On Being Carlos Ruiz And How It Must Suck
You might never hear me say this again but I feel bad for Guatemala's (and FC Dallas') Carlos Ruiz. Not that he needs a little link because I think every MLS fan knows who he is - he's MLS' villian.
It's a reputation that's not undeserved, of course, since he's one of the biggest floppers in the world. But, beyond his theatrics, he's also one of the best players in North America.
Yesterday night in what many are calling the match of the tournament (something I predicted it could be in half-assed attempt at Gold Cup prognostication), the Reggae Boyz of Jamaica beat Guatemala 4-3 in the after card of Mexico/South Africa (at least according to some - most notably Yahoo's footcer news which didn't even bother to run a story).
Guatemala nearly tied it up with a late flurry which Jamaica's defense (they're so entertaining since they're an offense first side and make silly mistakes) barely withstood.
Who had all three goals for Guatemala? Carlos Ruiz.
Here's where the Pescadito hating comes in. So here's Ruiz with a hat trick in a losing effort and it's a footnote.
Oh, and for the message board punditocracy, of course there was the fact that he got one of his three on a penalty kick to make fun of him for. And, to boot, he got a yellow card after his penalty kick for celebrating by kicking the ball back into the net after the PK goal.
That's classic Carlos Ruiz of course. He'll do something brilliant and then he'll do something that makes the fans go, "why the hades did he just do that?"
But I hope he keeps on being the unlikeable S.O.B. he is. He needs to keep being a villain as MLS needs his identifiable character. They actually need to sell it more. Casual fans need to be made aware of his antics, come out and hate on him when he comes to their town.
---
Speaking of coming to town, I saw something on the bigsoccer.com boards that really disturbed me.
In a thread on Gold Cup attendance, the question was asked why more fans in Seattle didn't show up for the United States/Cuba match (and it's accompanying Canada/Costa Rica two-for-one deal).
The answer one person gave was they were upset that the Seattle Sounders match scheduled for Qwest Field got bumped due to the Gold Cup. I can understand their frustration since the Portland Timbers, their arch-rivals were in town, but come on. That match was the next day!
So here you have a city, like Miami, that either have had an MLS team in the past or are on the short list to have one in the future and you draw low numbers for a MNT match out of protest? That's a sure way to win friends and influence people in the MLS hiarachy.
Though I can see why Seattle doesn't have a team (besides the real reason that they can't get a financial backer or a group of them). If MLS were to "promote" them (in reality it would be giving them an expansion team) they'd have to take Portland and Vancouver - their 30-year arch-rivals - with them. So it's probably best they stay in the USL where everyone in the northwest can be a happy family.
Still, I'm a little jealous at the number of traveling fans all three get. It would be nice for MLS to have that.
It would also be nice for MLS to have someone named Preston Burpo.
Not for quality of keeping of course (though he does have a .66 GAA in the USL), but just for pure entertainment draw. :)
It's a reputation that's not undeserved, of course, since he's one of the biggest floppers in the world. But, beyond his theatrics, he's also one of the best players in North America.
Yesterday night in what many are calling the match of the tournament (something I predicted it could be in half-assed attempt at Gold Cup prognostication), the Reggae Boyz of Jamaica beat Guatemala 4-3 in the after card of Mexico/South Africa (at least according to some - most notably Yahoo's footcer news which didn't even bother to run a story).
Guatemala nearly tied it up with a late flurry which Jamaica's defense (they're so entertaining since they're an offense first side and make silly mistakes) barely withstood.
Who had all three goals for Guatemala? Carlos Ruiz.
Here's where the Pescadito hating comes in. So here's Ruiz with a hat trick in a losing effort and it's a footnote.
Oh, and for the message board punditocracy, of course there was the fact that he got one of his three on a penalty kick to make fun of him for. And, to boot, he got a yellow card after his penalty kick for celebrating by kicking the ball back into the net after the PK goal.
That's classic Carlos Ruiz of course. He'll do something brilliant and then he'll do something that makes the fans go, "why the hades did he just do that?"
But I hope he keeps on being the unlikeable S.O.B. he is. He needs to keep being a villain as MLS needs his identifiable character. They actually need to sell it more. Casual fans need to be made aware of his antics, come out and hate on him when he comes to their town.
---
Speaking of coming to town, I saw something on the bigsoccer.com boards that really disturbed me.
In a thread on Gold Cup attendance, the question was asked why more fans in Seattle didn't show up for the United States/Cuba match (and it's accompanying Canada/Costa Rica two-for-one deal).
The answer one person gave was they were upset that the Seattle Sounders match scheduled for Qwest Field got bumped due to the Gold Cup. I can understand their frustration since the Portland Timbers, their arch-rivals were in town, but come on. That match was the next day!
So here you have a city, like Miami, that either have had an MLS team in the past or are on the short list to have one in the future and you draw low numbers for a MNT match out of protest? That's a sure way to win friends and influence people in the MLS hiarachy.
Though I can see why Seattle doesn't have a team (besides the real reason that they can't get a financial backer or a group of them). If MLS were to "promote" them (in reality it would be giving them an expansion team) they'd have to take Portland and Vancouver - their 30-year arch-rivals - with them. So it's probably best they stay in the USL where everyone in the northwest can be a happy family.
Still, I'm a little jealous at the number of traveling fans all three get. It would be nice for MLS to have that.
It would also be nice for MLS to have someone named Preston Burpo.
Not for quality of keeping of course (though he does have a .66 GAA in the USL), but just for pure entertainment draw. :)
posted by incendiarymind at 10:50 AM
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