Thoughts From the Manchester City/Chelsea Game

This will most likely be in The Journal-News in Center & Guard form. It's just some thoughts from last Thursday's Manchester City/Chelsea friendly at Busch Stadium. As a bonus, here are ten important tidbits that didn't make it into the column

1. Flying Saucer is apparently the family friendliest bar this side of Chuckie Cheese. 
2. Alexi Lalas and Taylor Twellman begged to have their picture taken with me. 
3. Man City goalie Joe Hart and I could be brothers. Or at least third cousins.
4. The name "Man City" makes me giggle.
5. The guy sitting in front of us was like a combination of Joe Pesci and the cast of Jersey Shore, with about as much soccer knowledge. I do admire his enthusiasm though as he almost wet himself after the game winning goal.
6. Nothing makes you look tougher than whipping your scarf around your neck before you confront the guy that just backed into your Mercedes.
7. It would be ironic if Chelsea keeper Jamal Blackman was white. He's not and I don't know what the antonym of ironic is.
8. I highly recommend the chicken stir fry at Busch Stadium. Chop sticks, not so much.
9. I applaud St. Louis fans on not wearing Cardinal jerseys to a soccer game. I only one the entire day and that was at the bar before the game, not in the stadium.
10. I'm fluent in Bosnian. And by fluent, I mean I can say "glass", "fork", "knife" and "what's up".

Center & Guard: (Something Moderately Clever That I Will Hopefully Come Up With By Monday)

I had more than my share of guilt on Thursday night as I entered Busch Stadium. After all, I am a bit of a soccer novice and here I was at arguably the biggest soccer event to hit St. Louis in a long time, one that sold out in less than 20 minutes. More than 48,000 people, the biggest crowd to ever see a sporting event at the new Busch, flooded the stands for a friendly (exhibition) between Chelsea and Manchester City of England’s Premier League, a unique opportunity for midwest soccer fans to see some of the world’s best in action.

I know a little bit about soccer. I watch the US Men’s National Team when I can and followed the last World Cup with a fervor that I usually reserve for the Major League Baseball postseason, but for the most part, my knowledge of sport is far from complete. Going into the game, I knew a little bit about both of the teams, but couldn’t name anyone on the roster with 100 percent certainty. I fully expected that the majority of the crowd would be in the same boat I was. I was certain that the stereotypical ‘Murica nature would come shining through at the game, complete with “USA” chants, schmucks wearing baseball jerseys at a soccer game, and possibly even an appearance by the dreaded wave, the scourge of sporting events across the nation.

What I found on Thursday was very little of that. I’m not going to say that it wasn’t there, but it was definitely not as prevalent as I expected. For the most part, the crowd seemed both fairly knowledgeable about not only the sport, but the teams on the field, and overwhelmingly passionate. Fans decked out in blue jerseys, whether they be royal (Chelsea) or sky (Manchester City), congregated in clusters both inside and outside the stadium, singing songs and chants that both lauded the accomplishments of their chosen team and disparaged their opponents. Conversations centered throughout the stadium not only centered around the play on the field, but also what was going on with the sport across the world. It was the same kind of knowledge and passion that you might find at a Cards/Cubs game at Busch on any other day during the summer, but just in a different form.

As for the game itself, the result was almost taylor made for the occasion. Improbably, Chelsea held a 3-0 lead just minutes into the second half, despite Manchester City dominating possession throughout the first half. Both teams would make wholesale changes to their lineups at halftime and the substitutions continued in the second half, with Chelsea pulling their goalie Petr Chech at the 61 minute mark to give 19-year-old back-up Jamal Blackman some playing time. If he would have known what would happen over the next 30 minutes, Blackman may have preferred to just stay on the sideline for the Blues. In one of the oddest sequences I’ve ever seen in sport, Javi Garcia put a shot into the back of the net just 14 seconds after Blackman took the field. My brother Daniel, a former goalie at North Central College and one of the five people I went to the game with, visibly cringed at the goal, which has to be every keeper’s worst nightmare.

And it didn’t get much better for Blackman after that. Edin Dzeko would score just a minute later off a long ball from James Milner. While much of the crowd seemed to be supporting Chelsea, Dzeko jerseys dotted the landscape in St. Louis, which has a large Bosnian population. The Sarajevo-born striker would give the fans from his native country more reasons to celebrate when he netted the equalizer with five minutes left in the game and completed the Man City comeback.

Despite my relative inexperience with European soccer, I knew that it was highly likely that the game was going to end in a tie. In a league game, the two teams would most likely just try to hang on and grab whatever points they could, rather than risk a tally in the loss column. Fortunately for the crowd, Thursday’s game was an exhibition and the offensive pressure continued. Just a few seconds into the two-minute stoppage time, Garcia headed a ball to the far post, where Micah Richards lunged forward to get a foot on the game winner.

While it may have been slightly atypical of your normal Premier League match, the exhibition was a perfect showcase for the support in America, giving the fans a fast-paced contest that had more than its share of drama, despite the fact that nothing but pride was at stake. It also gave the city of St. Louis the opportunity to showcase itself to Major League Soccer, which has passed over the several times for expansion teams, most recently two days before the exhibition game, when it was announced that Manchester City and the New York Yankees had joined forces to bring New York City FC to the Big Apple at a $100 million price tag.

That last number is one of the major stumbling blocks for soccer fans in the Gateway City hoping for an MLS team. St. Louis businessman Jeff Cooper tried unsuccessfully twice to bring a team to the Metro-East, but concerns with funding caused the MLS to reject the bids. While some have pointed to Rams owner Stan Kroenke, who also owns the Colorado Rapids of the MLS, as a possible owner, no one has really stepped up to put out a competitive bid for a team in St. Louis. The one thing that MLS doesn’t seem to have to worry about is fan support in the city. While there is a big difference between drawing 48,000 people to a one time event and consistently drawing 15 to 20,000 people throughout a season, the passion for the sport seems to be alive an well in St. Louis.

And while I’m not sure that I’ll ever be able to list every member of a Premier League team or repeat the La Liga standings from the top of my head, my appreciation for that caliber of soccer has definitely increased after Thursday night’s experience. Hopefully it won’t be my last.

When Nothing Is Owed Or Deserved Or Expected; And Your Life Doesn't Change By The Man That's Elected...

Having the opportunity to see dozens of high school games each year, I have the privilege to see some of the things that make sports great. Milestones reached. Davids knocking off Goliaths. Come from behind victories that nearly leave you breathless. And while all of those things are awesome, this job also gives me the opportunity to see the less pleasant side of sports as well, namely referee abuse.

I’m the first to admit that there are some bad officials out there, but the times when these officials actually result in a team winning or losing are probably few and far between. Unfortunately, this opinion isn’t shared by a pretty vocal percentage of the fan base of almost every school in our area, and I’m sure well beyond it. It seems like regardless of the call, or non-call in some cases, someone, either a fan or a coach or a player, is always there to disagree with it, usually in a way that would make sailor blush.

Granted, I do take a small level of personal enjoyment from these individuals. Some of my fondest memories of high school were attending games with my buddies and mimicking the random guy that used to call for “THREE SECONDS” and “DOUBLE DIBBLE” every thirty seconds. We’re still not entirely sure what “dibble” means, but he seemed like he knew what he was talking about.

Most of the time, I just find it kind of sad. A lot of these people have kids either on the team or sitting with them at the games, meaning that they are the shining example of how to act. I could totally be off base about this, but it seems like the behavior of fans over the last few years has gotten progressively worse. Assuming that today’s fans learned how to act from the previous generation, things are only going to get worse before they get better.

That’s why moments like the one I witnessed last Thursday give me hope for high school sports. During the girls basketball game between Litchfield and Greenville, Greenville’s Kassidy Alderman drove to the basket, drawing a pretty significant amount of contact along the way. The referees’ whistles would remain silent on the play and Alderman’s shot missed its mark.

The no-call drew the ire of Greenville’s coach, who had been pretty unhappy with the officiating throughout the game as it was. In his defense, the officiating wasn’t particularly good (on either side of the ball) and I can see his hopes of influencing a few calls to go his way.

What really impressed me was Alderman’s reaction to the play. Rather than question the call or get mad about any kind of perceived injustice, Alderman got back on defense and said three little words to her coach that gave me hope for the next generation – “It’s okay coach.” It wasn’t disrespectful. It wasn’t forceful. It was just a quiet little statement that showed me that at least someone in the gym could put the play into perspective. After all Greenville was down by quite a few at the time (late in the fourth quarter) and complaining would probably not help the Lady Comets shake off a cold snap from the field.

Now, I don’t know Alderman, but her actions made me a fan during that game. It gives me hope that those who keep their attitudes and emotions in check will at least even out, if not overtake, those who can’t do so at high school sporting events. I know that’s a lot of pressure to put on a 16 or 17-year-old shooting guard, but it’s the idea that if there is one, there are probably more out there that act in a similar way.

Whether this is the case or not, who knows. Regardless, I’m sure that moment will stick with me the next time I hear the dulcet tones of “THREE SECONDS” echoing through the gym.

The Road Goes On Forever... And The Party Never Ends

On Saturday, Dec. 29, I watched my final day of basketball for the 2012 calendar year. As it turns out, it was also one of the more intriguing sports days of the year as well. The day before I decided to attempt a triple-header of sorts, planning to hit the Hillsboro girls game in Jerseyville at 3:30 p.m., followed by the girls and boys championship double dip at the Carlinville Holiday Classic, starting at 6:30 p.m. That meant that there was a pretty long day of driving and basketball in my future, but figured I'm young(ish) and it beat sitting at home by myself.

So at 2:30 p.m., I departed Hillsboro and pointed my car due west on Rt. 16 for the land of the Jerseyville Lady Panthers. An hour an 15 minutes later, I arrived at Jersey Community High School, roughly a quarter and a half late for my game, which has become an unfortunate trend for me. I'd like to blame my rash of tardiness on the addition of my one-year-old daughter Grace into my life, but in reality, I haven't been on time for much since birth, and I may have even taken my sweet time on that one as well.
 
With the contest set to be a battle for seventh in the eight team tournament, the game may not have been a "must-see" one for individuals without a vested interest. But the match-up between the Lady Toppers and the host school definitely had it's intriguing moments. When I entered the gym with 4:30 to play in the second, Hillsboro led by just two. By the time the quarter ended, the Lady Toppers had scored 20 unanswered points and had all but put the game away.

The second half went along the same lines as the later half of the first, with Hillsboro pretty much in control. The only drama that remained was whether Shelby Gray would get point number 1,000 for her career. Gray entered the game 22 points short of the milestone and got all but one of those in the Jerseyville game. Several times in the final minute opportunities arose to push the HHS senior into the elite company of Hope Schulte, Maria Pretnar, Kelly Seaton and JoGari Zerrusen, but shots that usually found their mark rimmed out, leaving her on the edge of the history books, at least until the Lady Toppers' next game, which is on Thursday, Jan. 3, in Gillespie. Despite the convincing win, Gray's face echoed the disappointment of not hitting the 1,000 point mark. Disappoint may be too harsh of a term, but it's definitely the saddest I've ever seen a player look at the final buzzer after a 21-point performance. Hopefully she enjoy her moment in Gillespie to the same degree.

From Jerseyville, I hit the road once again, bound for the Big House on West Main, which while not actually a house is fairly good sized for a school the size of Carlinville. The girls championship went pretty much as I expected, with Litchfield bringing home their third consecutive tournament title. I believe that I have been present for two of those three championships, and I'm not sure that this team is better than the previous two, but the potential is definitely there. A big part of that potential comes from sophomores Riley Scharf and Tessa Steffens, both of whom made the all-tournament team. All told, tenth graders would make up more than half of the seven player all-tourney squad at Carlinville, with the Cavies' Megan Stayton and Nokomis' Ashley Schneider joining the Litchfield duo. Coupled with a handful of other talented sophomores, like Nokomis' Josie Foster, Southwestern's Ashlyn Ringhausen, and Pana's Sydney Lett, among others, the future is pretty bright for girls basketball in the area.

About the time the boys championship game between Lincolnwood and Litchfield started up, so did a cold that has been kicking my tail for the last few days. The pounding in my head and the pressure behind my eyes was aggravated by the sight of my long-range camera lens bouncing across the gym floor when I failed to realize that my camera bag wasn't zipped up. Fortunately, the lens was fine (I'll find out next time I shoot whether or not it truly is) and my attention turned again to the hardwood.

The game wasn't quite what I expected as Litchfield jumped out in front early and stayed ahead by a large margin throughout the first three quarters. It's not that the Panthers were ahead that was surprising, it was the offensive surge that they presented. The previous few games that I had seen LHS in action, the Panthers had shown some trouble scoring, but on Saturday, they seemed to do so at will, with Mason Steffens having what I would call a career game. Less surprising, to me at least, was the Lancers comeback. I'd watched Lincolnwood pull off the same trick a week or so before when they turned a double-digit deficit to South Fork into a 12-point win.

This time, the rally came up just short, but the game itself was still an example of how sometimes big games can actually live up to the expectations that they sometimes bring. I pulled into my driveway at 10:30 p.m., eight hours, three games and more than 100 miles after I originally left it.

Looking back, the trip is probably part of the reason I've been sick the last three days, but I'm not sure I would do anything different. Moments like the ones that occurred last Saturday are why I like my job. I'm not always able to be everywhere I want to in person, but when I am able to go to a game, I feel like I have the ability to tell the story behind the stats. If you just look at the box scores of those three games, you don't have any idea that Gray so close to history, or that the Lady Panthers had continued their dominance in Carlinville, or that the Lancers had nearly pulled out another dramatic comeback.

The idea that I get to tell those stories is what helps inspire me to keep driving to those random gyms, and hopefully it will continue to do so for years to come.