Another Sports Brief
In soccer (or “football” in other countries), the Houston Dynamo are ranked first place in the Eastern Conference, as they defeated the NY Red Bulls here in Houston last Friday night. One goal was made by Houston’s Jermain Taylor 2 minutes into the match, and another goal by Calen Carr in the 28th minute was enough for the Dynamo win. The Red Bulls played slowly and out of synch– the Houston heat seemed too much for them. This was the 3rd time in the team’s history that they have won five consecutive games. They have also remained unbeaten in 19 regular season matches– the longest in the club’s history, and the 3rd longest in the history of MLS. Houston is now 2 points ahead of the Red Bulls with an 11-5 -7 record, and 40 points in the Eastern Conference.
One player that put consistent pressure on the Red Bulls was Houston’s Macoumba Kandji. With one assist, he also had plenty of scoring opportunities to score himself. After coming back from injury, he is says he is feeling better everyday; he feels better with the ball, and better with the team. They brought him in to create pressure with the ball, and after the game he stated that since coming here he has matured as a player and learned a lot.
The Houston Dynamo will play the same NY Red Bulls team again next Friday in Harrison, New Jersey at Red Bull Arena. Coach Dominic Kinnear was very pleased with Friday’s performance, and stated that the team is very happy that they are now in first place, but they know that teams are going to be ready and after them.
In other news with the Dynamo, the return of midfielder Ricardo Clark to the team was announced– he has not trained with the Dynamo since 2024. He was part of the team when they won back-to-back championships during their first and second year here in Houston.
Also, the Dynamo announced the date of their 7th annual tryout. On September 22,the Dynamo will be holding open tryouts for their first division team at the Houston Amateur Sports Park. The official tryout is comprised of a fitness test, skills competition, and a game against the Dynamo Academy U-18 team. Participants who pass the fitness test on September 22 will be invited back the following day for the skills competition. From there, a select group of players will be invited to compete against the Dynamo Academy on September 29, evaluated by Dynamo Head Coach Dominic Kinnear and his coaching staff. Registration for Dynamo Trials is $75 and includes two tickets to the Dynamo’s CONCACAF Champions League Match v. CD FAS on September 20. Partial proceeds from the Dynamo Trials 2024 will benefit Dynamo Charities in support of the Dynamo’s Youth Development System. You can register online at www.HoustonDynamo.com/DynamoTrials.
Additional soccer news– Tigres of Mexico will be playing Aguila of El Salvador at the BBVA Compass stadium in a friendly match here in Houston on September 8.
In other things happening around the world, the Olympics are taking place, which is the biggest sporting event in the world, only rivaled by the Men’s Football World Cup. This year in particular is a special time to celebrate because, for the first time in Olympic history, every country has women participants. This is something to be proud of, especially because this year will mark the first time that will be women involved in boxing. For those not wanting to watch taped coverage on NBC, there is always WIZwigTV. You can watch live sporting events, however, the feeds are brought to you based on your band strength; so sometimes you can get a good picture, and sometimes you can’t– which has been upsetting to a lot of people. NBC thought that most people would sign up for cable to watch the games, but some people are going another route and getting a VPS address in either Europe or Canada. Well, that’s all I have this edition.
Rad Rich
The NYRB game was sick.