Fair Weather Galaxy Lose 3-1

Friday night at the LA Galaxy game at the Home Depot Center was an example of a fair weather team, but impressively not fair weather fans.

Minutes before kickoff against the New England Revolution sprinkles began to fall on the reported crowd of 21,000. The pristine pitch was a vibrant green. Its perfectly angled blades were glossy, as if they had just been buffed and polished before the game. Its resilience to the forthcoming sheets of rain was impressive, and lead me to think that it is turf. It is not turf.

The West and East ends of the Home Depot Center, parallel to the side-lines, have a large awning outstretched over them. Despite their decorative elements, they are usually intended for shade, but in this rare case of rain for Southern California (especially this year) they acted as a shield to the soft sheets of rain. That is provided you were not just by the edge where the big drops raced off its edges onto some very unhappy fans’ laps.

Despite not having a ticket for this “nosebleed” section, I relocated there to get out of the rain. The Northeast corner of the stadium, in the top of the stands, was still a perfect vantage point to watch the action. I couldn’t read names on jerseys, or make out David Beckham’s statuesque face, but there are no bad seats at The Home Depot Center.

Unless it is raining, and you are not under the awnings. This includes the 100s of fans jumping up and down, chanting, and singing to the beat of the drum in the general admission section. No doubt the view from field level on the end-line is a great vantage point, the atmosphere of those jumping wand singing was impressive, and they seemed un-phased by the rain continuing to fall.

What should have phased them was the two goals that the Galaxy defense allowed in the first thirteen minutes of the game. The Revolution, who hadn’t won in the pacific time zone since 2009, found acres of room behind the Galaxy’s back four.

About thirty minutes into the contest, the rain worsened. A steady blanket of liquid forced most fans to leave their seats. While some fans took the easy way out and called it a day already down 2 goals to none. I was impressed with the fans that opted to relocate to a sheltered portion of the stadium instead. And a good portion of fans as well stayed in the rain, where their tickets suggested them to sit.

But almost none of the fans made it to sheltered. At half time, all of the stadium personnel who check tickets, those who usually insure that I don’t sneak down to much better empty seats, were now checking tickets at the entrance to the upper levels. They were preventing fans trying to move to the shelter of the worse seats. I have never heard of such a thing. Why can’t you just let people move to the worse seats?

As a rule, people always want what they can’t have, but I think that’s a side effect of authorities being withholding rather than accommodating with what they want.

I can only speculate, but the logic for the modified instructions to stadium personnel had something to do with not ruining the viewing experience of the paying fans in the upper levels, or safety regulations regarding capacity for that section. Maybe they hadn’t done the latest seismic retrofitting for the stadium, and as the fans in the upper reaches of the stadium stomped their feet on the cheap aluminum seats in a manner that might be most appropriate for the San Jose Earthquakes, seating managers worried the stands might come crashing down. That seems a bit bleak.

But the stadium personnel seamlessly and bizarrely shifted their priorities for where spectators couldn’t go, as spectators’ desire to move became evident. Apparently it is fine to move away from the pitch when no one wants to, but as soon as it is desired, it is not allowed.

Either way, as an early adopter I was still dry as the second half began. The PA announcer came on with the information that David Beckham was subbed out at halftime. Unlike the high pitched screams that the 36 year old Beckham still elicited during introductions for the starting lineups, he left the game to a much fainter cheer. Preoccupied fans heard his name and cheered, not realizing that he was announced only because he was subbed out.

His removal was unexpected, and more newsworthy than the Galaxy’s performance. He might have a no rain clause in his contract, but his inclusion didn’t make much difference in the result. The Galaxy had some runs of possession, and Edson Buddle had a terribly botched breakaway, but the Galaxy got nothing going.

All of the Galaxy players were on the ground at different times, slipping and sliding all over the pitch; yet I don’t recall one person on the Revolution slipping the whole game. Playing their games in Southern California, I want to blame the Galaxy’s ineptness, their lack of hustle and creativity and organization, on the bad weather. Its not warm and clear—I’m not playing, seemed to be the attitude. Meanwhile the Revolution went about their business in the rain, and easily beat the Galaxy 3-1. Robbie Keane’s late goal did little to salvage the contest.

It had been a long while since I had been to a Galaxy game, but the Home Depot Center is a beautiful place to watch a game (even, and sometimes especially, from the sheltered upper levels). The fans stayed and brought their energy in support, and then their boos in protest, to the team despite the weather. Next game the fans should use their music and dance to perform an anti-rain dance. Because if the fair weather Galaxy team brought the same energy that the fans of the 2011 MLS Cup champions did, Robbie Keane wouldn’t have had to call out the underachieving team in the wake of the disappointing game.