Earlier last night, I was alerted to the recent Chron.com blog piece by Jose de Jesus Ortiz, and his idea to get Brian Ching back from the Montreal L'Impact. You can read the full blog piece here. In my time as a Dynamo Theory Blog writer (ok, I know I haven't been nearly as active as of late. I blame work), I've read over a ton of ideas about how to fix or better the team.
Heck, I personally pushed the fan base of Dynamo Theory on a consistent basis to think outside the box to find ways to do so. However, as a fan of the Houston Dynamo first and foremost, I cannot sit idly by and allow the lunacy of JdJO's piece to go un-accounted. Read on for my take on the lunacy spewing forth from JdJO after the jump.
If they follow my advice, Ching could be back in Houston on Thursday, Andre Hainault will be headed to Montreal and the No. 1 pick in the SuperDraft will belong to the Dynamo. Don’t laugh, it’s really not that far out of the question.
After the second paragraph I'm already ready to give JdJO a piece of my mind. Who in their right mind thinks giving up one of our stalwart defensive linemen, one who is considered within the MLS to be a top tier type of defender, for a first overall pick? Perhaps this may seem lunacy in and of itself, after all it's a first overall pick in the Draft, that has to be worth a fortune right? Wrong. Thanks to USA Today, we can clearly see more often than not the 1st overall pick doesn't live up to the hype.
It's amazing to look at the names over the last six or seven years in particular. Most of them are hard to remember, or failed to be memorable. Yet, according to JdJO we should ship out a stalwart defender for someone who may or may not materialize as a future asset? I'm with you guys and gals. I don't want to take those odds to Vegas.
This way everybody sacrifices a bit, including team president Chris Canetti, who has been extremely quiet about the Ching matter since declaring his sadness immediately after Ching was drafted by Montreal. Wouldn’t it be awesome if the role that once was held proudly by Oliver Luck could be held by Ching? The fans would love it, especially knowing how much he sacrificed in personal income to help the team in 2012.
Look, I understand JdJO doesn't like Chris Canetti running the Front Office of the Houston Dynamo, but as the mainstream coverage, to sit there and underhandedly provide low blows and jabs like this is just unprofessional. Hell, if you're going to go after a guy, do it to his face. Be more like the sport you cover, and less like the sport you covered.
Seriously though, JdJO wants to put a guy with absolutely zero front office experience into a VP position for a couple of years in preparation for taking over as the full-blown President of the team? Look, Canetti isn't perfect, but with what he has had to work with, he has done a damn good job. I hit on this a few days ago, but Canetti and Kinnear are a combination that is hard to beat when it comes to building quality season after season. They don't cut corners, they operate in a manner we, as fans, can be damned proud of.
I don't get it. What is there to not like about Canetti? He's personable, he cares and is damned passionate. He works his tail off, has helped create a viable and thriving economic infrastructure around the organization. He's helped bring a soccer-based stadium to the downtown Houston area, and furthermore he's constructed a team which should compete for years to come with the aide of one of the best minds in MLS today.
But no, if we followed JdJO's advice, we could start basically from square one, and hope Kinnear elects to stay under Brian Ching as Dynamo President. It can't work, it wouldn't work. And don't get me started on how overpaid Brian Ching is as an athlete right now who is no longer in his prime.
His knees are going to give out, his time is over. It's time to put him to bed, let him rest. If he wants to come to the Dynamo, let him do it in the Front Office as a player talent evaluator or scout or something, but not as the President. Too much responsibility for Chinger right now, and not because he couldn't handle it, but because he has ZERO experience at it.
What worries me most is there are those who read the Chron blogs, who read JdJO's pieces and actually agree with his thoughts and ideas. This one, however, even as much as Chinger is beloved, is straight out of bat-shit insane territory. Furthermore, JdJO tries hard to remain objective, but most of the time his writing is flat. I'll leave with this final thought, to allow you all your space to blast me or not for my opinions...
A fan without passion is a spectator. A writer without emotion is an observer. A spectator and an observer merely see, but they do not live what they see or feel. There is no connection, and thus, there is no depth to their opinions.