When Californians Root For Earthquakes

The crowd began stamping and shouting, "Earthquakes."

"Where?" I might have asked, turning my head quickly in alarm. You never know with California.

But in this case, they were not announcing seismic activity; they were urging the local Major League Soccer team on to greater action. San Jose stuck by the motif that you should name your sports team after something fearsome, possibly what you fear most: hence "Earthquakes." By this same logic, the Seattle baseball team fears invasion by sailors--Mariners--and the Chicago American football team fears being devoured by bears.

Some of you might argue with this premise, but I would point out that I have a blog, and as far as I know, you do not, so I win.

The point is, on Saturday I went to see a live professional soccer game for the first timein my life, a fact which appalled Marina, considering I spent a semester in Wales. She had seen DC United in action out in Washington, D.C., and took in el classico while studying in Spain--Barcelona versus Real Madrid.

San Jose plays on the campus of Santa Clara University at Buck Shaw Stadium. Wembley Stadium, it is not, but I'll take it:





The atmosphere differed from a baseball game in that it was much more low-key, and yet the crowd was happy and enthusiastic, draped in Earthquakes gear. It had something of a grass-roots festival feel, with little mini-activities for kids before the game, as well as good beer, food carts, and the usual concession suspects: hot dogs, garlic fries, candy, hot chocolate, beer, etc. Marina had a close encounter with the mascot, as well.




At 7:30, the game commenced. San Jose was hosting Toronto FC, who recently traded their star Dwayne De Rosario--a former Earthquake--to New York. It was fascinating compared to watching it on TV. It was at once faster and more compact than I realized from seeing games on the screen.

It was a hard-fought game, with a lot of possession exchanged in the midfield, a lot of fouls, a lot of tempers flaring. Three players stood out for me for San Jose: Bobby Convey, Simon Dawkins, and Ryan Johnson.

Bobby Convey I've watched since he was a teenager playing for D.C. United and the national team. He went to England for a while, and then returned to MLS. He made several deft runs and quick cuts, looing dangerous down the right flank.

Simon Dawkins is a young Tottenham Hotspur player on loan with the Earthquakes, and he looked skilled and strong in the center of play, holding possession and fighting off challenges, distributing the ball well, and driving past two defenders to score San Jose's only goal of the game. I liked the idea that he could well play in the Premier League in a few years, and I would be able to say I saw him play.

Ryan Johnson is a tall and fast forward. He brought the ball under control and burst past the Toronto defense down the left flank on several occasions.

Toronto had several good players as well, including a Swiss midfielder named Alen Stevanovic, who had good speed and good moves, but earned the ire of the home crowd for going down and writhing in pain and then returning quickly to the field, and Alan Gordon, a striker who capitalized on a defensive blunder to give Toronto an early lead.

Some fan behind us must have not been able to say a word this morning, because he was yelling in rage for most of the game. Two highlights, which I couldn't quite interpret:

(to Stevanovic when the Toronto player was on the ground): "This ain't La Liga!"

(to both teams when the Earthquakes were passing the ball around among their back line: "You aren't Fulham and Arsenal!"

I can assume that in the first example, he was implying that players in Spain tend to simulate injury, and that he shouldn't do that here, because the MLS is better than that. As for the second quote, I'm baffled.

In the end, it was a 1-1 draw, which was fair. San Jose looked far more tired than Toronto in the second half, their defense looked fragile at times, and Chris Wondolowski and Khari Stephenson wasted two clear chances to score. It was a disappointing result but an exciting match for my first live MLS game. Plus, we had hot chocolate.