Night, Caps!

SNAP SHOTS: After 20 minutes of WTF, San Jose get stuff together to quell Caps, connect with Quakes fans after the match.

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Drink of the Match (DOTM):

[LOBINA and all Quakes fan wish Marvell a recovery as speedy as his on the pitch, and hope the rumors of him retiring are untrue—we want a Wynne every match!]

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LINEUPS:

SNAP SHOT:

San Jose got rid of the name-only starting lineup card, and rocked a real one with player pictures. Bonus: Flo looks just as at-peace and pleasantly goofy as he does during post-match interviews. Never change, Mein Bruder!

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PREMATCH:

More recent history dropping into Avaya:

Quakes legend Joe Cannon (ok, who also played for Vancouver) will be inducted into the San Jose Earthquakes Hall of Fame during halftime of the #SJvSEA match on April 8. Be there to cheer on one of the greatest Quakes ever! (And to see if he sprints back up to the KNBR 1050 booth directly or swing by LOBINA first :)

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LOBINA BAR TALK:

For Matchday 2, LOBINA was fortunate to talk with SuperQuakes Fan Ari before #SJvVAN:

After many years traveling from San Diego to cheer on San Jose at Buck Shaw, a recent move now has Ari making the shorter commute from San Luis Obispo to add her voice to Avaya. Ari’s connections to the Quakes extend way back and off the pitch as well: after she suffered a career-ending injury while playing high school soccer, Ari’s physical trainer turned out to be a young MLS rookie named Shea Salinas. Another San Jose stalwart recognized Ari’s ardent passion:

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SNAP SHOT:

Cancel this “6:45pm Kickoff” crap. Especially when CSNBA doesn’t even start coverage until 7pm. It’s like movie time listings that rush you to your seat so you can sit through 30 minutes of previews. Howabout: “6:45pm Ceremony / 7:10pm Kickoff”? That’s time for at least a couple more beers before the match.

On the plus side, Bay Area Quakes fans frustrated waiting for A’s or Sharks games to end to actually watch the match can find fellowship with our neighbors in the Great White North:

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VANCOUVER PREDICTION:

SAN JOSE PREDICTION:

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FIRST HALF:

Remember this Full Moon.
It’s important later.

On to the action!

Sometimes you go with the Flo, sometimes the Whitecaps rip your surfboard right out from under your feet:

SNAP SHOT:

After a magnificent performance last week, Lima started the second match getting burned bad:

Welcome to MLS, son.

No worries, as even the grizzled vets get played hard, as when Wondo was later “defended” in the Box:

Eli Stuart

AND THEN, the full moon began to take effect!
Wondo cut down outside the Box:

Action starting to happen both on and off the pitch!

Which remained the best scoring opportunity of the night UNTIL:

SNAP SHOT:

Tommy’s had a helluva pre-season and sooper-solid performance during the first match against Montreal. Not only does he slash-and-burn the midfield from the outside in, but he’s becoming the Quakes’ go-to guy on corners.

Fab delivery by TT, great Muma battle to win then bounce the ball across the goal, and voracious volley by The Amazing Wondo who—once again—appears in exactly the correct spot in the Box to cannon the ball home.

But yet more quality finishing by the future MLS goal-scoring leader is STILL countered by USMNT-World-Cup-Only-Watching Blather Bros:

Dude.

Let it go.*

[*Especially since both Clint Dempsey and Jermaine Jones shanked point-blank, potential game-winning shots perfectly sent in by who? Wondo. So STFU.]

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HALF TIME:

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SECOND HALF:

SNAP SHOT:

Gotta appreciate a good spin cycle.
Canucks in damage control:

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POST MATCH:

Even fab CSNBA Reporter and former Santa Clara Bronco, Carolina Courage, Olympique Lyonnaise, and USWNT defender Danielle Slaton gets in to the Bantz:

Keeping with the local connection: Former Santa Clara University player & Quakes Fan Erik Hurtado on his goal, assist, & loss:

Crazy as it sounds, even national media paying more attention to the seismic shaking going down around the Mineta International Airport, and the analytics support the Quakes winning structure:

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Quakes After Dark:

After the final whistle, while many Quakes fans mosey out to the parking lots to bask in the glow of victory and the brake lights in front of their car, some follow the singing Ultras out of the North-West Gate and wait around the barriers erected around the team gate and the away team bus for the players to come out for photos, autographs, handshakes, hugs, and heartfelt thanks—from both fans and players.
[Oh, and Ted Ramey and Joe Cannon who, despite their made-for-television faces and fashion, usually slip out undetected. Stop them and hug them. Their kickass play-by-play and color commentary deserve it!]

Over the past few years, the FO have barricaded a large chunk of the ADA parking lot to create a “Safe Zone” around the Away Team Bus:

After the first Quakes home match last week, r/SJEarthquakes Reddit user futbolsoccer posted the query: “Are any other wheelchair-using Quakes fans having difficulty finding ADA spots at Avaya?”

As seen in the illustration above, the Away Team Bus Safe Zone effectively eliminates at least 8 side-loading specific ADA parking spots. After futbolsoccer contacted the Quakes FO by email and COO Jared Shawlee via Twitter (yes, they do read your messages!), a new arrangement appeared for the very next match against Vancouver:

No ADA parking affected, except for the one slot across the drive where a Dutch Quakes player who will remain unnamed parked his SUV. Cheers to futbolsoccer for raising the issue not only on r/SJEarthquakes, but also with the Front Office, and props to the Shawlee and the FO for moving so quickly to create a better environment for everyone:

And to their credit, once the club understood the situation with the team bus in the parking lot they made changes immediately, and said there would be more to come.

The new arrangement actually gives Quakes fans more immediate access to all our players—instead of having to pick a side of the large former “Safe Zone” and hope your fave (Fatai) wonders over to your side, all players just walk out into the parking lot and most make themselves available for autographs, photos, fashion appraisals, recipe swapping, and high fives.

LOBINA is proud to present the first episode of

QUAKES AFTER DARK:

And while we all miss Jordan Stewart’s sparkling style and smile, from the ashes rise FIFA17 wunderkind, quality Defensive Midfielder, and all-around good guy Fatai Alashe to pick up where The Geez left off:

Eli Stuart

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Next Week: Away at SKC!
5:30pm PT on... CSN Plus?!?

Sigh.

See you at Quakes away match watching parties at Rookies, Golden State Brewery, Jack’s Bar, SFAC, Stadium Pub, or online!