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News & ArtsSaturday, May 16, 2009
Sports Sounders Game Open Thread
Posted by Christopher Frizzelle on Sat, May 16, 2009 at 7:33 PM
If you see something, say something.
5 min: Deep thought: Qwest Field isn't a beautiful name, but at least our stadium isn't called Pizza Hut Park.
8 min: Zach Scott saves the day at the last second.
18 min: WHOA! Amazing. Did you see that? Completely not technical eggsplanation: The ball was kinda just bouncing randomly down the field, knocking around off people's heads and stuff, and two guys were running for it—Seattle's Jhon Hurtado and one of the Dallas guys—ran toward it, and Dallas' goalkeeper ran toward them, and Hurtado lifted his leg, made contact with the falling-out-of-the-sky ball, and knocked it in. The Dallas goalkeeper was nowheresville. It looked like such an accident the TV announcers wondered at first if they were going to count the goal. The score: 1-0.
(The Sounders site is pointing out that it's Jhon Hurtado's birthday. Their description of the 18th minute: "WOW ... Jhon Kennedy Hurtado just took the ball off the head of Nate Jaqua and got his foot high into the air in traffic to poke the ball over the head of Ray Burse for the goal. His first goal in the MLS coming on his birthday.")
22 min: One of the TV announcers, regarding Dallas: "This team is down in the dumps." And then blah blah blah. And then: "You can't fire a gun if you don't have a bullet in it."
29 min: The TV announcers think Seattle's Nate Jaqua and Dallas' Kenny Cooper look like twins. You decide.
33 min: Reason for Zach Scott coming out of the game a couple minutes ago is revealed: "abdominal strain."
38 min: One of the announcers starts talking about Brad Evans and mentions that Brad Evans "likes to cook." Then he says, "I'm not sure I'd want to eat any tamales that Brad Evans cooked." What does that mean? I'd totally eat your tamales, Brad.
47 min: NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Dallas scores. There was a bunch of dinking around in the infuriating, open-ended, never-really-made-clear-in-advance "add on" time at the end of the first half, and Dallas was knocking around the ball precariously close to the goal, and well after the 47th minute but before the 48th, Dallas kicked it in. Keller wasn't close to it. The TV announcers, processing their disbelief: "There's a whole lot wrong with what just happened. A whole lot wrong. First of all, they're well over the two-minute add-on time..." Score: 1-1.
Halftime: TV announcer: "The truth is, Dallas really didn't deserve that goal..."
(The description of that goal from the Sounders site: "Well over the two-minutes of stoppage time, Andre Rocha gets a foot on a leading ball from the midfield for a goal, poking it past Kasey Keller into the left side of the net." Also, the reason for Zakuani's yellow card: "Steve Zakuani is issued a yellow card for his protest of the goal. Not only were they past the 2 minutes indicated for stoppage time, but Andre Rocha was well offside on the play.")
48 min: Now the announcers are saying Kenny Cooper and Le Toux look like twins. There's a Dallas player down with an injury, and the announcers are just filling time. At least they're not resorting to more weird metaphors.
52 min: At least the third mention so far that Freddie Ljungberg is home in Seattle with a migraine. One wonders if he's watching the game. One wonders if all the mentions of his migraine are making his migraine worse.
57 min: TV announcer, talking about the sloppy/weird/sluggish game, says, "This is the sort of game that makes you want a dictionary so you can look up other words for 'disparity' or 'ragged' or 'lethargy' or 'what's going on'?" Hmm. It must be hard to be a TV announcer.
68 min: You are so good at your job, Kasey Keller.
75 min: Brad Evans collides with Dallas' goalkeeper in midair. Now Evans is writhing around on the field in pain. In the replay, he bounces weirdly on a leg twisted under himself. Man. That must've really sucked. Announcer: "Brad Evans is in a whole lot of pain right now." Now he's being carried off the field on his back.
93 minutes plus: I really don't understand this "add on" time business. First the announcers say it's going to be two minutes. Then they say it's going to be three minutes. Then, after the third minute, the clock just keeps going, and the announcer's explain that this extra-extra time is "at the ref's discretion." Wha??
Final score is 1-1. Sounders' third tie this year. We were supposed to totally wipe our asses with these guys—worst team in MLS! Looking forward to Fnarf's take on the Ljungberg-free game. Amazing how much he matters out there. One commenter's take (@11): "Well, that was crappy Seattle sports at its best. The Sounders were just milling about, and then some player would kick it away and make a face like "Yeah! I just PRESERVED A TIE!"
8
The Sounders were just milling about, and then some player would kick it away and make a face like "Yeah! I just PRESERVED A TIE!"
Loser Ball Unlimited.
12
man, talk about a let down. They say that when your team wins, the sensation for the fan is on par to an orgasm.
This was more like me jacking off when I was 16, before I learned of "lotion".
What radically different halves: 1st half we totally dominated, in control and possession, with several great chances, a ball of the cross bar, and great/weird goal.
Second half I think the players switched jerseys or something, as it was totally the opposite.
What gives? All I can blame it on was the very late, very off-sides goal a few minutes after the end of the first half by someone in the stands. It took the wind out of our sails and stopped the momentum (it's late and I had some rum on a sunny day, so the fancy wording just ain't in me).
So, yeah, it harkens me back to the days before lube, and now I just feel... urgh. I think I'll listen to some metal.
13
Also, regarding the confusion about "added time," the ref will not blow the whistle when either box is being pressured. The ball has to be in mid-air or midfield for the game to end.
As for the stoppage time, soccer isn't basketball, where the clock goes down to tenths of seconds. Following on what 13 rightly said, the Sounders had only themselves to blame for that goal; they were unable to clear the zone and gave Dallas the opportunity.
16
I've been in Dallas in May -- I lived there for four years as a teenager -- and it's a miracle they even hold the second half. They must have been dying out there.
My take? You want my take? MLS is pretty low-grade football, compared to the display Tottenham put on at White Hart Lane in the first half today against Man City. Without Ljungberg, there's no one on the pitch who has a functioning brain. Montero, Nyassi, Jaqua -- fast but stupid. Montero is pissing me off with his inability to be even remotely creative.
17
The Sounders just didn't have it today. No attack. Certainly we missed Ljungberg in the middle. But we did fine without him in game 1. Montero doesn't seem to have anybody to play with out there, which is weird, because he and Jacqua looked fine in game 1; he looked pretty lost today. I think the two biggest factors, aside from the weather, might have been: (a) Dallas, who isn't nearly as bad as their record suggested, seemed to put more pressure on the mids than previous opponents, to the point where we couldn't keep possession long enough to create any sort of attack; and (b) this was a lineup of strangers, with Wahl, Ianni, and KIng all seeing their first action, if I am not mistaken. Le Toux is a hard worker, but always seems to be going it alone and not playing well with others. Who was playing offensive center mid in place of Ljungberg? Evans? He seemed invisible, before being carted off. Alonso too. But I think @13 is right. A draw ain't all bad.
18
Zakuani is definitely one of the worst conditioned players. He was awesome in the first half, but disappeared in the second. He need to get his stamina up.
The Hoops have 4 U-20 guys. There weakness is in the middle of there D, and in goal. If they can shore this up quickly, they'll put together a good string and drag themselves out of the gutter.
Fnarf, I was at the game yesterday...perfect Association Football weather...high 60's, breezy, but not too breezy. It definitely wasn't a game that was easy on the eyes, but everyone was going full speed all the time. Once the heat kicks in, Dallas' home field advantage improves.
The Hut is a lame name for a venue...but it is a great place to watch a game. Every seat has a good sight line (especially when the place is only about half full). The Irish bar across the street has good food and an excellent selection of Scotch and Irish Whiskeys. I took a date there and got out full, buzzed, and entertained for about $75, which won't even get you one shitty seat at the new Cowboys' Stadium.
I love how Seattle's taking to the MLS. I am dying to make it up there for a game. The organization did a fantastic job putting together such a quality team in its first run out.
Oh..and as far as the offsides goes, you all have it TOTALLY WRONG. If you watch the replay, your right back (Ianni-who is terrrrrrrible, btw) didn't get up quickly enough on the trap. The ball was up in the air as he was running back and Rocha was not even close to being offside. Check the replay on MLSnet.com at the 2:49 mark. You'll see the ball in the air, Rocha, Ianni desperately trying to get back, and Keller in that order. That was certainly a more quality effort than Hurtado capitalizing off of a terrible gaffe between Burse and Saragosa.
That said, I think 1-1 was a pretty fair result, and the stats tend to back that up. Remember, even with the huge disparity in results so far, there isn't a great deal of difference between any two teams in the league. Getting Keller as a freebie b/c he's from that part of the country was huge for you guys. Good luck with the rest of your season.
21
And Fnarf, please, quit bringing up how much better Europe is with every post you make. I get it. This isn't the Premiership. This isn't a country that has had a league for 100 years, where it's the dominant sport, where money and history attract the world's best players. We know that. But it's our local team and that means something too. (I don't think you'll get one of your Spurs players, for example, coming to the pub to watch the game with the fans.)
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