Here's my PE column about the Galaxy and the Pan Pacific Championship. This picture was one you may see elsewhere on the web today, or may have seen already. It's David Beckham and Miss Honolulu Raeceen Woolford upon the Galaxy's arrival in Hawaii on Monday.
We've gotten quite a bit of press releases and the sort from tournament organizers Soccer United Marketing ever since the tournament was announced. I even got a press kit mailed to me on it back in December, something I wasn't expecting.
5 comments:
I'll be at the tournament in Hawaii this week. Would you know where the team is holding its tryouts? And if anything they're doing this week is open to the public?
Thanks!
Insert "we should've been there" rants from the baby goats.
I'm just glad our pre-season is finally starting.
Just to add fuel to the fire...
This tournament makes it 13 consecutive years that LA has reached at least the semifinal stage of at least one tournament in each of its seasons.
1996 - MLS Cup Finals
1997 - CONCACAF Champions Cup Finals
1998 - MLS Cup Semifinals
1999 - MLS Cup Finals
2000 - MLS Cup Semifinals, CONCACAF Champions Cup Champions
2001 - MLS Cup Finals, US Open Cup Champions
2002 - MLS Cup Champions, US Open Cup Finals
2003 - US Open Cup Semifinals
2004 - MLS Cup Semifinals
2005 - MLS Cup Champions, US Open Cup Champions
2006 - US Open Cup Finals
2007 - SuperLiga Finals
2008 - PANPacific Tournament Semifinals*
:-) Kinda cool that even in the darkest times (2005-2007) we managed to reach 4 finals in 3 years in 3 different competitions. Ultimately, the fan remembers the hardships, but the record books remember the above.
Nice balanced article, Luis, and I'm glad you didn't complain too much about the Galaxy being there, cause it would look petty. I wonder how the attendance will be?
BTW, yes, it was an accomplishment for the Galaxy to be in the finals of the Superliga.
Well, as far as the accomplishment thing goes, I guess I thought of 2006 when the Galaxy reached the USOC final. To a man, the Galaxy players who were there that year and at the start of the 07 season (few of them, it seems like) said they felt 06 was a disastrous year, despite reaching the USOC final. I'd speculate that many feel the same way about last season, by not reaching the playoffs.
If players don't consider reaching the final of a tournament as worthwhile, then it can't be too much of an accomplishment to them, right?
Now, if they would have won it (SuperLiga or USOC) then that changes things. But they didn't, so we go from there.
I mean, i can tell you that if I ask players "Aside from Beckham's arrival, what will you remember about 2007?" many of the players will say "Not much" or "That we failed to make the playoffs."
I will follow up on that, however, when the Galaxy gets back in town, which probably won't be for a long time from now.
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