After a 5-1 stomping of Atlanta on their pitch, I would like to show my praise for the team. I'd like to take this opportunity to ask all of the Riverhounds, Batteries, and Silverbacks to stop their whining. Face it, you got beat by a lower level team of unpaid college players. Deal with it. The Cup is about passion and our guys just have more of it. They're looking to start careers not sit idly in the ones they have. Having said that, I would like to invite all of the USL fans not currently cheering on their own team (there are three maybe four still left) to join the bandwagon and cheer on the our Menace!!! We all know that the USOC belongs to the USL and we should take this opportunity to cheer for the team that wants it back in the USL. Frankly, MLS teams could give a crap about the Cup which is why WE should take it. On 8/3, several of us will be making a trip to KC and will be cheering on the latest upset of the tourney. After tonight's game, KC should be scared. Not only are we just completely awesome right now, but we'll be on Andy's old stomping grounds. Go Menace!!!!
Passion, heart, dedication, desire, confidence... we had it tonight, Atlanta did not. Plain and simple. Now onto KC. Start up the friggen bus.
Agreed. Is there any way all the USL fans can get behind us and sing kumbaya? Honestly though, it really would be nice if that could happen. This group of guys we have are really special in a lot of ways. I think we will see some of them on the pitch on a higher level....but you're right they DO have desire and passion. They work thier tails off for the fans and appreciate the noise and attention the fans give them. Win or lose, they are on the pitch after every game signing until the last kid leaves. They deserve our thanks and respect.
What a fabulous night in Atlanta. This was a mystical setting with filtered light amongst the pine trees. Hard to believe that this was a Professional Organization. The Menace fans traveled well. About 30 of us making more noise than the 200 or so Silverback fans. The boys from Des Moines were amazing! There was fire in the belly of every player, coach, staff, and fan. The passes that strung together like clockwork were characteristic of what is expected and seen in the MLS. The guys never even let up, even at the end of the game knowing that they had a four goal lead. They just wouldn't even work the clock, they just kept driving. We should be so proud to have a group of fine gentlemen that have given us such an exciting season. I have no doubt that they will only enahce their intensity as they enter the Blue Valley DAC on August 3rd. It will be a long awaited and sweet homecoming for the man between the pipes. Hope everyone makes the trip down I 35. See you there!!!! Go Menace!! Thank goodness we won't have to sing those chants without the Red Army!!!
I think we should make it a point to give the boys the proper praise Saturday night. We should build on that at both of next weeks games. I know that several of us do that normally, but we should make it a point to get everyone on their feet and give an ovation to this great team. I wish I could've made the trip to Atlanta and am trying to convince my wife to change our vacation plans to get to KC. Remeber, I'll be there in spirit if not in person. It's funny that this season we didn't schedule agaisnt KC, yet we're playing them. Only this year, it's not going to be a team full of reserves with just a couple of stars. The Menace are on a hell of a roll and KC may be the truest roadblock yet. Still, Add in all of Andy's friends and family to our traveling fans and we should have the fan support. That stadium will be the closest thing to a home game on the road. We have a legitimate shot. Hopefully the OC goes down and we get our fat check. RLS was knocked off by the Thunder, good news there. The Dallas and Chivas teams squeaked by in OT and the Fire won by 2. We had the biggest victory by miles last night. Go Menace!!!
Say what you want about how you whipped our sorry asses, but when you make a false statement like the one above, that's taking a cheap shot at me and my friends. Where were your drums? Where were your horns? Where were your bells? Too bad you didn't have to yell at the ref all night, although I must tell you it does get fun after a while.
I hate that I missed the game, Atlanta is just a short drive for me. I played college ball w/ Edwin Disang and I've yet to see him in action since.
Maybe it would have been an actual MATCH?! First place in first division vs. a top PDL squad (we have played fewer games than the SouthWestern teams so we don't have as many points). Maybe then we could've had a challenge. And as far as where our drums were..................they were at the victory celebration. The drums didn't seem to help much last night! Make all the excuses you want about the officiating or whatever, but I think our midfielder Tomas Boltnar said it best "I was disappointed in Atlanta". Even he expected better. The red card killed you, your professionals were not able to play like professionals and put thier team at risk. Excuses work for a 3-2 loss, not for a 5-1 pounding!
If you played with Edwin, then you also played with a couple of our other players (Armin and Ross Moffatt). How long ago did you live in Des Moines?
LOL I was talking about the fans...but I know you guys can't stop talking about yourselves long enough to realize that. We got beat handily, thanks for rehashing the game details, again. Didn't see that Boltnar quote, in this thread, yet either thanks for being thorough.
You guys were completely mute...by you guys, I mean you Silverback 'fans'. I put that in quotations because you only made noise at the start of the game when you were yelling 'Slipknot' at the players. Unbelievable...come up with something a little better then that if you want to insult someone. At least the guys came back with the ultimate insult and spanked your worthless team into oblivion. The game was boring, Atlanta played uninspired soccer, the fans were dull (Atlanta's, not ours, at least ours made noise instead of rolled over dead like the Silverback players) and the officiating wasn't really that bad. He let both teams get away with a lot and probably should have thrown more cards at Atlanta players for unwarranted elbows, trash talking (how do you talk trash when a bunch of amateurs are beating your ass???? Didn't know you could do that without looking stupid...wait a minute...) Anyway, thank god we're playing the Zards next round, maybe they'll be able to give us a game.
My apology for sparking your temper regarding the fans support (or lack thereof). The lack of control of the Silverback players created many opportunities for our boys. The poor self-control was astonoshing for a professional team. The bad tempers and foul language even from Atlanta player-to-player was uncalled for and self degrading. Even the coach was ejected. The Menace Club is a top notch-high class team and organization. The fan support is in the 4000 range for league games. This was a third round cup match on a weather-perfect evening. We didn't even complain about the poor lighting. If all you can complain about is my call that our fans were more vocal without the musical instruments then you are right up there with evryone else that deserved ejections last night.
Arrived home from Atlanta earlier this afternoon. I must say, it was worth 28 hours of driving to see the menace play as well as they did. From the git-go they moved the ball well and ended up scoring 5. I was a bit dissapointed with the lights. It was like they were pointed more at the stands than they were at the feild. Atlanta's cheering squad was vocal for the first 10 minutes, then after the first goal, Pk, and 3rd goal plus the red card, it got rather quiet. Well that is all, KC is next.
Too bad tonight's game was a bad win. The boys are too tired from the stomping they gave the silverhairs.. They've been playing their hearts out and getting misquoted in the paper. They are the hardest working team in all of soccer. I lived in this town my whole life and without a doubt, this is the best sports team we put out since the Warner Stomers. Maybe better. Definitely less appreciated. But we still love 'em. On a Serious note, If you haven't yet, check out the "official Menace thread." KC is dissing our fans and theirs with the "stadium" location for the next round. We need to p&m and get their fans to do the same. this is an ideal match for both sides. Our clubs have had respectable relationships over the past few years. This sucks. As fans, we deserve better. Their fans deserve better. Their team deserves better. For god's sakes, our team deserves better. Look at that field. Anything at Cownie's a nicer pitch than the crap they're throwing out. If they don't have adequate facilities to host, the USOC should let us have it...
Hey Menace, You forgot just 1 more to add to the list of those not mentioned, How bout some props for the Fans?? Isnt DSM still the biggest draw in PDL, if not still, then my guess is top 5. The daily sports rag said only 200 showed up for the ATL match. 200!? my gosh, at times there are almost 200 youth at Menace matches. It is time for the club to move up. MLS, No way. However I do think we are on the same footing as MN, ATL, Charl and Pitt. I just the Stadium would somehow get back on track...Futbolr
Ahh yeah, this is MY board! Here, I can share any sincere sentiments that I have about the Menace Wizards game without anyone accusing me of trolling. Now that I ahve the disclaimer out of the way, I stand by my two goal prediction. The final scoreboard may not read 5-3, but mark my words - the Menace will win. If they don't then they don't and I eat crow. It tastes like chicken. Now here's the rationale: Even though the Menace will msot likely face CFP in the PDL playoffs the previous weekend, they'll have decent rest over the course of the week. KC's stars will be jet lagged from the All Star game in Columbus on Saturday. Reserves will comprise most of the team and they will have their own exhaustion due to travel and play. With all of KC's stars up and running, I'd say we have a snowball's chance in Hades. However, no matter how important the KC organization views the USOC, their reserves won't be able to match our guys' grit and determination. As long as our guys don't get caught up in the "They're the MLS and they'll walk over us" mentality (they haven't adopted that attitude yet), we stand a good chance. However, if they get overconfident, the way that some were pre-Pitt (Chris, I'm looking at you), we could be in trouble. Realistically, it'll come down to our solid defense and Andy's brick wall goalkeeping. But, we can't win without a goal or two. Boltnar knows his role and he should have no problem getting a point or 2 against KC. Edwin's shown how well he can play lately and I hope he keeps it up. If Armin can continue to score off the bench, we'll have the extra insurance we need. I'm not trying to discount anyone here, but they've been money lately. Really, nothing excites me more than goals out of the midfield, so it'd be nice to see a Hamburger tally in there. As a side note, I read someone joke about KC dumping Bo after witnessing Andy. I like that. In fact, depending on other factors, I'd be tempted to drop the Fire in favor of KC. At least I'd buy a Gruenebaum jersey... Now, I invite all of the Menace and Wizards fans to come talk trash on my board. Anyone else who wants to pipe in on the game is allowed as well. The only thing I don't want is stadium arguments. I'm sick of that topic.
Ummm, all of our "stars will be jet lagged from the All Star game in Columbus" isn't really accurate, we only have 1 all star, Jimmy Conrad.
Our midfield has provided plenty of goals this season, and the thing about us is that we're pretty solid when it comes to having guys come out of the woodwork to chip in in big games. Seeing this, it makes us hard to scout. Sure, Boltnar scores plenty goals and follows those up with just about as many assists (This is ballpark, but in the USOC he has two goals and three assists? Wait, that's right). That goes with his 10 goals and nine assists in PDL play giving him 12 goals and 12 assists on the year in all competition. He's our only consistent scorer. Edwin, Kother, Kraus and others like Kother, Kreikemeier (as of late) Armin, Baker and others chip in when needed. It's good to see a variety of people scoring because that keeps our attack multi-dimensional. That's one huge plus for us, we don't count on just one person to do the scoring, it can be done by nearly anyone (I say nearly because Hamburger has like, 30 shots and only one goal...brutal percentage). The teams mentality is very good right now. In the PDL we're one of the top teams and people expect us to do very well against competition more our suit. However, the team has become accustomed to playing the 'Cinderella', the 'Underdogs', or as some have said to me, the 'Giant Killers', it's good for our program. We aren't getting big heads on our shoulders because we know it's going to take a hell of a lot of focus to take down the Wizards in the fourth round, and with that looming over us, performing well enough to make it into the playoffs with the 1st seed as well as advancing past the conference playoffs. It's all going to come down to focus in the next few weeks. As much as we want to look forward to the KC game, it's too far ahead of us to get hung up on. We have too many big games to play prior to that, unless of course, we want to head home early in the PDL and try our luck getting as far in the USOC as possible. Either way, we want to win the PDL, which is VERY realistic, and beating KC doesn't stray too far out of the realm of realistic either. It's fun being underestimated, which any pro team will do when they're playing amateurs, it's common nature. Either way, the Menace should do very well this weekend against Boulder and the Blizzard. I'm calling two wins right now which will pit the Michigan Bucks as the first round opponent of the Menace (assuming they beat a dismal Toledo side in a home and away series this weekend, which isn't a stretch by any means). KC could be in some trouble if they really underestimate Des Moines, but we'll worry about that after the team gets through the first rounds of the playoffs.