California Clasico Dreaming
Outside of family related things, or the playoffs, the California Clasico is my favorite day of the year. Fifty thousand Quakes fans going crazy in one building. I am a big fan of atmosphere (hey, there's no visuals in radio. If the crowd is loud, the game sounds important, the broadcast sounds bigger and better), and there is no better atmosphere than the Clasico for a regular season game. Because of the rivalry, the history, the crazy finishes, Wondo, Zlatan, Bingham, Magnus, Hoesen, this game has it all. If you actually believe there won't be pushing and shoving, I question your sanity. I really do. Both these teams have had frustrating seasons up to this point. Both are in dire need of wins. Both teams could be said to be at the boiling point. Now, you throw them into the cauldron of Stanford Stadium on a hot night with seasons potentially on the line? Yes, please. Every time we see a great finish in this game, I ask myself, well, how do you match or top that? You know what? The game delivers. Shea Salinas knows. Alan Gordon knows. Chad Barrett knows. Zlatan doesn't really know. He'll find out.
Extension for Lima.
It's very hard not to be a Nick Lima fan. He's a literal homegrown player from Castro Valley, he plays his butt off, he produces, he's very, very good, he embraces the fans, the culture, and he is a captain in the making. I love that he gets to learn from Wondolowski, Jungwirth, Godoy, and now Kashia, about leadership and how different individuals have their own styles in what being a leader means. Lima is a big part of the Earthquakes going forward, and he's still getting better. Even though it's frustrating that the Quakes haven't been better this year, knowing they have Lima as a part of the future makes you feel confident about seasons to come. Having quality fullbacks is a huge part off success in Major League Soccer.
Baby Steps
I know very few are likely to agree with this sentiment (because of course you're supposed to win, duh), but the fact that the Quakes are coming off of two straight draws is a sign of improvement to me. Both draws have come against teams above the red line as well. At this point, you have to hope that this is a precursor to a run of high quality play that hopefully includes mostly wins and draws. I know it seems far fetched at the moment, and it would require the Quakes to start playing like a Supporters Shield contender, but San Jose is only 12 points back, and things can change in a real hurry, especially with the opponents coming up for San Jose, and the home heavy schedule this team has in the second half of the season. Upcoming games thru the end of July:
vs. Galaxy winnable
@ Portland play for the draw
@ Montreal winnable
vs. Sounders winnable
vs. Real Salt Lake winnable
To me, the one that really seems hard is at Portland. They own us there, no argument. The other games, with the return of Godoy and Cummings, plus the addition of Kashia? By the end of July we could be talking about a completely different situation for San Jose.
