possession and did a better job in the middle of the field. Alvarez and Toja had the best opportunities for the hosts, and it would have taken only one to put that game away.

Yawn.

On the other end of the field, DDR had a great opportunity in the 79th minute when Mullan won the goal line and made a nice cutback pass, but DeRo hit a stray, weak dribbler of a shot. In the 85th, he had a 1-on-1 with Sala, and the GK made a great sliding save. The back lines of both teams -- even FCD's cobbled-together defense -- were pretty solid.

In general, a team is happy with a point on the road, particularly after a great 5-game winning streak; but at the Deep Dish the Houston supporters were more ardent than the Dallas supporters and that FCD defense was mostly second-string. That was no hostile crowd or stifling defense we faced, and if Dynamo-H is going to be a contender we should be able to put away games like that ... or at least look to be the more dangerous team. I'd say we were half-hearted, though not as half-hearted as the Dallas supporters looked.

This makes two games in a row where our offense looked timid. When we had opportunities, our forwards would pause and pull back. They'd allow the defense to get organized, then pass the ball (and the responsibility) to someone else. You know: they were playing like Eddie Johnson on the USMNT. DeRo was the only one that looked willing to score. The only other threats came with players hoping for a lucky ricochet off their foreheads off corners or free kicks. We had 8 shots to Dallas' 14.

Subs didn't help either. Unlike past games, there was no spark generated by Holden's and Ashe's entrance into the game. What was missing? Are teams now aware of Ashe's speed? Or was there just a general malaise and a desire not to lose rather than an urge to win? I dunno.

Yawn.

Let's hope there's more passion when Juan Pablo Angel comes to town on Thursday. (And RBNY losing to the Crew tonight: what's with that? Parity can sure make for a fun league, but it sure undermines the ability of the league to have any great teams emerge. And it plays havoc with my fantasy team.)

Odd Notes:
Ruiz, trouble though he is at times, is still sporting the captain's armband. Did you notice that his armband is in FCD's colors with the FCD shield? Wade Barrett's armband is black and white with the Adidas logo. Can we not pitch in for a truly Dynamo armband?

In the pre-game show, Dallas supporters were waving some really classy posters in the background: "Bretos has Onstad's merkin" and "Kinnear has a baby arm." (What does that last one even mean?) After the first commercial break, the Fox Soccer Channel folks must have forced the miscreants to put away the posters. I think FSC did the miscreants a favor by making them put away those posters -- it prevented them from embarrassing themselves.

Post-game, did you notice the FCD prayer circle? It included Dynamos Brad Davis and Joseph Ngwenya. Seems religion can bring people together. Too bad that doesn't work in the Middle East.

The third round of the US Open Cup is upon us. We'll be playing the Charleston Battery of the USL on or around July 10. If we win, we'll play the winner of the FCD-Atlanta Silverbacks match. Charleston is no pushover, particularly since our schedule will likely force us to play many reserves and we'll be playing at their home stadium, Blackbaud Stadium. We played the Battery in the pre-season and tied 1-1. FCD faced Charleston last year in the Open, and the game ended tied 3-3, with FCD advancing on penalties (5-3).

It's no guarantee, but it's very likely we'll face FCD in the quarterfinals for the second year in a row. If so, it'd be nice to have a result like last year's.