Ok, this might be a long shot, but I'm looking for any Fire fans living in the Tampa Bay area to start a Fire supporters club. As a die hard Mutiny fan for six seasons (I was there for the Mutiny's first game in 1996, and attended its last game in 2001) the bitterness of losing my beloved Blues still stings. But my love for soccer is too great to abandon my country's first division league. So I'm throwing my soccer allegiance to Chicago (my ancestoral home). If there are any Fire fans out there in the west central Florida area -- or any frustrated Mutiny fans looking for a new team -- I encourage you to help me organize a Fire supporters club in Tampa. There's a soccer friendly bar near the Ice Palace that I believe would be more than willing to show Fire games on satelite. So if there's anyone interested, please post a message here or e-mail me. Thanks. Sean Lengell Tampa, Florida jipze2@aol.com
news from tampa MEN'S SOCCER EARNS NSCAA TEAM ACADEMIC AWARD The University of South Florida's men's soccer team has earned the NSCAA Team Academic Award for its outstanding performance in the classroom, having posted a collective 3.08 Grade Point Average during the 2001-02 academic year. USF is one of just 67 men's soccer programs nationwide to have achieved a team GPA of 3.0 or higher, and is the lone representative from Conference USA. The award is the second of its kind that the men have received in the past year. In July, USF was named the recipient of Conference USA's Sport Academic Award, an honor given to the team in each conference-sponsored sport with the highest cumulative GPA for the current academic year (2001-2002). The Bulls were led in the classroom by sophomore defender Chris Raye (Manatee, Fla.). Raye, who earned the team's highest grade point average in his first year at USF, was named to the C-USA Commissioner's Honor Roll and was awarded the Commissioner's Academic Medal (minimum 3.75 GPA) in June.