P.S. If the Dynamo want to add to the revenue stream maybe they should go try to buy something at the concession stands. I really wanted to buy a $7 beer, but the lines are so long and slow…They lost at least $14 and maybe $21 on one seat alone. As a season ticket holder that adds up over time.

And for all those who have a misplaced fear of the league turning into the NASL, that doesn\’t have to be, said new CBA could still limit the DP slots, providing that the bulk of the salary cap is for increasing depth and paying players a living wage. When a minor league baseball player gets called up to the big leagues, he makes big league money, but a developmental player makes a minor league salary even when he sees MLS playing time.

As for the Dynamo on Saturday night. The good news is the defense is starting to click. The bad news is that the ofense isn\’t and our players seem to hesitate too long on shot opportunities. We weren\’t helped by the ref, and the MLS really needs to look at raising its standards – maybe import some refs from Europe during the summer months to serve as advisors . . . .

As for the Milano Derby . . . I\’m not a fan of the Rosanero, but I\’m thrilled they won, cause Roma took it to Sampdoria and now are just 3 points behind Inter.

1) Officiating – I had not read your blog entry yet so I couldn’t believe it when I heard you say that they assigned the equivalent of a rookie official (11 games experience for Batko) to this game, which is kind of getting a derby-like feel to it because of the last two seasons of games. I sit near midfield and the 4th official saw a bunch of things and tried to get involved and help out but Batko ignored him most of the time. THis game needed Toledo or Maruffo from the pool officials.

2) Ching – your comments are spot on but I think the effort is there. An objective observer would see that he has lost some explosition and movement but is still a good target forward with a ton of post moves. But alas, the results aren’t there. You can kind of see the spirit getting drained out of his play.

3) Tactics and Robertson width – pretty clear that visiting teams are starting to play the Dynamo 4-4-2 the same way. Force play to the outsides outside of the final third of the field and clog up the rest of the middle. Concede possession but not necessarily control of the field. Width of field hurts.

Your comment on Mullen not beating guys is accurate but I was struck in the 1st half just how many times the Dynamo only tried to go up the left side of the field.

Also, when Davis is not playing the team seems to struggle creatively on offense.

4) Ricardo Clark is the best D-mid in MLS. He can pop up off a missed tackle and still run guys down as well as control the ball on offense. We probably don’t appreciate him as much as we should.

5) Crowd was great but getting desperate towards the end. We’re dying for goals and results.

5) Lastly, I think this is a transition year for the Dynamo personnel-wise even if they don’t know it. We can recover the magic and make nice runs and another playoff push but the roster is aging and we have a lot of relatively high priced and upper middle class guys on the roster who are not making a difference right now. Speed at the forward slot to open it up is badly needed.

Just got beck from the reserve game (which we tied 1-1 on a great goal from Geoff Cameron), but here at my thoughts on the game. I agree that the referee lost control of the game. He tried to control the game early, but giving cards will not control a game. Instead of pulling the cards, he should have been talking to the players, telling him that he is seeing what is going on and isn’t going to tolerate it again. The calls he let go let the game get out of control and turn into an ugly soccer game.

Speaking of which, hopefully MLS will hand Galindo a three match ban for his elbow on Richard Mulrooney in the second half. The ball was sent down to the corner, and as Galindo was chasing, he put his elbow right into the jaw of Mulrooney. He did it right in front of the bench and Dom let the 4th official know about it. If Eddie Robinson gets a three match ban for his elbow, then Galindo deserves the same. If MLS wants to be taken seriously, they need to punish players for these stupid actions, or else someone will get injured badly.

I agree with what you said about Brian Ching. Last night, he was mugged, assaulted and just beatened for over 90 minutes. Why not look at bringing on a guy like Cameron or Wondolowski in the 70th minute and try to change the pase of the game and stretch the defense some. I trust Dom and his decisions, so maybe that is something you can ask him on Monday night at the radio show.

Now my international rants:

Props to AC Milan for their win of Inter Milan. Glenn, what was wrong with Inter in the first part of the second half. They looked like they were asleep and didn’t care. AC could have added a couple more goals there with all the shaky defending that was going on.

My Red Card of the Week goes to Alan Curbishley of West Ham United. Two weeks ago, he was quoted as saying that Manchester United deserved to win the Premier League and it would be a shame if they did not win the league. Then he sends out the Hammers to Old Trafford yesterday and promptly gives up 3 goals in 30 minutes. Can you say collusion? Because I smell a rat in this situation.

I am definitely looking forward to the trip to Moscow, but Glenn, I doubt I will be able to clear customs in Latvia. Apparently, I made fun of their national team when they played a friendly, and the government has not forgotten me!

Coach H

Having said that, the referee made yesterday´s game a bad one, not because he favored any team, he didn´t, his problem is that at the beginning of the game he lowered the price for yellows, he was giving away yellows for every play, after giving so many yellows he realized he was going to eject 5 or 6 players with the same pace, so, he decided not to yellow card anyone, both team´s players deserved yellows but because he was not showing them, both teams started to foul even more and started to use very strong tackles and dirty tricks, I was expecting for the game to end up in a huge brawl because of the referee.

MVP yesterday surely was Claudio Suarez the guy knew what he was doing when he got red carded, he was betting on his team to hold the Dynamo for 8 more minutes with one man down, my father used to say that there is such a thing as a smart red card, and yesterday was one of those.

About the fireworks incident, it was real scary, I was looking at the guy exactly when the incident happened, I couldn´t believe he kept walking after the explosion, probably from the adrenaline, you could tell something went wrong, but strangely people at the field didn´t help the guy for some minutes, was it me or did the chivas medical team helped him first?, whoever was first, chivas or dynamo, huge thank you to them to pick up the ball metaphorically and help the guy.

I´m also mad at the organization, but that rant is for another time.

Do I want a win? you bet,am I happy? no I´m not, am I going to be back next week?, you bet, but not to the goal end line anymore, I´m going to try my luck at the sidelines, hopefully there 5-star and front office members are not that incompetent.