“The gods will not save you”
Stolen The Wire Epigraph
“The gods will not save you”
For those of you who haven’t seen The Wire, it is a dating show where young singles look for their soulmates and often find them, if their soulmate happens to be a crippling heroin addiction.
I will admit it. I hate going to press conferences after Racing loses a match on the road. I especially hate it when it is after midnight, so I just decided to skip it and go to bed after writing my player ratings post. I listened to Bev, Wright, and Petersen this morning and it is safe to say that I didn’t miss anything. The players almost always sound appropriately disappointed, and Bev tries not to be too downbeat. I have heard the same thing several times. You rarely get anything deep or insightful, but I am not really expecting it.
For those of you that like to let the stats lie to you, you can look at the numbers and say “hey, Racing was in this match and won some of the statistical categories.” You do you! I, on the other hand, trust what I saw based on a long history of watching this team. There are simply going to be times where Racing is going to be outclassed by their opponent and last night was disappointingly one of them. I was expecting it against the league powerhouses but was also prepared for it to start to happen against teams in the second tier. It is too early to know which of those Bay FC will fall into this season, but Racing was never in it in the first half.
How many times did we hear it last year? Racing puts together a good half, but either doesn’t capitalize or it’s the wrong half after being outplayed in the first. Bev has talked about the “1 to 2%” that decide matches. In another parlance that can be put down to “luck” or “the gods”. That might be true some of the time, but not this time. “It’s Baltimore gentlemen. The gods will not save you” means that you have to find creative solutions to fight a sober reality. Maybe don’t try the football equivalent of Bunny Colvin’s solution in this case, but either do something drastic or stop kidding yourselves.
Post-Match Moment of Match
I am glad that I watched the post-match interviews because Arin Wright was a little spicy on getting “pushed in the back” on Bay’s first goal. She actually got bumped into and went down way too easily. Again, “the gods will not save you”. This time, said “gods” are the officials or VAR. There were several times in the match where Racing simply wasn’t strong enough physically. If you are going to be playing against teams that are more talented, you are going to have to win the physical and mental battles. Racing wasn’t close to winning either in San Jose.
Were the Announcers Good?
I thought so. Jordan Angeli was on the call and Maura Sheridan was on the color. For the most part I thought they did a good job of keeping me engaged in the match.
Subsection: How was their “Louisville”?
Louisvillians are persnickety on the pronunciation of their beloved hometown. I will be monitoring the broadcaster’s commitment to getting it right.
Jordan: Not bad, although she let a few “French” ones slip in early. It was almost always 3 syllables, which is not the preferred style.
Maura: Pretty good, actually. I didn’t notice any “French” ones. She got a few 2-syllable versions in as well.
I thought they spent enough time on both teams, and I appreciated the concern for DeMelo and the update on her condition late in the second half. I like it when announcers are excited, but not over the top excited for goals. They hit a good balance.
The Kayla Fischer Honorary Yellow Card of the Match
Goes to…Kayla Fischer! Hooray! It was a tremendously unnecessary card in the extra bit or extra time after being let off the hook generously by Danielle Chesky just a few moments earlier. I was starting to rethink this whole bit. A million thanks for coming through in the dying seconds, Kayla!
Bonus Opposition Card Winner: Kiki Pickett was so confident last night that she argued herself into the dumbest second-minute yellow card you will see this year, just to make the game a little more challenging for herself. Congratulations! Your Quills gift card is “in the mail” as they say.
Dumb Fotmob Rating
Katie Lund-5.8
This is why I do player ratings. The number tells you that Katie was slightly sub-par. I thought she was brutal at times. When I question Katie, it is never on her ability but almost always on her decision making. It is fine to get beat near post on a banger, but she made her jump way to early. I think she was taken off guard by quickness of Lema’s shot. Another time she incorrectly made the decision to come for a ball that she was nowhere near getting. This was definitely a performance in the 4 or 5 range.
TV Kit Rating
Kits look one way up close and another way on the screen. I reassess the opposition kit each away match.
I think I was pretty astute in my initial reaction to Bay’s new kit this season. Elizabeth went to Trader Joe’s this week and was very pleasantly surprised by the prices and selection of fresh flowers. It was nice to see them as a back-of-the-jersey sponsor for Bay. Are the kits black or blue? I though they read black most of the time, but either Jordan or Maura referenced them as being blue before the start of the match. It was probably the power of suggestions, but I could see them as midnight blue in certain lights. Anyway, it’s a nice kit for what looks to be a pretty solid team. 7/10
“I buried something I should know”
“Technique”/Swoon/1984
What an idiot I was just a week ago. That may be a bit harsh, and honestly whatever rosiness appeared in my post-match piece last Sunday was really a guarded put-on. However, you weren’t to know that (or maybe you did). I honestly don’t expect this team to be “good” or even” competitive” some of the time. Any moments of joy with this team this season (possible forever) will be fleeting, so enjoy them while you can. This is the Racing that I was expecting: naive in their ability to control the important parts of a match and overly prideful in the moments where the opposition shifts down a gear because they see the match as being under control.
“Verse and chapter they unfurl”: I think it is going to be a long season, and I have thought so from the beginning. This chapter is likely to be one of many in which Racing will have to be “special” to win. Last night’s effort while not poor was “pedestrian” and that won’t get it done. If there is one thing that I am sure I have written it is some variation on the following theme: Racing as currently constructed is not good enough to get consistent results through common cause variation. It will take special cause variation for them to be successful. Only high effort/coldly efficient performances can yield results for this team. They are never going to accidently win a league match by just showing up and being who they consistently are.
“It helps the hurting soften”: For those silly enough to have high hopes, I think last night should prepare you better for what to expect going forward. I don’t think this version of Racing is in any danger of being embarrassed on the pitch. The approach is too professional, and the players care about each other enough (the broadcast mentioned the togetherness mantra a few times) to not let that happen (fingers crossed). However, that isn’t going to be enough to bridge the talent/expertise gulf that the team is going to often face. Bay looked like a proper team on the pitch in a way that Racing rarely does and has done it early in their second year. It makes you think a) that they do actually have the pieces figured out or b) most teams look like they have things figured out when they face Racing. If you are looking for Racing to break the 30-point barrier this season let me tell you that it isn’t happening, and I hope it helps the hurting soften.
Elizabeth’s Commentary
Every so often, Elizabeth will have comments about the match. Find them here:
“The team was just so young”
That kind of sums up things. Racing has too few players in the prime of their career.
