Ownage

Guess who's back? No, not me, although it has been too long, but your San Jose Earthquakes of course! It all started Tuesday when it was announced on MLSnet that there was going to be a special expansion-related announcement made by Commissioner Garber on Wednesday afternoon. Later that night, it surfaced, somewhat obscurely, on Major League Baseball's official website that on Wednesday there was going to be an announcement about a venture between Oakland A's owner Lew Wolff and Major League Soccer. This was confirmed definitively later that evening when the always-reliable Matchnight reported that Major League Soccer was going to announce a return to the Bay Area in a press conference on Wednesday. Naturally, on Wednesday it was indeed confirmed that Wolff and his associate, John Fisher, had made a deal with MLS giving them three years in which they are given priority as an expansion franchise.

This news came only a day after news that San Jose State University, in a move of crushing humility, announced that they were hiring an outside managing firm for the now tenant-less Spartan Stadium. It should come as no surprise that without the Earthquakes as a primary tenant, Spartan becomes practically useless and costly for those other eight, non-football months. It's unclear whether the officials at SJSU believed that AEG was bluffing, but from what we know of the negotiations, it's obvious they thought that they could get a sweetheart deal. That of course didn't happen and now their former tenants are playing at Robertson Stadium in Houston, Texas. The timing of both this article and the expansion announcement is funny, if not also a little ironic. Whether Spartan is in Wolff's plans, whether as a permanent solution or as a temporary option, remains to be seen, but you can't help but think it has to warm Don Kassing's heart just a little.

Of course, this three year deal does not mean that San Jose will be receiving an expansion franchise anytime soon, or even at all, this is all still contingent on a soccer specific stadium. However, the only thing that Wolff wants is the land and transportation access. According to the San Jose Mercury News: "If San Jose or another Bay Area city is willing to donate the land and pay for related road improvements, Oakland A's owner Lew Wolff will build a stadium and deliver a Major League Soccer team to replace the departed Earthquakes." Or, in Wolff's own words: "We think we have a concept of financing that's a little bit hybrid between public financing and private financing." If Santa Clara is an option, either at the Fairgrounds property, or near the Great America amusement park, a stadium plan would not require a public vote like it would in San Jose. Either way, what the public needs to be aware of is that this will cost them almost nothing.

What's most important about this move though, not only for the team, but for MLS as well, is the public visibility of the owners involved. Indeed, just as Dave Checketts is a huge name in Salt Lake City sports, Wolff and his associates are big in the Bay Area and owners of a successful Major League Baseball franchise. Already articles from sports journalists who typically ignored the Earthquakes, such as Ray Ratto, have begun appearing in Bay Area newspapers. This is the kind of publicity you can't buy, and it's all because of the local visibility of the owners. However, this move is equally as important for MLS, since it means getting an ownership group that is already committed and experienced with another franchise in another league. Certainly, AEG owns other sporting franchises, but Wolff is not a faceless conglomerate, nor does he want to create an entertainment center (like stadia in Dallas, Chicago, and Colorado demonstrate), but a true soccer home for the San Jose Earthquakes.

This is a step in the right direction, not only for the Earthquakes and their fans, but also for MLS. By getting a committment from the ownership group, MLS has sent a signal to all other potential expansion cities that says: "Step up, front the fee, and promise a stadium, and you can get a team." Not only that, but it puts MLS right back where they wanted it, in one of America's largest television markets. This is a win-win move for the league.

Power Rankings (What week is this?)

1. D.C. United - They were held to a draw against Dallas, but not because they weren't trying. Had Dario Sala not decided to play the best game of his short MLS career, D.C. wins. Freddy Adu stepped up big time, burning Greg Vanney time after time. Another solid from Ben Olsen as well. One must wonder how this team's going to do when Olsen is gone. Can Clyde Simms play well in that defensive midfielder spot alongside Brian Carroll?

2. FC Dallas - Dallas got a huge road point against a tough United team. Yes, as mentioned above, Sala bailed them out. However, this team's fighting for one another, something we didn't see last year. They're the best team in the West currently but Houston is nipping at their heels.

3. Kansas City Wizards - Phew! That was close! I almost thought we were seeing a completely different Wizards team then, bang! Reality! A 1-0 victory just one week after a pathetic 2-1 loss to Dallas. All those goals this team was pouring on earlier this season, that dynamic offense everyone spoke of, yeah...what happened to that? It'll be interesting to see what Gansler does now that Wolff and Johnson are gone. However, where most teams would struggle with their two primary strikers out, Kansas City should be fine (if lacking depth) with Scott Sealy and Davy Arnaud.

4. Houston Dynamo - The Chinger will be gone for two months, what's Houston's reaction? What else is new? Kinnear dealt with Ching's lengthy absences last season and guided the team onto a record setting season. This team will be fine as long as Dwayne DeRosario is playing. The question is whether Ronald Cerritos still has it left in him. If he does, watch out.

5. LA Galaxy - What in the world is this team going to look like without Chris Albright and Landon Donovan? Most importantly, Landon. I shudder at the thought.

6. Chicago Fire - This has been a weird season. Teams that looked good one week will look terrible the next. Outside of the top four teams, clubs have been sliding all over the power rankings. Chicago goes from eleventh place just a few weeks ago to six this week. Huh? Well, the Fire played a solid (if unspectacular and boring) game against the Revolution, grinding out a well-earned victory. Sarachan has to be pretty happy with the results so far this season. The Fire have tied two and won one in four road games. Only five more to go. (And was that Thiago goal pretty or what?)

7. New England Revolution - Ugly, ugly loss. At home no less. However, instead of losing both Twellman and Dempsey to the World Cup, they'll only be losing Dempsey (Dorman should fill in admirably). I wonder though, how well Twellman will cope with the World Cup slight.

8. Chivas USA - A draw at home against the weak New York Red Bulls shouldn't be very encouraging to Bob Bradley after a promising start. Losing O'Brien and potentially Suarez until July does not look good either. However, this team should be able to cope, but last week it took some Herculean goalkeeping from Brad Guzan to preserve their 0-0 tie. Bradley needs to motivate his troops quickly, and if he couldn't do it against his old club, what should make us think he can do it against anyone else?

9. New York Red Bulls - They played tough against Chivas and nearly won were it not for Brad Guzan. However, this team still has serious issues and still hasn't won a game this season. Fortunately for them, no one from their squad will be travelling to the World Cup, but their form this season has been seriously troubling. Solid play from Mike Magee is encouraging though.

10. Colorado Rapids - Sigh. Another loss to Houston. Another Brian Ching goal. Can we just say that Colorado is single-handedly responsible for Ching's appearance on Arena's 23 man roster? (I kid, I kid).

11. Columbus Crew - Another loss, both in the standings and on the roster. Hejduk, who they thought was going to be out for the World Cup (which seemed bad enough) tore his ACL and is now gone for the entire season. This team just can't catch a break.

12. Real Salt Lake - At least they scored a couple of goals and it made it tough on the Galaxy, but conceding three goals at home? Now they'll be without Pope and Sequiera because of the World Cup. Ellinger needs to start worrying about his job security, and Steve Pastorino needs to really start looking for a replacement.

The List is Life

Yesterday, US National Team coach Bruce Arena announced his 23 man roster for the World Cup. Were there surprises? A few, yes, but for the most part, this list was very predictable. Here are my thoughts by position:

Goalkeepers: Kasey Keller, Tim Howard, Marcus Hahnemann

Thoughts: There are no surprises here. For a few weeks, people were throwing Tony Meola's name out there as a possible third goalkeeper, but that would have been a tremendous disservice to Hahnemann, who has played marvelously for club side Reading FC all year. It's interesting that Howard takes the two spot while still languishing on the bench at Manchester United. What's been lost in all of this is still how wonderfully talented Howard actually is. Yes, he's struggled to assert himself at United, but he's still young (27), and he's still a very good back-up and the heir apparent to Keller. While I don't know if I'd want Howard or Hahnemann starting World Cup matches for us at this stage, they'd still be solid.

Defenders: Carlos Bocanegra, Steve Cherundolo, Jimmy Conrad, Cory Gibbs, Frankie Hejduk, Eddie Lewis, Oguchi Onyewu, Eddie Pope

Thoughts: The biggest surprise here is Conrad, but even Bocanegra is, for me anyway, a bit of a mild surprise. With his health in doubt and having not seen first team action with Fulham for some time, I did not expect Bocanegra to be as much of a shoe-in as some pundits have suggested. Until an untimely injury, I actually thought Jonathan Spector had a legitimate shot at a roster spot given his first team status with Charlton in the English Premier League as well as his positional versatility. Nevertheless, here's Bocanegra, and here's also Jimmy Conrad who looked doomed after the Germany match over a month ago. Not only were he and Berhalter culpable on all of Germany's goals, but Conrad injured himself shortly thereafter. Jeff Carlisle suggests that Conrad was selected because he'll provide a strong locker-room presence will always being clear of his role within the team. There may be something to that suggestion, but it's still a slightly puzzling move. However, what bothers me most is the lack of outside depth. Only Frankie Hejduk (and Gibbs in a pinch) can provide any depth on the outside apart from starters Steve Cherundolo and Eddie Lewis. Don't be surprised to see the 3-5-2 come June.

Midfielders: DaMarcus Beasley, Bobby Convey, Clint Dempsey, Landon Donovan, Pablo Mastroeni, John O'Brien, Ben Olsen, Claudio Reyna

Thoughts: There are two question marks here. One is John O'Brien's health. Can he get healthy and be productive before the World Cup begins in June? The other big question mark seems to be Ben Olsen. Some dispute his selection as simply Olsen's being one of Arena's "old boys" (a player from his days with D.C. United). This may be true, but anyone who believes this is the reason why he made the 23 man squad hasn't been paying attention the last few months. Not only has Ben Olsen contributed solid performances to the full national team, but he's also been in fine form with club team D.C. United. He'll also be a positive presence in the locker-room, the kind of player who understands his role within Arena's system and who will be simply happy to be in Germany with the boys. O'Brien is a bigger question mark, but it's difficult at this stage to say anything other than that a healthy John O'Brien will be integral to this team's success.

Forwards: Brian Ching, Eddie Johnson, Brian McBride, Josh Wolff

Thoughts: Brian Ching is the big surprise here. Most pundits expected Twellman to get the nod, but it appears that experience in big-game situations, strength on the ball, and a player in the McBride role were traits that Arena wanted. Sure, Twellman finally got over his scoring hump while Ching struggled in earlier friendlies. However, if you've watched Ching closely in his national team career, including in the recent friendly with Germany, you see a very strong ability to hold onto the ball under pressure. He's also scored in big pressure situations (twice in qualifying), while Twellman has never shown that kind of ability in a national team uniform. I can't disagree with this choice as some others have. Ching's produced when it counts, he's currently been hot in MLS, and he'll make a fine late game sub if we need to kill off games or score off a set piece, especially in as physical a group as the U.S.' The other choices shouldn't surprise at all, but our success is contingent on Johnson regaining form and a healthy McBride.

Interesting note: It's very interesting that Chris Rolfe is one of Arena's alternates. Even Freddy Adu has more caps than Rolfe. It's clear that Arena sees what many of us see in him, a very talented, very skilfull young player that offers a lot of intangibles. Here's to hoping he gets his chance after this cycle.