Home Grown!

Everybody knows that home grown fruits and vegetables taste better! And so to with soccer,  Home grown rocks!

Look at Messi, that little Argentinian who was plucked from South America as a wee seedling, and sent to Catalonia to set down roots, and grow!   He is the poster child for an academy system operating at peak performance- he and the majority of Barcelona's team.   I can't wait for that culture to grow here!

So I know this is a quirk that many of you may find hard to look past, but I am a Sounders' fan.  Now some day I may drop it all together, but for now, I follow the team, and cheer for them when they play everyone except the Quakes.   Then I sit there as if I were Mrs. Harbough....  I love them both!  Last night I watched with mortification at the way Seattle played, but also with pride.   For in my mind, the man of the match was DeAndre Yedlin, a home grown lad.   I love that!  He was speedy and fierce, but most of all he played with heart.   When Gspurning (the keeper) came out and got tied up....  Yedlin went to heroic efforts to make a save!  I think it was about more than the game, it was about the TEAM.   I think home grown players are wired a little bit differently.  It's a good thing.

As the Quakes build not just a new stadium, but a whole sports complex, I think they are building something even bigger.  I see vision in this club.  With the California sunshine and the bit of fog, I think this will be the perfect environment to grow amazing talent.   One look at Wondolowski & Beitashour, and you know that the local stock is great!

My personal fantasy is that one day there will be Residence Academies like La Masia (Barcelona's) and that nice little stadium that the 49'ers are building will undergo renovation for real football!  I love the beautiful game!