Merlo Pitch

PurplePrideTrumpet wrote:

ohhh_yeah wrote:

fozziewozzie wrote:is there anything more beautiful than a perfect pitch?!!

a 16 pass sequence that ends with a 35 yard blast into the upper 90 of the far post???

A perfectly placed ball from George Josten onto the boot of Gabriel "OJ" Obatola on a cold and rainy night.

take that Keller!

Some of the rows are crooked.

I demand they re-sod.

Despite the crooked rows, some of the great pics you folks posted show just what a wonderful field Merlo is with the new sod.

Look forward to seeing the new pitch next time I've the energy to walk over to the stadium. (Hopefully soon.)

DaTruRochin wrote:I demand they re-sod.

I demand that they repaint the Nike swooshes, the billboards with WCC championships, and re-glorify our gold medalists (Tiffany and Shannon)...among other things. Everything needs to be touched up before we baptize the new field.

Well, a field that doesn't come up in large clumps over the course of a game is probably a little bigger priority than adverts and accolades...

The new sod is in, Roch. Right?

So I have to agree with 'onetouchfutbol' that we should spruce everything else up, and we certainly have plenty of time to do it. And I don't think it would cost that much. These "details" really add up and I think would enhance the great rep Merlo already has.

Well yeah, obviously, but if they are gonna update signage they probably want to wait until this years WC rosters are announced...

Haha and shouldn't nike have to pay to have their own sign panted?

onetouchfutbol wrote:

DaTruRochin wrote:I demand they re-sod.

I demand that they repaint the Nike swooshes, the billboards with WCC championships, and re-glorify our gold medalists (Tiffany and Shannon)...among other things. Everything needs to be touched up before we baptize the new field.

What? a silver medal doesn't cut it?

Boy! is Michelle French going to be pissed...

What's more, why is it you can find her bio on the UW site, but you can't find it at Portlandpilots? She was, after all, captain of the team that sent them packing in the tournament a couple of times.

Agreed that nike should pay to paint their own sign.

I am one of the unfortunate people who didn't get a chance to ever see Michelle French play!! But during the introduction of cancer survivors during LiveStrong Day last year...I was lucky enough to see her big, bright, vibrant and enthusiatic smile in person...for the first time. God bless her!! That small moment was probably a peek of her tenure as a Pilot...playing on the "original" Merlo pitch! I'm bummed I missed it! I bet she was awesome to watch!

GO PILOTS!!!

She was, fast and aggressive. She had a reputation in high school in Seattle of playing too rough.

Here's Maxi's goal as announced by some Brit. At the start of it, the guy sounds like he's announcing cricket or lawn bowling.

I started laughing when I heard it and was just waiting to see how he'd announce the actual strike.

He did perk up a little.

I'm glad Michelle was on our side. Sounds like she plays a little like Megan Rapinoe? We could use some of that physical play and give some back... especially against those teams that rely on that kind of play. UCLA kinda put us on our heels when they took us out of our game...and out of last year's tournament.

GO PILOTS!!!

No, I'd gladly have Michelle French's medal glorified as well. Being in the Seattle area, I see her face with Kellers on the Washington youth soccer ads before Sounders games all the time. She always played with a smile on her face at Merlo. Great player with contagious enthusiasm...

I just found this clip of Michelle...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aabSPx8b7hw

for those of you who did not have the priviledge of watching frenchie play, i'm sorry. she scored one of the best goals i have ever seen on u of p pitch!
when she came to u of p she was a outside left midfielder. i don't remember when clive moved her back to left halfback but she was brillant there.
the goal i remmber must have been struck from at least 35 yards out. of all of the great plauers u of p has fielded, frenchie is still to this day one of my favorites!

as in Portland Dad ( and that is ok with her biological Mom and Dad...lol )........she is gifted, dedicated athlete and coach of young women and embodies all of Clive's ideals......AND she is a courageous woman and great all around human being!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

While we're talking about Michelle, my wife in particular got in the habit of chatting with her starting with when she was playing for the Pilots and at the many Pilots games she has come to since. She always is tremendously responsive, which makes her a great representative of the team. What a great young woman!

Wow! How cool is that?! Thanks all for validating my intuitions of Frenchie! I'm lovin the stories! It's these type of classy players and persons Clive brought in who are the foundations of a superb soccer program and winning culture! The next generations following are carrying on this tradition! Is it time for spring soccer yet?

GO PILOTS!!!

Here's another.

Frenchie came in in 1995. The year before, we graduated Tammy Martindale and Tracy Osborne. Tracy in particular was, along with Tiff, one of our first big time recruits. She had great speed down the flanks and could put a lot of pressure on the other team. That first generation of tournament players was almost gone.

It was a question who was going to provide a complement to Shannon. We had Justi, but she was a distributor, not really someone who could pressure on the outside. The first Home game, this little kid shows up fresh out of high school and I thought "oh No! we're going to get killed on that side" By halftime I was smiling. She was knocking people all over the field and winning balls like crazy.

She knew how to spit, too, and had attitude to go with it. She'd knock somebody over, walk back into position, turn around and hawk a loogie right in front of the opponent as if to say "bring it on"
She's still one of my all time favorite players. Not even Megan could spit as well.

Purplegeezer wrote:
Frenchie came in in 1995.
...
The first Home game, this little kid shows up fresh out of high school and I thought "oh No! we're going to get killed on that side" By halftime I was smiling. She was knocking people all over the field and winning balls like crazy.

I remember that game, and remember being particularly impressed by Frenchie.
If my memory serves me, we were up 6-0 over Gonzaga at halftime, scored another three goals in the first few minutes of the second half, and coasted to a 12-0 win.

Should I split this topic to give the reminiscing of past players it's own home?

I am dumbfounded at how many replies a post on turf generated.

by up7587 on Thu Mar 25, 2010 5:51 pm

I am dumbfounded at how many replies a post on turf generated.

by DaTruRochin on Thu Mar 25, 2010 3:47 pm

Should I split this topic to give the reminiscing of past players it's own home?

What?

You mean we aren't talking about stuff that happened on "Merlo Pitch" ?