SoCal Pros: April 2008 Archives
Chicago Fire midfielder John Thorrington was acknowledged as one of the finest soccer products to emerge from the South Bay when he joined England's storied Manchester United out of the Palos Verdes Peninsula's Chadwick School.
His pro career hasn't quite had the expected trajectory, however, with injuries stifling his anticipated progress.
But Thorrington persevered, scoring two goals for the Fire last weekend to beat the Colorado Rapids.
Here's a concise profile that traces the challenges he has faced.
Virtually no local reporters bothered to show up for Thursday's presser advancing Saturday's Chivas USA-Galaxy derby, so we leave it to this scribe to do the job for us.
Meanwhile, the legacy of David Beckham's visit to Hawaii continues with this pathetic little tale.
On a happier note, former Galaxy coach and longtime South bay resident Sigi Schmid, currently in exile in Ohio, is nearing a milestone.
For Tuesday's column I took a look at the locals in MLS.
Read it here.
One correction to the column: Mike Caso was waived by the Galaxy, not Chivas USA.
Here's a list of the other Californians in MLS who weren't listed in the column for space reasons with their hometown and college affiliation:
Chicago Fire - C.J. Brown, Hayward, UCLA; Calen Carr, Berkeley, Cal; Peter Lowry, Fair Oaks, Santa Clara.
Chivas USA - Anthony Hamilton, Grand Terrace, UC Irvine; Sacha Kljestan, Huntington Beach, Seton Hall; Kraig Chiles, San Diego, San Diego State; Eric Ebert, Irvine, Cal.
Columbus Crew - Steven Lenhart, Yorba Linda, Azusa Pacific.
Colorado Rapids - Jordan Harvey, Mission Viejo, UCLA; Jovan Kirovski, Escondido.
FC Dallas - Eric Avila, San Diego, UC Santa Barbara.
Houston Dynamo - Johnny Alcavez, Santa Barbara, UC Santa Barbara & Westmont College; Patrick Ianni, Lodi, UCLA; Chris Wondolowski, Danville, Chico State; Nick Hatzke, San Jose, Cal; Stephen Wondolowski, Danville, UC Santa Cruz.
Kansas City Wizards - Eric Kronberg, Santa Rosa, Cal; Tyson Wahl, Newport Beach, Cal; Matt Marquess, Palo Alto, UC Santa Cruz & UC Santa Barbara.
Galaxy - Troy Roberts, Fremont, Cal.
New England Revolution - Amaechi Igwe, Belmont, Santa Clara; Matt Reis, Mission Viejo, UCLA.
New York Red Bulls - Kevin Goldthwaite, Sacramento, Notre Dame; Luke Sassano, Orinda, Cal.
Real Salt Lake - Chris Seitz, San Luis Obispo, Maryland; Brennan Tennelle, San Diego, UC Santa Barbara; Ian Joy, San Diego, Nick Rimando, Montclair, UCLA.
San Jose Earthquakes - Ramiro Corrales, Salinas; Eric Denton, Manteca, Santa Clara; Matt Hatzke, San Jose, Santa Clara; Jamil Roberts, Fremont, Santa Clara.
Toronto - Marvell Wynne, Poway, UCLA.
Who did I miss?
About 100 Percent Soccer
Sportswriter Nick Green has written the 100 Percent Soccer column since 2005. 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.
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