Rockford getting crushed by Baltimore, 14-2 after Matthew Stewart finally scores to break the ice with about 6 minutes left in the 4th The attendance in Baltimore tonight? 9,028.
Final score: 14-4 Blast. Convincing win for Baltimore but the Rampage will be OK. The Blast returned 13 players from last season's team so there's continuity. Rockford returned only 6 players from last season's squad and they need a bit more time to learn to play together. Good to hear about the excellent crowd. Funny miscue by the Blast's radio announcer in the last few seconds of the gane: "The Blast feet are on their fans. I mean the Blast fans are on their feet!"
WOW! was not expecting that. With the team Rockford has on paper, I would have thought it would have been a closer game. I even predicted an upset. Congratulations Baltimore. Good start to the season!
I was really surprised by the score. Good crowd as well but I expected that. With fewer date and a number of groups in Baltimore, I expect good crowd at every match. Fewer dates to sell and more time to sell mean big crowds in Baltimore.
I agree...I thought for sure Rockford would upset the Blast....good game Baltimore..and not even close enough to argue..what a shalacking...proved me way wrong...on paper thought it would be a lot closer game....inside thought Blast would win but kind of hoped Rampage could pull it out...they have the talent to win..wow..I am dumbfounded And who scored the second Rampage goal??
We need a listing of radio casts of matches. When does the XSL being playing? Syd, any radio in your league?
They had 10,115 for the opener last year. But before you all jump on me, I know we won't get any 9,028 crowds in the PASL-Pro anytime soon.
The Cougars are about to kick off online: http://www.californiacougars.net/upload_images/player.htm?poc=2
The game was no where near as close as the score indicates. The Rampage mainly looked out of shape. They were very aggressive for about five minutes and then they looked gassed. The Rampage held the edge on shots 20-17 but most of their shots were long, unscreened shots that Sagu caught. At halftime, Sanaldo was frustrated enough to change his jersey hoping to change his luck. The Blast spent most of the second half taking the air out of the ball, hoping to preserve the shutout and by then it looked as though the Rampage were frustrated, confused and a little embarassed. No penalties in the game and really nobody got chippy. The crowd was pretty big, there were 48 groups at the game(I counted) and it would make sense that all the groups that came out last year would come out again just in a compressed number of games. Good start to the season, I think the Rampage will be fine once they get in shape and some of the players adjust to the speed of the game and playing together. I hope the Blast can continue like this on 12/6 in Rockford.
I was also thinking that Rockford would pull off the win tonight, or at least be competitive with the roster they'd put together. I probably should have realized that a team that is largely the same as last season (and which was at the top of the league then) would have a significant edge over a team just put together with only two weeks of training, no matter the individual talent that they had brought in. I can't wait to see what happens when Baltimore and Philly square off for the first time.
Seriously, do have to make that comment...First set of games tonight and you try to make a dig at the Blast and NISL....worry about the PASL please.
You said it all...nothing else needs to be said...and Tovar is one out of shape and fat player now...Beasley cannot do this himself btw.
It's a fine crowd -- better than I expected. But some people said the Blast would draw more this year since there were fewer and I had previously disagreed.
remember last year the blast had longer to sell. The schedule did not come out until mid/late Sept. Then you have the problem with Orlando that halted sales for a week or two. You also throw in that many people out there still think the Blast did not come back.
Thanks for the correction . Wouldn't most people be satisfied w/7-2? I know I would, especially if I was the loser. I see no need for MPS (or MMS: Mickey Mouse Scoring).
Good for the Blast. 9k through the door is a good day. Lets hope they can build on this. NISL is off to an unexpectedly good start.
The Ravens lost today Final MPS score New York 30 Ravens 10 Or for the SPS crowd 3-3 to 1-1. The NISL score was Blast 14 Rampage 4.
It wasn't Paul and Gary, it was Steve Stoffberg (sp?), who did a much better job than those guys from the 10 minutes I heard. The Blast usually are better when they don't do their thing. Like a substitute radio or or when 1st Mariner Phil doesn't show up or when they wear special uniforms.
I don't believe the Blast's regular guys did the game. By the time I got to my car I only caught the tailend of the post-game show and heard an unfamiliar voice reference the fact that the regular guys would be back for the next game.