by Ethan Johnson
June 15, 2008
This may have been the final game of the Marco Ferruzzi era (I'll see it when I believe it), and the question America was asking: How would FCD rise to the challenge after so much down time? The answer, my friend, is coded cleverly within YOUR investigative bullet points:
- These teams are said to have a deep-seated Bears/Packers, Bulls/Pistons, Yankees/Red Sox kind of rivalry, but I'm not so sure. I think right about now, a win is a win is a win, and if it's against hated teams, basho for FCD.
- Dario Sala was listed as "questionable" for today's game, and RayJay was on hand, but Sala did indeed start. Apparently his hip injury cleared up.
- Brek Shea was in on the warmups, but I don't recall seeing him listed as an available sub or sitting on the bench come game time. Not sure what's up there.
- Oh: Happy Father's Day.
- When Cuauhtemoc Blanco comes to town, he doesn't quite get the David Beckham treatment, but when he gets the ball or generally exists the crowd goes wild. By and large, the Blanco Backers are just that, as opposed to newly minted Chicago Fire fans. Which means the Fire didn't benefit from a home crowd-style atmosphere, at least not when Blanco wasn't in on the action.
- Not much to report until the 17th minute: Kenny Cooper bends the ball just so to make it 1-0 FCD. USMNT manager Bob Bradley says he's moving Cooper up to 39th on the waiting list for National Team duty, just behind Tiros D'Arco and Tarjetas Amarillas. I'm sure he's holding his breath.
- FCD was much better with the possession thing. I also heard some actual on-field chatter, so the telepathy-only approach seems to be losing its luster.
- Halftime: I opted to go get some bottled water, and when I reached the top of the stairs, my heart started pounding and my chest siezed up. I was starting to feel nauseated and lightheaded, and went into panic mode. I tried to stand in line for bottled water, but the lines were too slow and I was really worrying that I was going to pass out on the cement. I rushed to a water fountain, but there was a long line there too. I tried to step into some shade, but a shaded area was cordoned off for a private party. ARGH! I was going to try and amble (completely in survival mode now) over to the First Aid room, but I wasn't sure what they'd be able to accomplish there other than provide an air conditioned room. I ducked into the Men's room and poured handfuls of water from the sink which did a world of good. I had to walk clear over to the other side of the stadium for hardcore shade, but the crowd was getting to me, and the lines weren't exactly shorter over there. I didn't have any cash, so kiosks that seemed to be cash-only were out of the question. I found a concession stand that had short lines, only to find out they were out of bottled drinks and their credit card reader was broken. ARGH! I found another stand and got 2 bottles of water and found my way back to my seat in time to see Pablo Ricchetti getting yellow carded probably for having the audacity of getting fouled to the turf. The water bottles went quickly and got me through the rest of the game. But sheesh, that was a lot of hoop-jumping for bottled water.
- By the way, the heat here is potentially fatal (boo to me for not thinking about this before the game and buying waters then) and they don't call Pepperoni Park "The Oven" for nothing. Fortunately I have no August home games to attend, but if I'm having heat issues in June, I may not last through the 2 games in July. We'll see.
- Juan Toja was in better form today. Even saw some slide tackle action of old (see photos).
- Dax McCarty came in as a sub. Promising sign indeed.
- Some comedians filled in the row behind me, and provided a running gag commentary while they were around. They have a schtick about Andre Rocha being the "David Beckham of Brazil". When they first trotted that out, it got refined down to something like the "David Beckham of Duncanville [Texas]." Anyway. Always good to see/hear familiar people.
- PHP did the old "magic minutes" thing in the 2nd half, where 4 sections (I sit in one of them) win a free personal pizza if FCD scores in the allotted time. A little kid in my row would NOT let it go, even after the minutes expired scorelessly. I leaned over to the guy next to me and said, "they need to announce the 'FCD staring contest' real quick." Seriously, the kid was at full scream demanding pizza. That family left early.
- Runner-up suggestion, long after the fact: "Win an FCD 'bag full of shhh!'"
- AWFUL officiating. I know that the refs have fairly wide leeway to call fouls/dish out cards at their discretion, but GOD DAMN what was with the yellow card fest? I think the list would be shorter if I said who didn't get carded. Naturally, when Dax McCarty gets fouled in Chicago's penalty area, in full view of the linesman (boo!), no foul, no card, never happened. Ugh.
- After the family with the pizza demander left, a father and son duo stepped down for front row excitement. They were decked out in matching Club America outfits, with the kid even wearing soccer socks and tiny boots. (See photos.) The dad was there for Blanco, and got juked when Sala made a great save that he was sure was a GOOOOOOOOL! Siddown, paw.
- In the final minutes, FCD did a fantastic job of maintaining possession AND taking some cracks at the goal. True, nothing went in, but that wasn't the point. Time spent in the attacking third is time well spent. Seriously, it reminded me... of me. When I play PES 2008 on the Wii. Anyway.
- FCD emerges victorious, 1-0. As noted elsewhere, Chicago hasn't beaten [Dallas] on the road since 1999. Nicely played. The Marco Ferruzzi era ends on a high note - if it indeed ends this week.
- One more thing: Random Streamer Era. Over. Memo received (!!). Seriously: I only saw opening kickoff and goal streamers. The end. I didn't see any hardcore crackdown or signs warning about them, but MLS supposedly issued an edict recently banning random streamering. I'll believe that when I see the next Toronto FC home game.
Click on the thumbnails to see the full-sized image. Enjoy!
Next up: FCD faces New York on the road. Can they make it 2 in a row? <EM>
(The full MLS article archive may be found here.)
Candidly, I thought your commentary to very funny. Snaps for that.
Also, the picture of the lady in the "Ditch Hitch" (GraceTX?) surrounded by empty seats should be sent to dan.clark@HSG.com or whatever his web mail address is. Hitchcock sucks!!!