Saturday, June 28, 2008

Chivas USA/NY running blog

Sorry this is late. I couldn't find the TV channel for this at first.
"Andrea, why aren't you at the game?"
1. Gas is expensive.
2. I have no assignment to cover this match.
So TV running blog it is.
NY - Jon Conway, Kevin Goldthwaite, Hunter Freeman, Carlos Mendes, Seth Stammler, Sinisa Ubiparipovic, Dave van den Bergh, John Wolyniec, Dane Richards, Andrew Boyens, Jeff Parke
Chivas USA: Brad Guzan (GK), Claudio Suarez, Jim Curtin, Francisco Mendoza, Ante Razov, Carey Talley, Jonathan Bornstein, Bobby Burling, Jesse Marsch, Sacha Kljestan, Justin Braun

15 - I love the matches in Spanish - the announcers usually sound much more serious about the game. Boyens with a header attempt on the set play - it's wide of goal.
16 - Announcers don't like the midfield of Chivas USA right now. "Poor touches and timing" they complain.
17 - Wow, flashback reference there. Justin Braun hits a pass for Panchito way ahead, and Jesus, the PbP guy, says, "Not even the son of the wind, Carl Lewis, could get to that ball."
18 - Dane Richards goes for a long pass, and has the ball when Bobby Burling falls over, the announcers get excited, but then trip over Ubiparipovich's name. They decide to call him Sinisa insteas.
21 - Burling is down on the ground again.
23 - Richards in the box, beats his defender well, closes in on Guzan, but shoots far post and misses badly! "He beat his defender with a move like Michel Platini, but he shot like Dane Richards, " says the announcer.
26 - FK for NY, courtesy of a foul on Richards.
GOAL! Van Den Burgh! Wow - Guzan is not getting to England with moves like that. Van Den Burgh serves the ball in, a looping ball that Kevin Goldthwaite charges and jumps for, but he misses. Guzan is rooted to his line, then moving toward the crashing players, while the ball drops and then merrily skips into the side netting untouched. 1-0 NY.
29 - Braun is down and the announcers have a conniption fit about the uncalled foul on Andrew Boyens, whose elbow landed on Braun's face.
32 - Panchito racing Dane to a ball, which seems a losing proposition, but Panchito just gets there and puts the ball out for a corner.
33 - Corner is cleared.
34 - Announcers are calling Panchito and Dave "speed demons". It sounds cooler in Spanish - demonios.
35 - SAVE off the line, Hunter Freeman! After the ball was chipped over Conway, coming off his line, Freeman just dinked it back.
36 - Handball! Twice over, it looks like - the last one off a Claudio Suarez scissor kick in the box.
39 - Chivas USA is playing much better than when the game was scoreless.
40 - Parke gets fouled by Razov, as Ante is trying to reach a long pass.
43 - Dane in the box, ball stays there for a while, but once the shot finally comes, it's a soft one and Guzan picks it up easily.
45 - FK for NY, Goldthwaite goes up for it, but heads it wide and crashes heavily.
45 + Chivas USA's energetic rush in reaction to the goal against them appears to be ebbing.
GOAL - The NY defense booboos big time - pass to the center defender just as he moves forward and so the ball goes behind him. Conway doesn't react quickly enough, and Razov pops in to sidefoot the ball past him into the goal. 1-1.
Halftime: It was Goldthwaite who hit the pass as Jeff Parke was moving forward - wow, what a blunder. New York must be disheartened, while Chivas USA is right back in this one.
60 - The wrapping around Justin Braun's head to keep his eyebrow cut from opening up looks like electrical tape.
65 - Not too much going on - back and forth but little in the way of clear chances.
72 - Freeman is fouled by Flores - Stammler takes a shot, but Guzan catches it well.
74 - Etcheverry is getting stick from the announcers for killing NY attacks. They can't stand his lack of understanding and connection with his teammates.
76 - This is a pretty messy sloppy game. Passes are going awry - it's not just the goals that are based on mistakes, it's a theme for this match.
80 - Sassano is coming in for NY's captain, Stammler.
82 - Magee with a pretty horrid cross attempt.
85 - Ck for NY - nothing comes of it. Announcers are having a go at Boyens who is down again, calling him a dirty player who fouls, pulls shirts and fakes injury a lot.
87 - Sassano pulls Panchito's arm on an attack - gives Chivas USA a FK in a good spot. On the FK, Braun doesn't get to the ball (Boyens is holding his shirt).
88 - Hamilton in for Braun.
89 - Ante gets cleated and goes down, but Sassano, I think, says something to him about it and Ante steps on his foot in retaliation. It's not much, but the ref give hims a yellow.
90 + CK for Chivas USA - it's cleared after some trouble.
Dane is down - having collided with Panchito - whose small size seems to be part of the reason the ref shows little pity when Dane stays down after the clash.
One last attack comes to nothing for Chivas USA - the teams split points as the ref blows the final whistle.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Gas is expensive."

I would've given you a ride.

A.C. said...

Thanks! I've decided that it only makes sense to be at games I can get assignments for. If I value what I try to do for a living (write)I can't do it for free.