I didn’t get to see every game, of course, because, ahem, Dallas/Colorado and DC/Chicago WERE NOT TELEVISED!!
What’s up with that, I don’t know. But I know I don’t like it.
Anyway, here are the, somewhat abbreviated, first notes for the 10th MLS Season.
- I’ve never seen San Jose play so agreesively as they did against Chivas today. Early on, it wasn’t necessarily an organized, effective agression, as they gave up an early goal and never really looked settled. But to be sure, they really played rough, tough soccer.
- I was glad to see Brad Davis playing well in San Jose. He never really caught on in Dallas, but was always hustling, and always a pro. His goal from the free kick late in the first half was top-shelf.
- ESPN2 did a reenactment of Eric Wynalda’s first-ever MLS goal during halftime of the SJ-CDC game. Hilarious. It was Waldo and a bunch of youth players, around U10, it looked like. Very good stuff.
- Huge crowd at San Jose. I’m wondering what the percentage of Chivas fans was. It looked and sounded fairly sizeable. But, credit to SJ fans, when they tied and then went ahead in the second half, they went nuts. Very impressive support on both sides. Good sign for the SJ franchise and the league in general.
- I couldn’t be happier that the SJ-CDC game was the national feature on ESPN2. Just the kind of game I’d like the curious pop-in viewer to see. Fast pace, lots of goals, hard play. Very nice.
- GreatGooglyMoogly. The grass at Gillette stadium in Foxboro looks awful! I know winter has just ended and all, but do they not have a professional groundskeeper on staff? That’s a disgrace.
- Jason Kreis scored for Real Salt Lake, making that two goals for ex-Dallas players for the weekend. It wasn’t enough, unfortunately, because Landon had a brace (I guess he’s not missing Germany, eh?), and Cobi was partying like it was 1999. Good game. I kinda like having the two new teams around. Makes the league even more interesting.
- DC drew 27,000 Wednesday for their Concacaf Cup Semifinal against Pumas, and 20,000 Saturday night for the Fire. Wow. I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating, DC has the best fans in MLS.
- Joe Cannon and Scott Garlick both pitched shutouts at Mile High Stadium. Disappointing for Colorado, but Dallas has to be happy with four points in the first two games.
