Re: Please Comment On The Match vs UO And/Or Next Week-End

by **Stonehouse** on Mon Aug 25, 2008 12:06 pm

Been busy with work and company the past few days so I haven't posted much, but the big thing that stuck out to me about last night... Michelle Enyeart is just really, really good. She dominates. And it feels like she could do so much more too but is always looking to pass and set up teammates and all that. Which is a great trait, of course, and it's good and smart soccer, but seriously... it would be fun to see her just try and take it to goal every time, because she is so fast she can seemingly run circles around opponents. In other words, it would be amazing to see what kind of numbers she would put up if she were not on a team with so much talent and instead had to be the only option. Call me crazy, but I think she could put up maybe not quite Sinclairian numbers but would probably lead the country in scoring.

Was also very impressed by Burk. She stepped right in and was all over the field. I would be surprised if she didn't play just about every minute at the right wing this season.

by **A_Fan** on Mon Aug 25, 2008 2:43 pm

It appeared to me that Megan was taking it easy this game. I assume there are several reasons for that, including not having played a game in almost a year and playing with new teammates. I suspect as the season progresses she will become the assertive player we remember.

I'm with you Ninjapizza on Elli and passing. The only player I remember who could consistently dribble into a group of 3 opponents and come out the other side with the ball was Tiffany. She was amazing.

by Auto Pilot on Mon Aug 25, 2008 3:07 pm

Purplegeezer wrote:By the way, Fanatic, Popeye's dad was actually named Poopdeck Pappy. Do you know what deformity Popeye magically overcame ?(trick question)

Question was'nt to me but I will give it a go. Either an iron deficiency which he overcame by eating spinich thereby embuing him with superstrength or as quoted in the wiki:
"In addition to a gravelly voice and a casual attitude towards grammar, Popeye is known for having an apparent speech impediment (a common character-distinguishing device in early cartoons), which either comes naturally or is caused by the ever-present pipe in his mouth. Among other things, he has problems enunciating a trailing "t"; thus, "fist" becomes "fisk" (as sung in his theme song, which makes it conveniently rhyme with "risk") and "infant" becomes "infink." This speech impediment even found its way into some of the titles of the cartoons"

by purple haze on Mon Aug 25, 2008 11:12 pm

Since Sinclair was a freshman I've believed the Pilots could win any home game (except this spring vs. USA U-23s) and always expect them to walk off Merlo Field with victory smiles. The double battle vs. Amazons from LaLa Land this weekend does shake my faith a bit, in that anything is possible in the sweet game of soccer, and we know these foes come in loaded with talent and experience. But that's what makes for a horse race. For myself, I just want to watch skill vs. skill, strength vs. strength, and see what develops.

My all-time fave Megan Rapinoe moment: vs Notre Dame at Merlo in the 2005 championship year, when she scored 2 goals and carried the team when it looked as if Sinclair was not 100 percent. First goal description: "Top shelf from 23 yards." Look that up in your Funk & Wagnalls under "rocket."

by PurpleGeezer on Mon Aug 25, 2008 11:15 pm

That's the shot Randy Wadrum called the hardest shot he had seen - man or woman.

It was pretty stunning.

by PurpleGeezer on Tue Aug 26, 2008 12:47 am

purple haze wrote:Since Sinclair was a freshman I've believed the Pilots could win any home game (except this spring vs. USA U-23s) and always expect them to walk off Merlo Field with victory smiles.

Interesting concept. I'm always shocked when someone beats us here, too.

I checked a bit in the archives,

and we have a record of 71-10-5 at Merlo , or about .880 winning percentage.

at away games, we are 33-13-5 for a .732 percentage - Still pretty good.

The most interesting category for me was neutral sites. we are 21-3-1 for a .877 winning percentage, almost identical to home.

I think the Merlo winning percentage in the 90's may have been even a little better than that, but there's no way to check.

You know, the archive thing...

by FANatic on Tue Aug 26, 2008 8:15 am

Purplegeezer wrote:

I think the Merlo winning percentage in the 90's may have been even a little better than that, but there's no way to check.

Ahhh...But there is! I'm surprised you missed this one, Geez. Must be the senility. Trust me. I know senility!

Just check your latest Media Guide. I don't think 2008 is out yet, but 2007's on page 53 shows our all-time won-loss-tie records back to 1980. A quick calculation will give you your 90's numbers. (I'm not going to do it. It would take me all day and xx number of frustration calming meds.)

On your post above, which I assume is from 2001 through 2007, I expect the home winning % to be about 90%, but the away games at 73%, and the neutral site games at 88% are really quite amazing.

by UPSoccerFanatic on Tue Aug 26, 2008 12:00 pm

Back from vacation after missing the Oregon game. Sounds great and confirmed my expectation that we might have three or four frosh starting.

I agree with FANatic about listening to Garrett's interview. Key points I heard: (1) Sophie will be here for the entire season, which means she won't be playing for the Canadian U-20s -- whoopie! Also, his comments about giving her time to detox from the Olympics are interesting, indicating the Pilot coaching approach that they will do what's best for their players, even if it might be at the cost of winning a game or two now. (2) Getting recruit commitments by midway through high school junior year is a real plus from a coaching perspective, as the players psychologically start integrating into the team right away. (3) Enyeart would be the top scorer in the nation if she were here for the entire season and might be anyway. Very Happy

by PurpleGeezer on Tue Aug 26, 2008 1:15 pm

Good to have you back, UPSF. You missed a good one.

I also missed your avatar of a well coordinated UP attack. That picture cracks me up every time I see it.

by PurpleGeezer on Fri Aug 29, 2008 1:52 am

Earlier this week we had this discussion:

Purplegeezer wrote:
purple haze wrote:Since Sinclair was a freshman I've believed the Pilots could win any home game (except this spring vs. USA U-23s) and always expect them to walk off Merlo Field with victory smiles.

Interesting concept. I'm always shocked when someone beats us here, too.

I checked a bit in the archives, and we have a record of 71-10-5 at Merlo , or about .880 winning percentage.

at away games, we are 33-13-5 for a .732 percentage - Still pretty good.

The most interesting category for me was neutral sites. we are 21-3-1 for a .877 winning percentage, almost identical to home.

I think the Merlo winning percentage in the 90's may have been even a little better than that, but there's no way to check.

You know, the archive thing...

It's been bugging me since that post, so I thought I'd put the matter to rest if I could. It turns out, the archives do have a bit of information in them. The archives contain Weekly release #1 from the year 2000, ( It's the oldest article in the archive right now) It contains a good summary of the Pilot results from the previous decade, including this:

SKY IS FALLING - LOSSES ON MERLO FIELD
REACHES DOUBLE DIGITS
Portland’s three losses in 1999 (6-3-1 at home), put Portland’s record on Merlo Field at 85-11-2 (.878). With its’ win, Virginia joined an elite group of three teams to register more than one win over Portland on the hallowed pitch. Virginia is 2-0 at Portland, joining Notre Dame (three wins), and North Carolina (two wins). Only seven teams have ever beaten Portland at home -San Diego, San Jose State, Virginia, Santa Clara, UCLA, Notre Dame and North Carolina.

Are we consistent or what?

Take away the 1999 season to record the first ten years on Merlo field, and the record jumps to .903

Any way you look at it, I'd rather be us playing on Merlo than the other folks.

by mikemac65 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 2:00 am

Great post geezer, but do you ever sleep?

by PurpleGeezer on Fri Aug 29, 2008 2:02 am

Nah, Sleep is overrated. At some point in your live you figure out you only have so much time on earth - Why spend it sleeping?

by Auto Pilot on Fri Aug 29, 2008 2:27 am

I am coming up this weekend and truly so excited I cannot sleep. I haven't felt this way since Christmas eve 1964. Oh I've lost sleep since then but not in a good way.

BTW lest I totally hijack this thread , my efforts today to determine the reason for Erin Hardy's absence from the lineup against UCSB was not fruitful. She had some trouble last year with an LDL sprain but I would thinkg that should be find by now. My connections to the team are not as forthcoming as they used to be. I think they know my agenda. Which leads me to believe fams of the other teams check this forum (trolls). So as they said in WWII

loose lips sink ships