1790 Season Ends

It was ironic that we were watching the movie SEMI-PRO featuring Will Farrell as an owner/coach/player of a struggling minor league basketball team dealing with the traditional pitfalls of the minor league sports world.

As we watched the movie on our shuttle bus - which surprisingly has two flat screens and what looks to be the equivalent of a stripper pole - driving back to Cincinnati from the Louisville airport, a window that had been duct taped & secured a few months back decides that it doesn't want this life anymore and throws itself, crashing onto the highway pavement at 75 mph! Our team looks at each other bewildered at first, then laughter fills the silence of the new 'wind tunnel' that is our dodgy transportation.

We didn't even go back for it. Now windowless, tired from a full days travel from San Jose, California each player on 1790 Cincinnati wishes that the weekend in the playoffs in Stockton, CA had ended with one last victory to wrap up a surprising season by most standards.

We lost to the Stockton Cougars in their indoor stadium 13-5. A throttling to say the least. I was pleased with my performance in the loss, but what's that really worth? I'm a team guy. When my team struggles, I try to lead by example.

Frustrated with the penalties and lack of discipline, the game was over by the middle of the third quarter unfortunately.

Season Over.

Second place is the First Loser is what the brand NO FEAR taunted to the mountain dew extreme crowd.

If you're not First, you're Last is what Ricky Bobby has been quoted as saying, which is coincidentally another Will Farrell movie, Talladega Nights.

We did beat a Mexican team, Tigres Dorados, in the semi-final 10-6. A very technical, possession-oriented team. I believe our athleticism was the reason behind that win.

Overall it was a fantastic experience with the boys. Always learning new lessons through the silly game of soccer. It's frustrating, but invigorating to know that all that work throughout the season almost paid off. Even when the whole league wrote us off as not having a chance in hell to compete in the professional PASL league. Only to grab the #1 seed in the playoffs and blow it.

Next season, we have been told that Cincinnati will host the tournament - so maybe the locals can get a taste of championship success in a city that rarely has a winning organization.

1790 update for the next two weekends.

March 5, 2009

Thursday night training on the small field this evening at Gametime. A chore nobody enjoys, but that has been one of the constraints all season. There seems to always be a snafu, glitch, or caveat to this, what it amounts to is, a start-up league.

A few of us who have been playing together for 5 indoor season now are used to dealing with the adversity that comes with trying to keep a positive image of what we are trying to accomplish. A championship season for the city of Cincinnati. Not that anyone would raise and eyebrow to our achievement.

Soccer throughout the nation seems to hit a brick wall after the initial fanfare dies down. A few spectators who wish soccer would catch on, as do the emotional attachments that NFL and MLB fans seem to possess as steroid use, DUI pick ups, wife beatings & drunken brawls are typically news worthy events.

Sometimes even sports related issues as massive financial transactions under ridiculous salary caps amid a league wide scandal and supreme court investigations fuel the fire for more exciting gossip and story telling.

All which basically amounts to as a soap opera for a Man's Man.

We don't get much hype. We don't get much money. I'd like to glamorize the fact that we play because we love the game, which is part of it. Of course we'd love the fanatic hooligans that bolster its club as die hard supporters, chanting and rooting, rioting and looting, and overall generating a rabid fanbase that makes our side want to play for our real hometown heros.

The simple fact is that even my own dad calls me a grass fairy! That's just the way our culture perceives the sport. No blame to them. It's also a generation gap. Ask anyone over the age of 40 and most likely they'll tell you that their high school didn't even have a soccer team.

Regardless of the lack of hype, it is a sport I've never been burnt out from playing too much. Ever since my first ASYO season in Hawaii as a 4 year old, I have never missed a season.

That's endurance throughout my lifetime. The endurance necessary to win championships. The seasons can be long as hell, riddled with injuries, niggles, and disappointments. There have been a few things to smile about, especially the silly laughter that occurs on road trips with a group of unique teammates that just want to pass the time before and after each game.

We are St. Louis bound this Saturday for our last regular season game. If we win, we knock STL Illusion out of the playoff hunt and secure a great victory on the road against a damn good talented organization.

Stockton, California will greet us briefly for an awards ceremony on Friday, March 13th, which we have been told we will be reaping some silverware. Our semi-final game will be played on Saturday versus the winner of the 4 & 5 seeded teams, most likely a team from the Mexican division. Sunday is the grand finale agaisnt, hopefully, Stockton as they seem to gather a few thousand in crowds. Plus, they feel they need to redeem themselves to avenge their loss in the Nati.

It's up to us to bring back the first championship trophy to the PASL professional league. We have our work cut out for us. Cross your fingers.

I believe there is a feature online where the game will be broadcast. More on that later. tater.