Tailgate will be in the shady area NE of the ticket booth. Just bring your own stuff, there should be a grill (or two if I bring mine as well) to cook some brats or hot dogs or whatever. I don't know the exact time we're starting but I'll be there about 545-6
Also heads up about the tailgate, my father is once again bringing a lot of people from his company. One of which has been to a Portland Timbers game in Portland. Anyways they all wish to tailgate and he just told me there will be 23 people, they seem to have big plans for the tailgating. Should be a jolly group.
I was just thinking about this game yesterday, lineup will probably be the same as it has been, right? Frankie, Chad, Stokes, Norkus in the back... Long, Brightwell, Low, Edozien, Carrieri in the mid... and either Maher/KJ up top Brightwell has been playing really good lately and I was kind of hater earlier in the year, but he's impressed me. I'd personally like to see Cephas up top but it's really a toss-up on which one will/should get the start. If we don't get but one new player in the offseason, please let it be a wing replacement for Carrieri.
I've always like Brightwell, I just didn't like the idea of playing with two D-mids. Low may have been our best all around player so you don't take him out so Stu got the short straw. After seeing a few teams run through our midfield, especially when Stokes was out of the D, I like having Stu in there too. I've been won over. I'll settle for 2 D-mids and the chance for 1-0 victory.
Yeah, but he's really stepped up his offense to me. His passing seems a lot better and he's been getting more in the attack than earlier in the year.
The Timbers will be without team captain and leading scorer Andrew Gregor, as well as midfielder Neil Dombrowski (one of Chad's brothers), both getting injured in Puerto Rico last weekend. Other than that, the Timbers are bringing a full 18 player roster, which is rather unusual in the USL these days for a cross-country one game trip. A familiar face to soccer in the area is Chris Bagley, who played with Wilmington last year and has also played for the Battery in the past. He's recently recovered from an injury that kept him out for about a month. http://timbersblog.blogspot.com/
What about Worthen? I've noticed he hasn't played lately; hasn't even been listed as a sub even. Is he injured?
I think it was during the halftime of the Impact game, he was on there talking about the target date for him to come back was the USOC game but the doctors weren't too sure what was wrong with him and how long his recovery would be.
Thanks for the info. Poor guy If anyone sees him to talk to him, please tell him his fans in Richmond say "hi" and wish him a speedy recovery
The last home game was, imho, Brightwell's best game. I won't be too quick to say he's made great overall improvement based on that one showing... He got around the pitch very well, and made some decent passes. I was happy that he held the ball in the box and made himself a little space for a shot (and a good one) rather than laying it off or passing it back, which seems to be his general instinct. I would be surprised if he and Low weren't the central midfield pairing against Portland. That said, the coaching staff has surprised us before (such as the attacking lineup v. Chicago). The only way I see the midfield changing, though, is if someone is injured or Steele's suspension is up. If Steele is available, I think we may only see him in the middle late on if we are trailing. He would probably start on the left over Long, then move to the middle with Santi replacing Brightwell late, again if trailing. As far as the occasional Carrieri hating goes... he's certainly been up and down this season. He generally seems to be better in the bigger games. I think he's still learning to play wide, but getting better positionally. He still looks tense and pressured to me... looks like he would play better if he could relax a bit. This could be a completely bs impression though, obv, and is just me blowing out some top of the head opinion. Three points from this game would clearly be cause for celebration. Let's go 'Hawks!
Ref crew for tonight will be... Delois, William McPhun, David Hansberry, Eric Mohamed, Saeed Delois was the center on our first game against Atlanta in Cary this year. I don't remember much about him though, so I think that's a good thing.
6,545 fans on the opening night of the college football season in the state of North Carolina. That is a pretty good turn out.
Yeah, biggest crowd of the season. It was a great atmosphere. Too bad none you suckers would take my attendance bet. I'd be drunk right now
What a bad day! State loses to UCF, UNC beats JMU, Duke loses like always (I don't hate them), and the Railhawks lose!
I thought it was a great day. GT beat ND 33-3, App St beat Mich 34-32 and the Silverbacks beat the Islanders 3-1.
Thanks for a good time guys!! We ended up driving strait back after the Dynamo game ended and got into DC at 3:30, now I am headed back to LI.
Glad you guys made the trip. We enjoyed having you be a part of history...our largest regular season crowd to date. I look forward to seeing some of those photos you guys took once you've had some sleep.
Looking at the replay of the Timbers goa, I'm pretty sure that one should be scored an OG for Stokes.
Thanks for having us guys. Crestfallen by the result, but I was very impressed with the number of fans that turned out for the game. You guys showed some great passion, keep it up.