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Live commentary from the Nash Charity Game

hey all. I’m coming to you from behind the south goal at the nash-reyna charity game. Reyna and jozy are playing. I will check in when i can.

It is a zoo here with tons of people surrounding the gates.

Goal solomon kalou, assist from jason kidd.

Red bulls fans wont like it but reyna has two shots already. I

f you are wondering why im writing like this im writing on my phone.

GOAL Baron Davis on an assist from JOZY ALTIDORE. Leandro Barbosa just knocked Kalou off the ball.

GOAL Mcnanaman to put nashes team on the board. Goals by Henry and Barbosa have given Nash’s team a 3-2.

Make that 4-2 thanks to Fowler.

Henry makes it 5-2 a PK.

Not a ton of tricks today. Henry and Kalou are the class today.

Reyna just scored a PK. I wish I was kidding. Its halftime.

Baron Davis sends the first shot over the fence.

Henry has shown off more in the second half. He’s not bad.

GOAL Fowler from Mcnanaman. Just like the old days.

Fowler scores on a PK after Baron Davis stopped a goal-bound shot with his hand.

GOAL Nash after Henry gets stoned by Red Bulls ticket sales guru Mike Quarino. I have no idea what the score is but Nash’s team is winning big.

Comments

  1. Hey, I was at the game, right behind the chain-link fence. That’s right, the good seats, don’t ask me how I got them. Anyway, it was a lot of fun. The only person who was taking the game at all seriously was Kalou, who was doing people up like it was an audition. Also, in the second half they must have told “Tete” to turn it on, because he also started to ruin people with his amazing ability on the ball. That being said, I didn’t really see too much of a problem with Reyna playing in the match, I am quite sure it was sanctioned, as last year he and some Red Bulls tried to play against steve and his pier 40 team in central park and a red bull official who was there said the nay-no because the field wasn’t up to par. So given that past incident I assume he had blessing to run around a bit, although he maybe could have injured himself. Also, to the guy who said “how many people do you know who have injured themselves playing pickup?” I would say quite a few. Of course if you asked me how many professional athletes who are training rigorously every day hurt themselves dicking around I would say not that many. I mean, I’m a Barca fan and I wasn’t screaming for Henry to take it easy and save himself for next season. Jozy was playing with a supposed bum ankle and Villareal management didn’t hold him out, Red Bull didn’t even hold him out to protect their investment. Albeit, Reyna is in midseason, my point is that this game was played at about 1/4 the level of your standard testimonial game and he could be training harder with his actual rehab at practice, maybe Ives can shed some light on that all-too-important question.

    So, sorry about the rant, but my two highlights of the game weren’t even during play. First one, this kid who was on the field starts juggling and showing some skill and he gets the balls to go up and call for Henry and kick around with him. Must have made that kids day. The second one was seeing Henry and Jozy talking and Thierry pal’ing around with him, hopefully imparting all kinds of knowledge on him.

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  2. the 9 year old league my kid is in goes harder than these guys did last night. Give it a rest everyone! This wasn’t even a pick up game. Watch the youtube clips provided in the previous posts. What a bunch of drama queens! How do you comment on things you know nothing about? educate yourself with facts and then make informed decisions (especially before damning some one to hell – I’m talking to you Haig).

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  3. I myself would like to see Reyna be the bigger man and retire, but I stopped idolizing Reyna some years ago. He is not a hero. He is a guy getting a paycheck to which he feels entitled.

    Considering the contract that NYRB gave him, I really think a majority of the vitriol should be directed at the people who gave him that contract instead of the player.

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  4. REEEELAX.

    I am a Reyna fan. But I’m also one who thinks he shouldn’t have come back this year. That said, REELAX people.

    Just because he’s not playing IN matches does NOT mean he’s not training. And i suspect (call me crazy) that he trains much harder in practice than he played in this match. (Full disclosure: i didn’t see this CHARITY event). Call me crazy again, but i aslo suspect that Reyna had permission from Red Bull management and the team doctors.

    For those that were there, how many sliding tackles did he execute? How many bicycle kicks did he pull off?

    I swear, sometimes i think we’re just looking for reasons to get bent. Relax.

    What do you want him to do? Sit on a sun deck on the Riviera for rehab.

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  5. If I was a RBNY fan I’d be furious. Athletes in every other sport has clauses about off the field activities. Many guys aren’t even allowed to drive a motorcycle but Reyna is allowed to play pick up games while ‘injured’ and not contributing to the team?

    The ‘the game is being played at hald speed’ excuse doesn’t hold water. I’m willing to bet at least half the people in here know someone who’s blown out a knee or broken a bone just playing a pick up game of in the park at some point in their life.

    Just glad he’s not on my team.

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  6. I am not a Reyna fan. I am a RBNY fan and season ticket holder.

    Reyna has pissed me off beyond believe! This is the last straw. I will complain to the RBNY management.

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  7. I’m not a RedBull fan, but if Reyna was trying to ruin what little credibility he had with the fans, I fear hes accomplished it.

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  8. If it’s not up on YouTube already, you can checkout MLSnet.com tomorrow and by early afternoon there should be a bunch of highlights and sound bytes from some of the participants.

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  9. As a NYRB season ticket holder, I was a little disappointed to see how hard Reyna was running while “injured,” and it also tore my heart to think that this was likely the last time I will see Jozy playing in the state of NY for a long long time, but really Ives, my question is, how the hell did Robbie Fowler manage to attract ZERO attention in the post game autograph melee? I actually saw a 20 something guy ask him, “hey, who are you?” and Fowler respond with, “Oh, me? I’m nobody.” And the guy turned and walked away, thinking he was serious. I mean, I know that he isn’t David Beckham, but shouldn’t there have been at least one or two people asking him questions at all times? I mean, the dude WAS Liverpool in the 90’s.

    Secondly, I was standing right next to you when you were interviewing Altidore, and one of the other journalists had his name written down as “Josie”…

    Finally, Henry peacing out right at the end of the game and not sticking around at all was kinda a bummer.

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  10. from someone who was there, don’t blast reyna. he came by my side on the fence beforehand and thanked us for showing up and supporting. he was there for his charity and played for them. this game had the least contact in a soccer game I had ever seen. the only ones in danger were the goalies (and some nearby fans) when henry or baron davis decided to launch the ball. it was VERY friendly and played with more heart and an attempt to impress/wow the crowd with ball handling/heading skills than anything else. the guys weren’t going at eachother’s ankles, and reyna was in just as much danger as he would be if he were just exercising and rehabbing.

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  11. holy sh!t!, i’m a quakes fan so i can care less, BUT what the f***k is reyna doing playing pick-up when he can’t even suit up for a regular season game. chump!

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  12. It was a good time…crowded as hell but everyone seemed to enjoy it. Did anyone else see someone jawing with Jozy at one point? Couldn’t tell who it was.

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  13. i’m glad ives was at the game. there are a lot of story lines here for a meaningless charity game. i would love to see some youtube highlights. can jason kidd dribble the ball? does raja bell kick like a girl? fascinating stuff…

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  14. not a redbull fan but the only thing that will really matter for the fans is if Reyna plays in the next game. If he doesn’t, he should get all the vitriol that will come his way. If he does play, this game at half speed can definitely be construed as a warm up to his return to action.

    If he stays out of action after this game the crime is not that he was playing half speed in a meaningless game. It was that he risked further injury by playing extended minutes, no matter what the competition.

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  15. IVES – ANY IDEA WHEN REYNA’S BOOK IS GOING TO COME OUT WHERE HE DISCUSSES ALL OF THE INJURY ISSUES AND ISSUES WITH ARENA? ID LIKE TO GET MY HANDS ON THAT…

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  16. I was down there today and it was really fun to watch. Just a bunch of superstars entertaining the crowd. Nash had a really nice goal at the end, Henry flashed a few moves here and there and Baron Davis blocked a shot or two with his hands even though he wasn’t in goal. (Btw he was wearing Air Force Ones and a baseball cap).

    Anyways, Reyna playing is a shame. If he was smart he would have showed up for his charity and not played. There was enough star power there to play, and there was no need for him to fill in. (Thats if you consider Reyna a star at this point)

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  17. Reyna came right over to where I was standing. Someone asked him how he was doing and he said, “my back still hurts.” Needless to say I bit my tongue. I’d rather show a little class at a charity event.

    But the fact is he did play the whole game and in the second half was the point man on several breaks for the blue team. He also was playing an awful lot of defense for someone who supposedly is to hurt to play.

    I think the class move for him would have been to play a token amount, or not at all, since he isn’t able to suit up for his club.

    Ives, ask yourself this: if Reyna had to play for his salary, had a performance based contract, would he still be making as much money? I doubt he would even come close. By any performance metric, games, starts, minutes, goals, assists, wins, he is a far cry away from earing $1.2 mill.

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  18. I guess I don’t see the big deal about Reyna competing…but then again I am not a NYRB fan. 😀

    I really wish I could have seen that charity match. What were the full lineups Ives? Do you have pictures?

    Thanks. Sounds like a lot of fun.

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  19. “Strange that he rested his injury and Reyna didn’t.”

    MOST PECULIAR that Angel is a class act who knows better than to spit in the face of the team who pays his bills by appearing in a meaningless game that has nothing to do with the team while missing multiple successive games before and after with an “injury.”

    This shows Reyna’s arrogance, and the his contempt for his team and its supporters.

    Such a shame that a once great player, beloved by American soccer fans, flamed out so outrageously. They don’t do charity games in HELL, Reyna.

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  20. I was there and surprisingly their weren’t many boo birds if any at all for Reyna during introductions. Most of the people their probably don’t even know about the Red Bulls.

    Angel was there, but didn’t play. Strange that he rested his injury and Reyna didn’t.

    Also, no sign of David Lee – Could those trade talks be heating up? I smell conspiracy.

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  21. Ives,

    Whats your opinion of the situation (Reyna playing in the game)?

    Would you at least agree its in poor taste and he deserves some criticism, even if we are over the top?

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  22. So for those of you keeping track, Reyna scored a goal and played the whole game. Red Bulls fans are getting their torches and pitchforks ready.

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  23. Hey folks. Apologies for stopping the posts but the game ended. Nash ended the game with a beautiful volley goal off a long pass.

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  24. I’m coming to you from behind the south goal at the nash-reyna charity game.

    Were you in that family playing cards on the table right in front, completely oblivious to the mob scene?

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  25. I’m usually not one to defend Reyna, but seriously, people, they were playing at half speed. There were a bunch of fat, old dudes out there playing, like ESPN NBA reporter Marc Stein. I don’t think you can take anything from this game with respect to Reyna’s health.

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  26. I’ve been quick to defend Claudio for a while now, but this is a clear indicator that he does not take his MLS career seriously. The sooner they dump his salary the better.

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  27. Did I miss something? I thought Reyna was hurt? But he can magically play in a pick up game? How does NYRB let this happen, charity or not?

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  28. I’m just waiting for MJ to get subbed in and subsequently red carded from the Polish official for 2 foot tackling Tom Barrasso.

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  29. “GOAL Baron Davis on an assist from JOZY ALTIDORE. Leandro Barbosa just knocked Kalou off the ball.”

    That just might be the weirdest play-by-play I have read

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