2011 Des Moines Menace

Oh my God, they're having a vuvuzela giveaway this year? You must be kidding me.

 

I still have my vuvuzela from last year. I think it was the game where the power was out for like an hour leading to a lengthy delay once it got dark.

 

Not sure how many people post here anymore--I know the vast majority of the St. Louligans don't even check the forum anymore--but just wanted to say, we'll see you boys in Iowa for the season opener. Should be fun.

 

There is sort of another soccer team in Iowa. The NPSL now has a team in the Quad Cities (Augustana College makes it an Illinois clubs, obviously, but they do at least have Iowa in their logo).

http://www.quadcityeaglesfc.com/

 

Hey guys, the Red Army discount is not working on the website again.

If you want to take advantage of $50 season tickets, 11 games at $4.54/game, please purchase directly from Todd Meiners in the front office. He can be reached at 515-457-6366.

 

Benny Taylor is back!

Only five guys back from last year apparently: Lebogang Moloto, Luis Piffer, Husref Jupic, Jubril Lawal and Brandon Fricke.

Seems like a relative lack of returnees although obviously more could be announced. I wonder if Calloway was somewhat less than pleased with the utter lack of finishing from last year's squad.

http://menacesoccer.com/news/release/index.html?article_id=255

 

So, I guess there's no more hard feelings.

 

Menace USASA wins today 7-1. Looks like a Menace team qualified for the LHUSOC. Now, when the PDL qualifies, we can have 2 teams in the US Open Cup.

 

Yep, with other results the Menace got one of the region II births for the win by the largest goal difference beating the 10 men Athletics team 7-1.

 

I heard 6 guys were back but not sure who the 6th would be.

 

The streak of leading the PDL in attendance for like a decade might be over.

http://www.fresnobee.com/2011/04/29/2370427/fresno-on-fire-for-fuego.html

 

I know it does not matter to the USL but shouldn't the attendance be paid vs. Fresno which everyone gets in free? Even for free, that is huge attendance.

 

Agree on the paid attendance. Not sure how they're making that work unless the sponsor underwrote all those tix. Hard to believe.

I just received my RA lanyard and it looks sweet! Glad to have it with just 9 days left.

I also heard that there are a couple scrimmages scheduled starting this saturday. Menace are playing against the Quad City Eagles in QC 7:30pm. There's also a scrimmage scheduled for next thursday the 12th in Grimes at the complex there. Both are free and a bunch of guys should hopefully be in town. Sounds like final prep for the opener.

 

6th man is Kadlec from 2009. Also heard Malicivic might be back.

 

Good to hear. I think we should be strong as long as we have the finishing that was lacking last season. Seemed like every week I was telling Laurie after the game that we needed finishers.

 

When are we supposed to get our lanyard?

 

new goalkeepers and defenders announced. seems like a lot of keepers as this would make 5 with Kradlec

Goalkeepers:
Phil Boerger (Syracuse)
Andy Holte (Butler)
Brendan Roslund (San Francisco)
Eric Shannon (Cal State Bakersfield)

Defenders:
Anthony Colaizzi (ex-Marquette)
Garrett Crall (Drake)
Kooten Johnson (Western Illinois)
Jamiel Hardware (Jamaica U20 National Team)
Diego Marroquin (Sacramento State)
Francis Otira (Northern Illinois)
David Parato (Drake)
Jace Peters (Creighton)
Uriah Polley (Western Michigan)
Roger Thompson (Cincinnati)
Hometown: Brampton, Ontario
Chris Van Leur (San Francisco)
Brian Visser (San Francisco)

seems that Calloway's hit up the northern California area this year...might be a byproduct of his time there. Seems lot a return to more D1 guys after having been a bit heavy in D2/NAIA guys the past few years.

http://www.menacesoccer.com/news/release/index.html?article_id=256

 

I got mine in the mail. Assume its on it's way as long as you ordered it through the guy at the office.

 

hey, a few of us will be heading up your way this Saturday to watch our Lions take on your Menace. Hope to meet some of you.
Heard that the stadium is "dry", so curious where you guys do your "pregame warmup"? Parking lot okay to drink?

 

Zygi Wilf Says Major League Soccer to Minnesota if Vikings Get New Proposed Arden Hills Stadium
Posted: 11 May 2011 08:52 AM PDT

Vikings owner Zygi Wilf states he’d like to bring Major League Soccer to Minnesota if a new stadium is built.

Intial sketch of new proposed stadium in Arden Hills, Minnesota.
Zygi Wilf, owner of the Minnesota Vikings NFL team, held a press conference on Tuesday announcing they had reached an agreement with Ramsey County and the city of Arden Hills for a new retractable roof stadium. The proposed stadium would be built on the old Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant along I-35W north of I-694.
The cost of the stadium with the retractable roof is said to be about $1 billion. A study by the State’s Transportation Department said that an additional $240 million would be needed to improve roads in the area for the stadium.
The new stadium would be a 1.6 million-square-foot facility and would have 21,000 parking spaces which Wilf stated is important to bring the NFL game day experience, complete with tailgating, back to Minnesota.
Wilf, who was born in Germany in 1950, made another announcement that passed by most media without mention. He stated that he would like to bring Major League Soccer to Minnesota if he was able to work out the details of the stadium deal.
“We are very excited for the State of Minnesota for our fans and for all the different events we can bring here,” said Zygi Wilf in his opening statements of the almost hour-long press conference. “Soccer, hopefully the Super Bowl, in which we are in it of course, Final Four and all the great community events that have taken place in the Metrodome over the last 30 years.”
Mark Wilf, Zygi’s brother, continued with the talk of soccer coming to the stadium, this time mentioning MLS.
“We feel the Arden Hills location is ideal for our team, for the community, for the State of Minnesota and for all the public. The stadium will be just ten miles from downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul. The proximity to downtown, the retractable roof, will make the stadium a major attraction in the upper Midwest to bring Major League Soccer, to bring Final Four college football bowl games and of course the Super Bowl,” said Mark Wilf.

Zygi and Mark Wilf
When the media was allowed to ask questions, Zygi Wilf used the chance to get more specific about his thoughts of MLS in the newly proposed stadium that would share the venue with the Vikings.
“We do plan on providing facilities that provide entertainment for our fans as part of the Vikings venue,” said Zygi Wilf. “The most important thing was to provide a world-class full-day football experience.”
“Also, with the event of a full retractable stadium our goal is to bring Major League Soccer back to Minnesota. The location of here (Arden Hills) being close to Blaine and their facilities for soccer and for youth soccer I think could make this stadium an important part of our youth soccer programs in addition to what’s up in Blaine. We are very excited for what this stadium could bring to our fans and the development will take place after we see what our needs will be.”
Blaine, Minnesota is the home of the National Sports Center Stadium (NSC), an 8,200-seat soccer venue where the Minnesota Thunder spent most of their years playing and is now the home of the NASL Minnesota Stars. The NSC also boast 52 soccer fields and one of the world’s largest youth soccer tournaments drawing over 900 teams from across the globe annually.
This is not the first time Wilf has talked MLS if a new stadium was built. I covered that topic in December of 2009 when the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission proposed a new stadium to replace the Metrodome, which is now nearly 30 years old.
At the time I passed Wilf’s previous comments off as merely hype to get more support behind a stadium for the Vikings. But what I’ve found out since then is Wilf did actually have some initial conversations of some sort with Major League Soccer. That is not to say this is not another attempt to garner support for his new proposed stadium.
While this could be exciting news for Minnesotans, the stadium is still a long way from being done and Major League Soccer to Minnesota would be even a longer shot. Beside Wilf needing to put up the $40 million plus to field an MLS team, the league would have many questions to ask, including if Minnesota would truly be a good place to move or start a new team.
After the start of the 2012 season, MLS will be at 19 teams with the addition of the Montreal Impact. Commissioner Don Garber has stated he does not foresee additional growth in the league for some time after it hits its 20th team. Currently a second team in New York in addition to the Red Bulls and the South East United States seem to be targets for that last expansion team slot.
Still, it’s encouraging to hear the possibility of Minnesota having the highest level of soccer played in the US after having a 22-year history of D2 pro soccer in the area with the Thunder and the Stars. In addition, Minnesota has a history of top level soccer with the old NASL in the Minnesota Kicks, who played from 1976 to 1981, and the Strikers indoor team that played from 1984-1988.

 

There's a church lot directly south of the stadium that we usually tailgate in. I'm sure you can join us and we can all drink, eat, and complain about how awful Thugger Bay is together.

 

drinking alcohol in a church parking lot? sounds good to us.

 

I hope you guys have a sense of humor- or at least aren't easily offended.

 

When you're from a city as awesome as Des Moines, your ego doesn't allow much room for a sense of humor. Sorry.