Real-ity bites; Quakes lose 3-1
Tony Beltran, John Cunliffe in the 1-3 RSL win at Rice Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah on May 31, 2008. Photo by Julie Fizer/isiphotos.com One month after being dumped out of the U.S. Open Cup by Real Salt Lake, the San Jose Earthquakes had hoped that Saturday’s rematch, which included more of their first-choice lineup, would see the expansion side turn the tables on the home team. But while the faces had changed, the result stayed the same, as RSL got second half... Read More
Keepin’ it Real
It’s match day and, before we get to the various pre-game stories that are appearing in the media, we have a special feature in the blog today. We left the solar-powered blog penthouse on Thursday to attend the Quakes’ practice and took time to discuss some pertinent issues — specifically, the origins of the “Real” portion of “Real Salt Lake” — with Quakes ‘keeper Joe Cannon. We present them here, now, for your listening pleasure. [audio:080529Cannon-edit.mp3] Although... Read More
“Soccer Tennis” skills are necessary to win at Rice-Eccles
If you’ve ever watched “soccer tennis,” you’ll understand some of my references about Rice Eccles. We touched on Real Salt Lake’s home pitch in my column prior to the San Jose-Real Open Cup match a month ago. The same rules apply: What can a team control with respect to the pitch and what effect can we establish by playing intelligent football? The Earthquakes ’08 version spent the evening of April 30th getting drummed 4-0. Let’s hope... Read More
Gray pleased with return to San Jose
Center Line Soccer’s Jay Hipps spoke Thursday with prodigal son Kelly Gray, who rejoined the Earthquakes last week from the Colorado Rapids. Hipps spoke with Gray about his return to San Jose, what he hopes to bring to the team, and hanging out with David Beckham. [audio:080529Gray.mp3] Read More
Quakes to shuffle lineup for RSL match
If San Jose coach Frank Yallop has an iPod, there’s a pretty good chance it’s set to “shuffle” this week. At least that’s true of the team’s lineup heading into tomorrow’s match against Real Salt Lake. Forward Kei Kamara and midfielder Ivan Guerrero are out due to commitments with their national teams, and Yallop told Center Line Soccer yesterday that Ronnie O’Brien will be spared playing on the artificial turf at Rice-Eccles Stadium,... Read More