Z/Web

Not much of a birthday present here. The Quakes came out and laid a goose egg. The Metrostars were without superstar Clint Mathis (red card last weekend) so I figured the Quakes had the definite edge, especially considering they scored nine goals in their last two games. But nope: this one was all New York. They scored early and held on. A big part of the problem was the referee, who was terrible. Of course home crowds tend to be biased, but players on both teams were obviously confused by his arbitrary calls. One time a foul is called one way and minutes later an identical foul isn’t called. Later on the same foul goes the other direction. Bizarre. That didn’t leave the Quakes with much confidence in the ref. When the Quakes tied the score with a great goal late in the first half, the ref disallowed the goal, apparently saying Dewayne DeRosario fouled an opponent while scoring. Late in the game the side ref blew an offside call to allow the Metrostars a chance. The Quakes were forced to give up a corner, and on that corner kick New York scored. That’s an excellent example of how poor refereeing trickles down and has direct effect on the play. In the final minutes of play the Quakes scored a second goal — and again the ref disallowed it! Supposedly this time it was a Quake handball. Both plays happened so quickly it’s hard for me to truly judge (though I was in the perfect position for the offside call that wasn’t made while the side ref was ten yards out of position), but I find it incredible that two goals could be discounted. There are some conspiracy-minded Quake fans who feel MLS wants New York to do well as they’re such a prime media market and think the league actually distorts the results — this sure feels like it. It doesn’t really mean anything to us as the Quakes still lead the league and are well into the playoffs, but the win was huge for New York who’ve been struggling as this puts them into the playoffs. Just a disappointing, frustrating day for Earthquake fans. Final: 2-0 Metrostars.

Unfortunately the “Shake with the Quakes” event after the game — an exclusive party for season ticket holders — had a bit of a cloud over it due to the loss to New York. It wasn’t so much the loss as the manner of the loss. I even talked with a player or two about it, and got a kind of mysterious shrug as in “What else could we do?” or “How could that referee be so bad?” I suggested we just pretend the game never happened and he agreed. It was cool meeting the Quakes. I got my Landon Donovan T-shirt signed by a dozen players (okay, eleven players and one assistant coach). The guys were awesomely nice and in good moods despite being pestered for autographs and coming off a harsh loss. I joked with DeRosario that it was a good thing he plays with his feet after seeing him sign so many autographs. He laughed and massaged his hand which was no doubt sore. There were a number of soccer-related activities around at the party (mini-games, goal shooting, giant air slide, etc.), but they seemed all geared toward very young kids (kinda lame). This year the event was held in a back parking area in a much smaller area than last year’s event, making it extremely crowded, which was disappointing. But they did serve burgers: it was a nice catered spread with several side dishes including yummy fruit salad. Once again the “autograph alley” thing was lame as different players were scheduled to be there at different times, but the wait in line was probably an hour, meaning it was tough to get your target player’s signature. Most players wandered the event after their turn in the booth, though, and were willing to sign if you asked. Overall a good event, though it’d be nice if they fixed a few of the problems (like the long entrance line) for next year.