Okay, I can’t breathe.

By: Robert | January 15th, 2008

The internet went out at my apartment late last night (Time Warner this is an all too frequent an occurrence, fix it now) and instead of me working on getting it up and running I went to sleep; and after a morning meeting and an afternoon trip to the gym (something like this is my New Year’s resolution…I have a looong way to go) I go and check the internets and it’s “WTF?!?”

Carlos Ruiz traded to LA!!!

My mind immediately started racing and instead of sitting down and giving you a cognitive reflection of my thoughts I decided to list the feelings I had in basically the same order I had them because there definitely is emotion involved here, emotion that I believe is important to the story. Longtime readers know how I feel about El Pescadito so this trade was harder to take than you might think.

Thought #1 Nooooooo! Carlos Ruiz is my favorite Hoops player. You can’t get rid of him; he’s the best player in the league.

As you can quickly notice logic and raw emotion are rarely coincide.

Thought #2 LA?!? No! Now they have someone who can do all the things that Landycakes can’t (i.e. score). They could actually be good this year. Ugh.

#3 We’re getting what?!? A bunch of dollars and draft pick. That’s it?!? Who thought this through? Did somebody lose a bet, please let somebody have lost a bet. The only “fair” trade would be Landon. My stomach hurts. I can’t believe these monkeys…Okay, I can’t breathe.

#4 Aw hell, someone wants to interview me; I don’t have my head on straight to do an interview. Okay Robert think this through. (Who knew the media could actually lead someone to rational thought instead of just repeating press releases…my real job is in the media, I feel like I can say this knowingly) What are the pros and cons of said deal?

#5 Awhile ago I said that I think 2008 is going to be Dominic Oduro’s year, he seems to be on the precipice of great things, (notice how word my choice changes when I start thinking rationally) this Ruiz trade frees up playing time up top, something he struggled to find late last year. I haven’t seen the “Birdman” since the Houston tragedy ended 2007, but I’ve heard he’s a regular at Pizza Hut Park working on his game because he knows this is his time. Arturo Alvarez made the jump in ’07, I believe Oduro will make that same leap in ‘08 and if he does FC Dallas just became very tough to defend.

#6 Damn, LA has Beckham, (I don’t know why I thought of Landon Donovan before his holy sexiness) Beck’s is gonna get Ruiz more opportunities than he knows what to do with; Carlos could net 25 goals.

#7 Yeah but if Juan Toja stays healthy and doesn’t fade down the stretch like he did last year, then he, Alvarez and what I believe Oduro will be, will be a nightmare for every team in the league.

#8 Ruiz really struggled this past year when he was called on to score. And with the salary cap as low as it is, anybody getting descent money has to have huge a influence on the pitch. Carlos got paid, but did not produce to that level; in many leagues you can stick with a player after an off-year, MLS is not one of those leagues.

#9 Alright, there is some logic here and maybe this works. I know I sound like a homer by saying this but with some trepidation I like this trade.

#10 Carlos is gonna be great in LA, ugh.

#11 When writing about this trade maybe I should parallel this with that time Kirsten called me to break up out the blue. (Good thing I didn’t run with that idea)

That’s about how it went for me as this news “broke.” I always knew that one day Carlos Ruiz would leave the Hoops shirt in Texas where he found it; I never thought the day would be upon us as quickly as it came. But to paraphrase a bad film short I made many years ago “change is in the wind and you can’t see the wind.” (I was about 15 when I wrote that, give me a break.)

So tonight in Dallas the FC stands for moving on because we must “Forget Carlos.”

HOOPS PRIDE!

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