Joe Tutino is the long-time play-by-play voice of the LA Galaxy. In this Going on Break edition, Joe talks about what life was like with the Galaxy as things were canceled just prior to a road trip, what he’s been up to during the stoppage, and a number of other things. 

Last Wednesday, LA Galaxy won a US Open Cup game 6-1 against PSA Elite, which featured Cal Poly’s Justin Dhillon, who came on in the 61st minute.

Dhillon didn’t get a ton of chances — LA Galaxy were really tight in the second half — but he did show a little bit of nice control and delivered a decent cross into the middle from the left wing.

Photos by Owen Main

During a day off from training on Monday, Cal Poly men’s soccer junior-to-be Justin Dhillon spoke with me over the phone. Dhillon’s first two years at Cal Poly have certainly been interesting. The highest-ranked soccer recruit (and maybe recruit in any sport?) Cal Poly has ever landed, Dhillon came in with a freshman class that joined a team with big expectations.

Justin Dhillon scored the game-winning goal for PSA Elite a few weeks ago to get them into Wednesday’s US Open Cup match against the LA Galaxy. By Owen Main

At the end of his sophomore school year, though, Dhillon and his teammates have had three coaches at Cal Poly. I talked to Dhillon about what stability Steve Sampson brings to the program, what summer club soccer is like for a player of his caliber, and how his club team, PSA Elite (which also includes Cal Poly goalkeeper Wade Hamilton), got themselves into a fourth round US Open Cup match against the LA Galaxy on Wednesday night.

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Fansmanship: How was the the end of the school year?

Justin Dhillon: Good, finals were a little stressful but got through all of them and really excited to be home for summer.

F: Can you give me an idea about your spring quarter schedule and how that rolls into what you’re doing into the summer and beyond?

JD: In spring, we started the quarter with some baseline testing and fitness lifting. We went through our training cycle and did a lot of extra fitness work and lifting and stayed on a complete regimen. At the end of the quarter we retested and saw our improvements on things like vertical, power lifts, and fitness mile time.

F: So the goal is for you to stay fit year-round then?

JD: Definitely. Winter quarter we went a little lower on the fitness and more lifting and then spring quarter we slowly worked our way up with the fitness and now in the summer it’s kind of our own job to maintain and to grow with the fitness. One of our team goals is to be one of the most fit teams in the country.

F: That was something your team dealt with a lot last year with depth and guys getting hurt. How much are you looking forward to having a healthy team next school year?

JD: It was a little tough last year with all of our injuries. There was myself and a couple other guys who played in every single game and because we had very little subs we really didn’t get much time to rest but I’m hoping that for our whole team to come together from a starting fitness point. With more depth on our roster this year, we hope to maintain a strong performance throughout the year.

F: Club soccer is something that a lot of guys go play in the offseason. Tell me how that works in terms of planning. How does that all go down as the school year progresses.

JD: It’s a little bit different for everyone individually, but basically wherever you’re planning on staying for the summer usually you can contact the coach and say, “I go to Cal Poly and I’m looking to continue training.” Sometimes the coaches set them up. I know some of the guys on our team are going to Costa Rica over the summer to train. With regards to myself, PSA has been around Orange County for a while and I do know the head coach, so he contacted a group of college players who are from Orange County. In addition I’ll be attending the Galaxy because that’s where I grew up playing.

F: Tell me about what that’s like when you’re a member of a team’s (LA Galaxy’s) academy and what kind of influence that has on you as a player?

JD: For the academy, they’ve done a really good job of staying in touch with a lot of the college guys. I feel like moving past the academy, even though you might graduate from the program you’re still not done necessarily there because every year in the summer they’ll invite some people back to continue training. Last year we trained with LA Galaxy II and we got to do their whole summer training program. It was all the same equipment they use, we were in their locker room with a complete professional environment. I haven’t been there yet this summer, but I’m assuming it will be something similar to that. It’s really good training to be practicing with the first team guys and all the Galaxy II players in a professional environment to help all of us college guys prepare for the next season.

F: You mentioned LA Galaxy II. A former teammate of yours, Ari Lassiter, is currently playing with them and playing well, scoring a lot of goals and getting a lot of time. How much do you stay in touch with former teammates like him and Mackenzie Pridham? Is that a road map for you to play professionally in the future?

JD: Ari was actually my roommate last year and we’re still very very good friends. I’ve been texting him letting him know I’m going to be coming up there and playing with them. He’s been doing well. He actually played against Mac yesterday and he scored a penalty, so that’s pretty cool to see both the Cal Poly guys out there again. As far as a road map for us, it’s definitely what we want to achieve. It’s a big advantage to have the opportunity to be put in front of first team and Galaxy II coaching staff over the summer and training with them, so it’s pretty advantageous. Ultimately, that is a road map that I hopefully can achieve — being able to go play with the team I grew up with. It’s always been a dream of mine. Hopefully one day it can work out.

F: With Steve Sampson as your college coach now, do you feel like you’re getting more exposure or a level of preparation from a guy who has coached in a World Cup? How does having a coach like him prepare you guys (Cal Poly players) to play professionally if that’s something you want to pursue?

JD: I respect all my coaches I’ve had. We’ve seen dramatic changes ultimately for the better. He’s definitely harder on us, but he’s also so much more professional. He’s giving us all the tools we need to be successful with any other coach. He’s made it clear to us that he’s well respected at the next level and if we can continue to improve and show that that’s something we want to do and fight for it then we 100% have his support in the future. I think it’s a huge motivation even for recruits to come to our school because nobody else in the country has a coach like Steve Sampson with his resume and his connections.

F: Tell me about going to play at StubHub Center (with PSA Elite). Have you ever played there before? How does it feel to go back to play against the team you trained with when you were younger.

JD: I have played in that stadium for a scrimmage. Just playing in that stadium even back then without the fans was something really spectacular. Having the opportunity to play against the first team in the Open Cup, that’s pretty unbelievable for an amateur team in college to have an opportunity to essentially be playing in a professional game. I’m a little bit torn, being a supporter of the Galaxy and playing for them growing up and now ultimately having to play against them and wanting my team to move on to the next round. It’s a little change of heart, but ultimately I do want PSA to win and my team to be a part of the next round.

F: Do you think you have another upset in you? It would be the biggest upset in US Open Cup history…

JD: It would be a HUGE upset and obviously the Galaxy is one of the best teams in the MLS. For a team like us to be able to challenge them and play against them is an upset in itself. From the guys I know on PSA, some of them were on the Galaxy with me and some were on the (junior) national team with me, so it’s going to be an interesting game. We obviously have something to prove. Obviously (the Galaxy) are not going to take us lightly, they’re professionals, but it’s going to be a real fun test.

Kickoff is set for 7:30 at StubHub Center on Wednesday night. General admission tickets are just $10. 

Joe Tutino has been broadcasting LA Galaxy soccer play-by-play since the franchise’s second year in existence. That’s 18 years, in case you’re counting. Tutino has had a long career in broadcasting sports radio throughout southern California.

Joe joined this week’s podcast on the second week of the Major League Soccer season to talk about the Galaxy, the evolution of MLS, and the state of soccer in the United States.

The Earthquakes played the Rapids at Spanos Stadium Friday night

On Friday night, the San Jose Earthquakes “hosted” the defending Major League Soccer champion Colorado Rapids at Cal Poly’s Spanos Stadium, where this country’s variety of soccer fansmanship was on full display.

While soccer isn’t in my top three favorite sports, I consider myself a casual fan. With a professional game in town, I decided to attend the game with Nuge, who is more than a casual fan, and some of his friends.

A San Jose native, Nuge had a strong rooting interest in the game. Of the group, he was the only one, which is probably why his friends rooted so hard for Colorado. I was mostly ambivalent about the outcome of the preseason game. What was more important to me was the soccer “scene.”

Soccer fans generally come in a few types. You could think of them on a spectrum – maybe similar to a political spectrum one might see in a social studies class in high school.

The most extreme type is the radically intense fan. These are fans who have a single team and will chant, scream, yell, beat drums for 90 minutes, blow horns, wave flags, and even fight other fans to defend their team’s honor. This fan type comes a dime a dozen in Europe, but is pretty difficult to find in the United States. The closest thing we have in this country is Raiderfan or Nascar likes-to-fight guy. While there are pockets like these, the United States is largely hooligan-free in the world of sports-fansmanship.

The second-most extreme type is where Nuge falls. This soccer fan is the most admirable and dedicated of the bunch. This fan ranges from those who will travel to see their team play to those who see a large portion of home games consistently. These fans also may be vocal and excited during games because the game matters to them. They may also wave flags and play instruments without the flair for fighting. I fall into this category for the Dodgers, Lakers, Cal Poly basketball, and UCLA basketball.

Following the “actual” fans above, there are casual fans, like me with soccer. I enjoy soccer, but there are seasons that go by where I don’t have a clue. I asked an Arsenal fan last night if Cesc Fabregas was still on the team and whether Almunia was still their regular keeper (yes and no). Fans like me like to join in the scene, whatever the scene is. If it’s appropriate to be a crazy fan, screaming and making noise all game, then I’ll join in. I won’t, however, be the first to start a chant at a soccer game. Most of the parents of the kids playing at half-time of the game also fall into the casual fan category.

After the “casual” soccer fans, there are the folks who are there for the scene. My guess is that, in a city like San Luis Obispo, about a third to half of the fans at the game on Friday fall into this category. They are there because it’s an event in SLO on a Friday night. It’s at Cal Poly and it’s an opportunity to be at a once-a-year event that makes SLO feel a little bigger. This group is integral to selling enough tickets to draw major teams to SLO for a game.

Let me be clear, some of these reasons also influenced me going to the game on Friday. I enjoy a good event as much as anyone — probably more. But the difference is this: I know a little about soccer.

There was lots of soccer fansmanship at Spanos Stadium Friday night

An example of the conversation from the people behind me: “Didnt’ that guy foul that other guy? Why is the referee just shrugging his shoulders and letting the game go on? How was that not a foul?”

Another conversation: “Why are those guys on the sideline wearing those weird differently-colored jerseys?”

Of course, the first question was referring to the advantage rule. To the credit of the fans behind me, one fan was able to mostly describe the rule to another fan. To the credit of United States soccer, refs in this country have begun to use advantage more and more, allowing for more open and free-flowing play.

Aside from three or four free kicks and corner kicks, the Spanos Stadium crowd of almost 3,000 stayed at a strong murmur for most of the evening. People reacted to good plays, but in a distinctly mellow and mostly laid-back San Luis Obispo way.The Earthquakes are three hours away, but there wasn’t even really a pro-Earthquakes feel aside from Nuge’s anti-Colorado trash-talk.

The Earthquakes struck for the first and only goal on a penalty kick. The thing that I didn’t even realize until I looked it up, was that there were at least three or four players who have appeared for the US National Team in the past. In other words, the teams were playing their starters. I expected teams to play their second and third-string players throughout this exhibition in SLO. But both teams decided to bring out some of their “big guns” or at least big names.

Colorado’s roster included Conor Casey (taller than I thought), Marvell Wynne (whose foul led to the PK and goal), and Pablo Mastroeni (still seems like a hothead and doesn’t strike me as an overly heady player). San Jose, still rebuilding after restarting as a franchise, had Bobby Convey come off the bench. Did the fans realize that they were seeing a lot of each squad’s “A team?” I spent most of the night trying to figure that out.

It was clear that people around me were having a great time (whether they knew who they were watching or not) and the atmosphere was a happy one. Kids swarmed around the stadium, looking for a grassy area to play, watching the game, and generally having a great time. The kid in me got his hands on a pair of churros and a soda halfway through the second half. The relaxed crowd atmosphere allowed for kids to have a great time at this MLS game, which was probably the point, especially from the perspective of the MLS.

If soccer is to grow in this country, places like San Luis Obispo will be the front lines of this growth. Our city and country won’t ever be rife with hooligan fans. For those who think that hooligan fansmanship is a necessary part of a healthy soccer culture, you’ll be sorely disappointed at a game in SLO. For people, like me, who see one fan explaining the advantage rule to another as a sign of the growth of the game in the United States, Friday night was a definite step in the right direction. Go Galaxy! (Sorry Nuge, couldn’t help it).

owen@fansmanship.com

One more picture from Friday night. Gotta want it.