Final: Houston Dynamo at Chivas USA

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Chivas USA 2 Houston Dynamo 3

First things first: the result means Chivas USA meets the Galaxy in the opening game of their playoff series at 2 p.m. next Sunday (Nov. 1) in a game that’s also live on ESPN2.

A thrilling end to this one though: Chivas USA striker Eduardo Lillingston could have had a case for a stoppage time penalty after being knocked off the ball, while he also had a goal disallowed for offside and a looping header that just missed the upper 90 in the final 10 minutes after being set up by Justin Braun.

More later.

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About Nick Green

South Bay-based Los Angeles News Group columnist and blogger Nick Green writes about soccer at the 100 Percent Soccer blog at www.insidesocal.com/soccer and craft beer at the Beer Goggles blog at www.insidesocal.com/beer. Cheers!
  • Studs Up

    I had the distinct DIS-pleasure of attending a Chivas USA game for the first time today to accompany an out-of-town relative Dynamo fan (he paid). Talk about MINOR league and cheap atmosphere. There must have been 500 kids for every paying adult. This organization does not belong in MAJOR League Soccer.

    Chivas USA tanked so they can play the real LA team and get some more paying butts in seats.

    And those damned horns. My ears are still ringing.

    GO Galaxy

  • PocketKings

    SU,
    Can you name me an MLS Market that does have atmosphere for a Sunday Noon game? I was nursing a hang-over for the entire game and chose to skip church.

    Stop sipping the Hater-Aide and admit that the 2nd half provided a lot of attack-minded soccer.

    Besides, with all those kids there, I thought that would have made you feel like it was a Galaxy game.

    But seriously, what did you expect for a Sunday Noon game?

  • Studs Up

    PK (missed!),

    Futbol was not bad for 2 travel weary teams. I love MLS and want all the teams to succeed but the Goats USA have missed the boat. They were banking on a ready fan base of real Chivas fans (my favorite Mexican team FYI) to come out and support them. They have not. The Mexican football fans are just as narrow minded as the Euro snubs who rather watch TV than go out and support their local teams. The Goats should have gone to a non-MLS market and alligned themselves with a city and brought in a mixed crowd like the early Galaxy or even the Houston Dynamo who have a much better Latino following. I had also suggested that they should have imported the native only concept of their club and gone with an American Only players (white/black/Latin…).

    Re your good point of where you find good atmosphere on a Sunday game, sadly not enough but Columbus game right after seemed ok and I’m sure Toronto and Seattle fans would beg to differ. Tune in for the Thu Seattle Houston game. SOLD OUT. We need to grow to a point when fans come out no matter what.

    Btw, Sunday noon time slot in the middle of summer is stupid. Not only fans won’t show but the players can’t play either. Way too hot.

    Re kids to adult ratio. Chivas win. 500-1 vs 399-1.
    I hate it that MLS teams still have to cater to the AYSO factor. Seattle and Toronto don’t. They have a mature businees plan and a mature fan base who can support their teams. Just visit their websites sites to feel the difference.

    I don’t hate, just wish for what it should be.

    Peace/Paz

    PS – Just bought my ticket to gaLAxy’s away game to Goats USA. Bought the most expensive ticket to help out your Goats bottom line and get away from the damned horns.

  • PocketKings

    SU,
    Regarding your marketing argument… it’s old hat. Stop retreading the same old same old. We all conceded that point long ago. You know it was a mistake, I know it was a mistake.

    I agree with Seattle/TFC. They both have a city centered stadium and an established fan base (seattle sounders of USL). But that’s 2 out of 15? Even if I concede on the Crew, its still only 3 out of 15.

    We only win the kid to adult ration for that game. Every other Saturday game, the LAG’s games are all about Soccer Moms and the kids.

    And as far as your “away” ticket… the only reason you could buy our “most expensive ticket” is because our prices are WAY MORE reasonable that the arm and a leg that you shell out for your home games. Its not a disrespect to CDCUSA, that’s the LAG’s disrespect to you.

    LAG’s record 12-6-12 vs CDCUSA’s record of 13-11-6 just means that LAG’s go for the draw more than the win. Preki attacks and pushed the team to go forward… Bruce plays for the draw and hopes to win with a counter-attack or if you fall behind, you do just enough to draw.

    We won 1 more game than you did, you just tied 6 more than we did.

    So if you want to back a team you can check on in the paper for (yawn) results… LAG’s
    If you want to back a team that plays attractive soccer and goes on the attack (and is entertaining)… CDCUSA.

    There’s no right or wrong here…We know what you like, we know what I like… It looks like the rest of LA gets to choose what style they want to watch. Yankees/ Mets… Cubs/White Soxs… Dodgers/Angels … to each his own.

  • Studs Up

    PK (missed again!)

    Where did I say gaLAxy plays better soccer than the Goats team. They haven’t played decent soccer in 4 or 5 years or when ever the Sigi man took over and destroyed all that was good here. Having said that, there is no way I’m going to abandon a team I’ve supported from day one even if Barca relocates here in tact. The BIG point you’re missing is REAL fan support through thick and thin. Kids, soccer moms, horns, cheer leaders do not sustain a franchise. You and I do by buying tickets and getting emotionally attached to our teams.

    I just said I didn’t like the atmosphere at your game with all the screaming kids and the damned horns that the gaLAxy had the good sense to ban after the fans complained. I don’t even want to bring up the sleeze factor.

    Better luck next year in the playoffs since you don’t have the team to do it right now.

    GO gaLAxy

    PS – I am more that glad to shell out the REALLY BIG bucks to support my team. I want them to be first rate and I’ll do my part. I have witnessed too many leagues try and fail and don’t want MLS to suffer the same fate.

  • PocketKings

    The Studs Up tackle earns the Red Card..and shamefully walks off the field, leaving his team a man down for the rest of the game… what a poor decision making that challenge…

    “Kids, soccer moms, horns, cheer leaders do not sustain a franchise…I just said I didn’t like the atmosphere at your game with all the screaming kids and the damned horns that the gaLAxy had the good sense to ban after the fans complained.” -Oct 26

    “They were banking on a ready fan base…”-Oct 26

    “This organization does not belong in MAJOR League Soccer.”-Oct 25

    So you deem CDCUSA (which has qualified for the playoffs the last 4 out of 5 years) as not worthy of MLS because LAG (who won the MLS CUP during CDCUSAs first year but has not qualified for the MLS CUP for the last 3 years) does a better job marketing?

    Give me a brake… You are still bringing up old hat arguments about marketing, and I’m talking about what happens on the pitch. Are you a fan of the LAGs or AIGs marketing approach?

    It took the LAG’s SEVEN (7) years to win an MLS CUP from a field of 10 teams (of which 8 made the playoffs). CDCUSA has been playing for 5 seasons. If we win MLS CUP within the next two years, then that means CDCUSA won a championship in the same amount of time LAGs, but will have had to play more league games and go through more teams to do it.

    And as far as you telling me this – “They were banking on a ready fan base of real Chivas fans (my favorite Mexican team FYI) to come out and support them.”-Oct 26… So let me understand you > You have probably been supporting CD Guadalajara for longer than you’ve been watching MLS, and when that team started a franchise here, you decided that your allegiance to LAGs was more important than to CDG? But you still want me to call you a CDG fan?

    Is that’s suppose to impress me? Why admit to being a CDG fan at all? You were probably part of the group of “fans” that watched CDCUSAs embarrassing inaugural year, and decided they weren’t good enough to jump ship for.

    I watched FMF with my in-laws (mother-in-law was from Guadalajara) for a few years before I started watching MLS. I cheered for CDG. I went to a few LAG games at the RoseBowl. But in ’95, when CDCUSA started in MLS, I bought tickets to that first game against DCU. I sat through that first embarrassing year, and said, “Next year will be better.”

    And no one can deny that every single year has been better than the last…not even you.

    I hope we both can agree that the MLS playoffs are not about which team is the best. That honor goes to Columbus (I will blame the draws against NY and SJ for denying the Goats of that honor).

    We’ll know in about 2 weeks which team from CARSON played the better of these two games. Since

    ps.. PK is for PocketKings, not Penalty Kick… and Pocket Kings win 80%.

  • Studs Up

    PK,

    First off, congratulations for continuing the discourse without resorting to profanity and personal attacks. Mostly people drop out after firing one round on this blog.

    Now back to missing PKs, again and again.

    Once again, I am NOT putting your team DOWN on it’s performance on the field. I just have a major problem with lack of fan support not only in LA/Carson but all around the league for local teams as well as for USMNT. I want to see HDC full of stripe shirts every game.

    Btw, you may also want to look up how many times gaLAxy made it to the Cup finals for a more balanced performance perspective.

    Strickty going by attendance numbers, LA has you beat every year. So you tell me which organization does a better job. Does that mean I’m happy with gaLAxy’s fan demographics? HELL NO (Too many soccer moms and kids and now celebrity bandwagonners, but a better mix of nationalities representing our town). Does that mean the atmosphere and the game presentation is more to my liking at gaLAxy games? HELL YES, personal choice.

    The LA basin has enough soccer savy fans that can support 4 teams. But why don’t these people show up and support this sport to take root professionally? I’ll buy you a beer if you can solve that mistery. I’ve grown old trying to fight that battle for over 40 years in this town.

    Now re CDG and my allegence to gaLAxy. I don’t see that as a contradiction. I’m a huge soccer fan and have many favorite teams in most leagues. CDG’s Mexican only players philosophy (prior to Padilla controversy :D ) was always the lure for me. But domestically, gaLAxy is my team forever. I’ll never switch. Ironically, gaLAxy has more American born players than most teams this year. However if Chivas LA was the first MLS team in LA then you would have seen me in them stripes. If I could wear that ugly green and gold I could wear anything. It’s all about identifying with a hometown team for me.

    Columbus won the supporter’s shield deservedly but playoffs is about who peaks at the right moment. I’ll love to see RSL do a NY like last year and play and loose to my gaLAxy at the finals.

    Signed, Pocket Aces (is that about 95%?)

  • PocketKings

    Studs Up,
    While I appreciate your candor and slight personal attacks (at least their clean), you still talk about marketing issues.

    “Strickty going by attendance numbers, LA has you beat every year. So you tell me which organization does a better job.” – Oct 28

    When you earlier said, “Kids, soccer moms, horns, cheer leaders do not sustain a franchise…” -Oct 26

    So which one is it? CDCUSA is bad because we don’t sell a lot of tickets, or because we are the other team from Carson?

    “Btw, you may also want to look up how many times gaLAxy made it to the Cup finals for a more balanced performance perspective.”-Oct 28

    4 finals in 12 years, of which you one 2. The first of those finals there were only 10 teams (Congratulations, you didn’t come in the last two spot) Then there were 12 teams (Yahoo, not in the bottom 4 to make the playoffs).

    That’s like pointing out that Uruguay won two world cups in the first 4 tournaments. (BTW there were 16 or less nations during those world cup cycles…doesn’t sound as impressive anymore, huh?)

    “However if Chivas LA was the first MLS team in LA then you would have seen me in them stripes.”-Oct28
    Wouldn’t it have been easier just to say this? Don’t claim loyalty to other leagues to garner some respect or understanding from me.

    My department head was a Galaxy fan from the start of MLS, his daughters played in college, his son in HS. He know the game. But after three years, he stopped buying season tickets to LAGs in favor for CDCUSA. You can say he’s not a true fan, or that he jumped ship, but he told me his reasons. He didn’t like all the kids running around with the soccer moms (which is what you complained about at the CDCUSA v Houston game and admitted to as of late) and he liked the more offensive minded, short passing style of CDCUSA instead of the bunker down and counter style of LAGs (which is my argument).

    Either way…comments like: “This organization [CDCUSA] does not belong in MAJOR League Soccer.” isn’t going to cut it. You don’t have to like us, but you do have to acknowledge that we are here and all the complaining about marketing strategies and fan base aren’t going to make us go away.

    “When you are dealt pocket aces, you will either: WIN A LITTLE OR LOSE A LOT. Read that sentence again so you wont forget it. ” http://www.gamblingpace.com/the-truth-about-pocket-aces/2008/02/11/

  • PocketKings

    PS… Thanks Nick for having this blog and allowing two very passionate fans have some clean discourse the two Carson teams.

    How lame is it to claim to be from LA when you’ve played at Pasadena and Carson?

  • Studs Up

    “you still talk about marketing issues”

    I do because that was my premiss to begin with here. You keep bringing up team performance, switching allegiances, poker and a host of other issues which are good topics for other discussions.

    I repeat again, I found the fan experience at your game cheap and minor league. You may like it but I certainly didn’t.

    Despite my earlier utterance, I really don’t want your team to go away. It doesn’t do any one any good if they fold. They must find a way to bring more people in and there in lies my beef with soccer fans in this country. We must understand our mission to sustain this sport which is still an up-hill battle. MLS has given us the best platform ever to watch our sport grow domestically and it’s up to us to respond.

    Peace