If you're going to tie, it's better to have one that feels like a win than one that feels like a loss. The Quakes certainly know what it feels like to give up the late goal, snatching a tie from the claws of victory. And now Toronto knows it, too. READ MORE »
Though the 2009 campaign has not gone according to plan, both the players and fans are trying to show they are in it until the end. READ MORE »
It may be the quote of the year, coming from Chris Wondolowski: "It feels like one of those cartoons where the cloud and rain are just following us wherever we go." READ MORE »
The point of this soccer business is the points. The more your team gets, the longer you get to play. The Quakes season has not been pointless, to be sure, but it certainly has been point-deficient. READ MORE »
One man stands on the sidelines, working the phones --- texting, calling, dealing -- to make the San Jose Earthquakes a better team. The other man makes the practice plans, the game plans, he cajoles, pleads, yells, whatever it takes, to make the Earthquakes a better team. READ MORE »
Yogi Berra said famously (or if he didn't say it, he should have): "When you come to fork in the road, take it." The Quakes are at the fork and they're taking it. John Doyle and Frank Yallop are working day and night, and then some, to find the right combination of players -- some who are already here and almost certainly some who will be coming -- to get the club on track. READ MORE »
15 down and 15 to go; the Quakes may need to invert their 3-8-4 first half to make the playoffs. 8-3-4 in the second certainly would give them a chance. Most of the players I talked with the last few days really believe they have enough games left to make the playoffs. READ MORE »
There are a lot of reasons to love a visit from the Los Angeles Galaxy: Rivalry, home game, no Donovan, no Beckham and timing. "It's the biggest game of the year," says goalkeeper Joe Cannon. READ MORE »
The Earthquakes moved two players this week, a former captain and a young man in whom they had high hopes as a consistent scorer in MLS. Even for a team that is 2-7-3 decisions like these aren't made lightly. READ MORE »
The Quakes took the cold drink of water Saturday night -- their 2-1 win over Real Salt Lake -- after a dusty five-game losing streak. Some of it was more than dusty, it was down-in-the-dirt ugly. READ MORE »
The numbers are staggering: Ryan Johnson is the only Earthquakes player who has scored a goal since April 18. It's a run that includes two shutout losses and games in which they lost 4-1, 3-1 and 2-1. READ MORE »
Okay, so the Quakes want to move on and forget the giant disappointment in Giants Stadium last Friday night. And I'm right there with them; I witnessed it first hand. (Well, I saw it from several stories above the field turf, in the highest press box in American soccer.) I think, though, the view from afar wasn't much better than it was on the field. It certainly was among the worst performances this team has had in years, inexplicably. READ MORE »
On the road...again and it's always an adventure. Sitting here in the Dallas airport waiting for the plane they're putting me on after my original flight was canceled. Seems like a fitting metaphor for the Quakes season so far: Not quite off the ground yet. READ MORE »
It looks like the Quakes - a team in bad need of a win and the confidence that goes with it - are looking at the games against the two best teams in the league in eight days; one in their rear view mirror and the other one right in front of them. READ MORE »
My father used to say when he was really angry about something that he was "fit to be tied." The Quakes, a team that is fit to be tied after back-to-back draws with Chicago and Los Angeles in the last two weeks, must by now really be fit to be tied. READ MORE »
I have just four words for those of you trying to get over a tie that felt like a loss: The Los Angeles Galaxy. Saturday night at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, it's the first of three 2009 meetings between the Quakes and the Galaxy. READ MORE »
Players and coaches can't look too far down the road, but those of us who observe the games for a living certainly can. And the view of this next month is a pretty good one. Four games - three of them at home - against contenders/rivals: Chicago, LA, Seattle and Chivas USA. READ MORE »
We remember the five goals in 14 minutes - including the club record four goals in six minutes - from the Quakes 3-2 win over the Dynamo. But, how about the work of the defense in the second half, specifically Joe Cannon? He might have been the best player in a five-goal game. READ MORE »
Nothing quite like a visit from the Dynamo to get the taste of a season-opening 1-0 loss out of your mouth. But for the Quakes the aftertaste isn't really as bad as you might have expected. They were shutout but outshot the Revolution 16-7 Saturday, including 4-1 in shots on goal. The only Revs shot that made it on goal made it in the goal, Kheli Dube's game winner in the 55th minute. READ MORE »
