These Are Our Hoops
September 9th, 2008 . 10:48 am . By: Jay BrownleeOver the history of FC Dallas Burn there have been too few moments of glory. Longtime fans point to low points from the league-owned days, the misery of Southlake or even the back-to-back-to-back playoff failures more recently. If there is a way to come up short, to break fans’ hearts, FC Dallas Burn have pretty much covered it. And here we are in 2008, a year that can have no other description than ugly. The list of Who’s to Blame is long: the Hunts, Steve Morrow, Michael Hitchcock, and finally Schellas Hyndman. The only party that has escaped blame to this point has been the team itself. And while some or all of the above have most likely contributed to this Nightmare Season, I think this team, this group of players, should not be given a free pass. It is time for the Hoops Faithful to come to admit a horrible truth: this team is soft. Soft. FC Dallas suffers from a lack of character, class and will, otherwise called toughness. There are no leaders on this team. No one wills this team to victory. Not even Kenny Cooper. Where is the Hoops’ Dwayne DeRosario? Where is their Taylor Twellman? Who is the player who will gladly put this team on his back and will it to victory? In FC Dallas, that player simply does not exist. Every great team has a leader, someone who will not allow his team to lose. A great player lifts up his teammates, ignores adversity and always comes through. And Dallas has no one even closely resembling that type of player. Champions have a quiet, cool confidence. They know they are never out of the game. They do not panic. FC Dallas gets untimely and silly red cards. Dallas gets their heads down. They draw desperate fouls. They storm off to the locker room when substituted. They sucker-punch other team’s players as they celebrate a well-deserved victory. And no matter how hard they play, at the end of the day, they always give in. These are Our Hoops. 12 Comments Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI Leave a comment |
Tough but true. It may not be due to lack of effort or desire on the current player’s part – but due to a lack of ability to ‘carry the team’.
Good stuff sir!
This team has been know as being ’soft’ around the league for a while now. Yeah there have been some tough guys like Serioux, Simo & Goodson but too often there have been guys like Alvarez, Davino, Moor and such. It’s not about how physical players are it how they react to adversity and the Hoops tend to lay down.
“They sucker-punch other team’s players as they celebrate a well-deserved victory”…? Please use specifics here – what incident are you talking about ?
Jay, you make a good point and I agree that the players are ultimately responsible for the team’s success or failure in any given game or season. But having said that, the front office and, especially, the coaching staff bear the responsibility for creating an environment in which the players can perform to their full ability. That simply has not happened this year.
Nor is it surprising that no leaders have emerged in this team. Three coaching changes in such a short time counsels that each player should keep quiet and just take care of priority #1, his own job. Also, SH’s strong personality may not be all that conducive to a leader stepping up. The “leader” that emerges in this team will have to be someone who SH “blesses,” and it’s not clear that he is really all that impressed with anyone on the team. Buzz might have more insight there, though. He’s the guy at all the training sessions.
But did you have to say it out loud?
Jay, LET ME TELL YOU MY SON WHAT A TRUE LEADER IS. Someone who leaves a Premier leagut team and scores 11 goals and is the the team MVP. Someone who plays 30 minutes for his National team and scores on his debut. Someone who breaks his leg, then comes back in 4 months from an injury which can take up to 12 months to reciover from. Someone who scores 13 goals in a 500 team. someone who could have gone to Europe and become a millionare. Somone who chose to stay here in Dallas and play for ass holes like you. NOW THAT IS CHARACTER !!!!If you want to know who I am, I have taught Cooper in school and in club ball. No one can ever question this mans character or leadership qualities. We have many players with leadership qualities in this team. Our real problem is we have people like you. I call you a so called front runner. An arm chair quarter back, Johnny come lately or as they say in Europe a near do well.
Jay, sorry for a couple of spelling errors. It may be a lack of character on my part. (JOKE)
Alex,
Just because you are in love with Cooper does not mean that Jay does not have the right question his leadership skills. An exceptional player still might not be a great leader or might not want to even be a leader. Some guys are not cut out to be leaders no matter how great they are. A perfect example of this is Dirk Nowitski. A hell of a player but very soft when it comes to leadership.
Another thing you need to keep in mind Alex is that opinions are just like the insult you hurled at Jay (ass hole) everybody has one.
Jay,
I don’t know if you paying close enough attention. 6/15 against the Chicago Fire? It was obvious that Cooper was of the mindset that this team was not going to be embarrassed in front of a big crowd again. He was the best player on either team that day and did in fact will the team to a win. How about 7/27 against LA?
Other Alex,
I don’t think your paying close enough attention either. Cooper did not choose not to go to Europe during the transfer window, MLS and FCD said no. I like Cooper too, but lets not make him out to be the messiah here.
“It’s not about how physical players are it how they react to adversity and the Hoops tend to lay down.”
Well said…I think this is what has defined FCD’s failure in the playoffs for the last 3 seasons. We need to bring in a bad*** that’s going to help bring these boys together.
Not sure why there seems to be such disatisfaction with our best player and highest scorer.