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!

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.

Pouting in my blog after a defeat -- keeping that tradition alive too

I think I'm coming off my stupor from last night. Like millions of Americans do every Thursday night, I played the John Harkes Drinking Game where you sip your beer whenever Harkes says "As Well". He squeezes that phrase into any sentence, even when it doesn't make sense. Harkes was in rare form last night, so I, as well, finished a whole 6-pack by halftime and had to make a beer run as well to keep the game going. Now that I'm sober, I find I'm still miffed at the loss to San Jose as well.

Our forwards & midfield as well had their typical anemic attack for most of the game. That's no surprise. The uncharacteristic play came from our midfield as well, which couldn't control possession much less territory, and our defense, which was unfocused and indecisive as well. Despite all of our deficiencies on the field, we still could have pulled of a tie if our defense stayed focused. The problem is that, while the defensive lapse is unusual, it wasn't all that rare just a few games ago. I had hoped that the disorganization had been fixed. This repeat performance suggests otherwise. Maybe we'll just hope it was a one-time relapse caused by the background circumstances surrounding this particular match.

But rather than lingering on the continuing troubles up front, and the surprising troubles in the middle and the back as well, I will say that the Davis-to-Ching goal was top notch. I'll leave with that positive thought before going to the...

Media roundup
The Chronicle has another B-Fall-less recap. It says this about the crowd reception: "It was easy to tell which Dynamo starters did not play in the franchise's San Jose incarnation. They were the three booed in pregame introductions. The rest got cheers from a Buck Shaw Stadium crowd of 10,046 willing to relinquish allegiance from the squad that left for Houston after the 2005 season in favor of the expansion San Jose Earthquakes, version 2.0."

Here's the generic AP recap. "For at least one night, the expansion San Jose Earthquakes were better than the champions they replaced." And the fans? They "chanted 'You're not Earthquakes any more!' and other game-specific songs."

The San Jose paper has an article that merges the AP recap with some of its own writing. Ching says here "I think (the rivalry) is more for them. They're out to try to prove something to us, and we saw that tonight. They came out with an intensity that we didn't match and that was the difference." That's not an inaccurate statement.

Goal.com has a nice, succinct game summary. They also have an essay by Kelly Gray, who is back in San Jose, his fourth team (incl. Dynamo, Galaxy, and Colorado) in two seasons. I didn't realize this, but "There are basically three main agents who have the large majority of players on their client lists: Richard Motzkin, Lyle Yorks, and Patrick McCabe." He lists LA, Toronto, and Houston as the teams with the best community supports. "In Houston, the Dynamo is the only winning team in the city. Because of this there has been a tremendous response from the community. All of the players are well known wherever they go."

The MLSNet has one article that ends with Kinnear's surprising commentary on the Earthquake fans. "The one thing I can say is that I was pretty surprised at some of the things that were said to the players and the staff (by the San Jose fans). A lot of these guys put a lot of effort to put those stars on (the Earthquakes') jerseys. Anywhere around the world, when players have had good careers, at other places when they come back, they get a good reception. I understand rooting for your team, I totally agree with that, but some of the things that were said, really kind of caught me by surprise. I'm disappointed. And I think the guys should feel slighted by the way they were treated. The time that they spent here really made (the Earthquakes) franchise a super success in the early 2000s. The players didn't ask to leave. The players had nothing to do with it. I understand you have to vent your frustrations somewhere, but to vent it at the players that were here and won championships and went out in the community and made friends, I think it's really disappointing and very, very unfair."

And here's another MLSnet recap. "The first half saw Houston struggle to get forward against a physical San Jose defense, and fortunate to go into the locker room scoreless after 45 minutes." Yup.

But what a great goal by Ching, as well!

De La Hoya and the politics of the MLS

Did you see this article about the most famous of our owners, Oscar De La Hoya? "I can't wait, once I hang up those gloves, to be at every single soccer game, cheering on the Houston Dynamo." The article talks about how OdlH may or may not mesh with the political arena of stadium negotiations.

And here's an article about the fight itself. How about that slick shield on them shorts?

Source: Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times

The Commish and more inept and amateurish comments about the stadium
From San Jose, the Commish speaks again about the Houston stadium situation. The article says "There's no way that [the Dynamo relocate] with De La Hoya involved, and a record of two titles in two seasons, and raucous crowds most nights at Robertson Stadium, and [De La Hoya's business partner Gabriel] Brener having a sister and brother living in Houston."

Regarding the letter Garber sent to the Dynamo's owners in an attempt to sound like a cultured thug, Garber said, "I didn't think that [the mayor releasing the letter] was playing fair. But this is a tough business we're in and the mayor is not somebody we've had a close relationship with. That wasn't a public document." Sounds to me that he should blame his friends at AEG for giving the letter to the mayor. Originally Garber said that it was an internal letter to AEG and the mayor wasn't the intended recipient, but these words sound as if the mayor was the assumed recipient after all.

In the past I have considered Garber a good commissioner. He has done a lot of good things for the sport in general and the MLS specifically. He's taken measures to try to improve the quality of play on the field, including by trying to improve the officiating and the general atmosphere (for example, by instituting the pre-game MLS Anthem [recorded in Prague for an American league, but I digress....]). He's been open to new ideas and has been a champion for the league. But recently he has seemed arrogant, abrasive, and without any tact whatsoever. I will be happy (1) when the stadium issue is resolved, and (2) when the final ownership structure stabilizes. Then we can go back to focusing on the GM, coach, and players who have proven themselves to be the class of the league, and Garber can go back to hawking the LA Galaxy as the jewel for the casual soccer fan.

Speaking of The Jeeze, you know their DP, Becks, will have to be selected as player of the week even though he led his team to only a draw with RSL. Generally, the player of the week is a simple addition formula: add up the goals everyone has made that week, and the one with the highest number must be the player of the week. You don't have to be able to appreciate the subtleties of the sport if you can boil the process down to simple math. And if you add His Royal Beckness to the equation, you've got a lock for player of the week. (And he's so dreamy, to boot!)

Still, sarcasm aside, that first goal of his versus RSL was a beauty. (But even so, I think he is the first player to have two GOTW nominations in one week. The hint of special treatment continues.)

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.

Killing their way to another MLS Cup

Yet again, the New England Revolution will grace the MLS Cup with their special brand of anti-soccer. Beating the Chicago Fire with an acrobatic chileno from Taylor Twellman, all the more impressive because he had two defenders pressing him hard, the Revs are in their third straight MLS Cup match.

Raise your hand if you thought "That's it: the only goal we'll see in this match" after Twellman scored. It's difficult to type with one hand in the air, but I'm a trooper.

The Revs were aided by an ineffective Wanchope who appeared able to take any half-chance and turn it into a no chance. I think Osorio was too late in inserting Carr --Wanchope looked like he would never score. I'm not a big fan of Blanco, but he has to be irritated with his quality passes being wasted by Barrett and Wanchope. Rolfe had some good shots from distance, but nothing that panned out. I think his battered body will do well with an off-season of rest.

Credit should go to the Revs ability to defend -- some would say "kill a game" -- and protect their lead. Shalrie Joseph, Michael Parkhurst, and Matt Reis are some of the best at this.

We're halfway to a rematch of last year's MLS Cup -- a match-up that most of the US soccer community is dreading. The only thing worse than a Dynamo-Rev match-up would be a Wizards-Rev match-up. Let's hope that the latter doesn't come to pass.

And given the success of Boston in football (with the Pats winning the Superbowl and undefeated so far this season) and baseball (with the Red Sox -- the new New York Yankees some would say -- sweeping the World Series), the Revs seem destined to win the MLS Cup. That would give them the domestic double, them having already won the US Open Cup.

However, if there is a pantheon of gods that governs soccer, the Revs will not be rewarded with a win, and either KC or the Dynamo will take the silver ball. I think Lark Howorth said it as well as anybody: "...the skillful cynicism Nicol brings to the playoffs, especially with the talent he has, frankly has met its just end in all his three MLS Cup finals. I'm so glad we've got a Dynamo team to support that's more interested in winning playoff games via scoring goals, rather than locking down opponents in tactical stalemates."

Word.

I haven't always been a Revs hater, by the way. In fact, I had been impressed with the quality of their individual talent over the years. But seeing them play in person at Robertson over the past two years made me realize that this is a team that hurts the sport. In both instances (2006 and this year), the Dynamo played open, possession-style soccer against a prosaic, cynical opponent that had prostituted its game. Last year's match ended 1-1 and this year's 0-1. Credit the Revs for earning 4 out of 6 points in 2006 and 2007; but they also earned my spite for squashing the creativity from either team and for confirming the haters' stereotype of soccer being boring and banal.

Since I've turned this piece into a bit of a Revs-bashing, I guess I'll continue.

How about Michael Parkhurst as the MLS Defender of the Year? He is a talented defender to be sure, and did you know that he only garnered 5 yellow cards and no red cards all year? Isn't that amazing? It must be: it's mentioned in nearly every article about the young defender.

Is it right that he beat out a player (E-Rob) on a team that conceded 20 fewer goals than his team and another player (Claudi Suarez) on a team that conceded 15 fewer? And Suarez playes for Chivas USA, which conceded fewer goals while also playing an open, attacking style of play. Parkhurst was at the core of a defense that allowed 9 more than even lowly Colorado -- and that's with a keeper as good as Reis in the nets behind him (and a defensive style of play ingrained by Coach Nichol). Maybe Parkhurst should have fouled more.

Despite the stats, Parkhurst is indeed a good defender, and I can't say that the award is an abomination. It's not like giving Eddie Johnson the Comeback Player of the Year award or anything. (What exactly did Eddie comeback from? Underachievement? And does half a good season constitute a comeback?) But I think it says a lot about the MLS when "feel good stories" win out over performance; and the Dynamo's record-setting defense -- which smashed the previous 29 goal record by conceding only 23 goals -- doesn't win a single award. Onstad in particular was slighted.

As for Parkhurst's only goal (and only shot) of his career -- his 60-yard shot versus Toronto this year -- being up for Goal of the Year: it's interesting how the MLS got this into the running despite the fact that it wasn't selected as the best goal even in the week it occurred. (Granted, that's probably due to the votes of overzealous Toronto fans voting for Dichio the same week.) The goal is certainly impressive due to its rarity (haven't seen one since Dwayne DeRosario's shot versus Chicago and Zach Thornton last year), and Lord knows the fans love goals from really, really, really far away (with bicycle kicks right up there). I can't argue that both types of goals aren't impressive, but Parkhurst's feat has the air of luck and coincidence about it. I think a better GOTY would be one that demonstrates intentional skill.

Joseph Ngwenya's doesn't have the "gee-whiz" factor that surrounds a fortuitous strike; however, it does impress due to its focused application of skill. In fact, it is the type of feat that proves that we have skillful players here in the MLS. I think that is what the MLS should emphasize and laud: skill. It seems that we should want the world to know that we are a league of talented players, rather than knowing us as a league that has some lucky blokes every now and then -- because everyone has blind luck from time to time.

When you get a chance, vote for GOTY.

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!

First Leg: at FCD

Tonight, my sister-in-law (my wife's sister) gets married in a ceremony that involves the whole family. This is relevant because it explains what I'll be doing instead of trekking to Frisco to watch the first leg of the Dynamo's Western Conference Semifinal match-up versus FC Dallas. (Game guide.) I have already taken measures to record Channel 55 (The Tube) and to charge up my Blackberry for on-the-spot updates.

Dynamo-Houston has owned Dallas this year. That does not make me comfortable whatsoever. Dallas has a lot of talent at midfield (Toja, Ricchetti, Alvarez, and even Denilson if he decides to finally show up) and some potentially dangerous strikers (Alvarez again and even Ruiz, who has been anemic so far but may be saving it up for the playoffs). Their defense is suspect, but at times so is our striking ability.

The good news is that the players don't seem to be taking FCD lightly. Of course, one may sometimes say the right things, but deep down feel comfortable enough that it affects one's game.

I'm hoping for at least a 1 goal advantage on the road, then increasing our headway in Robertson next week. You with me?

And did you vote for GOTY today?

Goal of the Year

Following up on the previous post on Dynamo goals, the MLS GOTY contest has begun, with several Dynamo in the running:

Davis Week 12 (June)
Holden Week 14 (July)
Ngwenya Week 15 (July)
DeRo Week 16 (July)

I believe the choices include all of the GOTW winners, plus some extras. (Parkhurst's shot from the halfway line in the final week, for instance, lost to Dichio's spinning volley the same week, but both are candidates for GOTY.)

Here's a summary of the rules:

Who scored the best goal of the 2007 MLS season? You, the fans, have been tasked with helping us narrow down 34 great goals down to five finalists and then deciding the winner. Check out the goals below and and make your selection. There are three rounds of voting with this first round concluding on Oct. 31. You may vote up to 10 times a day, but may vote for only one goal at a time. The winner will be announced on Nov. 16. Note: if you are under the age of 18, you must choose to not receive email communication in order to vote.

So vote early and often! (And if you're torn, you can't go wrong with Ngwenya's skillful shot; long range missles aren't the only way to define a quality shot.)

2007 Regular Season Goals

Dynamo Houston scored 43 goals this past season. The "Climbing the Ladder" blog posted the highlight top 10 goals for the team on Youtube. Here they are (turn the sound down if, like me, you hate rap):


I'd swap #1 and #2, but other than that, can't argue too much.