Here are the standings as of RIGHT NOW (2:30pm Saturday) http://www.usopencup.com/qual/pdl/75394.html HERE ARE THE THREE THINGS THAT THE BUCKS NEED TO QUALIFY (it's much simpler now that Colorado Springs beat St. Louis): * Bucks need to beat Cleveland * Des Moines needs to beat Chicago Fire Reserves * St. Louis needs to beat Boulder Rapids Reserve If CHI or BOULDER win (if both win, Bucks are done), if one or the other win...then the Bucks can still get in via the tiebreaker (goal diff) over Ft. Wayne. I will have the score of the Boulder Rapids/St. Louis game up AS SOON as the final whistle sounds (and probably the halftime score as well) We are going to do our best to have score updates from ALL the games AS SOON as we hear them...so if you're sitting around, check back with the site.
Ack! The Strikers tanked it tonight, losing to the Rapids Reserve 6-0. Thunder Bay has to be a big underdog playing at the Fire Reserve's field.
Oops. My bad. Des Moines plays at the Fire Reserves tomorrow. Perhaps we might hope that Thunder Bay keeps their cleats up tonight. How in the heck is it that Thunder Bay plays in the other division? Those must be some hella-stupid bus rides.
Anyone going to the game figured out how we are going to get live scores on the Des Moines-Reserves match? I've tried contacting a couple of DM fans on this board but haven't rec'd a response. I don't need a Fire Reserves fan calling me up to twist the knife. We are huge underdogs tonight.
Chicago Fire Reserves 2 Des Moines Menace 0 - final The Chicago Fire Reserves qualify for the Open Cup, the Bucks are left out. FACT: The Bucks finish with a 3-0-1 record after four games for the 4th straight year. They have only qualified for the Open Cup TWICE out of those four years. Even if the Bucks WOULD HAVE qualified, I'd still be saying that they need to get more PDL teams into the Open Cup. It's a damn shame some of the teams that they are leaving out this year, and in previous years.
Considering the changes to DM's roster this season, and the fact that CFR had a GF/GA of +18 coming into tonight's game, it is surprising that the score was only 2-0. If you didn't go to the game tonight(and none of you did), you were a lot smarter than I. A waste of time all around. The only saving grace was the time I spent in the press box. Reportedly there have been less than 1,000 deposits made for MLSDetroit. A Cup game or two would have been a godsend for the effort.
I am very much affraid that with the Bucks failing to make the USOC, any chance of getting those 5000 deposits has pretty much fizzled. We had one Marketing/PR meeting. One. And not much was accomplished. I thought that we needed several more to help solidify some tactical approaches to achieve the objective. They are pretty much expecting to get all of their deposits from the youth programs. I think they're smoking it. In fact, most of my concerns were dismissed when I brought them up. You can't count on the youth leagues because it's their parents that run the show, not the kids. And most kids don't have a frickin' clue what MLS is. So how the hell are the parents supposed to know? There has been no effort to penetrate the ethic enclaves around Detroit. No effort to pursue the 20-30-something crowd that actually has money to burn. No effort to go after the existing adult leagues. None. Ziltch. Nada. I just think that they are going about this all wrong. But who am I. My involvement with this organization is minimal. Frankly, I just don't know how serious they are about this. I really don't know. After that first meeting, I was very pumped. But then my repeated inquiries for additional meetings when unanswered. I figured that a) I wasn't needed, or b) they were already rapidly approaching their goal and therefore no longer required any planning sessions. Whatever the issue was, it doesn't matter now. September will be upon us very shortly. As short as our chances seem now.
Why don't the Bucks try to schedule some exhibitions with some MLS clubs? Since there will be no Open Cup this year, and I KNOW that the Bucks have unlimited connections in the soccer world...why not try to get the Crew, Fire or someone to stop by and play an exhibition?
I think I remember reading somewhere that the Duggans were putting in a bid to get the US Open Cup Final at Ford Field. Two MLS teams playing in a big venue would be just what the doctor ordered for that subscription-momentum thing. Hell, if the game is something like, say, Columbus against DC Adunited, they could get a decent number into that place. And I'm sickened to hear that the ethnic audience in Detroit is being completely ignored. You'd think that they would try to do this right, leaving no stone unturned, as opposed to just conforming to their pre-conceieved notions of who their audience would be, and ending up being wrong. I really, really hope that this effort isn't as half-assed as Trevor makes it sound....
I think that would be an excellent idea. The arguement I've heard AGAINST having the Open Cup final at a nuetral site is that Open Cup attend. suffers enough when the games are played at a team's home stadium (SEE Crew Stadium for the 2002 Open Cup final...in which they WON) But I think that this idea is worth exploring...and it would be a GREAT audience for MLS Detroit to say "hey...you like what you see? You want a team in Detroit....here's how..." I think that you would be able to promote this game WAY in advance...and you'd get AT LEAST 5-10k (which is more than you would even get at a team's home stadium) -- especially if you schedule it on a weekend, and even more if you get "Adunited" .... I think it's worth trying...what does everyone else think?
Thanks for the kindness. Actually, I was hoping to find someone who I could call during the game last night. Turns out that might have been a help for other reasons -- maybe a score as soon as the game ended might have saved some suffering Bucks fans another hour or so of waiting before the refs finally cancelled the game. An Open Cup final would be great, but I think it has been expressed here or elsewhere that it is a real longshot. Where do Detroit-area soccer fans congregate online? Surely the threads here can't be hub of SE Michigan online soccer activity.
A fuller match report on last night's game against Toledo will come tonight. A couple of observations for now: about the only thing the Slayers will be slaying this season is the fans' waking consciousness. For the first 25 minutes of the 2nd half the Bucks were lulled to sleep as well. And Eric Pogue is toiling for Toledo between the pipes this season. Unfortunately Eric is a year older, and few of his kicks were as much fun to watch as last year's, when he visited Canton wearing an Indiana Invader's uniform.
Match Report: The Slayers are small. To make up for it, they are slow. For the most part, this was another typical Bucks game: domination on the field, but close on the scoreboard until the end. Positive individual assessments are tough as the Slayers are pretty bad. So let's hit the negative: 1) Unless Stephen Armstrong needs more rehab time, it is increasingly difficult to see him wearing an MLS kit again. He is just too slow. He had real trouble finding enough space to get off any shots on goal. Against the Slayers that is really saying something. And if you saw how much attention Toledo was paying to Knox....... Still, he probably is the Bucks' best crosser. And during midfield build-up he is always available. 2) I've noted previously that it looks as though Ryan Rzepka has slowed a bit since 2003. Last night a lineup shift may have confirmed it: Mario Gomez was benched, Rzepka took his inside position and Nate Craft was moved back from midfield to Ryan's old spot: left back. In the 2nd half Nate played forward enough that I couldn't tell for sure whether the Bucks were playing with 3 or 4 on the back line. Don't know whether Ryan & KT in the middle is a good combo: I need to see them paired against better competition. 3) Knox really started picking his spots in the 2nd half. This cost him an almost certain goal, yet Cameron still managed to assist Turpin's 2nd goal and then he finished Toledo off with one of his own. Knox and Turpin have a palpable chemistry. 4) Jo Jo Kabwe had perhaps the best touch of any Buck last night, but it seems he will do just about anything to avoid using his head. He intensely dislikes one-on-one balls in the air. Other notes: IU phenom Jacob Peterson was dressed and on the bench for Sunday's game. Don't know if he was in attendance last night. Someone in the press box dated themselves last night with the choice of music: The Michael Stanley Band. Wouldn't that have been more appropriate when the Bucks played Cleveland last Sunday, not last night? I'm thinking of buying the latest Fountains of Wayne album and donating it. I'm avoiding the hotdogs at the concession stand. Way, way too much salt in those things. I'm sick about missing next week's match against the Reserves.
Another painful Bucks game last night. Once again the 3-1 final score was not indicative of the overall flow of play. The scoreless first half was largely dominated by the Bucks. In fact, it might have been the most attractive half of soccer they've played in my 1.5 seasons of attendance. For the first 25 minutes Jo Kabwe was the Man of the Match. For the entire half Armstrong was our best player. At halftime things changed up a bit. A couple of Fire Reserve subs shored up their midfield play and the early minutes of the 2nd half were very even. In the 59th minute Nate Norman got trapped on the right sideline midway into Fire territory. Looking for an outlet to relieve the pressure Nate made an ill-advised pass that was picked off and led to a Fire counter. FR striker Julian Nash locked up with Ryan Rzepka in a sprint into Bucks' territory as a gorgeous long ball was played to the pair. Unfortunately Ryan lost his balance and fell; Nash calmly collected the ball in stride and proceeded to close in on goal and finished with a clinical, classy strike. No fault could be laid at GK Szubay(sp?)'s feet. Then things began to get interesting. Early in the 2nd half Stephen Armstrong's right knee began to bother him. He'd had it looked at halftime, but I couldn't remember seeing any deterioration in his play late in the first half. A couple of minutes into the 2nd Armstrong got into a minor scrape on the far sideline and came up limping noticeably. I thought Coach Gemmill would sub for Armstrong immediately; later events would show why he may have been hesitant. Two minutes after the first FR goal Armstrong came off for Tommy Stark. Nate Norman left his right back position to play Armstrong's midfield slot and Stark took over at right back. Almost immediately Stark looked like a fish out of water. He made numerous poor decisions, and in the 70th minute committed a two-footed studs up tackle that earned him a justified red card. The Bucks were forced to throw resources into attack, and the FR laid back looking for counters. In the 80th minute they capitalized when #11 Chris Rolfe brought a Khumalo pass down with his chest and put it past Szubay with his second touch. I thought Rolfe was the FR's best player last night. The Bucks spent about a minute feeling sorry for themselves, and then picked up the pace of attack. In the 86th minute they were finally rewarded with a PK thanks to a foul committed I think by the FR goal keeper. Taylor converted, and the game took on an even more frantic pace. A couple of minutes later Mychal Turpin appeared to have pulled the Bucks' fat from the Fire with a goal to tie the score up at 2. The ref waved off the goal, signalling that Turpin used his left forearm to settle a pass before finishing. I had a reasonably good angle and it didn't look like a handball. In the ref's defense he had pretty good position on the play. The Bucks suffered a final indignity in extra time when Boyzz Khumalo scored the FR's third goal on another counterattack. Khumalo was on the Bucks' roster last season, and presumably wasn't considered good enough to be allowed off the bench. Khumalo certainly seemed to enjoy a measure of schadenfreude, if his victory celebration was any indication. More thoughts later.
Just saw Kalamazoo pull off a great 2-1 victory over the Bucks tonight. Turpin, Cameron and Armstrong started on the bench but to be fair Kalamazoo took it to the Bucks and deserved their victory although the Bucks had a host of late chances to equalize. Ssejemba and Mugabi scored for Kalamazoo while Cameron scored a free kick for the Bucks.
Our savior has arrived! The Age of Peterson has begun; long may he reign! Last night's Bucks' 2-0 win over Indiana heralded the home debut of IU phenom Jacob Peterson. While there are plenty of other Bucks happenings to ponder, they all pale in comparison to the long awaited appearance of this gifted 18 year old. Jacob notched his first game time earlier in the week in the road loss to Kalamazoo. When Peterson entered the game last night to start the 2nd half, the complexion changed almost immediately. To start the game Indiana played fairly even with us for about 15 minutes; then the Bucks' midfield slowly took over the flow with occasional defensive miscues providing marginal opportunities for the Invaders. But the Bucks could not convert possession into scoring opportunities, let alone goals. The Indiana back 4 is big, strong, and well-coached. Without a lineup change I'm pretty sure the game would have ended in a scoreless tie. Jacob was paired up top with Knox Cameron, and had his first dangerous look at goal just 5 1/2 minutes into the 2nd stanza. A low right-footed sizzler to the near post was brilliantly parried by the Invaders' keeper. The next 20 minutes featured Peterson a number of times, and not just on offensive runs. He is much more active than Knox in pressuring the back line to give up possession. A bit of luck would have turned one of those turnovers into a goal. The inevitable finally occurred in the 76th minute when Jacob took the ball to the endline just left of the Invaders' goal. Without further room to maneuver Jacob deftly laid the ball back to Cameron who stood all alone about 12 yards from goal. Knox made no mistake with a nicely curved ball to the far post. Five minutes later Jacob went down in a heap trying to toe-poke a ball past the keeper; he was quickly replaced and spent the rest of the evening with an ice pack on the lowest right-sided portion of his back. I'll have more later(perhaps tomorrow), but for now all who read this thread but have not made regular appearances at Hurley Field should know that it is time to come back. Peterson & Cameron are probably the best goal scoring combo in the PDL and they are easily worth your time and 9 samoleans. Peterson is too good to be playing at this level for much longer than this season. Take the opportunity to watch a kid who is really going places.
MAN! I wish I was there to watch this for myself.... The Bucks are involved in some late season drama...surprise, surprse. With an overtime "thriller" victory over Cleveland tonight, the Bucks kept themselves alive in the playoff hunt. A loss or a draw tonight would have REALLY hurt their chances...but as they typically do (in the regular season) they came through when they needed to. HERE'S HOW THINGS LOOK (as of tonight): Top 2 teams get into the playoffs FT. WAYNE (28 pts, 3 games left) INDIANA (27 pts, 3 games left) MICHIGAN BUCKS (23 pts, 4 games left) KALAMAZOO (19 pts, 3 games left) REMAINING SCHEDULES: FT WAYNE July 9 vs. Michigan Bucks July 10 @ West Michigan July 17 @ Indiana INDIANA July 8 @ West Michigan July 11 vs. Wisconsin July 17 vs. Ft. Wayne MICHIGAN BUCKS July 9 (8:30pm) @ Ft. Wayne July 11 (6:00pm) @ Cleveland July 14 (7:30pm) vs. West Michigan July 17 (7:30pm) @ Toledo KALAMAZOO July 10 vs. Chicago Fire Reserves July 16 vs. Cleveland July 17 at Indiana Looks like the Bucks have a very favorable schedule down the stretch...granted, 3/4 games are on the road, but Ft. Wayne and Indiana play each other and Kalamazoo could play the spoiler on the last game of the season. Get out there and cheer your butts off (for me) at that West Michigan game! When I come back to Lansing, MI the last week of July, I want to be able to shoot over to Detroit to catch a playoff game!!
Wow it looks like it's going to be an exciting finish to the season. I'd have to giver the edge to the Bucks. It's good to see Ft Wayne do well in their second season. Indiana seems to improve a little more each year. But when it comes to the playoffs it always seems to be a crap shoot. With the PDL, teams tend to loose players at this time of year either through injuries or other commitments and some teams tend to end the season under staffed.