Wrapping up the week

It’s Friday and we’re going to take the opportunity to wrap up a few loose ends from this week.

First off, our blog recommending the banning of plastic horns at future Quakes games gathered quite a few comments, most of which agreed that human voices bring more personality and excitement to a game. That got us to thinking about a quote we once read from former Quake Eddie Lewis about the support from Sam’s Army at the USA’s 2-0 victory over Mexico in the 2002 World Cup:

“The fan support is night and day to what it used to be,” Lewis said. “Usually when you go to a stadium that loud, all noise cancels out. But against Mexico, we could hear every single chant — and almost every one of them I was whispering under my breath, saying the words along with them. It’s an amazing spirit.”

Somehow, we don’t think we’ll ever hear any player saying, “The ceaseless buzzing of the plastic horns in the crowd inspired us to victory.”

Yesterday’s column on AEG’s antics in Houston didn’t draw as many comments, but have a gander at Bernardo Fallas’s piece in the Houston Chronicle to see how that town’s fans are reacting to AEG’s the commissioner’s letter. (Hint: The story’s headline reads “Commish’s words ruining good thing,” with a kicker of “MLS threat a slap to Dynamo fans.”)

• • •

There are a few items that appeared online during the past few days that merit mention as well. Local blog Soccer Spin has posted interviews with assistant coach Ian Russell and midfielder Ronnie O’Brien. They’re both pretty excited to be with the team, and O’Brien is enjoying both life in San Jose (”It’s beautiful out here, there’s not much you can complain about”) and playing under Frank Yallop (”He’s pretty relaxed when he has to be and when he really wants stuff done he makes a point. He wants us to work hard, he says what he has to say but for the most part it’s been really, really enjoyable to be here”).

Speaking of blogs, Soccer by Ives local correspondent Kevin Matthieson has posted his take on the home opener on SBI. (It looks like he’s also been successful in getting Ives to update the Quakes logo they’re using over there. Well done, Kevin.)

We are also happy to report that Center Line Soccer is getting some recognition from our peers both on the web and off. Two CLS stories were mentioned yesterday on du Nord, the daily compendium of American soccer news, and L.A. Times soccer reporter Grahame Jones cited CLS in yesterday’s “Soccer Daily” column:

Yallop and John Doyle, the Earthquakes’ general manager, planned to be in Seattle on Wednesday night for Mexico’s game against China and also to “have a cup of coffee with him and just say hi and just explore things,” Doyle told the Bay Area-based centerlinesoccer.com.

The Quakes are pretty solid at central defense right now, but just in case you were wondering if there was a chance that former Quake Danny Califf might return to MLS, the answer is that it’s not going to happen anytime soon. Califf has been quite successful with Denmark’s AaB and, while he told American Soccer Daily that he may not be with the club next season, he’s enjoying playing in Europe and has offers from teams in Denmark and Germany.

From the collegiate press comes a report in The Santa Clara that all four of the SCU players chosen in the 2008 MLS Superdraft have signed with the clubs that picked them. Two of them, Jamil Roberts and Matt Hatzke, now proudly wear the blue-and-black of the Earthquakes, while Peter Lowry signed with the Fire and defender Matt Marquess is now with the Wizards.

Finally, we’ll note that the Mercury News‘ online poll about the proposed soccer stadium currently stands at 94 percent for and six percent against. Not a bad result.

Have a pleasant weekend. Oh, and while you’re hear, be sure to check out Tim Hanley’s expert analysis on tomorrow’s Quakes match against the Rapids.