Sunday, March 05, 2006
The curse of LA's #9 shirt
My favorite media-type, Nick Green had an interesting piece in the Daily Breeze earlier this week about LA's Memo Gonzalez. Ya see, going into his 4 season in LA, I think everyone is about to agree his time in the sash has been a flop.
I remember when he was drafted. There was all kinds of talk about him being the next Mauricio Cienfuegos—there will never be another Cien…he was a class act and the best player ever to play for LA—but things haven’t worked out that way.
Everyone seems to have their theories on what went wrong with Memo, but for me, everything started to go downhill for him when he selected the #9 shirt his second year.
Let’s look at who has had the #9 shirt for LA since MLS started in ’96:
…and I assume Memo will wear the #9 shirt again this season.
Yeah, the Brian’s did well up in No Cal once they left LA, but neither impressed at the Rose Bowl. Everyone on that list has been a disappointment in LA. Will anyone be brave enough to wear the shirt once it’s vacated by Memo?
¶ 2:33 PM
I remember when he was drafted. There was all kinds of talk about him being the next Mauricio Cienfuegos—there will never be another Cien…he was a class act and the best player ever to play for LA—but things haven’t worked out that way.
Everyone seems to have their theories on what went wrong with Memo, but for me, everything started to go downhill for him when he selected the #9 shirt his second year.
Let’s look at who has had the #9 shirt for LA since MLS started in ’96:
- 96-Jorge Campos
- 97-Jorge Campos
- 98-Jorge Vasquez
- 99-Not worn
- 00-Seth George
- 01-Brian Ching
- 02-Brian Mullan
- 03-Alex Pineda Chacon
- 04-Guillermo Gonzelez
- 05-Guillermo Gonzelez
…and I assume Memo will wear the #9 shirt again this season.
Yeah, the Brian’s did well up in No Cal once they left LA, but neither impressed at the Rose Bowl. Everyone on that list has been a disappointment in LA. Will anyone be brave enough to wear the shirt once it’s vacated by Memo?
¶ 2:33 PM
