Feting the Orange

It was a great turnout at City Hall last night. I managed to get there, albeit a little late due to circling downtown searching for a parking spot. Note to self: don't head into downtown without cash for parking in the future; quarters won't cut it.

I was crossing Walker Street just as the first Dynamo ("...your captain, Wade Barrett!") was being introduced by Glenn Davis. Throughout the proceedings I walked around to view the stage from different angles. It was a well done event. I thought Coach Kinnear's speech was great -- and I'm glad to hear that he's getting along with his neighbors. He thanked them for the free beer and something else, I couldn't hear what, but the bottom line is this: One of the virtues Texans have is their friendliness, and apparently Dom is fortunate to live near some friendly folk. I'm always pleased when I hear our adopted team is enjoying their adopted home.

I'm sure many fans who read the Chronicle blogs understood the inside joke when Dom thanked Bernardo Fallas and referred to him as "teacher."

The chants for a new stadium were well received by officials. It would be nice to have a permanent home for the team and for the fans, and it would be a boon economically with regards to bringing in international competition.

Great quote by Mayor White, "If you don't like Dynamo soccer, you don't like sports."

Mike Jones had a spirited rendition of his Who? Houston Dynamo! ("Houston Dynamo (Don't Play)") song. (Download here.) I left after the team departed the stage and the salsa band struck up their tunes. Salsa should be played at every practice to establish the proper playing rhythm, by the way.

I arrived at home in time to listen to Glenn's show. Stuie was his usual chipper self. (I heard him on 790AM at 8 AM as I drove into work...long day for him...I wonder if he managed to squeeze in his daily run?) Kinnear sounded absolutely wiped on Glenn's show and seemed more terse in his replies to callers and, to a degree, to Glenn as well. I can't blame him.

He and his team have been going non-stop since the end of January. That's nearly 10 months straight, and includes travel to different time zones and different countries. His players have been physically bruised and battered weekly over that time, and still keep coming back for more. Enduring punishing games and intense practices, Dom and the players have still found time to zip off to countless fan meet-and-greets, media events, and official meetings with officials and politicos. They faced praise as well as criticism from the fans and media, and have been (mostly) unfazed by either, and stuck to doing their jobs. Family priorities have been placed on the back burner while they focused on their overarching goal, winning a second MLS Cup. And, in the end, their sacrifices and pain and perseverance saw them achieve that goal.

We praise the stars of the Dynamo, and rightly so, but the whole team deserves praise. Ianni won us 3 valuable points with his goal at Kansas City this year. Wells helped us along our winning streak when Onstad was away on international duty (and Wells helped us at the international level when Onstad was injured at the beginning of the year). Ashe got three assists --every one of them needed--to give us 3 valuable points versus Real Salt Lake this season. Chabala, Hatzke, Hayden, James, and Ustruck helped our starting XI stay sharp at practice, worked behind the scenes to improve their own game, and kept the Dynamo flag flying in the local community (not only at social events, but also by rolling up their sleeves and helping their neighbors), and did so anonymously, for the most part. And Holden -- ah, heck, he's not in the background anymore; he's become one of the stars! He's an inspiration to reserves everywhere.

When Dom was on the radio show last night with Glenn, Glenn would ask callers if they had any questions for Dom. Most of the callers just had congratulations to pass along, but would squeeze out a lame question when pressed. And why were these questions lame? It's not because fans didn't care about the accomplishments, nor because fans were in a "what about next season?" mode. It was because Dom and the team have answered every single question before them. And the answers were for the most part satisfying.

Was 2006 a fluke?
Will the Dynamo have the depth to endure a long season that includes several extracurricular tournaments?
Could the Dynamo hold its own against high-quality international competition?
Could the Dynamo compete without DPs against MLS teams that have evolved?
Can the Dynamo overcome a slow start?
Would the Dynamo be able to make the personnel changes to adapt to a changing league?
Can the Dynamo hold onto its talismanic player, Dwayne DeRosario?
Would Dynamo's stars continue to perform well in the big-stake matches?
Will there be any reserves that make an impact?
Will the Dynamo have another serious contender for goal of the year?
Will the Dynamo be wrongly cheated out of several individual awards by the national media and/or fans? (Last year, it was DDR for MVP; this year it was the defense and/or GK, plus GOTY.)
Will the Dynamo Girls and Diesel be able to integrate into a soccer environment?
Will we see additional financial backing of the team?
Will the strong fan support continue, or even expand?
Can the Dynamo hold on to El Capitan?
Winning the Cup is like capturing lightning in a bottle; Can the Dynamo win it twice in a row?

The answer to the "fluke" question was, thankfully, "no." The answer to every other question was unequivocally "yes." Even the question about individual awards was positive, because I think this team feeds off an esprit de corps and rises to the occasion when it is underestimated and when the chips are down.

There were two additional questions that still linger:
Will there be a change of ownership? (No, but stay tuned?)
Will we have a decision to start construction on a new downtown home for the team and its fans? (No, but I think work has progressed in a positive direction.)

Dom, players, front office: you've answered the questions, you've passed the test, now go get some rest. Go Dynamo!