Los Altos, California
I woke up early (for me) to play some tennis with Michael Neri down at Cuesta Park. Cuesta holds an extensive tennis facility with numerous courts, all of them in nice shape. I was admittedly rusty, but it also didn’t help that Michael seemed to be on his game. I was down 0-4 before storming back 3-4 as time expired. (Michael only had an hour to play and others had reservations for our court.) If I can get in a little more practice, I hope to do better next time.
Erin, Jonah, and I visited with our friends Shan and Heather Daroczi for lunch and had the honor of meeting their new son, Marcus. He slept (mostly) and fed while we were there, but I got to hold him for a good long time, too. I remember when Jonah was this size, but it seems now so long ago. It’s funny how every growth stage a child goes through becomes “normal” and it seems like they’ve always been able to do the things they do.
Our huge thanks to Shan and Heather for the lunch and for the opportunity to see Marcus.
In the evening, the Peterson’s came over to babysit Jonah, and Erin, the Lillys and I went to Spartan Stadium in San Jose to watch the San Jose Earthquakes take on DC United in a Major League Soccer (MLS) match-up billed as the Landon Donovan vs. Freddie Adu show. They even handed out free Donovan vs. Adu posters at the gate.
Unfortunately, Donovan flipped off the referee at the conclusion of the Quakes previous match and got himself suspended by the league. (Said Alexi Lalas, the Quakes GM, (and I’m paraphrasing), “Landon needs to learn that you can’t disrespect the referee—even if he is a moron.”) On the flipside, Adu only plays about 15 minutes a game for DC United. He’s an undeniable talent—especially for a 15 year old—but he’s really not experienced enough in the team aspects of soccer to be a full-time contributor.
So we had to make due with a regular complement of players. Of those you may have heard of, Jeff Agoos acquitted himself adequately—which is to say that his play wasn’t as noticeably bad as it has been at the World Cup level.
The Quakes tightly controlled most of the game, throwing in a scrambling goal for a 1-0 lead midway through the first half. That score remained until late in the 2nd when Dwayne De Rosario, a Canadian national and easily my pick for player of the game, rocketed a high volley into the upper part of the net. It may have been the best goal I’ve ever seen live, and it capped for De Rosario a spectacular game as a holding forward. I can’t tell you how incredibly bummed I was to find that he plays for the Canadian national team. I thought we’d found a stellar holding forward—one who might be even better than Brian McBride. Oh well. Still a great game.