The Secret behind Fredy’s Slump

There’s been a lot of speculation this week about what it’s going to take to get Fredy Montero back on track. It’s made me wonder what it was that got him off track in the first place. And I think I’ve figured it out. It’s quite obvious, in fact.

It’s the shoes. Yep, those red boots that he’s been sporting lately.

In the beginning we had this:


Lovely goal scoring feet shod in plain ol’ neutral-toned shoes. The kind that left defenders standing with their jaws dropped open. Then, around the time of the Kansas City game, those shoes came off, literally:


And things changed. Next thing I knew, Fredy came out with red boots on. Sure, they catch the eye. And red symbolizes all kinds of sexy things like lust, courage, danger even. But it also represents sin and guilt and volatility. After all, red cars are statistically more likely to be involved in accidents. And it sure seems like Fredy’s crashed recently.

What happened? Why the change? Don’t soccer players have the same superstitions as the rest of professional athletes? I see enough players crossing themselves as they run onto the pitch or step up to a corner kick to think that’s true. Don’t mess with a good thing, Fredy! Go back to the old shoes and leave the red boots to Le Hawk:

Chicago Fire: The Day After

Set Play Sigh of Relief:
Although I’ve tried to ignore it up until now, negative incidents early in the game bode poorly for the Sounders. Keller’s red card in the 29th minute against Kansas City. Montero’s wide open chip shot sent wide in the early minutes at Chivas. And now a yellow card in the first minute at Chicago. Ouch.

Tyrone Marshall didn’t let it get him down though. His toe poke into the back of the net off of Freddie Ljungberg’s corner kick in the 74th minute caused five adults to simultaneously leap off the edge of their seats, throw their arms in the air, and breathe a collective sigh of relief. Whew. Thank you, Tyrone (and Freddie for the nice corner kick and Le Hawk for earning it)!

Montero and Patience:
My compadres and I were guessing about a lineup change for the second period during halftime last night. I put my vote in for Le Hawk coming on for Montero. I was wrong... until the latter’s red card. A gift perhaps? I thought so.

David Falk over at the Seattle Soccer Examiner has a great poll running asking what it will take to turn things around for Montero. You can probably guess how I voted. Check it out here and have your say!

More Things to Love about Sounders FC: A National Fan Base

I was glad to see that Nick Green’s soccer column this week exploring what to love and hate in the MLS found only things to love about our Sounders FC: copious crowds and unmatched enthusiasm, Kasey Keller and Fredy Montero. Check.

But I’ve found more to love, oh so much more. My heartfelt love goes out to SoCal Sound - “a group of passionate Seattle Sounders supporters who live in Southern California – but bleed blue and green.” Sing it!

And if you did a double-take during last Saturday’s game against Chivas when the camera panned over a section of fans proudly holding their Sounders FC scarves aloft, you weren’t alone. “Wha? Where did all that blue and green in a sea of red come from?” I love how the Sounders Flag in this photo is obscuring the banner in the background that reads "Home of Chivas USA."

Seriously, how many emerging sports clubs of any kind can you think of that have groups of supporters outside of their home state? I’ve found more than one Packer bar outside of Wisconsin, but I’m quite sure that out-of-state support didn’t exist a mere two months into the first season (sure, that was way back in 1919...).

Bottom line: We’re Sounders ‘till we die… no matter what state we live in!

Fredy's Future?

For an inside scoop on what the future may hold for Fredy Montero, check out yesterday's article from SI.com. A little European play, perhaps?

Can’t blame the kid, can you? I mean, look at the shit they’ve got going on over there:



Unbelievable! Beauty.

But back to Fredy... I'm looking, as we all are, for him to be back on his game this Saturday night. It's not time for Europe yet. The Sounders need you, baby. Let's go.

Fredy Shooting Blanks- Beck's Wrap-Up

Since you know, I am not really a super-fan, definitely not qualified to be a sports reporter and am lacking pretty much any reason other than my own foolish pleasure in writing brief blog posts, I feel kind of funny giving my game re-cap, but my imaginary fans have demanded it.

At the start of the game, it seemed to me that Fredy Montero was eager to score after having his sexual allegations dropped, but those initial shots weren't on target. Later, when the game started to shift the other direction, he couldn't even get near enough to the box to attempt anything....oh, he finally got in the box, but then he just shot blanks.....

Maybe the Chivas uniforms got too distracting for the players like they did for me. Were they soccer players or candy stripers? Their playing proved otherwise but I if I had one of those in my closet, it would be going on the Christmas tree for sure.

After the game I went through it my head and realized for possibly the first time as a new observer of the game, how integral and stellar Keller really is to our team. I think Fredy I and Freddy II need to work more cohesively as a team, and the rest of the Sounders need to get shorter shorts.

A Little Thing Called Desire

I want to eat a whole Dungeness crab for dinner tonight. I want my dog to stop eating dish towels and puking them up in the middle of the night. I want my frickin’ sinuses to clear up.

However, none of those things (well, maybe the last one) would make the list of my desires. The things I long for. That I itch for. That I eagerly pursue. My hunger. My lust and lasciviousness.

Nope. Crab. Dog puking. Stuffy sinuses. Not on the list.

Strangely, it seems that beating Chivas USA was not on the Sounders’ list of desires last night either.

They just seemed a little... well, flat. Like they were jet lagged, or ate too much Mexican food, or expended too much mojo having sex before the match. Like they were forced to share a locker room with the Chivas Girls, a case of champagne, ten dozen raw oysters, and three hours to kill. (For background on this observation, see Freddie Lungberg’s comments on sex before games here. And then add this article to the list of reasons why the Seattle Times should quickly follow the PI into online obscurity and leave real news reporting to even the moderately qualified.)


I know, I’m a superfan. I’m not supposed to criticize. And I’m not, not really. I’m not telling you that they weren’t attacking or didn’t have the right people in the lineup or just couldn’t recover momentum after Montero swung his chip shot wide left in the seventh minute (seventh minute!@$?). All I’m saying is that watching the game was just kinda... blah. Like driving through the Dakotas on your way out West. You know it’s gonna be good, but at this moment, well... it’s not.

The Dirt is In! Montero Scene Revealed!

Via the Slog, the whole lurid thing is up at the Seattle Times and has been for about a day. I'd read some details but had no idea the juice was loose. Here's some key points I picked up. Following are key quotes from the paper:
"The woman, who had lived in Colombia and speaks Spanish fluently, told police that she met Montero when they went out to a nightclub with several others on March 14."

She said he tried to force her to have sex, but she fought his advances.
The prosecutor's report says, however, that she didn't report this incident to police until the third time they interviewed her. She later said "she didn't consider this rape since he stopped when she told him to stop," the prosecutors' report says.

The prosecutor's report says the record of the messages shows she repeatedly sent him friendly messages, including photos of the two together at the nightclub. One of the photos showed Montero kissing her on the cheek. She also wished him luck on an upcoming soccer match, added him as a "friend" on her Facebook account, and at one point invited Montero out to a bar, but he didn't respond.

Then on March 22, the reports say, Montero called her around 2:30 a.m. on March 22 to tell her that he had found her necklace and invited her over.

She told police that she went back against her better judgment because one of his teammates would be there as well.

At some point, the teammate left and the woman claims that Montero dragged her up the stairs, removed her clothes and raped her while she cried for help

.

The bolding is mine. Like the prosecutors and most Sounders fans, I find it quite interesting that she did not think she was raped before the opening game on March 19, but reported that she was later, possibly after realizing just who she had be-friended, arguably the best player in the MLS.

After running into him once, she claimed he was stalking her, but wasn't she the one sending him repeated texts about her necklace? (to which he did not respond- who was stalking who is all I'm saying.)

I hope I'm not letting my love for the Sounders color my vision to greener pastures, but in this case, I really think the law made the right call.

Best “Goal” Aria Ever

“Nacho taco agave enchilada tortilla tequila horchata fredy montero columbiano Goooooooooooooooaaaaaaal! (deep breath) Gooooaaaaaal!”

Coming in at the one minute mark. Soooo good.




Oh yeah.