HARRIS COUNTY - HSA INSIDER
A weekly look at all things Houston sports from the Harris County - Houston Sports Authority: Soccer is growing
Melanie Hauser
Nov 17, 2017, 7:05 am
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While most of you spent the week debating quarterbacks, American League MVP or the latest college football poll, a dozen or so square blocks of downtown Houston was focused on just one thing -- soccer.
Specifically taking the game to the next level. Well, make that levels.
Over at BBVA Compass Stadium, Houston Dynamo president Chris Canetti was bouncing from interview to interview in preparation for Tuesday night’s sold-out Western Conference Championship match at home against the Seattle Sounders.
This is his team’s seventh trip to the conference finals in 12 seasons and the first in three years and, no, he hasn’t tired of chatting about the Dynamo’s resurgence. Or about the chance to win a third MLS Cup title.
Meanwhile, a quarter of a mile to the west, representatives from 32 cities and officials from the United Bid Committee were meeting to discuss concepts and roles for an unprecedented three-country bid for the 2026 World Cup.
United Bid communications director Brian Reich said they came into the four days of meetings hoping to come up with one solid concept for the bid from the United States, Canada and Mexico. Instead, they’ve come up with multiple concepts every day and serious momentum for a bid that is due next spring.
“We’ve actually created a problem for ourselves,’’ he said. “We have great concepts, any of which could be transformative in the context of an event like this and we have to figure out how to put it together in a short period of time.’’
Yes, soccer is exploding in H-town. Again.
A decade ago, Canetti remembers a packed crowd rocking
Robertson Stadium to watch the Dynamo knock off the then-Kansas City Wizards.
“There’s no doubt no doubt that evening was a springboard to who we are as a brand,’’ said Canetti of the win that eventually led to a second consecutive MLS title. “It defined us.
“This is a chance for us to do that again.”
The Western Conference matchup sold out of reserved seats last Friday and sold out of standing room only tickets earlier this week.
“It’s going to be a great evening here for soccer and sports fans in the city,’’ Canetti said, “just like it was across the way at Minute Maid during the Astros playoff run.’’
“I think the Astros created a lot of positive energy around the city and around sports so there’s no question that some momentum built up around their magical World Series run, but I would also say we’ve created our own energy with our own success, bringing back the excitement that existed with the Dynamo for so many of our early years.’’
The Dynamo won back-to-back titles in their first two years (2006, 2007) and were in the finals again in 2011 and 2012, but lost to the Los Angeles Galaxy both times. Then, after three hard years, they’re back in the conference finals.
“The place will be rocking,’’ Canetti said. “It will be another moment in our brief history that helps us grow and helps us build.’’
Canetti has seen a steady growth in soccer fans over the years, noting the current base is a much wider group of fans, including Houstonians who don’t know soccer, but love the Dynamo. He sees even more room to expand the base, including drawing in international fans of other teams who move to Houston.
“Over time, we want them to love the Dynamo too,’’ he said.
And, now that the team has been here more than a decade, parents are beginning to pass their passion onto their children.
“I always like to explain it I grew up in Connecticut and I’m a New York Yankees fan,’’ he said. “My grandfather was a Yankees fan, my father was a Yankees fan and they taught me to be a Yankees fan unknowingly. They bought me Yankees caps and we watched Yankees game together on TV and went to Yankees games. So I was molded to be a Yankees fan.’’
It has happened with the Astros and Rockets, he said, so why not the Dynamo?
“Soccer is the fastest growing game in this country, Major League Soccer is the fastest growing league with enormous upside,’’ Canetti said. “When you look at the demographic in this country, it lines up perfect for soccer. When you look at amount of participants on youth and adult level, it’s enormous.’’
That same growth is one of the major reasons the United bid -- #2026United – appears so strong. Reich said FIFA wants to grow the soccer fan base by a billion people over the next decade and a lot of that growth will come from North America.
“The whole soccer global community benefits, in our view, from a United bid,’’ he said. “There’s great growth and engagement in all three countries.’’
The U.S. is now three decades removed from hosting an impressive 1994 World Cup, which still holds the World Cup record for most tickets sold. Mexico has a 75-year legacy of passionate soccer fans and Canada is an emerging soccer nation. If successful, the United bid calls for the U.S. to host 60 of the 80 games, with Canada and Mexico hosting 10 each.
Only 12-16 of the cities meeting here will host games, but all 32 could be involved. Those not hosting games could be home to training facilities and base camps, for example.
“We want to highlight what makes each of these potential host cities such a powerful, exciting contributor to the United bid as a whole,’’ Reich said.
Organizers chose Houston, one of the 32 cities, to host the meetings after Hurricane Harvey. Reich said it has been the perfect site. Not only is it centrally located for the other cities, but it accommodated all their needs with downtown meeting facilities and hotels and restaurants within walking distance.
“It’s a city a lot of people haven’t seen,’’ he said. “They’re looking out and seeing Minute Maid (Park), seeing BBVA just off the balcony of the hotel kind of thing and they think of the city as a sports entity. It offered a lot of inspiration for folks.’’
As have those meetings. Reich said all the cities have taken ideas to the next level with their innovative thoughts, sharing them with each other in meetings and networking. The organizers have to spend the next month refining them for the rough draft of the United bid, then, after a few more tweaks, they will submit the final draft in March.
“It’s a truly united bid,’’ Reich said, “which is the power of soccer. It transcends politics and cultural differences . . .It’s not just about 30 days in June and July of 2026. It’s about the next eight years if we get the chance to host and about the legacy we leave behind.’’
And the sport itself.
“If we’re going to build a sport, if you look at the diversity that exists across these three countries,’’ Reich said, “soccer is one of those things that can legitimately unite people.’’
Major League Baseball’s regular season is 162 games long. You can think of 18 games as the first inning of the season, 18 times nine equaling 162. While the Astros 8-10 record is not good, it’s far from disastrous. Think of it as them being behind 1-0 after the first inning. It is pretty remarkable that they have yet to win consecutive games. Even during last year’s 7-19 stink bomb of a start the Astros twice managed to win two in a row.
The Astros’ offensive woes are plentiful. Oddly enough as impotent as they’ve been, the Astros have yet to be shutout. But in half their games they have scored exactly one or two runs. Basically, most of them stink thus far. Exemptions go to Jose Altuve and Isaac Paredes, but it’s not like either of them has been outstanding. It’s still early enough that one big series can dramatically alter the numbers, but the Astros badly need Yordan Alvarez to pick up his production. Yordan enters the weekend batting just .224 with a .695 OPS and just four extra base hits. Yainer rhymes with minor. As in minor leagues, where Diaz belongs at his current level of performance. That is not saying Diaz should be sent down, just that any random AAA catcher called up couldn’t have done much worse to this point. Diaz isn’t hitting Altuve’s weight, a woeful .130 with seven hits in 57 at bats. Diaz simply remains too undisciplined at the plate swinging at too many balls. He’s drawn three walks. And now to Christian Walker, who thus far has delivered return on investment for his three year 60 million dollar contract about as strong as the stock market’s performance in Tariff Time. Walker’s .154 batting average and .482 OPS are very Astro Jose Abreu-like. Walker’s23 strikeouts in 65 at bats jump off the page. In the batter’s box he has often looked befuddled. Walker is definitely pressing and frustrated, wanting to perform better for his new team. Jeremy Pena goes into the weekend batting .215 and has one hit in 13 at bats with runners in scoring position. Brendan Rodgers, Jake Meyers, and Chas McCormick all have weak stat lines, with little reason to expect quality offensive output from any of them. Cam Smith is at .200 with a yucky .591 OPS but he’s obviously a young stud work in progress thrown into the deep end of the pool.
All batting orders are top-heavy, the Astros’ on paper more so than many. As I set forth on one of our Stone Cold ‘Stros podcasts this week, the first inning should be a team’s best offensive inning. It’s the only frame in which a team gets to dictate who comes up from the start with the batters lined up just as the manager slots them. Add to that, the first inning is a good time to get to a starting pitcher before he settles in. The Astros have scored a pitiful three first inning runs in 18 games, and in two of the games they pushed one across in the first, it turned out to be the only Astro run of the game. Improvement needs to come internally from the big league roster. It’s not as if the Astros have a meaningful prospect at AAA Sugar Land who looks ready to help. Entering play Thursday the Space Cowboys’ team average was .186. Second base hopeful Brice Matthews is nowhere close, batting .180 and striking out left and right. Outfielder Jacob Melton opened three for 17 following the back injury-delayed start to his season.
As exasperating and boring as the offense has been for so many, grading needs to occur on a curve. So, while the Astros’ team batting average is a joke at .216, know that at close of business Wednesday the entire American League was batting just .232. The American League West-leading Texas Rangers scored eight fewer runs over their first 18 games than did the Astros, though that is skewed by the Astros’ one 14-run outburst against the Angels.
Familiar faces return
This weekend the Astros play host to the San Diego Padres at Daikin Park. The Friars are off to a fabulous start at 15-4. The Padres being here creates a mini reunion as both Martin Maldonado and Yuli Gurriel are on their roster. In a telling fact, Maldonado would have the third-highest batting average on the Astros if on the team with his current numbers. Maldonado is hitting .250 with seven hits in 28 at bats. The last season he finished above .200 was 2020. The only season in his career Maldonado topped .234 was his rookie season with a .266 mark in 2012.
Gurriel was last good in 2021 when he won the American League batting title at .319. He fell off a cliff from there, though perked up to have a fine postseason in the Astros’ 2022 run to World Series title number two. “La Pina” is batting .115 with just three hits in 26 at bats. Gurriel may be released soon, and approaching his 41st birthday June 9, that would probably be the end of the line. Short-timer Astro Jason Heyward is also on the Padres, and batting .190.
For Astro-centric conversation, join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and me for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!
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