San Jose Earthquakes: Kicking Ass Since 2001

This weekend featured a spate of MLS games that were incredibly entertaining. The day began with a nationally televised match featuring MLS' two worst teams playing one another in 100 degree heat. The quality of play, not surprisingly, sucked. But the best part of the game occured in the seventeenth minute. After embellishing after a light foul, Clint Mathis was hit by a ball that was kicked at him by the mostly classless Chivas forward Isaac Romo. Forgetting that he had just been feigning injury, Clint "Cletus" Mathis rose like a man possessed and ran after Romo. Insanity ensued, causing players from both sides to engage in a melee not usually seen this side of the NHL. Mathis was ejected as was another Chivas player, but curiously, Romo was not. As Mathis began his slow trot off the field, he walked back up to Romo. The two stood tete-a-tete when suddenly Romo fell to the ground in a great heap and curled up in a fetal position, grasping his groin as though Mathis had punched. Replays clearly and repeatedly showed that Mathis initiated zero contact and that Romo is an idiot. Of course, this little event nearly sent Bigsoccer's servers crashing, with one, two, three threads devoted to Isaac Romo alone. I have to hand it to both Chivas USA and Real Salt Lake for taking a terrible game and turning it into a news-worthy event.

Where Chivas-Real Salt Lake lacked in quality, the FC Dallas-Metrostars matchup made up for in quality. What a cracker of a game to open up FC Dallas' brand new Soccer Specific Stadium Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas. While it has one of the most terrible corporate sponsors imaginable, the stadium is an absolute gem. The game wasn't bad either, featuring end-to-end action and some beautiful goals by Carlos Ruiz and Youri Djorkaeff. Unfortunately for FC Dallas and its fans, the result was an unfavorable one, a 2-2 tie. However, for my San Jose Earthquakes, the result (along with defeats of both the New England Revolution and the Chicago Fire) was a blessing.

In the final game of the evening, my beloved Earthquakes defeated the Columbus Crew 2-1. San Jose dominated Columbus for eighty minutes before running out of gas and nearly blowing the game. However, passing was crisp and the goals were absolute class. More importantly, with the win San Jose moves into sole possession of first place in the Western Conference, and leads the entire league in points (37). If that weren't enough, according to ESPN's power rankings, the Earthquakes are quickly catching up with New England for the honor of being ranked the best team in the league. While the threat of moving the team looms ominously over fan joy, we've all taken pride in what this team has accomplished and hope for greater and better things to come.