This is an interesting story. I guess no one could tell the old farter to his face about their personal disgust…
Archive Page 6
This story tells how you soon will be able to stay on the couch and get the mental health benefits of exercise.
Maybe after this pill they will invent one that lets you get depressed while exercising…
This is great news: Red Bull park will be built like a soccer stadium, and not a glorified concert arena with a soccer field in the middle. Yes, a real soccer specific stadium, not a multi-purpose venue for entertainment per AEG. I am so happy!
Too bad the Fire, Rapids, Burn, Galaxy, Chivas, all have new stadiums that do not use the end zones well so that they can have concerts in them. I wonder what Real and DC United will end up with, not to mention us ‘Qs fans in San Jose…
With the news that Ian Russell is Yallop’s assistant coach in San Jose, we can be even more assured that the style of play for the new Quakes will resemble that of the old. Russell displayed hustle and desire every minute on the field, flying up and down the wing. Even when it became apparent that he did not have the skills of a Brian Mullan, or even a Manny Lagos, we liked to cheer his effort in sprinting to the corner to hit a cross and then sprinting back to help on defense.
This sense of style is also reinforced by the expansion draft choices made by Yallop and Doyle. They concentrated on gritty defenders and hard-nosed central midfielder types to hold the middle, leaving the attack to the forwards, the outside midfielders, and to some extent the outside backs.
Can you say four-four-two, with the middle two of the middle four being cautious?
This story in the IHT is pretty distressing. With a culture of ” big dowries” and incomes under a dollar a day, economics drives the problem.
Of course, men there don’t understand that the reason a girl is born has to do with the man’s sperm, and not the woman’s egg.
Well, I finally found out why Paul McHugh no longer has a weekly column in the Sports section of the Chron. Paul retired while we were in Ladakh, so I missed his last column until today.
I had the privledge in Tahoe of being a McHugh contact for the ski biz. I always looked forward to a chance to chat with Paul about changes in gear, and how skis are marketed.
I hope Paul and the Chron don’t object to this extended quote from Paul’s last column:
Three tips for a great future outdoors
— Intelligence is not simply a matter of mental computation. It’s also the ability to move one’s body skillfully through all elements of our environment. Haul your heinie outside. Constantly entertain and invigorate your brain with fresh challenges and fresh oxygen.
— Don’t fear involvement in a crusade for parks, greenbelts, wildlife or public access. Rather, fear not being absorbed in one or more of these confrontations. In this time of swelling human numbers, declining resources and over-stretched public funds, you’ll need to fight on behalf of everything you hope to keep.
— A reed or a twig on its own is an awfully frail thing. But once bound into bundles, they grow stout and secure. That’s the meaning behind “fasces,” those ribbon-wreathed rods, an ancient Roman symbol, once stamped on the back of U.S. dimes. No matter what your outdoor sport or environmental concern might be, join a like-minded affinity group. Not only for the camaraderie, but also to become mighty enough (collectively) to get tasks of major significance accomplished.
Well, I rode the same loop again on Sunday, as Sherie was not yet ready to ride the “big bikes” and she had scheduled lots of events for us that day. (They were fun, too. No regrets from me.) So I only had a couple hours, and decided to ride the same loop as Friday.
More interestingly, a cyclist named Anton pulled up beside me on SP Dam road just after the business district. We rode quite steadily together all the way to Inspiration Point, chatting about all kinds of things. We have made plans to be in touch. But really, the point of this post is follow up to the car in the ditch I last reported.
On Sunday, the car was gone…
On Monday, the poison oak rash had started on my left elbow, my right knee, both my ankles, and I feel itchy all over. O well, I guess sometimes we suffer for doing the right thing…
As you might know, the ‘Qs traded for two new players.
GK Burpo from Chivas USA for the fourth round pick in the upcoming draft. Note that Burpo is 35 years old. I think Yallop really likes keepers to have lots of experience. Burpo has been stuck on the bench behind the up and coming youngster Guzan. I expect that he will be our starter in goal.
And F Kamara from Columbus for Carroll, the defensive mid taken in the expansion draft from DC. I always like Carroll in DC, because he could play simple one and two touch and knew where to be on the field. I guess Sigi must have given up on Kamara, because he is still pretty young.
So for now, we have this lineup:
————Burpo————-
Hernandez Cochrane Goodson Riley
Grabavoy Vide Pozniak Guerrero
——-Glinton Kamara———
I also saw an interesting story by Ridge Mahoney in SA how the ‘Qs have 2/3 of their cap money left, along with 3 or 4 allocations (transfer money) totalling something like one million dollars. So I would think Doyle and Yallop might be looking for some more skill players to bring in, probably a couple from outside the USA.
As Sherie still is sore on her knee, I rode alone today. Just a short loop around to SP Dam Rd, up Wildcat and back through Tilden and down Spruce.
Uneventful after a stop at the Ped in El Sobrante to check on gift ideas, until going up Wildcat Canyon Rd. I was passed by a cyclist (yeah, I am a bit out of shape now) who I then saw five minutes later on the side of the road. Another guy also had stopped his bicycle there. This was about 200 m passed the gate into the pasture label Power Line Gate on the handmade sign, so about 400 me before Inspiration Point.
Anyway, I asked the guys if they were all right. The one guy said “Look, there’s a car down the hillside.” Sure enough, there was this white car down there, half buried in the blackberries and brambles. I asked the guys if there were people in the car, and they said that they did not know. After a minute of talk, I decided to go down to be sure there wasn’t anyone in the car that may need help. So down I go in my road shoes, big cleats and all, down the dirt, over fallen wood, breaking anise and other branches that I assumed was poison oak. I get to the car, and can see the back half of the car ok, but the windows are tinted dark and it is hard to see inside. So I decide I better just do it, so I use my bare hands to pull the nettles and blackberries back from the drivers door to peer inside. Sure enough, no one in the car at all. How relieved I was that there was no medical emergency to deal with!
So I scramble back up the slope, and talk to the guys. Neither had a cell phone signal, but I did! So I called information and got connected to the Orinda police. After way too much time on hold, I give the location and license number of the car, and the dispatcher looks in the “big computer” to tell me that the car had been reported stolen “just today.”
So I tear home to wash my body and clothes, just hoping I am not about to get a poison oak rash.
I sure hope someone would trample through poison oak if they suspected that I was stuck my car…
For now, the Quakes have ten players:
1. Ryan Cochrane, (Houston Dynamo)
2. Clarence Goodson, (FC Dallas)
3. Ned Grabavoy (Columbus Crew)
4. James Riley (New England Revolution)
5. Joseph Vide (New York Red Bulls)
6. Ivan Guerrero (Chicago Fire)
7. Brian Carroll (DC United)
8. Jason Hernandez (Chivas USA)
9. Gavin Glinton (LA Galaxy)
10. Chris Pozniak (Toronto FC)
Yallop took all young hustling type players, but some are pretty skillful too (IMHO): Grabavoy, Guerro. Otherwise, they are defensive players; Carrol, Goodson, Hernandez. And of course, Ryan Cochrane is coming home.
The audio of the event was uplifting; I could hear the excitement in the crowd.
Now for the more interesting part: Yallop and Doyle have said in no uncertain terms that there are some trades coming up tomorrow. Some of these players will not play for the SJ NewQuakes.
So stayed tuned for what happens tomorrow, and in the months to come.
Now if I can get Sherie to agree on season tickets…
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