Pre-game press wrap

If it’s Saturday, it must be New England. Tonight’s tilt should be a good test for the Quakes — it’s one thing to score lots of goals against the Galaxy, the worst defensive team in the league, but it should be a lot more challenging to do so against the Revolution, who have allowed exactly half as many as L.A. this season (42 to 21). San Jose is much improved — we’ll start to find out just how much this evening.

We’ll get to the pre-game press in a moment, but first, a couple updates. Ryan Cochrane is serving a yellow card suspension and will be ineligible for the Quakes. Shalrie Joseph is in a similar predicament for the Revs, serving a one-game suspension after receiving a red card last week against Chicago. New England may be a bit thin at forward tonight: Kheli Dube is out with a groin strain, Kenny Mansally is listed as “doubtful,” and Taylor Twellman is questionable with a left hip strain. Twellman’s injury kept him out of Tuesday’s U.S. Open Cup match against D.C. United, so we’ll see if the cross-country plane trip has helped his recovery.

Now, on to the pre-game stories:

- On the fishwrap front, we have stories in the San Jose Mercury News and the San Mateo Daily Journal.  The Boston Globe’s pre-game story focuses on the resurgent Quakes.

- Web and wire-service reports include stories from Goal.com, The Sports Network, and STATS.

- The “just the facts, ma’am” pre-game report is available from MLSnet.com.

Also, we’ll note again that  two special events are happening at the game today:

- The Earthquakes are partnering with San Jose City Council member Nora Campos to hold a backpack drive tonight and on August 30, when the Kansas City Wizards are in town. Fans who donate backpacks on those days will receive a coupon for a half-price ticket to a future Quakes game. The backpacks will be donated to underprivileged children at Goss Elementary School in San Jose. There’s additional info on the team’s web site.

- Tonight’s the night for the San Jose Earthquakes blood drive. Fans will be able to donate blood at the Stanford Blood Center Blood Mobile prior to the match, and four donors will be selected at random to win either a team-autographed ball or a game-worn jersey. Call (888) 723-7831 or visit the Blood Center’s web site if you’d like to sign up.

Finally, the HDnet broadcast will feature a halftime segment on the return of the Quakes, and apparently the best they could do was to interview yours truly for the fan perspective. Thanks to Judd Sirott and the rest of the crew at HDnet for the opportunity and to Peter Plumley for the photo, below.