The Man in the Funny Looking Shirt: The Goalkeeper

When I was a kid, I was very athletic and had a decent ability to catch a ball.  So naturally, my soccer coaches often put me in goal... and... I... HATED... it.  In my opinion, goalkeeping is best described long stretches of boredom mixed with briefs stints of terror (hmm, sounds like combat) followed by either complete dejection when a goal is scored or exhalations of relief when a goal is prevented.  Those emotions are played on repeat hundreds of times a match. 

During those long stretches while the ball was at the other side of the field, my boredom led my thoughts to many of the same philosophical questions that are expressed in this brilliant story from NPR's Radiolab program.  Enjoy!

The Loneliness of the Goalkeeper

Looking back on it, perhaps I hated it, because I didn't have the concentration required to stay in the game.  I was a kid after all.  Anyway, it is lonely between the sticks. 

RCU Travel To Chattanooga To Face New Champs

Rocket City United will make their way up Route 72 to Chattanooga tomorrow night for their regular season finale where they'll take on the newly crowned NPSL Southeast Region champion in front of a raucous crowd expected to reach nearly 4,000 at Finley Stadium.  Chattanooga FC locked up the title with a 3:2 win over Pumas last weekend and booked their ticket to the NPSL Final Four to be hosted by RCU at the Madison City Schools Stadium from July 29-31 .

Chattanooga's hopes of an NPSL championship took a major hit, however, as star forward Chris Ochieng suffered a broken ankle during training Thursday night.  Ochieng has been a big part in the success of CFC this year scoring 5 of the Blue's 15 total goals.  The team will now have the RCU match and an exhibition match against MLS club DC United's Under 20 squad to work on the strike partnership of local Chattanooga players Luis Salazar and Ivin Espinal before the NPSL Final Four.

In the meantime, RCU will travel up to Finley Stadium hoping to remain unbeaten against CFC, but will face a Chattanooga team that is intent on changing the recent history.  “Rocket City is consistently a tough opponent for us,” CFC coach Brian Crossman told the CFC website. “We’ve never beaten them before, so our guys are pretty motivated for this one.”

If you've never gone to an RCU away match, this would be the one to attend.  RCU's traveling contingent will be meeting prior to the match at the Big River Grille (222 Broad St. next to the aquarium) for food and drinks at 5:30pm Eastern.  If you can't make it to Chattanooga, you can follow the action on Chattanooga's ESPN affiliate, 105.1 The Zone.  Follow the link and click the the listen live button to hear John Moran and myself join a true radio professional, Nick Bonsanto, call the came.  The game kicks off at 6PM Central.

Finely Stadium before kick-off.  Big-time atmosphere!

Finley Stadium is the best atmosphere in the NPSL with a rowdy bunch of supporters who consistently sing and beer stands in the seating area to provide the consumer a view of the action while they wait to be served.  Chattanooga leads the league in attendance, averaging over 3,000 per match and would like to get over 5,000 for the RCU match.  Chattanooga's NBC affiliate WRCB a nice little video of what you can expect at the game on Saturday.

A night in Chattanooga

First, I must apologize. I've had some technical difficulties with my video camera. And I actually lost some of the post-game videos from the match. So, this post has been a little late in coming.

Last Saturday night, I had the pleasure of traveling up to Chattanooga to help broadcast the friendly match between Chattanooga FC and Atlas of Guadalajara's U-23 squad for 105.1 FM ESPN Chattanooga, The Zone. Since CFC had never broadcast any of their matches before, Sheldon Grizzle of CFC asked my broadcast partner for the RCU matches, John Moran, and I to travel up the road to join sports radio pro Nick Bonsanto call the game.

Nick and Sheldon at Finley Stadium

The match was very entertaining with CFC pulled the upset 2:1 over the youths from the professional club. John and I had a great time calling the match and would like to thank all of the staff from CFC. We'd also like to thank Nick and Davis from ESPN Radio for making us feel at home in the booth and in the stadium despite our nerves. The atmosphere was amazing with a record crowd of 6,317 witnessing the match.

Seriously folks, if you ever have the opportunity travel up Rt. 72 on a Saturday evening to take in a match at Finley Stadium, do it. It's worth the trip. The crowd and the atmosphere is what soccer is all about and makes it a great night out.

View of the record crowd from the broadcast booth.

You can check out some of our pregame interviews with CFC players and coaches at my Vimeo channel.

Local Happenings: HASL Champs, Summer Tourneys, CFC v Atlas

HASL Declares Champions, Prepares for Over-35 Division

Law Dogs secured their 12th Huntsville Adult Soccer League Premier Division championship last night when they beat Digium 2:0 at John Hunt Park. The race for the premiership was a close one as Law Dogs and Foot Clan were even points (25) after the 10 game season concluded. The victory insured that Law Dogs took home the title via goal difference (Law Dogs 28 to Foot Clan's 22).

Arsenal FC won the Division I title and promotion into next year's Premier League. Chivas USA claimed the Division II title. Juventus and One Man Wolfpack took the Divsion III and IV titles, respectively.

The HASL divisions will take on a new look for the Fall 2010 season as Division IV will be eliminated to make way for the new Over-35 division. Several teams plan to drop from the open divisions into the Over-35. The league is planning to shift teams "up" into the open slots to maintain the tiered structure and keep the total team numbers at 30. The league's Captain's Meeting is scheduled for June 27th. More information can be found at HASL.org.

Summer Tournaments

This summer will be a busy one for soccer in the Tennessee Valley. Of course, there's the World Cup, Rocket City United games, the NPSL Final Four festivities taking place, and there are several tournaments being hosted in Huntsville/Madison area.

Stomp the Yard is a 5 v 5 futsal soccer tournament hosted by RCU at the new indoor facility at the new Soccer Village at Greenbrier. It will be held on June 25-27th and has divisions from U8 up to Adult, including a Women's division.

The Rocket City Invitational is the annual summer 6v6 outdoor adult soccer tournament put on by the guys at SouthernSoccer.net. It will be held in conjunction with the NPSL Final Four at Dublin Park in Madison on July 31-Aug 1. There will be Open, Rec, O-30, and Women's divisions.


Chattanooga FC v Atlas of Mexico Tomorrow Night

While RCU is participating in the US Open Cup qualifying tournament in Tuscaloosa, fellow NPSL Southeast Region team Chattanooga FC will host one of Mexican soccer's oldest clubs, FC Atlas, tomorrow night at Finley Stadium at 7PM. John Moran and I will be traveling up to Chattanooga to call the game for the team's radio broadcast. Tickets are still available.

Round Up: World Cup on the Ump, FC Buffalo Blitzers?, H'ville Native Joins BUSA, and Funny Commercials

World Cup to Air on The Ump!
Good news for soccer fans in Huntsville! Sports Radio 730 The Ump and 103.9FM will be airing the ESPN Radio broadcast all of the USA World Cup Matches. ESPN's JP Dellacamara and Tommy Smith will call the action from South Africa.

Below is the full schedule of matches that The Ump will carry:

Group Matches
Saturday, June 12: England v. USA @ 1:00pm
Friday, June 18: Slovenia v. USA @ 8:30am
Wednesday, June 23: USA v. Algeria @ 8:30am

Round of 16
Saturday, June 26: 1C v. 2D @ 1:00pm
Sunday, June 27: 1D v. 2C @ 8:30am

Quarterfinals
July 2&3

Semi-finals
July 6&7

Third Place and Final
July 10&11.

NPSL's FC Buffalo On CNN

What started as a funny option in the club's "vote for the team's nickname" contest has exploded into a major story. The NPSL Northeast Region team's website gave fans the option to choose the (Wolf) Blitzers as the nickname. Blitzer is the host of CNN's Situation Room and a native of Buffalo. Word made it to Blitzer and he ran a feature on the club's contest on yesterday's Situation Room broadcast. "Go Blitzers!" may soon be the rallying cry at FC Buffalo matches.


Huntsville Native Joins BUSA Staff

The area's nearest US Soccer Developmental Club, Birmingham United Soccer Association, has named Huntsville native Monica (Hall) Brown the Director of Soccer Operations. Monica is a graduate of Lee High School and was a four year starter at NC State University.


Funny Commercials

There are some really funny soccer related commercials coming out now. Here are two of my favorite.

Jozy has a good meeting at ESPN


Hand of Dog Goal

World Cup on 730 the Ump? Bud House, Soccer HoF, and Cool Book

World Cup Matches On Local Radio?
It appears that ESPN will broadcast all of the matches from the World Cup in addition to it's radio affiliates in addition to TV, internet and mobile device coverage. EPL Talk is reporting that everyone's favorite leprechaun soccer analyst, Tommy Smyth, will be providing the color for the broadcasts. Zack Bennett, the program director for 730 The UMP was noncommital when contacted to verify whether the local ESPN Radio affiliate would be airing the broadcasts, "We have not announced our intentions concerning World Cup coverage for the 2010 event, and we cannot comment at the current time." PWT-blog will let you know, if they decide to air any of the coverage.


King of Beers Looking For World Cup Fans
I'm not a big fan of some of Bud's products, but I like some of their commercials and they do sponsor soccer in a big way. Well, this publicity stunt looks right up my alley. Budweiser is looking for fans from each country in the World Cup to be in what looks to be some sort of Real World: World Cup edition called Bud House. Check it out. Although, I'll warn you now. There's a 14 page application and they will expect you to drink their beer!


Soccer Hall of Fame Is Leaving Oneonta
Seriously, where the heck is Oneonta? Maybe that's one reason the US Soccer Hall of Fame is closing its doors. It's rumored that many of the exhibits will be housed in MLS stadiums where soccer fans actually can see them. Good move.


Cool new book

This is an ad for what looks to be a pretty cool book coming out in May with the personal accounts from many of the sports greatest players about how they came to love the game. Could be a great gift for the soccerhead in your family.

A Beautiful Game by Tom Watt from harperone on Vimeo.

Links To Check Out While At Home Sick

One of the unadvertised perks of parenthood is the passing of every germ your little one can acquire to the parents and this week my daughter passed on a nice stomach bug to me. So, in between trips to the bathroom, I was able to hit the internet for some interesting nuggets.

Soccer on the Radio

Enjoying the company of friends while listening to the game on the radio.

There was no soccer on the radio when I grew up. But I did get to listen to some fantastic sports broadcasters ply their trade over the radio waves. Listening to Jon Miller broadcast Oriole games was a joy. My family would also watch the Redskins with the TV sound muted and crank up the radio broadcast to catch the excitement of the local broadcast crew. So, I totally get it when the guys at EPLTalk advise us to listen to soccer on the radio for a change. The radio broadcast can open up the game in your imagination and bring the excitement of the stadium to you in a way TV just can't do, no matter how good the resolution. I'm gonna give it a try.

Bundesliga is Back
I was so excited to see that the best supported league in Europe was back in action this past weekend after its traditional winter break. And I was excited to read the quote machine Raphael Honigstein's latest Bundesliga wrap-up column. This week he writes about the surprising season Eintract Frankfurt is enjoying. And Raphael doesn't disappoint by dropping this gem of line:

"After 18 matches played, Frankfurt are in seventh, only one point behind Werder Bremen. The position is so incredulous, it really belongs in the Kama Sutra."

Hehehe!


Juju in African Football

Juju man blesses a ball.

Andrew Guest of the blog Pitch Invasion wrote an incredibly interesting piece on witchcraft in African soccer. He makes some great points that juju is really no different from western religious blessings, for instance, teams who pray together before a match or the players who cross themselves while entering the field. It's just that many western people are ignorant of the African culture and therefore sensationalize the actions that they don't understand.


Beer/Soccer Q and A

As you know by now, I enjoy a good brew and the beautiful game. Here's a Q and A from a like minded fellow from the soccer blog Avoiding the Drop.

More Sadness From Haiti

I picked up this from my Twitter feed. Terribly sad.

RobHarrisUK at least 30 members of #Haiti soccer federation killed in #earthquake - including players, coaches and refs @AP

Here's a link to Haiti United, where as part of the soccer community you can continue to help the country so desperately in need.

Petersen's 730 WUMP Appearance

Rocket City United Coach Greg Petersen appeared on the Johnny "Ballpark" Franks show on SportsRadio 730 The Ump today. I didn't have a way to record the interview and I'm no stenographer. So, please for give me, Greg, if I misquote.

RCU's Greg Petersen

On the upgrade in personnel from last year, including what he looks for in players: "[RCU Players] must be good with the ball, including defenders... They must be intelligent and dynamic . Something that I think coaches in every sport are looking for. I really think that we've improved that dramatically [in the offseason]."

On local players to watch: Petersen talked extensively about Grissom grad, Paul Willoughby. "I wouldn't be surprised to see Paul sign a pro contract very soon." He also mentions UAH grad Rafa Barbosa and that he is exciting to watch.

On North Alabama in comparison to soccer in other parts of the world: "North Alabama has some of the best athletes in the country." He went on to describe Derek Pirtle and Sutton Shultz as terrific athletes with raw talent that he is exited to see develop.

On RCU President, Andy Zorovich: "Andy really knows the business side of the game… and how to engage the community." Petersen mentioned the recent very successful Blood drive sponsored by RCU.

On the first match this weekend against Saturn FC: "We are playing down in Atlanta against a team we know pretty well having played them in SuperLiga this summer. I'm expecting a competitive match… at this point, the more competitive the match, the better it is for us."

I'll have more on the upcoming RCU season later this week.