Season opener! Chris Gaffney's got a great season preview at the Independent Weekly: http://www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid:366723 Stay tuned for tailgate information.
For those wondering about USL Live. The league office has confirmed it will be live for this match at usllive.com...but it may not be available until match day.
Good news, I'm not sure I'll be able to make this game. Also, that was a really good preview by Chris Gaffney... it's refreshing to see more and more coverage of the team.
My son plays for the Railhawks and I am stuck her in Cleveland, Ohio. Although my wife will be attending the home opener. From what I have read so far on to Big Soccer you guys are great fans and my son loves the coach and his teammates. Devin Mckenney #5. Good Luck against the Thunder.
Welcome! Be sure to check out usllive.com for the match. It's free and a surprising good production (at least from the Carolina staff).
Devon's been a spectacular surprise for the team -- basically coming out of nowhere from most of our perspectives and he's been rock solid at right back so far. I really like the way he chooses the time to make his overlapping runs and get into the attack. That's something we didn't see much of in previous seasons. In addition to Mr. Orange's reminder about USLLive, I'll also point out that RailHawks fans often hang out in the Chat Room at my trisoccerfan.com site during the match if they can't make it in person.
Post-match victory celebration at Spirits Pub & Grub (corner of Chatham and Maynard...old Triangle Grille location). http://carolinarailhawks.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=591&Itemid=141
Just picked up 8 tickets for family and friends. One note to anyone else who happens to check here first. Picking "Best Available" as your option when buying these tickets doesn't seem to actually pick the best available seats...not even close. I first tried "Best Available" and it put me in section 101. I went back and used the "Select from Seating Map" option and there are tons of good seats available all over the stadium.
Got a sneak peak at the excellent match day program the team put together for this year. It's 10 times cooler than last season's. Not sure what they will sell them for but it's definitely a nice collectible. Both John Cunliffe and Andriy Budnyy who have shown up in the preseason friendlies as trialists appear to be on the final season roster.
Great pre-game press release with tons of game notes like we've never seen before. Let's hope that continues throughout the season. http://carolinarailhawks.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=594&Itemid=152 I'm revising my starting lineup prediction: --------------Bundu----------------- --Gardner-------------Kreamalmeyer-- --------------Plotkin----------------- --------Paladini-----Lowery----------- Gilkerson--Schulte--Stewart--McKenney ---------Sewell-Patterson------------- Aaron King for Gardner is the first sub.
Easter Bunny came early this weekend and left a ton of goodies in RailHawks' fans baskets...fantastic podcast from Tim Candon. Half-an-hour with head coach Martin Rennie! http://tinyurl.com/d2p7hp
He hasn't figured significantly in any of the 5 matches I've seen them play in preseason. Rennie will go with what he's comfortable with from pre-season, imo.
For those not making it out to the game, we've got "Matchday Live" over at trisoccerfan.com. Links to the free webcast, head-to-head twitter updates from both official team sources as well as fans on both sides of the game, and the chat room.
Here's hoping the pitch is plenty dried out. I'm not sure how it looked in Cary, but Durham had some big rain yesterday.
The drainage system on the main field is excellent. With all the wind and sun this morning it will be in great shape.
Just thought I'd let you know that I sent your feedback into the team and they have removed the "best available" option since it was confusing as you stated. Now you are simply prompted to purchase by location, section, price, or pick your own seat based on a seating chart. Sometimes, feedback actually works!
2-1 to the RailHawks http://www.carolinarailhawks.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=595&Itemid=152 Much more thoughts and commentary tomorrow.
Quick thoughts: Disappointing. Very disappointing to see the lack of finishing (other than Schulte's hit). No real possession from our midfield, especially considering the man advantage for most of the game. Extremely disappointing to see the defense fall asleep on the Thunder's goal. A win is a win, for sure, but I wasn't as impressed with the team as I was against the Revs. For a game where the Thunder only threatened one freaking time and we threatened numerous times, and I thought the referee gave us a clear advantage most of the game... 2-1 isn't the best of scorelines.
You're a hard guy to please Frankly, I'm "satisfied" with 3 points on opening day. We haven't started a season with the full complement of points yet so that's a step forward already. The soccer was certainly entertaining. This passage from J. Mike Blake's article in today's N&O pretty well sums up my take:
Regardless of the finishing, I was just happy to see a different brand of soccer. Our finishing ability is something that will improve as the season goes on. The fact that we created so many opportunity bodes well for us once we are in mid-season form. I was impressed last night with Kreamelmeyer, especially in the first half. I thought Gardner really showed some flashes on the right in the second half.