Beckhamania!
By Jay Hipps · June 14, 2008
It’s still toned down quite a bit from what we saw last year, but we’re finally seeing some Beckham-oriented publicity for today’s showdown between the Quakes and the Galaxy.
The Mercury News gets extra credit for their headline, “OMG! Look, it’s Becks!”, which pretty well sums up the reaction of the fans we saw down at Home Depot Center for the season opener. Every time Beckham touched the ball there, a squeal went up from the crowd. We’ll see today if Beckham’s hold on 12-year-old girls extends beyond Southern California.
Also checking in is Tom FitzGerald of the San Francisco Chronicle, who also discusses the play of the man the Brits call Golden Balls with Earthquakes coach Frank Yallop, goalkeeper Joe Cannon, and the team’s executive VP, David Alioto. FitzGerald also delivers the news that the team expects as many as 40,000 for the match, so even if the pre-game hype didn’t meet 2007 standards, the Bay Area soccer fan grapevine has picked up the slack in spreading the news that England’s long-time captain would be bending it in the Bay tonight.
Michael Erler of the San Mateo Daily Journal also turns in a stellar pre-game piece, with extensive quotes from Yallop.
The Galaxy’s MLSnet.com preview includes a quote from former Quakes number three keeper Steve Cronin:
“It’s funny. I haven’t been asked a question by the media since my first year with the Galaxy about the rivalry,” said Cronin. “I’m glad it’s back. I think it’s something the league needs. I’m sure that Frank (Yallop) will have his team ready to play us. I think everyone is excited.”
We also have pre-game reports from the usual suspects: Goal.com and the AP.
Finally, while former Clash star Eric Wynalda is still on the roster for the Bakersfield Brigade, we got the news this week that he’s also spent time in fabulous Sioux Falls recently. The ESPN press box must be at an extremely high altitude, because it sure seems like he’s fallen a long way since being pushed out of it.
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I was at the game yesterday. It was a great atmosphere in the crowd, though the Quakes will need to do a better job in making sure fans are able to get to their seats. We got to the stadium at 6:20, and it took us almost 1 hour to pick up tickets at will call and make our way through the nominal security checkpoint. I don’t there there was enough peope working at the gates.
As for the game itself, the Quakes look decent in the middle, but just sorely lack quality finishing. Ronny O’Brien played well. But two of the three goals can be faulted on the defense - yes, it was a good finish by Buddle in each instance, but where was the defense. The first one was just a very good strike by Buddle.