July 17, 2009
It was a topic of discussion on last week's edition of Kick This! as to whether the officials were calling things tighter in 2009.
The Rhinos-Impact game on Wednesday evening was the 87th game of the 2009 USL 1st Division season. Here are the numbers for the first 87 games of the 2008 season and how they compare to the first 87 games in 2009:
| 2008 | 2009 |
| 87 games | 87 games |
| 2066 fouls | 1946 fouls |
| 310 yellow cards | 304 yellow cards |
| 19 straight red cards | 29 straight red cards |
| 27 total red cards | 37 total red cards |
| 23.7 fouls/game | 22.4 fouls/game |
| 3.56 yellow cards/game | 3.49 yellow cards/game |
| 3.222 games/red card | 2.35 games/red card |
| 76.5 fouls/red card | 52.59 fouls/red card |
| 6.66 fouls/yellow card | 6.40 fouls/yellow card |
So, the biggest change from year to year appears to be a sizable uptick in straight red cards that have been handed out with the total rising from 19 in 2008 to 29 in 2009.
Coincidence?
The US WNT is in town
The US Women's National Team has rolled into town and they practiced yesterday ahead of Sunday's match versus Canada where Abby Wambach and Christine Sinclair both attempt to score their 100th international goal.
It will be interesting to see how many fans come out on Sunday afternoon with history likely to be made in Rochester yet again.
News & Notes:
- Like Devo, I want to send out some get well wishes to Soccer Sam.
- Even though it looks like the Rhinos will play a potential US Open Cup final on the road, Rob Clark is hoping to change that.
- The Seattle Sounder will have video of their USOC Semifinal versus Houston on their website.
- Do they really think that Miami deserves a second shot at MLS?
- I am hoping that Julien Baudet impresses Colorado enough that they feel comfortable extending their loan of Ty Harden to the Rhinos beyond July 26th.
- If you want to see the US-Mexico WCQ from Azteca broadcast in English, bug these people.
- The Ottawa 67s have borrowed the Rhinos' naming rights lottery idea. They even borrowed the price per entry!
- The back and forth on the PGE Park for MLS stuff continues....
- Here are Grant Wahl's takes on Beckham's first game for the Galaxy in 2009. It looks like this year Landon Donovan will be the captain AND the star for LA. And if Beckham does abandon MLS again, will anyone outside of AEG notice?
- Brian Ching was fined by MLS for a tweet that cracked on the refs.
- Charlie Davies' new jersey looks nice!
- Tomorrow's show will be packed with Chris Economides, Darren Tilley, Billy Andracki, Steven Goff, Christie Rampone, and Abby Wambach scheduled to join us.
The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author, and not necessarily those of the Rochester Rhinos or SoccerSam.com. Feel free to send any comments or complaints to news@soccersam.com. James promises to read (but not to respond) to all of them.
