My wife Tammy, my youngest son Michael and my daughter Mallory joined me and 7,695 of my closest friends who braved the horrible weather last night to watch our Columbus Crew get a very good victory over Sporting KC, 1-0.
Check that. My wife and daughter sat in the Upper 90 club (no longer the best kept secret at Crew Stadium) and watched the match on TV, while my son Michael and I braved the elements and stood on the Upper 90 club's porch and watched. I drive from Cincinnati for every match, so if I'm going to make the effort to drive up, I'm going to stand in the crappy weather.
OK, I was standing under a canopy.
Robbie Rogers and Eddie Gaven Celebrating Robbie's Goal (http://www.thecrew.com/ Josh Couper/Skyler Schmitt)
This was the 4th straight shutout for the Crew's defense. Sporting KC entered the match as one of the highest scoring teams in the MLS. Once again, the Crew's central defense of Julius James and Chad Marshall led the way with solid goalkeeping from William Hesmer.
Coach Robert Warzycha started Emilio Renteria up top, with Eddie Gaven right underneath him rather than at his traditional outside midfield position. Dilly Duka went the full 90 minutes and earned an assist on Robbie Rogers' second half goal. I give coach Warzycha a lot of credit for conjuring up this inspired line-up. It definitely worked.
Man of the Match? Robbie Rogers, both for his goal and his outstanding midfield play. He continues to play well following his benching in the Crew's first match of the year. Coach Warzycha obviously knew how to light a fire under Robbie.
The subject of this short piece might be familiar to the 40-50 somethings who grew up in Cincinnati, or went to University of Cincinnati. Written by my son Brian.
The hill across the street was most likely manmade. Stone walls cut into the facing side at different levels and depths, their own faces now covered with amateur graffiti. Shaved flat at the top, it now was a mess of stones and dirt. Weeds and a few small tufts of grass battled for their lives in a pointless fight. Three impressively tall piles of bricks were gathered in one corner. The bricks flowed off their piles across most of the area, spilling down the side of the hill.
A few small walls did still stand, doing their best “roman ruin.” One corner of the previous structure looked fairly sturdy. The bricks standing strong and proud for their fallen brothers, sticking together as long as possible. It was a picture into the past. A past that stretched out from the hill, claimed great by stories told through the generations who’ve stayed. “A different place,” they’d say. The one’s who kept with the times used semi-current slang to support their fight. “It was off-the-chain, man. No joke, dude. The place was killer. Every night was raging.”
The picture blurred. The ruins, now an eyesore. The slightly-off slang convinced none of the young. Every year fewer believed the stories they barely bared to listen to. It was wasted space. Former members jumped ship.
“Who needs ‘em!”
A time forgotten by the majority, overrun by years. “Wipe it,” they say, stripping everything for nothing, no trade-backs. Memories sold into a parking lot.
The nest of a past culture, left to waste in a drawn-out death. Obsolete times drawing painful final breaths, waiting to be suffocated under a layer of tar.
Last night (April 14, 2011) one of the two new expansion clubs in Major League Soccer, the Portland Timbers, had their home debut. They opened their new/renovated stadium, Jeld-Wen Field. The game was broadcast on ESPN2 at 11pm EST, so I had to DVR it. But I did make sure to catch the opening couple of minutes.
The Timbers took a very prudent approach to their home stadium. The field originally opened in 1926 and has been used by the local minor league baseball team, the Portland Beavers, and the Portland State Football team.
The stadium also has soccer tradition. It was the home of the old NASL (North American Soccer League) Portland Timbers from 1975-1982 and hosted the NASL Championship Game between the New York Cosmos and Seattle Sounders in 1977. That game was historic as it was Pele's final professional match.
After a $31 million dollar renovation, the field opened last night with the Portland Timbers hosting the Chicago Fire. I still have to watch the game on the DVR, but the Timbers won 4-2, sending their fans (18,627 to be exact) including their supporters group, the Timbers Army, home very happy.
The field looked great on TV. Possibly the best atmosphere I have ever seen for a US based soccer club, rivaling the best of the European clubs. The Timbers Army was very well organized, singing and chanting in unison.
The best part of last night's match for me was the decision that Portland Timbers' management made regarding the National Anthem. Rather than bringing in a celebrity to sing the Star-Spangled Banner, the decision was made to have the Timbers Army sing it. A brilliant move, and possibly the best rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner I have ever heard. Check it out!
ADDED:I forgot to mention that the Portland Timbers may have started the best tradition in the MLS when celebrating a home goal. After every goal, the Timbers mascot, Timber Joey, brings out his chain saw and cuts a slice off of a huge log.
After the game the goal scorer is presented with the slice to commemorate his goal!
Steve Sirk, who has contributed articles for the Columbus Crew's website, http://www.thecrew.com/ had a great tweet last night about the tradition:
- It's been fun watching my son Michael play Lacrosse for his high school this Spring. I forgot how cool a game Lacrosse is.
-Here's my current DVR list: Survivor, The Middle, Modern Family, Archer (might be the best show on TV right now), Top Chef Masters, CBS Sunday Morning, The Amazing Race
-Current Podcasts I am listening to (soccer heavy): The Massive Report (Columbus Crew), ExtraTime Radio (MLS), SI Soccer Podcast, WNYC's Radiolab
Real Salt Lake just finished the second leg of their semi-final match-up with Saprissa of Costa Rica, advancing to the CONCACAF Champions League Final 3-2 on aggregate.
This is a big deal for the MLS! Real Salt Lake is the first MLS club to make it to the finals!
They will have to wait till tomorrow night to see who they will be playing. Two Mexican clubs, Cruz Azul and Monterrey will be playing the second leg of their semi-final match-up. Monterrey won the first leg 2-1.
Ambrose Bierce was a very interesting guy. Born in Ohio in 1842, Mr. Bierce fought in the Civil War, was a writer, a journalist and a social critic.
On a recent visit to New Orleans with my wife Tammy, my Brother Tim and my Sister-in-Law Cindy I discovered a great little bookstore called Faulkner House Books in Pirates Alley in the French Quarter.
A book immediately caught my eye as I entered the bookstore. Probably because I immediately recognized the cover illustration as the work of Ralph Steadman (probably best known for his illustrations in Hunter S. Thompson's "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas"). The Devil's Dictionary (this version being published in 2003) is a compilation of Ambrose Bierce's own definitions of particular English words, meant to lampoon the social and political norms of his day. He had published these definitions in various newspaper columns he had written, and they proved to be very popular at the time
The original edition of the book was published in 1911, two years before Ambrose Bierce decided, at the age of 71, to go to Mexico to observe the revolutionary war going on there. He was never seen again. I am going to have to find a biography of Mr. Bierce, as his life is the stuff of legend. In addition, the stories of his involvement with the powerful newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst would also be an interesting read.
The Devil's Dictionary is a short and very funny book. Many of the definitions in the book are as effective in lampooning society today as they were over 100 years ago. Ralph Steadman's illustrations enhance the book even further, putting an creative exclamation point on many of the entries in the book.
Some of my favorite entries:
Influence, n. In politics, a visionary quo given in exchange for a substantial quid.
Piano, n. A parlor utensil for subduing the impenitent visitor. It is operated by depressing the keys of the machine and the spirits of the audience.
Faulkner House Books' Sign, French Quarter, New Orleans
Saint, n. A dead sinner revised and edited.
The Devil's Dictionary is one of those wonderful "finds" that makes exploring bookstores so very worthwhile.
Congratulations to the University of Connecticut. Basketball is a game of momentum and they had it. Big East Tournament Champions and now NCAA Champions. Eleven wins in four weeks.
If only Butler could have made a basket. I don't think I have ever seen a team colder than Butler was tonight. Their field goal percentage tonight? 18.8%
Not a well played game. It was like watching two garbage trucks hit one another...all you have left is a pile of garbage.
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
Picking Butler tonight. Primarily because I think they are the better team. But I also think Jim Calhoun, UConn's coach, is an arrogant buffoon and a cheater. Can't root for that guy.
After attending Opening Day at Great American Ballpark, I saw a Tweet from the Cincinnati Enquirer asking for people to respond if they were annoyed with cell phone coverage in the ballpark.
I responded, and now I am newsworthy! Click the link below:
Last night's game was big for the Columbus Crew. After last week's disappointing draw with a weakened New York Red Bull side, the Crew came back in a big way with a 2-0 victory against FC Dallas.
Eddie Gaven Down the Sideline (Josh Couper, www.thecrew.com)
The Crew dominated possession in the first half against a very strong FC Dallas side. Eddie Gaven, my man of the match (I had made that decision even before his goal in 2nd half stoppage time) played with an intensity we have come to expect from him, with outstanding runs down the right-hand side. In my stupidity I dropped Eddie Gaven from my FC Manager fantasy team ESPN.com. Going to have to correct that.
Also, for the third game in a row, Robbie Rogers played very well as Eddie Gaven's complement on the left side, earning an assist on Gaven's goal.
This was the second clean sheet in a row for the Crew. William Hesmer had to make several saves and the back line of Rich Balchan, Chad Marshall, Julius James and Sebastian Miranda held off a strong offensive push by the FC Dallas front line, although much of that push in the 2nd half was due to give-aways by the Crew's defense (see below). Even though the Crew had a one man advantage for almost 57 minutes after Jackson Goncalves of FC Dallas was ejected for a second caution, the 2nd half was a 50/50 affair, with the outcome never until Gaven scored the Crew's 2nd goal in stoppage time.
I like the line-up the Crew started with last night. It was the same as the match against the Red Bull last Saturday, essentially a 4-2-2-1-1. The same personnel started, with the only change being Miranda and Balchan switching sides. The Crew created plenty of chances, although they still struggle getting off quality shots in the penalty box. But first order of priority is to stop the other team from scoring, and the Crew are accomplished that.
A few other thoughts:
- The defense, especially James and Balchan, gave the ball away much too often in the second half. This allowed FC Dallas to continue to aggressively counter-attack.
- The return of Emilio Renteria was huge for the Crew. His energy and drive provided a real spark in the second half.
- FC Dallas started Ruben Luna, one of their home-grown signees and a graduate of their US Soccer Development Academy program team. Last time I saw Ruben Luna was against my son Michael's Development Academy team last Fall. Kind of cool.
Eyes wide open, walking through life, observing....and then writing about it! Restaurants, books, news, soccer, baseball! Short stories! Whatever pops into my head and makes it to the blog!
A classic mystery/crime novel that ultimately succeeds as a morality story. My full review: http://jiresell.blogspot.com/2011/10/book-review-maltese-falcon-1930-by.html
Sexy, freaky, funny, nutty, erotic, shameful, weird...just a few words I would use to describe the book House of Holes, by Nicholson Baker. A very original and good book. My full review: http://jiresell.blogspot.com/2011/09/book-review-h...
What makes Paying For It different than traditional graphic novels (what I call comic books in long form) is that the story of the author's internal angst over paying for sex, the debates with his friends over this lifestyle and his opin...
Make no mistake. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter isn't going to wow you with some heavy-duty, thought provoking prose. But what it will do is provide the reader a hell of a lot of enjoyment as the author, Seth Grahame-Smith weaves a vamp...
I decided to stretch myself a bit and read some poetry-a great collection to start with? My full review: http://jiresell.blogspot.com/2011/08/book-review-road-not-taken-and-other.html
A great sampling of David Foster Wallace's work-I am now going to attack Infinite Jest! My full review:
http://jiresell.blogspot.com/2011/07/book-review-consider-lobster-and-other.html
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