In this week’s installment of The Rundown, we take a look at the playoff-bound San Jose Earthquakes, a pseudo NFL franchise in Santa Clara and the steady play of Sharks winger Tomas Hertl. First, a few questions:
- If you were within two blocks of Avaya Stadium on Sunday, you surely heard the roar of the Ultras and other Quakes fans after Marco Urena scored in the third minute of stoppage time to clinch the team’s first playoff berth since 2012. Now we have to ask: Can the Quakes ride their hot streak deep into the MLS Cup Playoffs?
- The San Francisco 49ers (0-7) are almost halfway to a defeated season. Coach Kyle Shanahan and GM John Lynch were both signed to six-year contracts, but what positives will they draw from a lost first season?
- After scoring 29 goals last year, Sharks defenseman Brent Burns is still searching for his first of the new season. In the words of Eminem, will the real Brent Burns—the reigning Norris Trophy winner—please stand up?
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES
Absolute bedlam. That’s the only way to describe Avaya Stadium after Urena’s goal led the Quakes to a 3-2 victory over Minnesota United, capping a wild sequence that lifted hometown fans from downright depression into a state of unmitigated euphoria. Minnesota scored a goal to tie the game 2-2 in the 81st minute, and it looked as if the Quakes’ playoff chances had all but evaporated.
But then Urena—who was inserted into the game in the 88th minute—scored to lock up the win and the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference. The Quakes face No. 3 Vancouver (15-12-7) on Wednesday at 7:30pm. San Jose has reason for optimism, as the last two MLS Cup champions started their run to glory in the knockout round.
“This game was an epitome of the season for us, in the sense where we’ve had some ultimate highs and some lows where you’re reeling and gut-checked,” Quakes captain Chris Wondolowski told the official MLS website after the match. “It’s a time to look in the mirror and see what you’re made of. And our guys showed up.”
SAN JOSE SHARKS
At 3-4, San Jose gotten off to a decidedly mediocre start. Fortunately for the Sharks, they have plenty of time to coalesce into a playoff contender. The team recorded wins over Montreal and New Jersey last week before suffering a 5-3 loss Saturday to the New York Islanders. The Sharks continue their East Coast swing with a game against the New York Rangers today at 4pm. Highlights from last week included Logan Couture notching the second hat trick of his career in a loss to the Islanders, while goalie Martin Jones produced his best performance of the season in a 3-0 win over the Devils.
Going forward, can Tomas Hertl continue his ascent as a cornerstone franchise player? Since being moved to the left wing on the team’s second line in the third game of the season, Hertl has created myriad scoring chances for teammates.
SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS
When the San Francisco 49ers lost five straight games by three points or less, one could have argued that they were headed in the right direction. After a 40-10 defeat to the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday—one of the worst home defeats in franchise history—that argument is moot. The team’s latest loss confirmed what many already knew: the 49ers are basically an expansion team that needs two or three drafts and free agency classes to rebuild the least talented roster in the NFL.
San Francisco plays the red-hot Eagles (5-1) on Sunday, followed by games against the Cardinals (3-4) and Giants (1-6). Forget the playoffs. The 49ers’ only goal should be to win one or two and remain competitive in the team’s final nine games.
SAN JOSE BARRACUDA
In a 5-2 victory over Stockton last Wednesday, San Jose (3-3) forward Danny O’Regan recorded his second two-goal, three-point game of the season. Last year’s American Hockey League Rookie of the Year has been as good as advertised this season, leading the club with four goals.
If moving players on to the NHL is the whole point of minor league hockey franchises, the Barracuda are certainly getting the job done. Six of the Barracuda’s top seven scorers from a year ago—Joakim Ryan, Tim Heed, Barclay Goodrow, Ryan Carpenter, Kevin Labanc and Timo Meier—are now playing with the Sharks.
The Barracuda play the San Antonio Rampage on Friday and the Texas Stars on Saturday to close out October.
The whole Earthquakes/Avaya Stadium story might be mildly interesting if only soccer wasn’t such a ridiculous game. Soccer has potential. The athleticism and skill of the players is impressive. Now if they’d just get rid of the offside rule, make the goals wider, eliminate the goalie, and make the clock count down the way God intended, then you might have something worth watching.
Essentially, you already have that game…it’s called basketball. Everything except the nonsense of a goal larger than 12 ft x 24 ft. Just for the sake of a ridiculous argument, eliminating the goalie should require the reduction of the goal to about 3ft x 4ft (probably smaller). Soccer players are as about as accurate as basketball players from the 3 point line, so the goal should be comparable. Beyond that, there would need to be a “crease” or area around the front of the goal where a shot on goal would be illegal and defenders would need to have a time rule similar basketball so that the goal could not be continually blocked by stationary defensive players. In the end, major changes to the game are a fool’s errand. That is not to say that some changes would not necessarily help. However, making up a new game just so Americans might (and I emphasize “might” be better at it) has been done already…..that game is what WE call football.
no one with a losing record should make the playoffs