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| A commentary on the 0-0 draws. |
I didn’t know how much I missed watching people get weird in the stands until I saw some good ones this past weekend - e.g., the 10-year-old kid straight-up shrieking at a Philadelphia Union player as he took a corner, the kid in Columbus giving a comic thumbs down to Orlando’s Ercan Kara as he walked off the field with his mortified younger sister slapping at his thumbs to stop him, the middle-aged guy who comforted his visibly, yet mysteriously, anxious wife up in New England: ah, vignettes of the human condition.
Where to begin? First, I watched as much uninterrupted soccer over the past weekend as I normally do in two, maybe even three. What did I learn from all that? I learned I should take more notes, if nothing else, because even if you’re watching mid-afternoon sober, it takes something spectacular or violent to keep that shit from running together…and that’s less advocating for more violence in soccer, than saying I had to rely on kits more than I usually do to keep track of who I was watching. The spectacular doesn’t come up nearly often enough, of course, but isn’t that what makes it so?
At any rate, starved as I am for even gently-extended video to review, I’ve started watching chunks of the archived replays. That means dipping in at random to some extent, which means seeing defenders having tea parties, players running and falling all over midfield, shitty passes, time-wasting, the barking flash-mobs that gather ‘round referee, and all, but it also gives a more honest look at how a team holds its shape and plays in real time. The sample isn’t pure - my general practice is to watch 5 or more minutes on either side of the goals in the game, also, hold that thought - and it gets my eyes on games with a little less of the bullshit. Some things go missing - e.g., sitting through the middle 25 minutes or so of Toronto FC’s (broadly impressive) 2-1 home win over Philly meant I didn’t see the end where Philly jacked-up their numbers and, presumably, the pressure. Anyway, enough about my methods and problems. Here are all the results from Major League Soccer Week 7, with The Mothership’s summaries embedded in the final score:
Club du Foot Montreal 2-1 Vancouver Whitecaps FC
San Jose Earthquakes 2-2 Nashville SC
Atlanta United FC 0-0 FC Cincinnati*
Houston Dynamo FC 0-0 Portland Timbers (my extended notes, about as exciting as the score)
Red Bull New York 0-0 FC Dallas
New England Revolution 2-1 Charlotte FC
Columbus Crew SC 0-2 Orlando City SC
Toronto FC 2-1 Philadelphia Union
DC United 2-3 Austin FC
Minnesota United FC 3-1 Colorado Rapids
Chicago Fire FC 0-0 Los Angeles Galaxy
Seattle Sounders 0-1 Inter Miami CF
New York City FC 6-0 Real Salt Lake
Los Angeles FC 3-1 Sporting Kansas City
[Ed. - * Yes, I see the final score, yes, I wish I still would have watched it. Assholes…]
Where to begin? First, I watched as much uninterrupted soccer over the past weekend as I normally do in two, maybe even three. What did I learn from all that? I learned I should take more notes, if nothing else, because even if you’re watching mid-afternoon sober, it takes something spectacular or violent to keep that shit from running together…and that’s less advocating for more violence in soccer, than saying I had to rely on kits more than I usually do to keep track of who I was watching. The spectacular doesn’t come up nearly often enough, of course, but isn’t that what makes it so?
At any rate, starved as I am for even gently-extended video to review, I’ve started watching chunks of the archived replays. That means dipping in at random to some extent, which means seeing defenders having tea parties, players running and falling all over midfield, shitty passes, time-wasting, the barking flash-mobs that gather ‘round referee, and all, but it also gives a more honest look at how a team holds its shape and plays in real time. The sample isn’t pure - my general practice is to watch 5 or more minutes on either side of the goals in the game, also, hold that thought - and it gets my eyes on games with a little less of the bullshit. Some things go missing - e.g., sitting through the middle 25 minutes or so of Toronto FC’s (broadly impressive) 2-1 home win over Philly meant I didn’t see the end where Philly jacked-up their numbers and, presumably, the pressure. Anyway, enough about my methods and problems. Here are all the results from Major League Soccer Week 7, with The Mothership’s summaries embedded in the final score:
Club du Foot Montreal 2-1 Vancouver Whitecaps FC
San Jose Earthquakes 2-2 Nashville SC
Atlanta United FC 0-0 FC Cincinnati*
Houston Dynamo FC 0-0 Portland Timbers (my extended notes, about as exciting as the score)
Red Bull New York 0-0 FC Dallas
New England Revolution 2-1 Charlotte FC
Columbus Crew SC 0-2 Orlando City SC
Toronto FC 2-1 Philadelphia Union
DC United 2-3 Austin FC
Minnesota United FC 3-1 Colorado Rapids
Chicago Fire FC 0-0 Los Angeles Galaxy
Seattle Sounders 0-1 Inter Miami CF
New York City FC 6-0 Real Salt Lake
Los Angeles FC 3-1 Sporting Kansas City
[Ed. - * Yes, I see the final score, yes, I wish I still would have watched it. Assholes…]
