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Canales Corner: Topsy-Turvy Thoughts
Goal.com's intrepid editor has a cold, and the medicine can have strange effects.
Mar 5, 2010 12:41:00 PM
By Andrea Canales
A few recent observations has me thinking things are a bit twisted, but it's not easy to be completely logical when cold medicine has me half-zonked.
Affirming The Consequent
Obviously, Landon Donovan needs to leave Everton immediately, as the English club is ruining his game. In Major League Soccer, he was the Golden Boot Winner - at Everton, he can't finish off a simple put-away.
Perhaps Donovan's time at Everton has also triggered the classic Hollywood actor's catchphrase, "What's my motivation?" Sure, playing Holland in a friendly is a big deal compared to facing F.C. Dallas in a preseason scrimmage, but after defeating Chelsea FC and Manchester United? Maybe not so much.
It's true that those who believed a player from Los Angeles would be the game-changer in the match were correct, but it turned out that player was Jonathan Bornstein, and he changed the game in favor of the Netherlands.
So Donovan had a poor match - but it was encouraging to see other parts of the American team try to pick things up and do well despite that. Besides that game, it's certainly not easy to recall the last time Team USA scored a goal with Donovan available for a game, but not on the field.
Argument By Scenario
I made it to Pasadena for the Mexico match versus New Zealand, but I did not make it to the game at the Rose Bowl. Rain, a flat tire and horrible stadium traffic conspired against me, so I ended up a few miles from the stadium, watching on television. I was close enough to imagine I could hear the cheers from Chicharito Hernandez' opening goal.
For some reason, Telemundo's broadcast of the New Zealand/Mexico game displayed the rugby logo of the island nation complete with the lettering, "All Blacks", when clearly, the team from Mexico was the one wearing nearly all black. Because, of course, the traditional colors of the Mexican flag include black. Sure, El Tricolor refers to the red, green and white stripes of the flag, but the eagle in the middle of the white stripe obviously has some black delineating its outline. There's also some brown, blue and gold in the drawing, leaving perhaps even more leeway for future jersey options.
Appeal to Authority
Ah, the Dutch team, ranked third in the world, possessed of such superior talent and skill, surely they wouldn't need a cheap penalty and a deflection to defeat the gutsy but unglamorous Americans? Oh, they did, did they? Oh, well.
At least the Netherlands would never resort to thuggish tactics like a tackle from behind, studs up to break the leg of an opponent, though.
Stuart Holden begs to differ, apparently, having fallen victim to Nigel De Jong's zealous efforts to snuff out the little bit of possession the USA had.
It did amuse me, though, to hear the Dutch crowd whistle and boo the young American midfielder while he was lying on the ground. It appears that unless your foot is hanging off at a nauseating angle like Aaron Ramsey, no sympathy is allotted.
I'm still wondering if even that would have induced the European referee to pull a red card on De Jong for that tackle.
Excluded Middle
In a pointed statement to MLS administrators about the labor dispute, Seattle defender Taylor Graham spoke of the league needing to let go of the "training wheels". Anti-MLS soccer fans in the USA will be shocked to learn the league has outgrown diapers.
However, I'm not sure that the players should be using the "rest of the world" argument in their fight against the league. First of all, the "rest of the world" cares about the sport of soccer a lot more. Secondly, the USA just finished competing in the Olympics, where everyone's fervor was stoked by the prospect of taking on "the rest of the world", not aligning with them. Finally, if even the players themselves are maintaining that soccer in "the rest of the world" is done so much better, how is that an inducement to USA supporters to give the American version more of a chance? Why not check out those other leagues in the "rest of the world" instead?
There's a bit of a chicken/egg premise going on with the owners and players, too. For those who observe that the quality of the product on the field is still evolving, the players point to the low salaries of some in the league and ask, "What do you expect?"
Then again, the owners point to the lack of profits for nearly every league team when questioned about the low salaries and say, "What do you expect?"
Sometimes, I think MLS is trying too hard not to be like the North American Soccer League. That entity didn't last a decade, partly because the clubs ended up spending far beyond their means on player salaries, even as the teams sometimes played on high school fields. MLS has kept the salaries in check and invested in full-sized stadiums, apparently figuring that bricks and mortar are a more stable venture than flesh and blood.
At least, one never has to worry about a stadium going on strike.
Internal Contradiction
I did laugh when reading a reader email before the Netherlands game, "Please, please - I'm praying that not a single MLS player steps on to the field for the USA team."
So no Landon Donovan, then? A few weeks at Everton does not suddenly erase him as an MLS player, or there would be no point in Everton trying to keep him, because he'd already be theirs.
Then again, considering the way Donovan played versus the Netherlands, maybe that reader had a point.
Andrea Canales is Chief Editor of Goal.com North America
Affirming The Consequent
Obviously, Landon Donovan needs to leave Everton immediately, as the English club is ruining his game. In Major League Soccer, he was the Golden Boot Winner - at Everton, he can't finish off a simple put-away.
Perhaps Donovan's time at Everton has also triggered the classic Hollywood actor's catchphrase, "What's my motivation?" Sure, playing Holland in a friendly is a big deal compared to facing F.C. Dallas in a preseason scrimmage, but after defeating Chelsea FC and Manchester United? Maybe not so much.
It's true that those who believed a player from Los Angeles would be the game-changer in the match were correct, but it turned out that player was Jonathan Bornstein, and he changed the game in favor of the Netherlands.
So Donovan had a poor match - but it was encouraging to see other parts of the American team try to pick things up and do well despite that. Besides that game, it's certainly not easy to recall the last time Team USA scored a goal with Donovan available for a game, but not on the field.
Argument By Scenario
I made it to Pasadena for the Mexico match versus New Zealand, but I did not make it to the game at the Rose Bowl. Rain, a flat tire and horrible stadium traffic conspired against me, so I ended up a few miles from the stadium, watching on television. I was close enough to imagine I could hear the cheers from Chicharito Hernandez' opening goal.
For some reason, Telemundo's broadcast of the New Zealand/Mexico game displayed the rugby logo of the island nation complete with the lettering, "All Blacks", when clearly, the team from Mexico was the one wearing nearly all black. Because, of course, the traditional colors of the Mexican flag include black. Sure, El Tricolor refers to the red, green and white stripes of the flag, but the eagle in the middle of the white stripe obviously has some black delineating its outline. There's also some brown, blue and gold in the drawing, leaving perhaps even more leeway for future jersey options.
Appeal to Authority
Ah, the Dutch team, ranked third in the world, possessed of such superior talent and skill, surely they wouldn't need a cheap penalty and a deflection to defeat the gutsy but unglamorous Americans? Oh, they did, did they? Oh, well.
At least the Netherlands would never resort to thuggish tactics like a tackle from behind, studs up to break the leg of an opponent, though.
Stuart Holden begs to differ, apparently, having fallen victim to Nigel De Jong's zealous efforts to snuff out the little bit of possession the USA had.
It did amuse me, though, to hear the Dutch crowd whistle and boo the young American midfielder while he was lying on the ground. It appears that unless your foot is hanging off at a nauseating angle like Aaron Ramsey, no sympathy is allotted.
I'm still wondering if even that would have induced the European referee to pull a red card on De Jong for that tackle.
Excluded Middle
In a pointed statement to MLS administrators about the labor dispute, Seattle defender Taylor Graham spoke of the league needing to let go of the "training wheels". Anti-MLS soccer fans in the USA will be shocked to learn the league has outgrown diapers.
However, I'm not sure that the players should be using the "rest of the world" argument in their fight against the league. First of all, the "rest of the world" cares about the sport of soccer a lot more. Secondly, the USA just finished competing in the Olympics, where everyone's fervor was stoked by the prospect of taking on "the rest of the world", not aligning with them. Finally, if even the players themselves are maintaining that soccer in "the rest of the world" is done so much better, how is that an inducement to USA supporters to give the American version more of a chance? Why not check out those other leagues in the "rest of the world" instead?
There's a bit of a chicken/egg premise going on with the owners and players, too. For those who observe that the quality of the product on the field is still evolving, the players point to the low salaries of some in the league and ask, "What do you expect?"
Then again, the owners point to the lack of profits for nearly every league team when questioned about the low salaries and say, "What do you expect?"
Sometimes, I think MLS is trying too hard not to be like the North American Soccer League. That entity didn't last a decade, partly because the clubs ended up spending far beyond their means on player salaries, even as the teams sometimes played on high school fields. MLS has kept the salaries in check and invested in full-sized stadiums, apparently figuring that bricks and mortar are a more stable venture than flesh and blood.
At least, one never has to worry about a stadium going on strike.
Internal Contradiction
I did laugh when reading a reader email before the Netherlands game, "Please, please - I'm praying that not a single MLS player steps on to the field for the USA team."
So no Landon Donovan, then? A few weeks at Everton does not suddenly erase him as an MLS player, or there would be no point in Everton trying to keep him, because he'd already be theirs.
Then again, considering the way Donovan played versus the Netherlands, maybe that reader had a point.
Andrea Canales is Chief Editor of Goal.com North America
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