FRISCO - Familiarity breeds contempt.
It’s an adage that rings true across professional sports and Dallas vs Houston is no exception. In the first four years of the Texas Derby pres. by Novo Nordisk since Houston came into the league in 2006, the Texas rivals played 16 times across MLS regular season and post-season quickly sparking the I-45 rivalry into perhaps the most heated in the league.
However, things cooled off in recent years as Houston was moved into the Eastern Conference with the two sides playing just three times in the last three years as well as a couple Lamar Hunt US Open Cup meetings. The talk out of both camps this week, however, is that with three MLS meetings on the horizon over the next six months, things should heat up again which is exciting for everyone involved.
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“It changes everything,” said Zach Loyd after training on Thursday, one of the few players to experience a Texas Derby pres. by Novo Nordisk with multiple games a season. “My first couple years here, we had that series and with three games it means a little more especially now that they’re back in our conference battling for playoff spots as opposed to the last few years where it’s a rivalry but when you only play them once a year it’s not the same and doesn’t have the same dynamic.”
With a fan base that has grown exponentially since 2009 when the teams were playing multiple times year over year, the 2015 edition of the Texas Derby will serve as the first chance for many to experience the ebbs and flows of a three-game series between these rivals.
“It’s hard to have a rivalry when we only visit the other team once a year and they don’t come here and experience our fans or vice versa,” said Loyd. “I think that three-game series re-ignites it and as I mentioned before being in the same conference makes it even more important battling for the playoff spots. I’m looking forward to getting it back going and keeping El Capitan here.”
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Counting Lamar Hunt US Open Cup play, FC Dallas has won four games in a row against Houston and two in a row in MLS for the first time in franchise history. Dallas has held the “El Capitan” howitzer cannon contested between the two teams since 2013, and can keep the cannon with two wins from the three games this year.
“I think it adds a great importance first because you’re playing a team that is a derby for us and in the conference with three games where all the people can enjoy the rivalry,” said head coach Oscar Pareja. “At the same time it gives importance in the standings, so it’s really good.”
