and his lethal left foot -- was shipped to San Jose as part of the Richard Mulrooney trade. Only 23 years old, Davis is with his third team in four professional seasons. Davis has one goal to go with his five assists, and anybody who watches the league regularly knows you don't want to get a beer or go to the concession stand when the Quakes are lined up for a free kick.
Ching says, "I just try to beat my man to the spot, get open, just get in front of him and hope that Brad puts it where I'm at. He's done a good job of doing that so far."
Davis says he hopes he can continue to get the job done, but says it's the guys at the other end of the pass who really have the tough job.
"My job is to serve a good ball," Davis said. "The guys in the box are the ones doing the hard work, making the hard runs and attacking the ball. If I get the ball in there it's all the credit to them to get to it and finish."
Defender Troy Dayak, who has been on the end of a Davis free kick for a goal, said that Davis should become even more dangerous: "He's a very talented player and he's now just getting to know his players and where they run."
Brad to Brian has a nice ring to it, and with some fine work on the other side of the field we may soon have an alliterative passing pair from the right side: Mullan to Moreno.
Brian Mullan, who had nine assists two years ago in the second championship season and another eight last year, dished up a dandy of a pass to Alejandro Moreno late in the 2-2 tie last week at Salt Lake City.
"We know that Brian can be dangerous when he gets behind the defenders," Moreno said. "And he got one to me. Thankfully it went in."
The Quakes new TV color analyst Ray Hudson said, "You've got Davis on one side and Mullan on the other side. Rolls Royce doesn't get this kind of service."
"We're a good team," Ching says of the 1-1-3 Quakes. "I think once we stop leaking goals, we'll make a good run in our conference."
It's pretty clear this version of the Quakes has the firepower to play with anybody at one end of the field. And when the bad plays and the bad breaks at the other end of the field start to even out, the Quakes will open up some eyes.
Maybe they'll put it all together this week, at Giants Stadium in New Jersey, where the Quakes meet the MetroStars in a 1 p.m. PT start Saturday. The Metros will get a good look at Brad Davis, one of the many good players they let get away. They will recognize the dangerous left foot. They'd better mark the man in the middle as well. Of course, everybody knew who Steve Young wanted to throw the ball to. Stopping them was the hard part.
John Shrader has been the voice of the Earthquakes since 1996 and has worked in television and radio in the Bay Area for the past 20 years.
