Not all fans’ banter is bad

Anyone who has spent a lot of time on the Peninsula knows that afternoon winds can wreak havoc on a baseball game, as the wind comes screaming down the canyons off the coastal hills.

And the winds were certainly blowing Thursday evening. And those gusts can be exacerbated by the fact that the big field at Belmont Sports Complex sits right next to the freeway and is a wide, unimpeded expanse.

So, not surprisingly, those winds made any ball in the air an adventure. In the top of the third inning between BelMateo and Mountain View, BelMateo’s Karam Kayali hit a high pop fly on the infield, with the Mountain View second baseman calling for the ball.

He took a couple steps in toward the plate from his second base position. And then a couple more steps. A couple more. Next thing you know, the second baseman is standing next to the pitcher’s mound and made a lunging stab at the ball, only for it drop in front of him, untouched.

With Kayali standing on first, a lone voice rang out from the BelMateo stands.

“Welcome to Belmont!”

I lol’d on that one.

***

Count me among those surprised that the US Men’s National Soccer team made the finals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament, despite the squad being made up of mostly “B” level talent.

The US was reeling heading into the tournament, having gotten throttled in a pair of friendly tuneups before the Americans went 5-0 in making the finals of the Gold Cup.

Standing in the way of the US’s eighth Gold Cup crown was nemesis Mexico and, in the end, El Tri proved to be too much for the Americans.

No shame in that, really. Other than a brief stretch, Mexico has been the class of CONCACAF for years. But it was the way the US lost. The Americans were outclassed. Mexico dominated possession — through their own work, combined with the inability of the US to put together more than two passes.

Turnovers ruled the US and Mexico took advantage, keeping constant, consistent pressure on the US defense. Whether Mexico’s Edson Alvarez was offside or not on the game-winning header with 12 minutes play, it was Mexico’s reward for controlling the game.

When the US defense did recover the ball, more often than not, nothing happened — like literally. If I watch again center defender Tim Ream standing on the ball for 30 seconds at a time without doing anything, I’m going to scream. Either he is incapable of making a decision, or the rest of the team is not doing anything to get open.

Either way, there was simply no urgency in the US attack.

And then there is constant negative play by the Americans. I’m astute enough about the game of soccer to know that there is a strategy to playing the ball backward, but the US did it way too often. There were a number of times the Americans were in the attacking third and instead of pressing the issue, would play the ball back to midfield and at times, all the way back to goalkeeper Matt Freese.

The US took a quick 1-0 lead less than five minutes into the game and then proceeded to play not to lose. That mentality will get it bounced from the World Cup next summer.

Nathan Mollat has been covering high school sports in San Mateo County for the San Mateo Daily Journal since 2001. He can be reached by email: nathan@smdailyjournal.com.