Which is Southern California's Team - the Galaxy or Chivas USA?
The trivia question was prompted by an item in the Chivas USA game notes for the July SuperClasico I scoured Monday as I researched today's column.
Chivas USA claims nine players on its roster who were either born or grew up in Southern California:
Jonathan Bornstein (who was born in Torrance and grew up in Los Alamitos)
Chukwudi Chijindu (Fontana)
Jorge Flores (Anaheim)
Dan Kennedy (Yorba Linda)
Sacha Kljestan (Huntington Beach)
Gerson Mayen (Los Angeles)
Ante Razov (Los Angeles)
Sasha Victorine (Corona)
Cesar Zamora (Sylmar)
Three of these players - Bornstein, Razov, Victorine - played college soccer at UCLA, while Dan Kennedy played at UC Santa Barbara. In addition, Texas native Bobby Burling played college soccer at Loyola Marymount.
The Galaxy claim eight players with local connections:
Tristan Bowen (Van Nuys)
Landon Donovan (Redlands)
Sean Franklin (Palmdale)
Leonard Griffin (Palmdale)
Bryan Jordan (Temple City)
Jovan Kirovski (Escondido)
Eddie Lewis (Cerritos)
Josh Saunders (Lake Forest)
Franklin played college soccer at Cal State Northridge, while Griffin and Lewis did the same at UCLA. However, the list above rises to nine players if you count Long Beach-born Alan Gordon, who grew up in Arizona.
Hmmm. How to break the tie?
Well, Assistant Galaxy Coach Cobi Jones grew up in Westlake Village, played soccer at UCLA and spent his entire MLS playing career with the Galaxy.
So does that make the Galaxy Southern California's team?
3 Comments
Leave a comment
About 100 Percent Soccer
Sportswriter Nick Green has written the 100 Percent Soccer column since 2005 for the Daily News, Daily Breeze and other Los Angeles area newspapers. The blog of the same name began in 2007. A native of England, he began writing about soccer in the mid-1980s and in 2000 permanently exchanged a seat in the stands for one in the press box. He lives six miles from Carson's Home Depot Center, home of the Los Angeles Galaxy, Chivas USA and the training headquarters for U.S. Soccer and is married to a long-suffering soccer widow. Join Nick on FaceBook and follow him on Twitter.
Galaxy wins this one
Should you even try to compare them Nick?
You know California is a huge source that provides MLS players not just to Chivas or lame G's.
Chivas USA hasn't been in the league as long as the pub team either.
Give it time, and I am sure they will have a huge rivalry for sure.
The teams should be renamed as Galaxy USA (since we have a mostly American team) and SoCal Goats since they have more SoCal players.