Road trip to Dallas

Yesterday, the family took a trip to Pizza Hut Park for the first time. It was good to see live soccer again for the first time since last year, although both teams looked rusty. There was very little rhythm, very little creativity, and few passing combinations. The massive gusts of wind probably had a lot to do with that, and it also messed up the freestyle team from Toronto that performed at halftime. We sat in the NW corner, row 9, section 102, directly across from the Texian Army.

FCD probably had the more dangerous opportunities, while the Dynamo probably had a bit of an edge in the possession dept. Neither team worked through the midfield much. It was a game determined by individual spurts of genius and physical play.

Having said that, Chabala's first professional goal was one of the examples of good teamwork, starting with Davis passing through to Oduro who laid it off for Chabala who did a sliding strike on goal. Two minutes later, Hainault left his mark, Atiba Harris, who then proceeded to make a run, got the ball on the left flank about 25 yards from goal, did a quick cut in to wrong-foot Boswell, then made a sweet curving strike past Onstad.

Oduro proved again that he's got speed but no touch or form. Waibel looked scary even walking around the sidelines. ERob went down with an injury in the first half. That forced us to burn a sub (Cochrane) and also stinks because ERob is now sidelined like he was all last season.

As for the stadium, I liked it from a soccer standpoint, but not from a design standpoint. Here's what I thought:
The bad:

• From the outside, the stadium had all the appeal and uniqueness of a strip center. It was, frankly ugly. Dynamo stadium needs more appeal from the outside. It needs to sell the team to the outside community and needs to tie into the architectural vernacular of the region.
• On the inside, the stage provided a huge, lifeless zone, not that there are enough FCD fans to fill up stands if they had stands there.
• Pavilion roofing would be nice to hold in the acoustics and shield from the sun, which has to be oppressive in the summer.
• Needs viewscreens on the south side of the stadium for folks to view the replays down there.

The good:

• The field is absolutely gorgeous.
• The surrounding practice fields and youth tournament fields are also gorgeous.
• It was cool having a pub, Firehouse subs, and other restaurants within walking distance of the stadium.
• The whole area might have been sterile, but it was also clean.
• The seats were comfortable and had cup holders. We weren't worried about knocking over drinks, although the lady in front of us nearly put her elbow in my daughter's cup.
• The south-goal seating were bleachers, which is perfect for a supporter's group wanting to make noise, but seats ruled the sidelines, where the "mainstream" fan sits.
• The luxury seating is probably a good revenue generator, which is good for the club, but didn't adversely affect the affordable seating.
• Nice viewscreens on the north side. We were right by the screen on the NW side and could see every replay with ease.
• Two words: free parking!

I can't believe FCD has their own stadium with free parking, and they get only 8,000 people to their home-opener versus their in-state rival. The club is just sad, and their supporters are passionless. The stadium erupted when FCD scored, but other than that, the Texian Army was louder than the FCD group, which just stood there, frozen, watching the game; not even waving their flags. The only chant I heard was after the game, when some adolescent flag-waver on his way out of the stadium passed my family and shouted out to no one in particular "Go back to Houston! Get out of here!" Pathetic, really.

At least the host fans were very well-mannered. But there has to be a middle ground between passionless and volatile.

Catching Up With The Orange

Lots of good stuff going on with the Orange, so much so that I've not blogged. I've been trotting around enjoying other blogs though, leaving my opinions sprinkled about as I go. It's a good time to be a Dynamo fan ... and a US fan for that matter. The US has had its ups and downs, but the Dynamo are undefeated since my last post...maybe I shouldn't post...

To recap what's happened since my last post:
May 23 - We said "See Ya!" to Nick Garcia and his fellow Quakes. Nick was impotent and proven to be the "mental midget" as the MIO crushed the Quakes 3-1. Ching scored in the 4th, Kamara in the 12th, Waibel (!) in the 50th, and San Jose's Johnson (assist by Cam Weaver) in the 53rd.
May 27 - The Dynamo pick up Dominic Oduro from the Red Bulls. Oduro spent 2006-2008 with FC Dallas.
May 30 - DeRo comes to town for the only time this season. Davis-Kamara-Holden each score a goal from minute 20 to minute 24, and Hainault and Onstad are the only Canucks with three points after the 3-0 victory.
June 1ish - Clark leaves for the USMNT, where he plays in a WCQ 2-1 win over Honduras, then the Confederation Cup Tournament in South Africa. Ching departs as well, but comes back injured before the WCQ match.
June 5 - The MIO travel to Chicago. Holden scored in the 3rd minute, but the Dynamo are mostly outplayed and concede numerous chances, but the lone goal stands and they leave with 3 points. (Chris Wondolowski came on in the 75th minute in what turned out to be his final game as a MIO.)
June 7 - Cam Weaver sits on the bench in Dallas as San Jose leaves with a 2-2 draw. Six days later Cam would return in Orange and score a brace.
June 8 - Cam Weaver comes to Houston from San Jose, while Orange Reserve mainstay Chris Wondolowski heads home to San Jose. We wish Wondo well with the Quakes.
June 9 - San Jose say "C'ya" to Nick Garcia and ship him to The Great White North.
June 10 - Chivas USA comes to town and is completely out-classed, but we eke out only a 1-0 victory...but at least it's a victory. Holden gets the goal, with Cam Weaver getting the assist in his first game as a MIO. It was a nice flick-on from an Onstad goal kick in the final minute of the first half, and it fell in front of a streaking Holden who side-stepped the goalie and slotted the lone goal in. Cam Weaver also got a legit goal, but it was illegitimately called off for being offside (which he wasn't). Luckily we didn't need the goal, but it hurt Cam's stats.
June 13 - Pooped from the arduous Chivas match three days before, the Dynamo travel to Frisco to face an inspired Dallas. The ex-Burn played perhaps their best match, but the Dynamo, led by our new Cam Weaver's 2 goals and a blistering shot from distance by Mulrooney, go up 3-0 before conceding a late goal to leave with a 3-1 win, 3 points, and El Capitan. My wife and I were able to enjoy this at the Dynamo viewing party at the Hooters on Kirby.
June 20 - It was a weird match all in all when RSL came to town. There was an early injury to Waibel that caused him to be subbed out 7 minutes into the game, a water break for the teams around the 25th minute, an OG by Bobby Boswell 50 seconds after the restart, an OG by RSL that was called off because Hainault was offside on the freekick (but was he part of the play?), to a free kick pass-back to the RSL keeper that Rimando picked up but the ref allowed the kick to be retaken, to a halftime substitute that brought in Ching (has Dom ever made 2 subs by the 46th minute? Or even the 60th minute?) to a red card to RSL's Olave for a stupid delay of game when he had a yellow already, to a missed PK by Brad Davis, to a late brilliant play by Ching to fly through the air to score and give us 1 point. There were highlights: such as in the 13th minute when the Dynamo had six 1-touch passes among 4 people to set Kamara up with a fast break from the left side. Also in the 87th, second half sub Ching (who had been out with an injury since the Toronto match) made a long pass from the center to Mullan on the right, then sprinted up the middle for Mullan's return cross, skying in the air and driving the ball into the net to give his side the tie they so desperately earned but looked to have been denied. There were also lowlights (beside the reffing): the 16 uncontested passes by RSL after the water break, then a cross and a backheel pass that led to a poor shot on goal that Boswell knocked in with his knee.

So now the Dynamo are alone in the Supporters' Shield position, and Dom is set to coach the MLS All Star Team versus Everton.

Tomorrow, we venture to LaLa Land to face the Galaxy without Hainault (Canadian National Team), Waibel (injury), Barrett (injury), and Clark (USMNT). Hopefully our cobbled-together defense can hold off LA's weak offense...

Go Dynamo!

An Orange Moon Bodes Well

I'm glad I went to the game yesterday, seeing as the first 19 minutes of television coverage was pre-empted by ESPN2's coverage of men's NCAA volleyball. (I understand that ESPN Classic carried the first few minutes of the Dynamo game.)

The Dynamo-Dallas match went as expected. The Dynamo carried the run of play. Dallas had a few dangerous forays into our defensive third. A few tempers flared. The game was low-scoring.

The MIO had chances a-plenty in the first half with the best being a Boswell header (10th minute) that was cleared off the line by a Dallas defender. Brad Davis had perhaps the best play a bit later (38th), picking a long pass from Mullan out of the air with his left foot, tapping the ball back to an open Ching with his right foot, thus setting Ching up for a shot on a nearly open goal. (Ching flubbed the kick spectacularly, which is a shame because it's stuff like that that fuels discontent with him at the USMNT level.)

Ching actually had another poor shot on goal in the second half -- this one from wide on the right, which ended up in the side net -- but it was his role as provider that really sparked our attack. He had some creative and athletic passes that set up others, including a remarkably crafty blind pass to Kamara late in the game that Kamara (unfortunately) was not ready for. Ching's most effective work was in the 57th minute when he settled a long header from his back line (from Cameron or Boswell), then laid the ball smoothly to Davis wide on the left. Davis pushed the ball forward for a hungry Holden to run down. Holden saved the ball from the goal line and sent a curling cross to the head of Kamara to give the Dynamo the only goal they would need.

But it sure would've been nice to have more. Dallas almost made us pay in stoppage time, were it not for Onstad's great hands.

For a long while I wondered how this match would turn out. We were controlling the play, but not really hammering the goal like we should have been. But when I saw the moon glowing orange to the southeast of the stadium, I thought that was a good harbinger. (I told my son that it helps having NASA in the hometeam's home town.) And we can't lose on a night with fireworks, right?

Hats off to Kei for getting the goal we needed, thus proving the omen correct, but hats off mostly for him honoring his mom afterwards with his undershirt ("4 U Mom") on Mother's Day weekend.

Now we just have to win one of the two times we're in Frisco, and El Capitan will be in its rightful place. We have a lot more winnin' we'll need to do before that, though; and that's going to require a lot more scorin'. We need to improve our finishing.

Other thoughts...
Ade Akinbiyi is big and looks strong, but I thought he was supposed to be fast too. He looked slow out there on one fast break. And he could've done better with at least one time where he had the ball at his feet in front of goal.

When we're trying to possess the ball and kill the clock at the end of the game, what's with Wondo (fresh off the bench) getting the ball in our half with plenty of space around him, and he just boots the ball downfield to lose possession? I hope he learns to do better next time.

Holden and Davis both had good games. And I love seeing Ashe's speed near the end of games when the opposition is tired.

In ex-Dynamo news...
How about Serioux netting one and DeRo netting two in Toronto's 3-3 tie at DC? That first goal by DeRo was pulled out of a hat and was a great display of timing and balance, but that second goal -- a rocket from about 30 yards out after a clear run with the ball -- was vintage DeRo. I miss that type of finishing (and the Dynamo can use it this season). I also miss the "funky chicken" after his goals. (He calls it the "Shake-and-Bake.")

Operation REC

Today we meet Dallas in our first match of Operation Recapture El Capitan. As you know, we won the inaugural El Capitan in 2006 and retained it in 2007 then lost it in 2008 after we tied Dallas in all three matches. Because of the ties, El Capitan was awarded to the team with the highest number of away goals, which favored Dallas since they had twice as many away games to accrue goals. Still, the Dynamo have nothing to complain about as they were the ones who tied a lousy time three times, twice at Robertson.

Now that the two teams face each other an odd number of times, one team would have the advantage by having more opportunities to get away goals. So this week, the tie-breaker rules were changed for this and future seasons:
1. Head-to-head regular season series (W-L-T)
2. Head-to-head goal differential in regular season series
3. Result of playoff series (if applicable)
4. Result of CONCACAF Champions League series (if applicable)
5. Result of SuperLiga playoff match (if applicable)
6. Result of SuperLiga group match (if applicable)
7. Result of Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup match (if applicable)
8. Holder retains trophy

Dynamo should win El Capitan outright in the regular season. And they should win tonight. They outclass FCD at every position (Dallas' David Ferreira could be a shining exception), but it's rivalry matches such as this one that can turn a struggling team's fortunes around. FCD has some fight in it, Cooper and Cunningham can use their size and speed (respectively) to punish us. So we should win, but FCD won't make it easy and could steal a point (or three) if we're too cavalier.

After tonight, we play Dallas twice at Pizza Hut Park: Saturday, June 13 (live on Fox Soccer Channel), and Thursday, August 6 (live on ESPN2).

The Dynamo website has a couple of articles that reflect on some nostalgic moments from the "Texas Derby":
Top 10(+1) plays in Houston-Dallas rivalry. The "+1" is the special mention of the Ricardo-Ruiz incident at the end of the 2007 regular season -- not a highlight, but definitely memorable. That explosion wasn't really due to the rivalry as much as due to Carlos Ruiz being a cheating, violent scumbag who finally got under Rico's skin.
Top 5 matches in the Houston-Dallas rivalry. We can thank Alvarez who, gifted though he is, lingers in mediocrity due to his lack of focus, professionalism, and maturity...and these traits helped significantly in our victory that became the #1 match on this list.

See you at the game! (I heard the pitch is finally green!)

Another media roundup - Midseason edition

As wordy as I can be, I won't waste time on prolix introductions. Here's a summary of some interesting articles that touch on all things Orange.

"Climbing the Ladder" has the midway stats for each MLS team. Last year Houston earned 1.73 points per game by the midway point, 0.48 higher than this year's 1.06 average. The reason for that drop is because we're only scoring 1.06 goals per game (0.37 fewer than last year's midseason average of 1.43) while conceding 1.19 goals per game (compared to last year's dominant 0.77 per game). Of the 14 teams, our points per game average ties us with RSL at #10. Our goals allowed average puts our defense at a respectable third place (behind only Chicago and New England and tied with RSL). We are allowing more goals than last year, and that change from last year's GAA is the second worst drop (of the 13 teams that played last year), but it just so happens that last year's defense was so good that a drop in quality is to be expected, and a significant drop still puts us in the top three defensively. Our offensive production is 11th, ahead of only New York, Kansas City, and expansion San Jose. In case you didn't know: that's not good.

Steve Davis does his weekly MLS roundup -- this one from the midseason perspective. He spends some time on the Dynamo. Houston has tied half of its 16 games. Why so many? Just look at the latest draw, one that kicked off Round 15 of MLS matches, a scoreless tie at Real Salt Lake. Houston's defense was good enough to keep an attack-minded RSL side from ever claiming the big goal. But at the other end, Houston managed just two shots on target. The result was a 0-0 tie, which isn't bad on the road. On the other hand, Kinnear's outfit has just two goals in its last four MLS matches. Good defense. Stagnant offense. Sounds like a draw waiting to happen, no matter how good the team feels about itself.

Speaking of the RSL match, Soccer America has an article that's mosting a "calling-out" of RSL Coach Jason Kries. About the Dynamo-RSL game: Houston’s tie was its eighth in 16 games yet it just missed scoring a late winner when Brian Ching just failed to get his head on a cross. Of its 10 shots, five came in the final 10 minutes. The Dynamo kept pushing to score a winning goal, RSL got into a pushing contest. That's an interesting unpartisan outlook on how the two teams approached the endgame of the match. The article concludes with some advice for RSL that the Dynamo should heed (and, fortunately, the Dynamo already realize): In all team sports, mediocre teams are mediocre because they can’t win close games, and in soccer, chances don’t decide game. Goals do. It’s harsh, it’s unfair, and sometimes painfully cruel, but that’s how it works. Don’t moan about being the better team. Prove it.

As you know, Dynamo will spend much of July battling for the SuperLiga Cup. The Chronicle has an article on how the tourney could revive the Dynamo's lackluster season. The League website has a similarly-themed article. The LA Daily News has a brief piece on the tournament as well. Despite the generally superior players (and far higher team salaries) on the Mexican teams, the timing of the tournament has proved a great leveler that accentuates the clash of futbol cultures.

And from the most recent tournament that saw Houston fall -- the US Open Cup -- comes some news that may hearten the disheartened Houston fan. As you know, Dynamo's Reserve team couldn't beat the USL Charlestown Battery, but managed a draw and lost only on penalties. FC Dallas' regular starting 11 couldn't even manage doing as well as our Reserves. The "Hoops" got manhandled by the USL team 3-1, with the lone Dallas goal coming as a consolation goal in the 94th minute. It could be worse, guys; we could be Dallas fans.

Finally, the Bellaire Examiner has an article on the Dynamo's supporters groups. The north and south ends of Robertson Stadium are home to Houston’s most rambunctious group of supporters, The Texian Army and El Batallon. To truly understand these groups, one must understand one basic concept: a supporter is very different from a fan. Also: With live music, nonstop singing and dancing, and more confetti and streamers than they know what to do with, Dynamo supporters provide the entire stadium, fans and players alike, constant liveliness and entertainment. They may be in large part to thank for a Dynamo home record of 24 wins, 12 ties, and only 6 losses. Hey, that's perfect doubling of results in the right direction 6=>12=>24.

Stay Orange.

A new low in the Season Of Mediocrity

The Season Of Mediocrity (SOM) continues. Tonight, we continued our chronic inability to shoot balls on frame. Add an amateurish coffee break by the usually stalwart defense (Ianni and Barrett not communicating, thus allowing Cooper an open header on goal). Sprinkle in spineless officiating by a ref who is afraid to force players to play quality soccer; on that note, it was a smart play by Richetti to trip Holden from behind when Holden was going 1v1 with the keeper, but the price for his smart play would have to be leaving his team with 10 men for the final 13 minutes. It's a heavy price, but a worthy one...and one it turns out he didn't have to pay thanks to the spineless ref.

The result: a 1-1 tie, the third draw in this three-game series. With 4 away goals to our 2, Dallas takes El Capitan for the first time. Enjoy the gun in 2009, fellas; your cynicism earned it tonight (and Caig's cold hands gave you the 2 decisive away goals you needed on April 6).

Pet peeve of the night: Shooting the ball so high or so wide that Sala just glances casually at the ball as we blow another chance.
Pet peeve of the night, runner up: With 4 minutes of stoppage time and the clock at 4:01, our defenders pittypat the ball around the back rather than driving the ball quickly forward. Slim chance you score in the last moments with a rushed ball. No chance you score when the ball is at the halfway line and the final whistle blows. Another example of our non-champion mentality this year.

Without a doubt, Houston was the best team on the field tonight -- just as we were for most of the 7 draws we suffered this season (on schedule to set a MLS record for most draws in a season, woo-hoo!). But there is also no doubt that Houston is borderline incompetent when it comes to the attacking third. Also, there's no doubt that they are uncharacteristically lax and cavalier on defense at inconvenient times. This is not the Houston Dynamo that won the 2006 Championship nor the 2007 Championship, doing so both times with a crushing defense and potent (if sometimes inconsistent) offense. The only thing that remains from those teams is the ability to penetrate along the flanks from the back, and the ability to possess the ball and generate opportunities in the middle. But until we fix the problems up front, and until we regain the continuous (as in "non-stop") professional composure in the back, we can't expect to win the MLS Cup.

There are other things that we can achieve instead of the MLS Cup this season, including (in descending order of prestige): winning SuperLiga, winning the US Open Cup (maybe this should be first, since it guarantees a spot in the CONCACAF Champions League), and winning the Reserve League that we currently lead. Personally, I hope we fix our attack first.

The Supporters' Shield? Oh that's out of the question. You have to win consistently to get that. Even the stalwart teams of yesteryear couldn't do that.

Of course, with half the teams getting into the post-season in this silly league, the Dynamo should remain in contention for the MLS Cup, even with their bajillion draws. But we've seen plenty of harbingers that suggest this season will not be like the last two. The most recent harbinger is losing El Capitan for the first time, but there have been others, including losing by more than one goal at Robertson (New England, 0-2, June 12).

Having said that, this team tends to deliver results when the odds are stacked against them. If that's the case, then they're setting themselves up for some crazy-awesome results later this season. Here's hoping.

Until then...Go Dynamo!

Addendum:
Here are the game quotes. Kinnear: "The guys are disappointed, as we should be. At the halfway point [of the season], I don't think we are getting as many points as we want or need."

But he claims the team is still one of the league's elites. Disappointing season aside, I agree with him. The team is one of the best; it just has to become more composed and more consistent. How about Ching's take on the defense? "You look at our team and what has made us successful the past couple of years. It's defense. We have been one of the best defensive, if not the best, defensive team in the league. But now we've got guys letting in mistakes. They are making big mistakes and costing us games. It's the same guys costing us 3-4 games, so it's disappointing." Wow: It's the same guys costing us 3-4 games. I can't disagree with that, but that's not something you hear from a teammate like Ching too often. And while the defense could always counter by pointing out the chances repeatedly missed by the forwards, I hope they instead focus on what they can do to make the team better. That would be the mature and honorable thing to do. In other words: the Orange thing to do.

More on El Capitan ... and more

Here's the gameday preview from The Chron (Ching: "At times we are (playing like a champion); we have glimpses of that." Kinnear: "It's been kind of a mixed bag.") and the associated notes.

I'm not a big fan of NY City as a place to live, but there certainly are a lot of benefits. How about a "pick-up" game in the park with Steven Nash and Thierry Henry? Here's a blog that covers the individual performances, and here's Ives' live (and brief) commentary and Ives discussing the question as to why Reyna can play here, but not for the team that signs his paycheck.

As for the pick-up game: Yeah, I'm jealous. At least we get the Free Kick Masters (which isn't free).

Stadium-ish news
How about this late-breaking news about a new practice facility for the Dynamo. This has been in the works for some time.

Mayor Bill White unveiled plans for a regional amateur sports complex to be
built on Houston’s south side Thursday. White joined community partners to
discuss the future facility and to announce plans for a private fundraising
campaign to support development.

The planned 100-acre, 18-field complex,
bounded by Highway 288 and Kirby Drive on the east and west sides and Sims Bayou
on the south, will provide a world-class soccer facility for Houston area youth
and adult league play. It will immediately become a soccer destination for
regional and major tournaments.

The first phase of the project provides
for street and infrastructure improvements and construction of eight soccer
fields at a cost of $10 million and is to be completed by December of 2009.
Within the next 90 days, public works officials will present to city council
plans for infrastructure to support the facility and a contract ready to be
awarded for the extension of Kirby Drive.

Plans are being developed to
make the complex the training home for the two- time MLS Cup Champion Houston
Dynamo and its youth programs.

I'm sure the Chronicle will have more information later today.

The Final Battle for El Capitan 2008

Tomorrow we face FC Dallas for the third and final time this year. (Game preview.) Each time we've faced them this season, they've been led by a different coach. The dull tactician (with a myopic sense of self-evaluation) Steve Morrow led the "Hoops" to a 3-3 tie at Robertson based on a lousy performance by Tony Caig in our goal, then the interim gaffer Marco Ferruzzi saw his team let victory slip through their fingers as the Dynamo squeezed out a 2-2 tie in Dallas. Now, Schellas Hyndman's first match versus the Orange gives him the chance of winning El Capitan for Dallas for the first time ever.

According to the rules of El Capitan, the Dynamo must win to keep the cannon. A loss gives Dallas the points necessary to win the cannon for the first time; a tie gives Dallas the advantage in away goals (currently 3-2 in their favor, with no chance of us upping our total). Away goals serves as the second tie-breaker when there is no difference in points and no difference in goal differential. Funny how there is no difference in points or in goal differential when we've had only draws so far this series. I wonder what they'd do if both of the previous games had ended 2-2, and tomorrow's match ended 0-0. The tie breakers are as follows:
* goal-differential in the series;
* most road goals in the series; and finally
* most goals scored in the series.
This tie-breaker system would not settle El Capitan's fate with two 2-2 draws and a 0-0 draw. With no other differentiator available, I think the final tie-breaker should be decided by the two head coaches racing the length of the pitch after the final game, with the winner claiming the cannon. We won't have to worry about that this year though; tomorrow's match will decide the victor. I think I'll voice my proposed final tie-breaker for use in future years though...

The Chron talks about the two missing MIO, Robinson and Mulrooney. Both are injured and won't play, although there's a chance Mulrooney could see some minutes.

Since the match will be broadcast on ESPN, the network's website has a preview of the match. The summary of our season: The Dynamo has been stumbling along for most of this campaign, and their 2-2-2 record in their last six matches is a fair reflection of their season. Commentary on Ching: The Hawaiian has always tended to score goals in bunches...But there has always been more to the Dynamo forward's game than just goals, with his hold-up play and passing doing plenty to get Houston's attack going.

Here's an article about former Dynamo, Adrian Serioux, who'll face the Dynamo tomorrow night. I wonder who he'll hack down in this match? Any guesses?

But it feels like a win

What did you think about last night's game in Frisco? Another come-from-behind, last-minute draw with the Folks From Frisco. Because of the nature of the draw, it feels pretty good when it looked like the home side was about to snatch three points to our zero.

I think I'm pleased all in all. I certainly don't think we deserved a win. The first 30 minutes saw us as the 2nd best team out there -- pretty depressing stuff when the other team is Dallas. For the first time versus Houston, Dallas played like they should play with the collection of talented Latino players in their midfield. They were possessing well and passing sharply. The Dynamo? Weren't.

Except for the first game of the season (the debacle versus New England) and some of the international games, the Dynamo always looked like the sharper team on the pitch. They may not have gotten the results -- and that blame falls squarely on the performance in the attacking third -- but they controlled the tempo, the ball, and the real estate and just looked unlucky.

Unfortunately, the past two games, versus San Jose and Dallas, the MIO didn't even have the moral victory of being the better, if unluckier, team. That clearly needs to change if we want to have any hope of accomplishing anything nice for the naranja this season.

Add to the fact that we gave Dallas two goals. Saragosa should have had the first goal in the 26th minute, but Kenny Cooper would end up getting the first goal in the 35th. (Sending the dozens of Dallas fans crazy in the stands.) It came after horrendous positioning by Waibel, followed by his slow recovery run and slow backup by E-Rob in the center, gave the poky Cooper all the time he needed to trudge to the ball that he had pushed 8 yards in front of himself, then slot a solid shot around Onstad into the far netting. I would call the defense here "cavalier" or "complacent" with absolutely no urgency The second goal was also from ball-watching and listless defending. It saw Moor rising up completely open to head a corner kick into the net. As the ball sailed through the air and Moor rose to meet it, the Dynamo were so flat-footed that I thought the play must have been whistled dead. Nope. The defense was just ball watching.

Some games this season, the Dynamo are so passive that it almost is if their past success gives them too much confidence, so much so that they have become complacent. As if they think their skill and their destiny is to win each game, or at least to keep the other team from getting the goals they need for them to win the game. I wonder how far the Dynamo will have to fall behind before they realize their complacency won't get them very far. Other teams have augmented their rosters and changed up their dynamic to adapt to the ever-improving league. The Dynamo haven't. In truth, perhaps they didn't need to make any changes, but they still don't have the right to be complacent. And last night showed that they still haven't fixed their problem at forward.

The final sign of the Dynamo's lack of control came with E-Rob foolishly pushing Saragosa in retaliation for a foul in the box. E-Rob already had a yellow and could have put his team at a serious disadvantage (down a goal and down a man) but was lucky that Dallas got a red card as well. As it is, E-Rob did put the short-handed Dynamo in a bit of a bind for our next match. We'll be without his services as we face NYRB. Due to injuries and national team call-ups, we were already stretched. You've exacerbated the problem. Thanks, E-Rob.

It was not all doom and gloom last night. After the Frisco Folks scored, Dallas reverted back to its reactive, defensive, "protect the lead" style of play. Houston then looked more like their own selves, though still not quite their own selves. The improved play could be attributed to us switching to a 3-5-2, but we had switched much earlier and didn't see any resulting improvement until after the Dallas goal. I think the improved play might have been more a result of desperation on our part, complacency on their part, and the extra midfielder helping us to maintain possession.

We squandered many chances, but did well on the two goals we got. Ashe's goal, was a result of a good run by DeRo on the right flank, who sent a great ball to Chingy inside the FCD box. Ching trapped the ball beautifully and sent a nice square pass to the onrushing Ashe. The brilliantly-timed equalizer (in the 93rd minute, y'all!) saw a sweet cross by Ashe result in another frustrating off-the-crossbar header by Ching, but the rebound fell to DeRo who won't miss many of those gimees.

Other bright points:

• Ching's ear-to-ear grin after Ashe scored his first MLS goal.
• The Dom (who didn't seem too happy in the post game interview; I bet he's ticked at the situation E-Rob put him in) climbed into the stands after the game to thank the traveling Orange Supporters. Pure class!

On Saturday, with another makeshift starting 11, we'll need to get some points at home versus the Red Bulls. It's doable (particularly at home), but will require the MIO to stay focused on defense and to take advantage of the opportunities generated on offense. Some of our guys (like Davis and Mullan) might be rested for this game since they didn't play the full 90 last night, but the gaps in our starting 11 means some non-regulars will have to step up and contribute.

Media roundup
Offical MLSnet recap.

The Chronicle's B-Fall-less recap. "For the second straight week, the Houston Dynamo came out flat." Dynamo notes state that, along with all of the other lineup changes, Onstad will indeed miss the game versus NYRB.

B-Fall's thoughts and grades are here. "Seeing the Dynamo fight until the very last minute is both admirable and encouraging. Watching them twice fall behind in the score is troubling and yet another step backward. (Anyone remember the ties vs. Dallas and L.A. last month?)"

The DMN recap.

An article on the match, including the contribution of Corey Ashe. Credit to the color-man, Steve Jolley, on The Tube last night. Early on he said that Ashe should come on due to his speed allowing him to get behind the FCD D. I thought Jolley was wrong. Turns out he was right. Excellent game for Ashe.

Post-game quotes.

Here's a recap from Goal.com. Interesting description of the Dynamo equalizer by none other than Greg Lalas: " The game slid into stoppage time, setting up the opportunity for De Rosario. Ashe set things in motion, beating Wade Barrett [um, Wade Barrett?] to the endline and crossing to the far post. Ching rose over his marker to meet the ball, but his shot caromed off a stretched Moor and fell to De Rosario. De Ro fired it home to earn the Dynamo a massive road result."

Battle for El Capitan 2008 - Part Deux

Dynamo-Dallas game previews:

Official game guide.

From The Chronicle. "The Dynamo have had to stomach the seemingly endless comparisons and similarities between this year and last ad nauseam. It is not like they are helping themselves by avoiding them."

Pre-game notes from The Chronicle. Barrett is injured and will be a game time decision.

From the Dallas Morning News.

From the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

From Fox Soccer.

Commentary on the firing of the Dallas Coach and the underlying problems in Frisco.

On the road to San Jose

Ah, lovely San Jose. Much will be made of the first official face-off between the ex-Quakes and the neo-Quakes. Certainly there will be background interest, with the fan support likely being a little more vociferous. That might spur the neo-Quakes a little more, but the neo-Quake players (save Ryan Cochrane and maybe Ramiro Corrales and, to a lesser degree, Joe Cannon) have no vested interest in the historical significance. They just want to win. The ex-Quakes might be slightly distracted by nostalgia; and don't forget, it's also mentor (Frank Yallop) versus pupil (The Dom). Still they (The Dom and his players) are professionals so the effect of distraction should be only minimal.

On paper, and given the recent run of form, it should be an easy victory for the Dynamo. Which is why I see a draw; probably at 1-1.

Why would I say this? Not because of any ex-Quake vs neo-Quake bubbling of emotions. I think a draw is the likeliest outcome because the (neo-)Quakes are a mediocre team and the Dynamo tend to get mediocre results against such teams. The 2006 season saw us get two ties versus the average Columbus Crew and a 3-1 loss to pathetic RSL, as well as a failure to score versus 10-man teams on more than one occasion. In 2007 we had a loss and a tie to bottom-feeder Toronto (and the 0-0 tie was after Toronto played with 10 men for more than half the game). We also lost to pathetic RSL and Colorado consecutively, and to the Beckham-less Galaxy in our final regular season home game.

The MIO do well versus talented teams, which is absolutely fantastic because it would be difficult to correct this flaw otherwise. An easier flaw to correct is the failure to get full points versus struggling teams, and the Dynamo need to be better in this regard. Winnning against top-tier teams is how you win high-stakes championship games (which is what the Dynamo do); but winning against the bottom-feeders is what builds up your point total so you can earn the "body of work" accolades, like the Supporters' Shield.

Hopefully the Dynamo step out of character and earn the full three from San Jose.

Here's is Jeff Carlisle's preview of the game. "De Rosario remains the player most teams try to stop, with two defenders often being thrown at the Canadian the moment he collects the ball. As a result, De Rosario has struggled to put up the numbers that made him an MVP candidate back in 2006. But Kinnear feels that by simplifying his game, De Rosario can get back to his swashbuckling ways."

Here's a piece from USA Today. Mulrooney on the San Jose fans, "They remember what we did for them in terms of winning a couple of championships, and we remember what they did for us in terms of giving us unbelievable atmosphere and memories we'll never forget. But living in the past is sometimes dangerous."

And here's an article from The Californian. Ryan Cochrane on the Dynamo, "They're going to come after us and get crosses in, because that is their strength. They're very similar to a lot of teams in that there are not a lot of holes and they are solid all the way through." And on the "Old vs New" story that will no doubt be reiterated endlessly by ESPN on Thursday, "We played them in the preseason and got that whole 'Old Earthquakes-New Earthquakes' thing out of the way from a player's standpoint. Now it's just another team."

Some final Chicago Fire observations
In an article with the cool headline "Rain, Wind, Fire Can't Slow Dynamo," The Dom says the Toyota Park field was perfect even with the rain. That surprises me. I saw several players slip, even when all alone with the ball and no pressure being applied. That made me think that the field must not be at the standards set by, say, Dick's Sporting Goods Park, which has an impressively immaculate field even when wet. If the problem doesn't lie with the field, maybe it lies with the Dynamo equipment manager who didn't have the players wearing cleats with long enough studs.

Also, here are the game summaries of two supporters. The Chicago supporter opines thusly "It’s clear to me that anyone in the East who wants to wrest [the] MLS Cup from Houston’s grasp is going to have to do it themselves at the Home Depot Center on November 23rd." I hope that holds true.

Outrageous Observation of the Week (OOW)-inaugural edition
You've heard by now that Dallas has fired its underachieving coach, Steve Morrow. He wasn't the best of managers, so I'm not surprised that he was let go; but the timing this early in the season is a surprise. Maybe it's because they have their eye on someone already. But who? It would have to be someone notable.

I've had an epiphany. My outrageous suggestion: Hugo Sanchez.

Yeah, I know: silly. But hear me out.

Sanchez is an ex-Dallas player. He played for the Dallas Burn in the first year of the MLS. So he has ties (albeit weak ties) with the club. This connection also gives him familiarity with the MLS environment. The familiarity is a bit dated, true; but it's better than the familiarity held by any other coach with recent experience managing a national team.

Dallas would want "Hugol" because of the celebrity. They have a history of bringing in Latinos with name recognition (Denilson last year, Davino this year). Most importantly, they are hungry for success on the field (which Sanchez might bring) and are especially eager to fill seats (which Sanchez would do).

Sanchez, for his part, would want the job because it would be a good start as he seeks to rebuild his credibility as a coach after a lackluster stint at his dream job: coaching the Mexican national team. Dallas would get him back into the industry, and has the added benefit of being outside of the intense scrutiny he'd face with a Mexican club. Yet he's still close enough to Mexico to snipe from close range, as he is wont to do.

Chalk it up as my wild prediction of the week.

The Rookie makes good

Young Geoff Cameron, the rookie Orangeman from the University of Rhode Island,* won the adoration of the Dynamo faithful with his stoppage time equalizer versus FC Dallas last Sunday. Turns out, he also won goal of the week honors with this same strike, his first ever MLS netting.

There were some good goals up for the award, but Cameron's was the justifiable winner for a variety of reasons.
1. It was a high quality, well-struck laser that would have beaten the world's best goalkeepers.
2. It was a difference-maker, giving his team a point and denying their rivals 2 points.
3. It was dramatic, being literally a last minute catharsis for the home crowd.
4. It was a result of solid combination play rather than fluky happenstance or the result of winning a simple footrace with poky defenders.

You know which candidate's strike didn't deserve the award? That's right: Beckham. His was a decent goal, but a pedestrian one without flair or the other surrounding qualities that make a goal meaningful. The only reason his was at the top of the voting was because it was made by Beckham. That's kind of embarrassing, because it suggests that MLS fans can't recognize quality, we just vote for the popular face as if we've never learned from our puerile selections of prom queen and cutest couple in high school.

And, no, just as I'm not one to applaud a deed simply because it was performed by Becks, so also am I not one to decry a feat simply because it was performed by Becks. I merely believe a respectable sports league should provide recognition based on merit, not on popularity. I know that differentiates me from Don Garber, but that's not always a bad thing. Can you imagine how embarrassing it would be if Beckham was talking with his mates over in England and he is forced to sheepishly say "Yeah, basically I paffed the ball into the net, and the boll went frew Cannon's legs. I'm not too proud of it, weally; but, since I won, apparently it waf better than anyfing any Americans in the League could do."

* I'm told that Rhode Island is a county in New England that has been pumped up to statehood status.

Dallas Drawl

Sunday, Dallas got their first point in Houston. The 3-3 draw came as blessed relief for the Dynamo faithful, because we were looking at no points until the rookie Geoff Cameron hamered home the equalizer in the 90+ minute. Relief aside, the result is actually a poor reflection of how dominant the Dynamo were, except for some overly lax defending and an inability to handle the fast break.

Fact is, Dynamo had solid possession, controlling both the ball and real estate for a majority of the match. FCD relied on a Route 101 philosophy that hoped for some luck on the fast breaks. They got that luck in spades when they took out Onstad and forced our backup keeper, Tony Caig, into an MLS baptism by fire. In retrospect, only one of Caig's goals looked like a complete flub by the keeper, but I'd wager that Onstad would likely have also stopped at least one of the other two goals conceded to Dallas.

I'm pretty disappointed in Dallas' play because I thought with all those South Americans they'd have a strong and creative midfield. In fact, they seemed to by-pass the midfield completely and go straight from defense to blitzkrieg. Maybe it was the heat or maybe it was a desperate road strategy. If they stick with that style of play, it'll be an ugly year for the Frisco crowd.

And the ugly play turned downright criminal with the on-field mugging the Hoops players repeatedly inflicted on the Men In Orange. They took out Onstad and Robinson, who are both tough as nails, and were probably encouraged by the blind eye given by Abbey-O, who continues his tradition of poor and inconsistent officiating. If Dallas knocked Onstad and Robinson out of the Saprissa match this Wednesday, then they are as moronic as they are barbaric, hurting an MLS side's ability to carry the MLS banner internationally.

There was ugly on the Dynamo side as well. The Dynamo defense bears little resemblance to the defense of the 2007 campaign. They're not helping their GK (whoever he may be) very much. They had better find their chemistry quickly in this campaign or the forwards will require superhuman finishing if they wish to offset the GAA. Only 1/15th of the way into the season, they've let in over 1/4th the total number of goals we conceded last year.

Here's what some of the media outlets have to say:
Here's B-Fall's blog in the Chronicle. It has his player grades and links to his game article and game notes. I do disagree in his assessment of the first goal being Caig's fault. While the goal looked ludicrous, Caig was positioned to block the more likely direct shot on goal.

The league's official recap is here.

The US Soccer Players' recap is here. "Gift Houston an own-goal"? Uh, that was no gift. Ching was knocking that ball in whether Moor was there or not, and Moor wouldn't have knocked it in had Ching not struck when and where he did. How about that quote from FC coach Steve Morrow? I think it's great that he continues his blind assessment of his own team's quality: "We're very disappointed. It feels like a loss. I think we should have had the game won by then. We had two or three chances to go up 4-2. We should've finished off the game." Yes, his team managed to score three goals (but were lucky to have two of the three they did get), and yes one or two of his team's misses could have feasibly gone into goal, but those were the exceptions to the Dynamo's dominance. Dallas did not at all carry the play and were more than lucky that the Dynamo did not put away one or two more of their own. Quotes like Morrow's are good news for Dynamo fans: Morrow's continued myopia in terms of his team's failings means he'll be less able to fix the problems. And his reliance on fast breaks will ensure they remain the second best MLS team in Texas.

Having said that, they ARE in a better position to win El Capitan this year than they have been in past years. But, in addition to playing them once in Frisco (Wed, May 28), we get them one more time in Robertson (Thur, June 26). If we can tie them away and beat them in Robertson (reasserting our natural superiority, natch), we'll keep the cannon.

The neutral folks at Soccer by Ives have a less favorable review of Dallas' performance than the biased Steve Morrow does. "FCD shouldn't be in this game much less winning it. They're proving so far they can defend and score against the run of play." "Nice to see Dallas switch to the 9-0-1 formation."

Now we need to switch our gaze from the second best team in Texas to the best team in Costa Rica. It looks like we'll be without ERob (gulp!). Let's pray that we'll have a healthy Onstad, not to mention a magical DeRo and prolific Ching/Caraccio.

Fighting to keep El Capitan - 2008 campaign

Dallas visits Houston today. Dallas has lost every match it has played here in H-town, including 4 regular season matches, a US Open Cup match, and a playoff match where Dallas had a 2-0 aggregate lead. (Game preview.)

It's up the the Men In Orange to keep this streak alive. We need to do this not only to maintain dominance over our fellow Texans, and not only to keep El Capitan, but just to stay with the competition in the Western Conference, where Chivas already has 4 points, Colorado and LA have 3 points, Dallas and RSL have 1 point, and San Jose and Houston have the big ol' goose egg.

Time for a pointless question: If we have to choose between winning here versus Dallas and winning Wednesday versus Saprissa, which do you choose? Logic says Wednesday, because that's a win or go home affair, whereas we'd have other opportunities to overcome an early loss in league play -- even though it would be two losses in a row. Wednesday would be the logical response, but the emotional response would be hard pressed to accept a loss to Dallas. Good thing we don't have to choose. Let's go with winning both, deal?

Here's a preview from Fox Sports, and it's always best to start with the Chronicle.

Go DYNAMO!

Let's REstart this season, yo.

It's a new season and the Dynamo begin yet another "title defense" with its ceremonial Disappointing Performance. Time to shred the season tickets my friends. The season is over. No MLS Cup Championship. No tournament trophies. Our defense can't keep a Twellman-less Revs to fewer than 3 goals, or a J-League Osaka to fewer than 6. That's it man, game over man, game over! Maybe we could build a fire, sing a couple of songs, huh?

Or not.

It's hard to take any underlying truth from yesterday's game. Despite having the better, more challenging pre-season schedule, the Dynamo looked to have no chemistry for most of yesterday's match. The first half saw little rhythm, plenty of disorganized defending, and absolutely no offensive production. Great free kick by DeRo in the closing moments though.

The second half saw better play, but little in the way of solid opportunities. Much of our success might be due to switching to a 3-5-2 late in the first half. Though the half saw improved play, our defending was still shaky and we turned the ball over too often. And we had only 3 shots on goal to the Revs' 13. Sheesh.

The only thing we can definitely take away from this game is that none of this means anything except that the parity of the MLS means any team -- even so-called top-tier teams -- can and will lose. (Did you see DC United's loss today? They're still one of the most talented teams despite losing to KC 2-0. Did you see the sexy LA Beckhams lose? Broke your heart, I'm sure.) Sure, we've got to do better. And you know what? We will. Yes we need to get better rhythm in the midfield. Yes we need to get more creative up front. And, yes, we desperately need to get better organized in the back -- for the love of all that is holey (holey like your back line was yesterday), help out your GK, guys!

Besides the blithe "one loss isn't that bad," is there anything good that came out of the game?

Why, yes...
Dom is disappointed and will likely work on solutions. "We deserved to get beat tonight," he admits. E-Rob, the heart of our defense, is also not a happy soul; and he will work on the locker room solutions, no doubt.

Stuart Holden looked sharp for the most part, I thought. DeRo didn't command the game, but was dangerous. Ching didn't get hurt.

The ref was incompetent enough that we can complain about someone other than our defenders. How was Stuart's tackle, the one that resulted in Steve Ralston's departure, a foul by Stuart? I believe that call lost us the game right there. Or something.

Pat Onstad made some outstanding saves, including the two shots that rebounded to our defense. But wait! Where's our defense? It doesn't look like they're interested in getting to the rebounds? What are those blue shirts doing getting to the rebounds first? That is OUR penalty box, right? Aaaand, there's two goals right there. Game, set, match. Thanks, defenders. Oh, sorry, this is supposed to be the list of good things, which is that Pat did well and...uh...LA lost 4-0. Word.

Another good thing: Dick's Sporting Goods had an amusing commercial. Nonetheless, it'll be overplayed by next weekend, I'm sure.

There's no reason the pain should linger. The best way to move on from this loss is to win versus Saprissa at Robertson on Wednesday. We must win that one before we head to Costa Rica for the second leg. Also, and this is important: we host the vile FC Dallas in between the two CONCACAF matches, and we simply canNOT allow them to get their first ever win -- or even a draw -- in Houston. And that is the gospel truth, y'all.

Dynamo 2008 schedule

The MLS schedule came out yesterday. The Dynamo's 30 game include every team once at home and once away, and an extra match versus four of the six other Western Conference teams. We play Chivas and Dallas in an extra home game, and we play Colorado and San Jose in an extra away game. I think this works out perfectly: Chivas and Dallas have trouble getting results at Robertson, so it's good to have them come here to Houston (particularly given Chivas' strong home record). Colorado can be difficult due to the altitude, but the Dynamo often uses these trips to Colorado to recuperate at Philip Anschutz's nearby ranch -- assuming AEW still owns the Dynamo in June and October (brrr!) when the Dynamo venture to Commerce City. I'm sure the Dynamo also won't mind the extra trip to their old stomping grounds in San Jose either.

The week before that October date in Colorado (brrr!), Dynamo play in Toronto on September 27. That's my birthday weekend; maybe I'll use that as an excuse to travel to Canada.

Dynamo's first match is March 29 at Foxboro, MA. The first home game is the following Sunday, April 6, versus FC Dallas. There is only one Dynamo game scheduled in July due to SuperLiga, the US Open Cup, and the MLS All-Stars all occurring that month. The final game of the season is October 25 versus Chivas USA at the Home Depot Center.

The league schedule will be strained because of the usual extracurricular tournaments (such as the aforementioned SuperLiga), and international play will also be an issue. We host Chivas USA on August 20, the day the US is likely to play Guatemala in a semifinal round World Cup qualifier. (Probably means we'll face a Guzan-less Chivas.) We host the Wizards on September 7, when the US will likely be at Cuba. We host DC United on October 12 when the US will likely host Cuba.

B-Fall has some observations on the schedule in his blog at chron.com.

TV coverage is still being fleshed out, but hopefully Channel 55 The Tube will pick up some games to fill in those dates that are currently left to Direct Kick or HDNet.

Oh yeah, and the Galaxy come to Houston once: October 19. If you're a Beckham groupie and seeing him once is not enough, you can take a road trip to Frisco to see Becks play Dallas twice: May 18 and July 27. The other celebrity, Blanco, comes to Houston with the Fire on August 31.

In other Western Conference News:
Du Nord reports that former DC United center mid, Christian Gomez, is heading to Colorado. With him as the attacking mid and Beckerman (or Mastroeni) as the defensive mid, Colorado is now a much bigger threat in the West. It seems the quality of the opposition improves each season. Hopefully the Dynamo continue their trend of adapting and improving this season.

Showing our Quality! (Conference Semis 2nd Leg)

What an awesome evening tonight.

Sitting in Section 118 (turns out I've been sitting near the Mezzanine owners all this season), the crowd was vocal and spirited. In fact, every section was roaring...well, except for the FCD Inferno section above the south goal, which was deathly quiet after Ching scored the game winning (and series tying) goal. With more than 30,000 people -- most in orange -- Robertson was a cauldron that would will the team to victory.

As I expected, the Dynamo controlled possession and territory. We had 2-3 near goals in the first 10 minutes. (I can't believe the stadium officials didn't notice the Ref's signaling of the free kick for FCD -- not a goal for Houston -- after the near-goal in the first minute...how deflating to make everyone think we tied the aggregate right out of the gate.) It was all orange on the field. As I feared, we couldn't turn our chances into goals. I couldn't see much in the south goal (due to my viewing angles), but it looked like the ball was practically bouncing off a Plexiglas shield. We were doomed to lose to an inferior team, 1-0. And to make matters worst, 5-Star took my bags of free cookies when I entered the stadium...at least I got to keep my free orange boxers.

But that was the first half.

[Note that the most important part of the evening occurred at the beginning of halftime, when birthday wishes for my wife were broadcast on the Jumbotron. Happy XXth birthday, honey!]

The second half was much better than the first. A hearty shout-out to former Houstonian, Arturo Alvarez, for losing his head and kneeing Davis in the groin in the opening minutes of the second half. Alvarez had looked pretty creative at times in the first half, and was now leaving his team short-handed. It seems another former Houstonian, Chris Gbandi, did the same last year in FCD's series versus the Rapids. Alvarez's departure helped open up the field more, and allowed Dom to immediately sub in Holden for Waibel and switch to a 3-5-2.

More Dynamo possession ensued. Then goals. Lots of goals! A plethora of goals! A cornucopia of goals! I feel a Haiku coming on!

Always creative,
Yet tonight we finish too,
In our orange cauldron.

First, Holden gets his nifty half volley off a Ching-headed layoff. Then Ching evens the series and gets the game winner by finishing off a perfectly timed through pass from D-Ro. In the waning moments of regulation, Ching misses another sitter. Would he regret that? No! Because he gets the series winner off a pass from Ngwenya in the first half of overtime. Just to seal the deal, Brad Davis shoots a dynamite laser of a free kick into the upper 90. Dallas become frantic but ineffective in the second half of overtime, and Dynamo-Houston wins 4-1 (4-2 agg.) to face either Chivas USA or KC Wizards in the Western Conference Championship. I'm pulling for KC so we get one more home game.

This game had everything: Noise. Bad officiating. Evil doers (Ruiz). Turncoats (Serioux stomping on Holden's neck...though I'm sure that's an accident). Bad guys taking a formidable lead; good guys overcoming adversity and winning in the end. Margaritas (but at $10...yikes!).

Rico Clark came onto the field on crutches and sat in the field chairs (with John Michael Hayden) right in front of us during the second half.

At the end of the game, the team considerately walked to every end of the stadium, applauding the fans. DeRo wore Rico's jersey (backwards, so Clark's name and number 13 were highly visible) in honor of his teammate who will have to sit out this match and every other match this season because of the captain of the opponent that was vanquished tonight.

And when that talisman of disrepute, Ruiz, scored the opening goal of tonight's match, it looked like the MLS might have successfully conspired to reward the maleficent while shackling the innocent (though admittedly tarnished innocent). Ruiz should not have been on the field tonight given his role in the incident with Clark, but the MLS didn't seem to have a problem with that. But since he was on the field, so should Clark have been.

And then to have Ruiz's antics coddled by the Referee tonight? Stupefying.

I guess I'm a callous sadist, because I enjoyed Ruiz getting injured by his own teammates as he strutted his stuff after his goal, taunting the fans, then tripping over the ad boards. He grabbed his head afterwards, of course. He grabbed his cranium a lot all night, not that it bothered the refs.

But all that is merely introductory exposition to set up the real story of the night: the good can prevail with hard work, skill, esprit de corps, and tens of thousands of people behind you.

Lurking through the BigSoccer boards post-game, I found a few quotes that made me feel good about the team I support:

[Regarding Houston] : Nobody else is beating Houston if they keep playing like this.

[Regarding FCD]: If the Front Office wants to know why PHP isn't full next year, they should play the tape of this game. Three years running, three implosions. Stupid, dirty play. Overreacting to fouls. ... The worst is, I really feel sad for all of you hard-core fans. This team doesn't deserve you.

[Regarding Houston fans, a left-handed compliment]: Absolutely. They have great, albeit stupid, retarded, rabid fans. Good for them. It doesn't seem right, of course, but that's life.

All of these quotes came from FCD fans, who praise the Dynamo and Dynamo supporters, and question the nature of their own team. I do wish FCD would gain some class (which would start by ditching Ruiz), but them having no class makes it so much easier to despise them. Having said that, I was impressed with the FCD fans, who drove a long way on a weeknight, and were quite boisterous. If I were to offer an opinion, it would be that they need to learn some songs to sing when things aren't going their way. They looked despondent when the balance turned on the field; perhaps some clamorous songs would hide their own trepidation while inspiring their team to reverse the tables yet again.

Those were quotes from opposing fans. Now for some quotes from the Dynamo, go here.

I'm tired and my throat aches. Off to bed. Go Dynamo!

Showing our Quality? (Conference Semis 2nd Leg)

Tonight we finish off the second leg of the Conference Semifinals. (Game Guide.) Basically, win and we move on; lose and the season is over.

Last night's DC-Chicago game shows that the better team doesn't always move on. The MLS championship goes to the team currently in the better form.

With our defense, I don't see us conceding a goal tonight, and surely not more than one. In the middle of the field, I'm sure we'll dominate possession and territory. The only question is in the attacking third. We'll create opportunities, but can we finish them? That's been a recurring bug-a-boo all year, and the answer to that question will determine if our season continues or if we take a hiatus until next season.

And that hiatus will not even include international play in the CONCACAF Champions Cup. We have to win the MLS Cup to get there. (DCU has earned one berth based on winning the Supporters' Shield.) So, other than the standard warmup at the Carolina Challenge Cup, we'll have no soccer action until the 2008 season begins. In the meantime, we'll be weathering an uncertain off-season with an expansion draft for San Jose and other events that could change the character of the team we know so well.

But let's not consider that now. We're not in the grave, just playing in the cemetery. Score, and we move on. If we're ahead by only one goal at the end of 90 minutes, we'll get more time to score more. Score, and we move on. If we're still ahead by only one goal at the end of 120 minutes, we'll go to penalties. Score, and we move on.

The secret, methinks, lies in scoring.

Win or lose, my family and I will be in Row B of Section 118. It's been a good season. I hope it continues for a couple of more games.

Go Dynamo!

The Weekend's Anti-soccer

The US Soccer Players blog (I site I now regularly hit) has its take on the recent first round leg matches of the conference semis. Here are some highlights:

"We wanted to play and go forward but, at the end of the day, who cares?" Revs' coach Steve Nicol told the Boston Globe.

It's naive to imagine that Nicol might worry about entertaining the 14,165 fans who came to watch. But to say "who cares?" like an insouciant teenager suggests he thinks that everyone watching his dull but efficient team in the playoffs is similarly fixated on "smart play" and the final result as he is. The thought of the revs making it through to the MLS Cup Final again is, frankly, depressing.

Regarding the Dynamo match:

Steve Morrow reverted to the British stereotype, breaking up all opposing plays with niggly fouls and using the big lad Adrian Serioux to launch in as many long (and arguably foul) throws as possible in the hope that one might careen around and land in the right place. It worked, with Clarence Goodson banging in a loose ball for the only goal of an intense but extremely poor game of soccer.

Dallas committed 23 fouls in the game, to Houston's eight. The Dynamo, sometimes seen as the Revs of the West, deserved a tie at least for their effort, and because they weren't as dirty as their opponents. It's a strange game when you end up feeling sympathy for Eddie Robinson, the victim of yet another discreet Carlos Ruiz elbow to the face.

Ruiz continued his mediocre form, showing no on-field rapport at all with the lumbering Kenny Cooper. In the end, you prayed for a cameo five minutes from Denilson just to watch him backheel the ball and remind you that this was really supposed to be a game of soccer, and not hands-free rugby played by panicky, over-developed third-graders.

"We made it difficult for them to establish a rhythm," Dallas defender Bobby Rhine told the Dallas Morning News in the understatement of the weekend. Congratulations, Bobby. And did you wonder why there were only twelve and a half thousand people in the stadium for what should have been the biggest game of the season?

Check out Ian Plenderleith's article for his perspective on the entire weekend.

Conference Semis, Leg 1: Point, Counterpoint

Sam Sunshine: This was an excellent result for the Dynamo. The team thrives on adversity. Being down 0-1 gives them the focus they need to get to the next round.

Gloomy Gus: This is a horrible result. For no good reason whatsoever, the Dynamo have had atrocious finishing this year. They scored only one goal in the opening month of the league, and were held scoreless in 5 of the first 7 games. We sometimes can't even score against 10-man teams, like the Red Bulls and even lowly Toronto. We've now been held scoreless in two matches in a row, and we need to score TWO now in the next game if we want to progress … and for even that to work, we also have to keep Dallas from scoring any more.

SS: All good points, but I don't see HD being shutout three games in a row now that they're in their in-season form. Besides, we've been in this position before, with Chivas last year.

GG: Aha! But Chivas is an attack-oriented team, even back then. They opened up the field, and we could take advantage of that. Dallas will look to preserve the tie. They'll come out "aggressive" in the first 5 minutes, then spend the remaining 85 minutes bunkered in and looking for the counter attack. They're coached by an ex-Arsenal defender, for cryin' out loud -- they'll know how to kill the game. They won't open up at all, and we've proven that we cannot score one, much less two, versus a bunker -- no matter how poor the team is.

SS: Yes, but if we score one, the game will open up. We have the best defense in the league, talented wingers, a creative attacking midfielder, and one of the best target forwards in the MLS. We can get that one goal. Besides, we're at home.

GG: Our talent can certainly dominate games. They can also not score in games where they otherwise dominate.

SS: We can also score multiple times. In the month of September, we scored 11 times in 4 games. Not bad.

GG: I just worry that our mojo -- our magical juju -- is gone. The defense is great, so FCD may not get another goal; but 1 goal may be all FCD needs to end this. We may not get the one we need.

SS: I hope you're wrong.

GG: At least we agree on that.