Geoff Cameron talks about MLS Cup Finals

Very rarely does someone from Attleboro get the opportunity to play for a major professional championship but this Sunday night at 9 PM, former Attleboro High player Geoff Cameron and the Houston Dynamo will try to take home the MLS Cup from David Beckham and the LA Galaxy. As if that isn’t a difficult enough task the Galaxy has the benefit of playing at home in the Home Depot Center, where they lost only one game in 2011. The Dynamo will also be without the man that sparked their offense all season, MVP candidate and MLS Best XI Brad Davis, who won’t be able to play due to an injury picked up in the semi-final win over Kansas City.

It seems like there’s a lot stacked against Houston in the finals, but if you speak to Cameron about the challenge don’t expect anything but confidence, “People said that we couldn’t win without him [Davis], that we weren’t a complete team, but I think everyone stepped their game up when he went down against Kansas City. It was 0-0 when he went off and Adam (Moffat) took the set pieces and we scored on a set piece and then we scored a run of play goal. Obviously he’s a big part of our team, but at the same time we’ve got a lot of players that can step up and play the role and that’s what we can do.”

Heading into the playoffs there wasn’t a lot of chatter about the Dynamo despite the club’s history of MLS Cup titles and they continue to fly under the radar even into the title game. Of course lining up against internationals with the notoriety of Landon Donovan, Robbie Keane, and David Beckham makes it difficult to get much press but Cameron believes this could work to the Dynamo’s advantage, “they’re supposed to win so for us, we have nothing to lose. Let’s just go out there, have fun, kick butt, and leave it all on the field.”

Cameron is an Attleboro native who learned the game playing on local fields and playing pickup games at the Armory on Park St. His talent got him onto the varsity practice field while he was still in middle school, eventually leading to two years with the Bombardiers and off-seasons playing with the club team Bayside United. His skills advanced quickly and he chose to play two years at Providence Country Day before turning in an all-A10 performance while at URI. But for Cameron no matter where his career leads him it’s imperative to remember his roots and the man that kick started his love for the game, Attleboro High coach Peter Pereira.

“I’ve been very, very close to him for a long time, most of my life. He still gets up in the morning and opens up the armory and gives a place, an opportunity, for the kids to play pick-up soccer. For me there’s nothing better to see than that. He has the heart and the love of the game and he just spreads it out to give people an opportunity to play. That’s a fantastic thing that he does personally and he’s been a close friend of the family for a real long time and I can’t thank him enough for the support that he’s given me and the things that he did for me. There’s nothing better that I can do in return than to come back and help him out, showing up, and hanging out with the kids. Any way I can be a role model and any advice I can give the kids is the best thing for me.”

One of the players that has benefited from the advice that Cameron gives out on his frequent visits to Bombardier practices is junior midfielder Dominik Machado, currently part of the New England Revolution developmental squad. Machado is taking advantage of an academy system that Cameron didn’t have and the current MLS all-star makes sure to keep the potential MLS player grounded, “I told him 100 percent always remember where you came from because if you ever forget that then you’ll end up becoming nothing. I just said stay focused, stay humble, and stay hungry. If you’re hungry then you’ll accomplish a lot of things. 

Discipline, dedication, and desire, if you have those then you can accomplish anything you want in life.”

If Geoff Cameron ever forgets that mantra he need only look at the tattoo on his arm as a reminder. That discipline and desire became critical to his career when he suffered a PCL tear and missed nearly four months of the 2010 season. After a rehab stint that was nearly half as long as expected he finished the 2010 season strong. At the beginning of 2011, Dynamo Coach Dominic Kinnear moved Cameron into the midfield but two months ago decided the defense needing shoring up and since the move back to his natural position at central defender the Dynamo have caught fire. Houston will enter the MLS Cup with a 263-minute shutout streak.

Cameron’s move back to central defense for his club team has coincided with a change in management at the national team level and the calls for him to represent the US as it heads into World Cup qualifying next summer have increased considerably. This isn’t something that has gone unnoticed by the player himself, “I hear that all the time, even guys on our team who play for their national teams say ‘why don’t you play for yours’ and I simply say I don’t know man. I’m just going to wait for my opportunity and obviously my ultimate goal is to make it into the World Cup in Brazil.”

One of the best routes into the national team set-up, whether Bob Bradley or Jürgen Klinsmann is the coach, is to play regularly for a team in Europe. Prior to the injury last season there were rumors of potential European suitors and now that he is back playing at a high level those rumors should increase when the European transfer window opens again in January. While Cameron’s focus is intently on his team and this Sunday’s final there is always the individual goal to play on the biggest stage.

“In talking with my agent there are some teams interested over in Europe but like my agent said, he wants me to stay focused on the season and win a championship. Obviously one of my goals in life is to play in Europe. I had the opportunity to play for Nottingham Forest in the Championship [the 2^nd tier of British soccer] for a bit last off-season after my injury, to stay sharp, and I thought it helped me out this season playing center-mid and center back. Going into pre-season I felt really good so the experience over there was amazing and I’d 100 percent love to play over there, so that’s one of my goals but at the same time I have a guaranteed contract for next year and we’ll see after that.”

For now Geoff Cameron will put aside concerns about the national team and the call of Europe to focus on the opportunity to win the MLS Cup. All that stands in the way is the league’s best team, on their home field, with three international stars, but the Dynamo defender isn’t in awe. He’s ready to work, “Make sure whenever Beckham has the ball just pressure, pressure, and make him uncomfortable. Don’t give him time to look up and just hit a ball to a free spot because he can put a ball on a dime. The same thing with Landon and Keane, you got to be wary of those guys because they’re clever. They have experience, so you just can’t give them time on the ball and you have to make them uncomfortable. That’s one thing we do, we’re committed, we don’t stop, and we’ll keep running.”

The MLS Cup will air on ESPN Sunday night at 9 PM from the Home Depot Center in Carson, CA.

Grass is Always Greener

With the annihilation of a very poor Somerset Berkley team at McGrath Stadium, Bishop Feehan clinched another EAC title, another berth in the Division 3 playoffs, and another great chance to get to Gillette Stadium for the Super Bowl. The Shamrocks went a perfect 4-0 in the conference this season and did so by a combined score of 134-7. In fact the only touchdown that Feehan gave up against an EAC opponent this season came in the final minute against Somerset with the starters bundled up on the bench.

In some circles this would be all the proof that is needed that Feehan needs to find a new conference, there just isn’t enough of a challenge from the current set-up. Many people wanted Feehan to make a jump to the Hockomock League before it was announced that Taunton and Milford would be moving in next season. My question is: what would make Feehan want to change anything?

Sure the EAC isn’t the best competition, especially since Attleboro and Dartmouth took away the two biggest schools in the conference, but it is an almost guaranteed spot in the football playoffs, which is the big money maker for any high school. Meanwhile in other sports, under the current rules, Feehan teams will almost always find themselves with a spot in the postseason. But the lack of proper opposition is almost a myth; Martha’s Vineyard won the league in boys’ soccer this season, while Coyle and Cassidy are always strong in softball, baseball, and hockey. Oh by the way, last year Somerset beat Feehan in football. Yet it is always the assumption that no one in the EAC can stand up to Feehan. This is generally true in cross-country and girls’ soccer but not across the board.

An underrated benefit to playing in the EAC is flexibility. With only four conference opponents Feehan can continue to play a very difficult out of conference schedule. When Attleboro High switched from the five team Old Colony League to the 10 team Hockomock it left very little room for Athletic Director Mark Houle to keep longtime rivals such as Dartmouth, New Bedford, Taunton, and even Feehan on the schedule because every game was taken up by conference play. This is a problem that will only be exacerbated by the move to a 12 team conference next season.

Feehan on the other hand can schedule match-ups with LaSalle, Barrington, Fontbonne Academy, Cardinal Spellman and other teams that provide the challenges that may not be consistently there within the EAC. This may seem like a small point in the long run, but there is something to be said for a little variety. It’s nice to see teams that would otherwise never find their way to Attleboro.

Now that the Hockomock League has closed its doors to Feehan, at least for the foreseeable future, there also doesn’t appear to be an obvious landing spot for the Shamrocks. Maybe the EAC invites in the remnants of the OCL or Feehan moves to the South Coast Conference but this isn’t Boise State moving to the Big East to get a BCS berth there are issues with each option.

Unfortunately, there is also the question of whether or not Feehan would be welcomed in with open arms. There is some hesitation for schools to bring in Feehan because of their regional nature, their excellent resources or because of the long-held belief that they recruit potential players from their rivals.*

*(Disclaimer- I’m not making any claims that Feehan recruit, I honestly don’t know anything about the subject and I’m not taking a side. I’m simply saying that people believe they do, it does influence the way some people see the school, and distasteful or not it is part of the equation.)

There are a lot of factors working both for and against Feehan moving out of the EAC, but in the end the most important decision for Feehan has to be how to build on an already successful sports program and, at least to me, the best choice is to stay put and keep on winning. Now if they could just get someone decent on Thanksgiving Day…

Heartbreak

I wish people would stop saying, “Everything happens for a reason. It’s for the best.” It’s categorically not for the best. Eventually time will ease the pain, the failure, but nothing will change the fact that I didn’t want this. I couldn’t imagine this happening. I’m embarrassed, ashamed, devastated…

You know when you’re driving to school or to work or to any place that you’ve been a million times and suddenly out of nowhere you realize that you’ve arrived but can’t remember the drive at all? We’ve all done it. The body goes into autopilot, muscle memory pushing you forward down a very familiar path. The same happened on my trip back to the East Coast.

It was five days of staring straight ahead, the road endlessly stretched out in between markers that seemed more real on a map than when driving through them. Gallup, Amarillo, Oklahoma City, Indianapolis then….home. It was five days of heartbreak, painful acceptance of blame, and regret.

Some people say they have no regrets. I am not one of those people. I have plenty of them but never has something left me this empty because I regret not MY unhappiness but that of the person who I loved. When you do something supremely stupid you feel bad because it hurts your family but their love is eternal and not only will they forgive you but they will try to support you. A relationship (she would want me to call it a domestic partnership) even one filled with love, is far more fragile than that.

My friends like to joke about how I think everything sucks, that I am always miserable, and I can’t have a good time. I wish there was no truth to the gag. Until I know how to make myself happy how can someone possibly be happy with me? I don’t have any answers and right now under a cloud of depression I’m having a hard time focusing on the future, just the sadness.

All of this depressing, desperate whining is the explanation for why this Adele song, which I heard probably 3092 times on the way home, is so powerful to me and came out at exactly the wrong time. Listening to any emotional song during a break-up is a bad idea, but this is striking because rather than an image of clothes strewn about on the ground outside, broken picture frames, and lots of heavy drinking, this song inspires just a deep longing for a return to the status quo. It is rationale anger and true sadness, not of HOW it ended but rather that it ended at all. Anyway, make fun of me if you like but each time this came on the radio the waterworks were soon to follow…

Thompson Chemical

Happy looking crew

The documentary that I helped produce has recently won another award. "Thompson Chemical" was awarded 1st Place in the documentary category of the Alliance for Community Media's National Hometown Movie Awards. This is a great honor for all who worked on the project, most notably the lead producer Roger Mulcahy. It was a lot of hard work particularly since it was a project that had to be completed concurrently with the day-to-day responsibilities of working at DoubleACS.

I wrote a piece for the playbill that was handed out at the premiere of "Thompson" and it explains the origins of the project and what it meant to those of us who worked on it:

The Making of “Thompson Chemical”

We initially received 2 16mm film reels from the Fire Department with the intention of trying to convert them into a DVD for Chief Churchill. When we first saw some of the footage it was shocking as much because we had never heard of Thompson Chemical as for the actual scenes we were seeing. It seemed strange that such a tragic and important event could have passed one or two generations, albeit over 40 years, without it ever being mentioned.

Documentaries had been a topic of discussion around the studio for several years and we had been searching for a topic that would pique our interest while at the same time providing a benefit to the community as a whole. The idea was floated that this footage could provide the jumping off point for a worthwhile project. It would be fair to say we never anticipated the scope of what this project would become.

With permission from Chief Churchill to use the footage and from The Sun Chronicle to scour their archives from 1963-4 we started to develop a story of what happened at Thompson Chemical that night and in the months that followed. We then began the search for interview subjects and just as quickly realized that the story we thought we were creating was nothing like the reality for the people who lived through it.

A project that we hoped would take a few months stretched out over a year involving 15 taped interviews and countless more discussions with neighbors, workers, firefighters, police officers, historians, and family members that all had different perspectives on that horrible night.

The story of Thompson Chemical is not a single strand that runs in a simple, straight line from beginning to end because the story of Thompson Chemical is not about an event, but rather it’s about people and their individual reactions to tragedy. The one common factor throughout the story is a generation of people in Attleboro, raised through a world war, awakening from a great depression into a suddenly promising future that showed a remarkable ability to cope. That stoicism, that ability to manage a difficult situation, while still having the remarkable clarity of memory that all who we interviewed had, turned out to be far more dramatic than the event on its own.

Hopefully, after a year’s worth of work we have been able to properly document a slice of the history of Attleboro to ensure future generations remember Thompson Chemical but also, and perhaps more importantly, remember the people whose lives were affected by it.