Holy shit, the Jynx are in sixth place?!?!?!
Oh, also I want to commemorate that this is the last week where there are only two entries in the WMNSS. College sports start Thursday as women's soccer swings into action. Let us pray.
#-1: United FC (Last Week: -2). Goddammit, they did it. They fuckin' traded Superman to the Los Angeles Football Club Monday night. I'm both numb and pissed off, if that's such a thing. Or maybe it's the ooginess and tingling I'm feeling right now. Anyway, I'm still mad, and I'm still trying to process it, and I'm still struggling.
From a business/tactical standpoint, this is a mistake. OK, so maybe he wasn't scoring as much as he could have this year. But seven Goals and two Assists this year ain't chopped liver, and he was only one year removed from scoring 14 and chipping in three helpers. Maybe Adrian Heath and Manny Lagos could have entrusted Ramirez more instead of undermining him. Maybe they could have used those Designated Player spots on shoring up the Backline instead of signing fucking Wingers and fucking Strikers every goddamn week.
And by the way, if Manny Lagos did say that the NASL Loons are not the MLS Loons as a backhanded way to tell Ramirez fans to suck it up buttercup, I want to offer the statistics I just quoted above as proof that Superman has made the transition from second- to top-tier American soccer just fine, thank you. Also by the way, I think it's clear now that Heath never had faith in Ramirez and is instead going to deploy an attack via players the club just got from South America. If the goal is to reach the playoffs (something that isn't completely out of the realm of possibility, glory be), I don't think it's a great idea to experiment with chemistry as the regular season winds down. But shit, that's just me.
(Oh yeah, one more aside. When describing the move, some people in The Media have said that this is Ramirez's chance to "come home." He is a Southern California native. But has he ever expressed a desire to play for either LAFC or the L.A. Galaxy? If not, and I choose to believe Ramirez hasn't, bringing up his roots is misleading, and worse, could make people believe that he wanted to leave. That is bringing up an angle for the sake of sentimentality -- superstar comes home -- and/or softening what is, in the fanatical world of sports, a shot to the liver. Reporters should not say reckless things like that.)
Worse yet, the haul they got from Laugh-See for trading away Superman -- between $800,000 and a million in money -- is still in the squad's coffers, because they didn't do any other goddamn thing before the Transfer Window closed Wednesday night. I've seen at least one local soccer journalist say that it's better to keep the money until MNUFC finds the right guy. No way. When you trade away the face of the franchise in the prime of his playing career, you better fucking flip that around and get players in order to better the team, namely people on defense. If not, what the fuck was trading Ramirez for? And they didn't do shit.
And as much as this is a disaster on the pitch, this is a goddamn catastrophe with the fanbase. We love Superman. He has done nothing wrong. Wrong has been done to him, though -- cutting utterances, receiving undue shares of criticism, and then the unceremonious benching for the Seattle loss. We have seen him at his best, and there is no reason to believe that he couldn't do it again and for the next several seasons. Goddammit, he scored twice against LAFC the week before!!!
This isn't like Kevin Garnett, a superstar stuck on a failing team whose prime and time to win a championship was certainly not going to come while staying with the Timberwolves. Nor is this like Brian Dozier, a player who spent his career with the Twins but was the grizzled vet in a youthful locker room who was also looking for a big payday, either in Minnesota or elsewhere. Christian Ramirez was a bedrock of the organization and a vital talisman of a player who is still capable of striking fear into the hearts of opponents, and more than that, he wanted to stay and play here. You don't rip his heart out, and the hearts out of the soccer fans who give this organization millions of dollars, by trading away great players like him, especially when you have nothing to show for it.
Only my narcissism in being able to walk into brand-new Allianz Field 18 times next year and my laziness in seeing how I can back out of my commitment with my sales rep prevent me from pulling my season tickets. I don't really care anymore if trading Ramirez helps the team; Ramirez helps the team. Lagos and Heath, not to mention the Loons' fanbase, will miss him on the field of TCF Bank Stadium. And despite coming back from deficits twice, Saturday's 2-all draw at the Galaxy doesn't change my mind about this being a stupid, stupid idea.
Oh, and the up-and-down season with Francisco Calvo continues. Late in the match he tosses the ball high into the air and gets his second Yellow Card. Is this how a captain is supposed to act? He will miss United FC's next game, Saturday against the Dallas Burn, the team on top of the Western Conference. Angelo Rodriguez was by all accounts good, but he damn well better put the biscuit in the basket soon. I mean, Christian Ramirez would have scored Saturday night. Am I right?
#-2: Twins (Last Week: -1). Lose three-of-four in Cleveland, lose two-of-three at Detroit. Despite the Trade Deadline ending by all accounts on July 31, last week the Twinks traded Closer Fernando Rodney to The Bastard Philadelphia-By-Way-Of-Kansas City Athletics in exchange for another Young Arm. Good; he can give another team's fans heart attacks when he loads the bases in the Ninth Inning.
They're home this screening week. They play Pittsburgh Tuesday and Wednesday. That would be an interleague matchup I would want to see if I only had the time. The Tigers then come to town for a four-game series beginning Thursday. My friend has tickets for that Thursday matchup, and I plan on going to the game with him to see how many Twinks players I still recognize.
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