Home sweet home

The danger on the rocks is surely past
Still I remain tied to the mast
Could it be that I have found my home at last?
Home at last

Those old Steely Dan lyrics capture the Quakes’ situation pretty well. While the McAfee Coliseum is a fine place for a weekend getaway, Buck Shaw is the new home of the Quakes. While the team still faces significant challenges (scoring and winning, for example), at least they’re finally home.

Having seen the team’s new digs up close yesterday, we’re happy to say that we’re impressed. The real standout is the gorgeous new field, but comparing the whole stadium complex to how it looked just six months ago is night and day.

We’ll talk about the pitch first. CLS photog Joe Santos has posted a great gallery of images from yesterday’s media open house, but it’s impossible to get the full effect of the field from just the photos. Fruitless though it may be, we’ll try to paint the picture in words.

You might think that a carefully manicured expanse of turf might elicit comparisons to a putting green, but that’s not the first thing that came to mind when we saw it. We saw the uniform green color, the perfect flatness of the field, and the smooth roll of kicked balls and immediately thought “billiard table.” So, if you can imagine a pool table that’s made of grass and measures 110 by 71 yards, you’re pretty close to picturing the playing surface at Buck Shaw. Yes, it’s that nice.

(And, if you’re not impressed with that, we spotted a Gordon Biersch tent being set up in the Club Quake pre-game party area. That ought to make someone happy.)

- First up, Mercury News reporter Elliott Almond talks to the five Quakes who once played for Santa Clara University. The big scoop here? Santa Clara coach Jerry Smith says Joe Cannon “is an unbelievable goal scorer. In games we needed to win, we would take him out of goal and put him up front.” SC assistant Cam Rast adds that Cannon “has a rocket of a shot.” And all this time, John Doyle has been looking in places like Argentina for new striker!

- In a piece for MLSnet, Center Line Soccer’s Jeff Carlisle previews the game from a San Jose perspective. MLSnet also provides a preview from the Dallas point of view. The Dallas Star-Telegram also has a pre-game story.