FanNation

When the Baltimore Ravens returned to Cleveland in 1999 to face the new Browns for the first time since moving away, they were booed mercilessly and subject to more one-finger salutes than Hillary Clinton.

It was one of the best subplots of the NFL season: a relocated team returning to the city and fans it left behind, but with a new name, different uniforms and representing all the evils of the greedy owner who jilted the loyal fans to begin with.

When the Houston Dynamo visit the San Jose Earthquakes on Thursday night (ESPN2, 10:30 p.m. ET), it’ll be a similar dynamic. Just don’t expect the same vitriol. Many Quakes fans still pull for the team that moved to Texas in ’05. (See the last two MLS Cup title games as evidence: Hundreds of blue-jerseyed fans could be spotted in the stands, cheering on the Dynamo.)

On the contrary, it’ll be a nice homecoming for the Houston players, many of whom were idolized during their time in San Jose. “It’s nothing but good memories for me,” says Dynamo midfielder Richard Mulrooney, who won two MLS Cups during his six seasons with the Quakes. “A lot of us have friends or family there.”

But there won’t be a ton of fraternizing this week. “[Coach] Dom Kinnear said it best,” Mulrooney explains. “The Houston Dynamo bought us plane tickets to go and win a soccer game, not to reminisce about the past. This is our job.”

In the other locker room, it’s much of the same. “For most of the guys, the novelty’s worn off,” says San Jose’s Ryan Cochrane, who came back to the Quakes from Houston in the expansion draft. “I’ll probably shake a few more hands before the game than normal, but once the whistle blows, it’ll be business as usual.”

Indeed, the Dynamo already did their victory tour of their old stomping grounds back in February, with two preseason games in the Bay Area against the new expansion Quakes. There was definitely more carousing and socializing with each other back then, Mulrooney says.

Now, it’s just a case of both teams needing points. The two-time defending MLS Cup champion Dynamo are buried in fifth place in the Western Conference, while the new Quakes are dead last, with a league-worst four goals scored in six games.

“There’ll be friendly smiles before the game,” says Mulrooney, “but they’re trying to beat us as hard as we’re trying to beat them.”

Fans take note: In that first Ravens-Browns encounter, Baltimore blew out of town with a 41-9 win. Maybe Quakes fans are going to have to yell a little louder.