Stream of Consciousness: Chicago Fire vs FC Dallas
March 21st, 2009 . 8:35 pm . By: DJ Walker
Because of the Global Economic Crisis, I am drinking Bud Light out a can instead of Guinness out of a bottle for opening day. I only mention this because I think it is now mandatory to mention the Global Economic Crisis in any piece of prose published on the internets. And far be it from me to defy the internets. So, we got Ferreira, Van den Bergh, Purdy, Torres, and . . . Cheerleaders I’m glad to see the new guys, but really . . . Cheerleaders? I’d rather have a marching band. And I hate marching bands at soccer games. I’m on record (quite recently, actually) as insisting that the only proper musical instruments at a soccer match are drums, and then only if played by drunken amateurs. I’d prefer a section full of those big plastic horns to either a marching band or cheerleaders. On the other hand, I may just be entering my “elderly curmudgeon” phase a few years early. Oh Wow. Oh Dipsy Selelowane. Did Kenny Cooper just chip Jon Busch from 60 yards? Yes, I believe he just did. That was beautiful. Nothing like scoring the Goal of the Year in the first 15 minutes of the first game. One of the things I’m happiest about for this new season is that Dax is out of the doghouse and back in the starting lineup where he belongs. Only a few weeks ago it looked for all the world like Dax was out the door. This would have been an incredibly stupid move for the club. Worse than cheerleaders, even. Ugh. We just gave up a terrible equalizer that gave me bad defense flashbacks. Mostly it was bad luck for Purdy, who fell down as he came on to the ball, and good finishing (with perhaps a touch of a deflection) by Justin Mapp. This is a very odd announcing duo. Dave Dir and Bobby Rhine. I only say that because really, they’re both color commentators, and it’s Bobby’s debut in the booth. I don’t mind, because they’re both terrific, but you just don’t see many broadcasts without a play-by-play man. I guess Brad Sham has the night off. Bobby seems really comfortable, with only a moment or two of awkwardness, which is completely understandable for the first time on a hot mic. I’ve always had this conceit that I’d make a really good soccer announcer, but deep down I know it’s probably a lot harder than it looks. Plus, I’m just glad Bobby is still around, just because he’s one of the all time great guys. As is Coach Dir, for that matter. Apropos of nothing, The Lovely Cid points out that she has never once seen Dario Sala with a hair out of place, and that he is handsome enough to be a male model. Apparently her recent health problems have done nothing to blunt her keen eye for studly males. Me, Dario, and Jose Mourinho are her top three. I’m guessing that would be pretty humbling news for those two guys. Or not. Good sized crowd for opening night, too. The Inferno are in fine voice, as are El Matador, who have taken the Inferno’s former spot behind the goal, while the Inferno have moved to corner on the West Side. During the Cotton Bowl years, the sideline was the Inferno’s home, so this is not so much a change as it is a return to the old ways. I’m glad to see Los Matadores, who I must say did themselves proud in their debut. Another piece of bad fortune to put Chicago up 2-1. Drew Moor has the ball come off his hand in the box and the call goes against him. Brian McBride makes easy work of the PK. I like this kid McBride. Looks like he might have some potential. Memo to Bob Bradley: keep an eye on this up-and-comer. I can’t believe we’re losing this game. The play has been really good and both Chicago goals were gimmes. We gotta get moving here. We just cannot lose opening day. Blanco comes on and immediately tries to chip Dario. Nice try punk. Jeff Cunningham goes off the crossbar from a nice Van den Bergh cross. Dave hitting with the right foot, too, proving that it isn’t merely decorative (as Seamus Malin once said of Preki’s right peg – one of the all time great soccer announcer lines). Dave Dir just mentioned that Brad Sham’s father passed away this week, which explains the lineup in the booth. Condolences to Brad and his family. If you’re not familiar with him, Brad is a class act, and a hall-of-fame quality announcer in several sports (which isn’t easy to pull off). Hats off to Section 8 Chicago for bringing a good-sized traveling contingent. That group are consistently one of the best supporter’s groups in the league. Well, 90 minutes are gone and it looks like we’re going to drop a home opener. This does nothing for the health of my rapidly dwindling “glass-half-full” outlook on life. The last couple of seasons have been hard to take, and I was really thinking this might be a turning point for us. Oy. Well, the boys played well, the crowd was terrific, and the fact that we lost a close game is no reason to despair on the first day of Spring, right? Right. See you next week for . . . ah, you gotta be kidding me. Blanco scores a late free kick goal to add insult to injury. Not only that, but FSN shows a shot of my dear friend Mike Segroves gloating in the Section 8 area just before they sign off. I will NEVER hear the end of this. It’s gonna be a lonnnng season. 31 Comments Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI Leave a comment |
Buzz, i agree with you CHEERLEADERS? What is next dancing girls at Ranger games?
Long season coming. Last year. Next year.
Went to take my little guys to catch a game. Gave up my season tickets. They tried to nail me with $40 a seat or $75 a seat? I respectfully declined and went home and caught the game on my big screen. What are the Hunts thinking?
Beautiful goal by Cooper.
The dancing girls are ridiculous, Schellas takes the lead again only to lose the game. Looks like a long season in front of us.
Schellas sucks as a coach. It will be a very long season, till we get this guy out of here.
THAT COOPER GOAL WAS AMAZING!
And I liked the FC _allas Dancer’s. Ain’t nothing wrong with some eye candy at PHP.
Now the dogs catching frisbees???? I dunno about alllllllllllllllllllllll that.
I’m EXTEREMELY happy that people ACTUALLY CAME OUT TO Suburbia to watch FC _allas’ opening match! HOPEFULLY, they’ll show up next Sunday against Chivas USA. Hopefully so will FC _allas as well.
GET IT TOGETHER YOU HOOPS!
Good job DJ. But Cooper didn’t chip the keeper. He laser-bombed him. No hesitation, just the right amount of fade. Unbelievable shot. Simply amazing.
Incredible goal from Cooper, good effort overall from the boys, disappointing result.
The handball call was questionable at best. I didn’t think Moor tried to deliberately interfere with the ball at all, and Toledo should have considered that before awarding Chicago a game-changing penalty kick. That changed the entire match and really turned the pressure up for Dallas.
I love you Walker. (:
Great crowd out there tonight! Amazing goal by Cooper….my jaw was on the ground.
Oh and I think you’re overreacting about the DANCERS (NOT cheerleaders). Everyone at PHP seemed to enjoy them…especially those of the male gender haha. The P.A. announcer said they’d be appearing at community events to help promote the team, too…that can’t hurt anything.
Anyways, it was still a pretty good night out there despite the loss.
Good SOC D.J. That Cooper goal was amazing and the look on Busch’s face is priceless. Sucks that we can’t finish our chances and it cost us the game. And it doesn’t help matters that the referee sucked (no surprised there) and Blanco scored. UGH!
I can feel your pain D.J. if Mike Segroves is going to rub it in your all week.
Good stuff.
As a defender i’m a firm believer in a referee having the obligation to determine if the defender played the ball with his hand (foul), or if the ball played the defenders hand (generally not a foul). Yeah, there’s some gray area there but come on – Drew was running full stride and the ball bounced up and hit him. NOT a foul. Boo.
Maybe we need to get fan_o_toja on the team to defend? Drew had some kind of hand in each Fire goal tonight. I like him, but he just doesn’t get it. Coop is a stud.
With regards to the announcing duo, I read a few days ago that unfortunately Brad Sham’s father passed away. Condolences go out to him, I imagine he was at something related to that.
There is PLENTY wrong with the dancers. They don’t belong at a soccer game- plain and simple.
Our defense was disastrous (way to stay on your feet there, Purdy), every touch Dax had was a giveaway to Chicago, and I’m pretty certain the ref is a member of Section 8. Seriously, theres bad reffing, and then theres one-sided reffing. Last night was completely one-sided reffing.
I love this team, but its the same old bullsh*t as the last two or three seasons. What is that saying? The more things change, the more they stay the same? Hrmph.
Oh, and as usual good report DJ! Miss you and Cid muchly! =D
Global Economic Crisis is the new El Nino. Baldomero Toledo is the new Jair Marrufo. And David Ferreira is the new cursed #10.
Seen Purdy two games now. Seen 5 really bad miscues. 3 of them have been falling down either by tripping or stepping on the ball. That cannot happen. Those turn into goals. One here and there is “unlucky”. 3 in two games is a trend. My buddy and I were hoping Purday was going to get a Red card late in the game on that tackle so that Pitch could play the next game instead.
Purdy struggled last night.
I didn’t watch the whole game cause I was short on time when I got to my DVR. But even fast forwarding through large chunks of the action I saw 2 or 3 really nice moments from David Ferreira. Once he’s had a chance to practice with the guys for a month or so, I think he’s going to pay dividends for FCD.
The team played well overall, it was just a matter of a mental lapse on the first Fire goal, a weak PK call on the second and furstration on the third. Would have been a very different game if the PK wasn’t called and one of the two posts FCD hit would have been a couple inches closer to target.
Referee Toledo is as credible as an AIG executive.
A worthless piece of crap in a yellow shirt.
I really would like to have some clarity on how much subjective judgment (versus a call being forced) for a hand ball by a defender. The ball bounces off the pitch and hits Drew running back full tilt in the arm and it completely changes the entire game. I realize there is no justice in football, but there should be logic and reason. From someone who actually knows the MLS ruling on this (please not some yokel taking a guess), what should have happened? That call made me completely sick.
Ummm, did Ferreira play? OK, yeah he did. Why did we go out, get a #10, and deliberatley bi-pass him all night long?
“I really would like to have some clarity on how much subjective judgment (versus a call being forced) for a hand ball by a defender…. From someone who actually knows the MLS ruling on this (please not some yokel taking a guess), what should have happened?”
Buzz,
could you clarify this for us?
Here’s my yokel guess that you don’t want: I always thought that the rule reads something along the lines of “hand in the box=penalty”, but that it was an understood that there should be some subjective interpretation from the referee around whether the hand was intentional and/or had an effect on the play.
The important distinctions in the hand ball rule are the words deliberate and intentional.
An intentional hand ball is where the player reaches out and grabs the ball on purpose. That’s a foul and a card. Frequently a red one, depending on the circumstances.
A deliberate handball, and the one that this case looks to be, is where the player does something that results in his hand hitting the ball. In this case Moor is playing defense and his arm is raised. In other words a deliberate act or motion by the player put his hand where it was and caused the contact with the ball. That’s going to be called every time.
A non-foul hand ball is when the player is looking the other way, isn’t moving his hand or making a deliberate action that results in the contact. A player standing still in the wall who gets hit by the shot, for example.
In the end it’s a judgment call. But the active defensive posture of Moor means that’s going to be a hand ball virtually every time.
Although Toledo was, at best, inconsistent, he probably got the handball correct. Drew’s arm was out away from his body and played the ball, though unintentionally, with Mapp right there. So I see PK and no card. Just unlucky.
Kevin,
The $40/$75 a seat is exactly why I will not be attending a game this year. First, my 14 month old does have enough patience to sit through a game so my $40 would be out the window. Second, for a team that didn’t make the playoffs and has imo not put together a great team this year, uping the ticket price is in bad taste. Not to mention the fantastic economic state and a ticket increase. Just screams we don’t really care for the fans, where is our cash. No thanks.
Kevin and Jeff,
The ticket prices you’re complaining about mean that FCD sold out the three cheapest sections:
Endline $20
Sideline East $30
Midfield East $35
If you want the cheaper ticket, plan ahead. Why get fussy about having to get a higher-cost seat when you wander up on gameday?
The game was officiated like a Chicago home game. Nothing blatant, but I’m getting sick of getting the short end at home.
Ferreira is playing at a level of soccer our team isn’t used to. Multiple times he read a play developing and shot a gap, but the FCD player on ball didn’t notice. Cunningham was especially guilty. This can be worked out as they get used to each other.
Richetti’s return will help, but the frustration we’re all feelling is that our problem for years has been lack of ball control (and giveaways) and giving up soft goals. Chicago can’t be said to have earned any of their three. these problems NEED to be fixed.