The 14 Point

The 14 Point Blog is MOVING!

2009-03-23T10:14:00.003-04:00

Hey guys, the 14 Point Blog is moving to MLive.com.

You can catch us at http://blog.mlive.com/the14-pointblog/ .

Happy reading, thank you Blogspot.

Player Signings

2009-03-18T18:15:00.006-04:00

Just a quick note. Bucks alum Eric Brunner has signed with the Columbus Crew, joining Bucks alum Pat Noonan at the club. For those that don't remember, Brunner helped lead the Bucks to the 2007 PDL North American Championship game, before falling to Laredo on penalty kicks. The 6-4 defender can play in the middle of defense as well as on the left side. The Ohio native and Buckeye alum, was originally drafted in January 2008 by the New York Red Bulls, but eventually signed with Miami FC of the USL First Division. He was in training camp with New York earlier this year, but joined up with the Crew when they returned from their trip to England two weeks ago. The Red Bulls completed the long-rumored trade of Brunner's rights to the Crew in exchange for a conditional draft pick in 2011.

Another 2007 Bucks alum, George Josten has signed with the Portland Timbers of the USL First Division. The striker spent last season with the Crew and had a loan spell with the Cleveland City Stars of the USL Second Division.

Speaking of Cleveland, Bucks right back for the last two years, Kyle Russell is on trial with the newly promoted USL First Division side. Russell trained earlier this month with the Charleston Battery. A number of player moves should be announced in the coming days as MLS sides finalized their rosters and USL teams begin to sign more players. Watch this space.

Giving Blood and Getting Cookies

2009-03-16T12:57:00.002-04:00

Every three months I donate blood to the American Red Cross, which I’m about to go do as soon as I finish this post. I’d like to say it’s because I want to help save lives, but to be honest its about the two packs of Chips Ahoy (three packs if I flirt with the nurse) that I receive afterwards. Sure saving lives feels great, but how often do I get free cookies? Speaking of which, did anyone see the Office two weeks ago?

We’re getting ready to announce some big things for the season. I know the excitement is killing everyone, anticipating the anticipation is extremely hard work. Just dotting T’s, crossing I’s and making you all wait a bit longer for it.

In going with my anticipation theme, I can say that at least two Bucks alumni are set to sign for MLS teams this week, ahead of MLS First Kick this Thursday between New York and Seattle. For those interested, the Motor City Supporters will be holding a viewing party for the game at Station 885 in Plymouth, which proudly hangs a Michigan Bucks scarf in their bar, starting at 9:00 PM. You can RSVP for the event via Facebook.

Finally, while I find it very difficult to pay attention when a basketball game is on, March Madness is upon us. What else would the Bucks front office do but create a pool for our fans to participate in? I’m happy to see Michigan was selected for the first time in eleven years, but I plan on picking these games based on which mascots I like the most. To join click here.

Group ID#: 110804
Password: bucks

Off to get my cookies.

March Madness!

2009-03-12T12:43:00.006-04:00

It didn't dawn on me when I was born, that there was a particular reason why I was born in the month of March. The simple reason, my birthday is a celebration of March Madness. As I celebrate my birthday tomorrow, NCAA Basketball will be preparing for the most intense month of the year. I am an avid college basketball fan, rooting for the University of Kentucky since I was in middle school. Unfortunately on a side note, it looks like they have a lot of work left to do, to get into the tournament this year. But what is it that so many people find fascinating. Each year, we hear the numbers, millions of works hours are lost with people watching live streams of games in their cubicles. Is it the fact that a small Podunk school can take down the Goliath? Or could it be the last second shot by the guy who hasn't made a basket yet? For me personally, its the upsets. I love to see the little guys get their chance, and make a Cinderella run. Of course that brings me to the next point. The tournament bracket. Filling out a tournament bracket is a must for everyone. Whether you choose to spend hours doing your homework and analyzing why a team should win, or if you want to choose by which mascot would win in a fight ( I wouldn't approve this method, last year my wife picked the Maryland Terrapins because she like the Turtle mascot). We will most certainly have an online bracket for everyone to participate in.But is NCAA basketball the only March Madness going on? This past week I have witnessed some of the best soccer matches I have ever seen. The Champions League has been entertaining, and action packed. Before the round of 16 started, Jeff (Office Soccer Guru) wanted us to fill out which teams would advance out of this round. I want to make it known that, I came out the winner, picking all 8 winners correctly. I just wish I could pick the Streak For Cash that easy. Jeff (Office Soccer Guru) only picked six correctly, with Bayern Munich and Roma selections. Brad on the other hand, I am not sure if he was just throwing darts at a board, but he only got five correct, missing on Sporting Lisbon, Juventus, and Real Madrid. Once the draw is complete we will make sure we get more people involved in the next round.

I hope everyone has a great weekend, and I look forward to the selections for both the Champions League as well as the NCAA bracket. Enjoy.

Kyle Karns
President of Operations

GOAL!!!

2009-03-11T10:19:00.007-04:00

Well if you like goal scoring then yesterday's matches from the UEFA Champions League should have been a day in heaven. Most people that think soccer is boring say there aren't enough goals to keep them interested. I don't agree with that sentiment but the 12 goals between two games yesterday was definitely a show of more offense.

Luckily for me when it comes to my ESPN Streak for the Cash, I left the Bayern-Sporting and Liverpool-Real Madrid games alone because I wasn't confident in the outcome. I've worked really hard for my 3 game winning streak so I am waiting on another for sure win. As if there is one. That's what I can't figure out. I try to really look into all of the variables as I make my picks but it seems that more often than not it tends to backfire on me. So I have decided to just go with my gut and stop doing my 30min of homework before each pick. We will see how it continues to go. So far I have 3 wins with this new system. Remember to sign up for the "Michigan Bucks Pool" to compete against Bucks staff and other fans.

Well we are now only 2 1/2 weeks away from the first Bucks hosted event of 2009, the second annual, College Cup. I'm looking forward to seeing many of you here soon. Keep your eyes open for the Insider which will have all the details regarding this event.

Veris Becomes an Islander

2009-03-10T13:38:00.005-04:00

Former Bucks defender Kyle Veris has signed with the Puerto Rico Islanders of the USL First Division. Veris, who played for the Bucks in 2002 and 2005, joins the CONCACAF Champions League semifinalists from Norwegian club IL Hodd on a free transfer. After graduating from Ohio State, Veris was drafted by the Los Angeles Galaxy in the 2007 MLS SuperDraft, making 17 appearances and lining up beside David Beckham and Landon Donovan.

In his two stints with the Bucks, the Washington D.C. native made 22 appearances scoring 2 goals. Veris will be eligible for the Islanders when they host Cruz Azul of Mexico in the Champions League semifinal first leg March 17 in Bayamon.

In other news, the Champions League Round of 16 second legs are today and I’m amped to watch the Liverpool-Real Madrid match on ESPN. Remember with the time change, the match will kickoff at 3:45 PM today. Three of the four matches today are tasty, while the Bayern-Sporting Lisbon tie is all but over.

Who do you think will go through in the four matches today? Scores after the first leg are listed. Today’s home teams are listed first. Leave your comments:

Juventus 0 - Chelsea 1
Bayern Munich 5 – Sporting Lisbon 0
Liverpool 1 – Real Madrid 0
Panathinaikos 1 – Villareal 1

Been Awhile!

2009-03-06T14:21:00.010-05:00

Well Bucks fans, it has been quite awhile since I blogged last. In fact the last time I think I blogged the ground was covered in snow, and now we are on the verge of hitting 60 degrees. Even though the span of those two things happening here in Michigan could be an hour apart.

Don't get me wrong the warm weather is a nice sigh of relief from the doom and gloom that has been here the past few months. I am not much of a golfer, in fact I think I can count the number of times I have golfed on one hand. Rumor has it however, that some of the courses have opened up for today, I would have to imagine they are getting some business.

Bucks Tickets
Recently I have been trying to finalize all of the season ticket packages that we are planning on offering for the upcoming season. Once again we will have the Flex-Pass and our popular Supporters Group Package as well. I wont give away all the surprises, but each package has some new additions from last year that I think you guys will enjoy. We are hoping to have those finalized within the next few days, and they could go on sale in a week or so. This is always an exciting time for me and the rest of the staff. This is the point we know that the season is starting to grow near, and we can start to hear the chatter of people that will be attending Bucks games. Keep an eye on the website if you are interested in Bucks season ticket packages.Bucks Roster
Just as important as the ticket packages is the roster of the product you are coming out to watch. Along with creating the packages, I have been working on getting our roster together as well. As many of you know, we were happy to see several of our guys to get drafted and tryouts with professional clubs. With that being the case, we are going to have some new faces to the Bucks roster this year. However, we are going to be fortunate enough to bring back some of the top athletes that we had last year as well. I wont give any names, I will leave the speculating up to you guys.

ESPN Streak
Well since the last time I posted, Jeff and I were the only two really keeping track of our streaks. Since then, we have created a group on the ESPN website, and now I can keep track of how horrible I am doing compared to the rest of you guys. To be perfectly honest, from what I have seen so far, it doesn't look like any of us will be the lucky one to bring home a million dollars. But best of luck to anyone, and spread the word.
Current Leader - Kyle Karns (yeah, thats right) with 2

Video of the Day
As always I like to end most of my blogs with a random video. Click on this link to see a great goal in a high school soccer match.
click here

Well have a good weekend everyone, and get outside and enjoy the nice weather.

Kyle Karns
President of Operations

Enough is Enough

2009-03-05T12:35:00.007-05:00

For those who've not paid attention to the CONCACAF Champions League in the last week, Major League Soccer has already been out done by this country's unofficial "Second Division". Houston Dynamo, the only MLS team that made it out of the group stage fell 4-1 on aggregate after losing 3-0 to Atlante in Cancun on Tuesday night.

Flash forward to last night, with USL First Division side Puerto Rico Islanders taking a 2-1 lead into San Pedro Sula, against Marathon of Honduras. Playing a strategic match and looking to save their lead, DC United castoff Nicholas Adderly struck at the death, helping Puerto Rico to a 1-0 result and 3-1 aggregate victory. Tonight the Montreal Impact (also of the USL First Division) go into the 2nd leg with Santos Laguna of Mexico with a 2-0 lead.

One question I've been asked is how did these two teams qualify? Puerto Rico qualified as a Carribean team and Montreal had already superseded an MLS team in Toronto FC during Canadian qualification for this tournament.

One Upped

Forget the fact that MLS was given 4 spots in the tournament which began in August. The only other country that gets as many spots is Mexico. Two teams, New England Revolution and Chivas had to go through a home and home qualifying round, which neither made it out of. New England lost to Joe Public of Trinidad & Tobago with a disgraceful 6-1 aggregate result, while Chivas fell to Tauro FC of Panama 3-1. DC United, who qualified directly to the group stage as the 2007 Supporters Shield winner, became the whipping boys of their group, only taking 1 point from 6 matches. Houston barely even qualified for the knock out stages, need a 1-0 result on the last day of the group stage to move on.
The case has been made that all 4 MLS teams did take part in the North American SuperLiga, which the Revolution actually won, but were worn out when the CONCACAF Champions League started a month later. The problem is both Atlante (just beat Houston) and Santos Laguna (match tonight vs. Montreal) participated in that tournament as well and both teams have played roughly the same amount of games over the past year.

MLS clubs haven't won a CONCACAF tournament since the home-and-away format was adopted in 2002. Their performances have previously been excused because the tournament has been held mainly during the MLS preseason and teams aren't in top form yet. This argument no longer works because USL teams play nearly the exact same schedule as their counterparts in MLS. There is no longer an excuse.

Puerto Rico and Montreal's payroll are smaller than any team in MLS, in fact any team in the Mexican top flight, yet one is in the Champions League semifinal while the other is on the cusp of being there. These teams both have players that supposedly couldn't hack it in top flight American soccer, but are now outperforming the teams they couldn't run with. MLS should already be EMBARRASSED for being one-upped by the second tier league in its own country, but if Montreal comes away victorious tonight in Torreon, the league will have serious egg on its face.

The CONCACAF Champions League is far more important that Major League Soccer’s SuperLiga, for which the league rewards Mexican teams more money for winning than their own. On the other hand, the winner of the Champions League has a berth in the FIFA World Club Cup (where just participating earns a team $500,000), for which no MLS club has been able to qualify. Participation in the FIFA tournament would go much further to earn MLS the respect it so badly craves. It doesn’t come from winning your own made-for-TV cash grab or signing a major superstar on his last legs.

Going forward, I'd be worried Major League Soccer clubs will begin to lose their allocated spots in the Champions League if they don't perform better in the future. It is up to MLS to make this tournament what it should be, not make it second fiddle to something that means so little.

Until that time, Up the USL!

Alumni Update

2009-03-04T14:57:00.010-05:00

I first need to apologize for the lack of a blog posting in nearly a week. From the bottom of my heart, I'm very sorry. I thought I'd do a quick update on how our alumni are doing.

Besmir Bega, currently playing in Albania with Partizani, on loan from city rivals KF Tirana, scored his first professional goal on Sunday, March 1 in a 1-0 win over KS Elbasani. The win puts Partizani in 10th place in the 12 team league. Here is Bes' goal:

Steve Clark spotting: Here is Steve (orange), still in camp with Real Salt Lake, image posted in Real Salt Lake to the Core. Real will be taking part in the Carolina Challenge Cup in Charleston, SC this week, other teams attending: DC United, featuring former Bucks Boyzzz Khumalo and Greg Janicki, Toronto FC, and the hosts Charleston Battery of USL-1.

Which leads me to…

Kyle Russell, who is currently in training camp with the Battery. Kyle is looking to join another Bucks alum, Stephen Armstrong, in calling Charleston his new home.

Ty Shipalane (Columbus) and Mike Holody (Colorado) are in training camp with their respective teams. Doug DeMartin (Kansas City) has been recovering from sports hernia surgery but is expecting to join back up with the Wizards very soon. All three are in the running to make their respective rosters. Decisions will be made soon as the MLS season is just two weeks away...

Dave Hertel has popped up in training camp with USL-1 expansion club, Austin Aztex. Dave was in training camp earlier this year with Steve Clark and RSL.

Joseph Kabwe (above) has signed with the Carolina Railhawks of the USL First Division after spending the past three seasons with USL-2's Charlotte Eagles. Kabwe was given the Paul R. Scicluna Award for his excellent play for the Bucks in 2004.

Lastly, I want to encourage readers of the 14 Point to follow us on Twitter.

Stupéfier!

2009-02-26T11:22:00.006-05:00

For those of you not familiar with French, apparently that means Amazing! Thank you Babel Fish.

So lets talk about the Champions League action from yesterday from the CONKA, CONKA, CONKAKHAFFF section.

I wanted to give a shout out to our USL Canadian brethren, the Montreal Impact, for their impressive showing in a 2-0 victory last night against Santos Laguna of Mexico in the CONCACAF Champions League. A crowd of 55,571 spectators filled the Olympic Stadium, next door to the L'Impact's regular home, Stade Saputo, to watch the USL-1 side defeat the 2008 Mexican Clausura champions.

The two-goal pad puts Montreal in the driver's seat for the return leg, to be played a week from today in el Estadio Corona in Torreón, Mexico. The winner of the series will take on the winner of the Houston Dynamo-Atlante (Mexico) series. That tie is currently level at 1-1 after the Dynamo surrendered a late goal in the first leg Tuesday night in Houston.

What makes the attendance achievement so amazing, as a number of people have pointed out to me today, is the Impact set a team and CONCACAF record last night AS WELL AS beating out the attendance figures of 5 of the 8 European Champions League first legs that were played Tuesday and Wednesday. Bravo, Montreal!

The other USL team involved in the Champions League, Puerto Rico Islanders, are set to take on Marathon of Honduras tonight in Bayamon, PR. Kickoff is at 8PM ET and LIVE on Fox Soccer Channel.

In other news, I wanted to encourage followers of the 14 Point Blog to join the Bucks group on ESPN's Streak for the Cash. Create an entry and join the "Michigan Bucks Pool". I'm currently sitting on 1, thank you Chelsea and Juve for only scoring once yesterday.

Join me in trying to beat out Kyle Karns for $1 million.

Dave's Real Adventure

2009-02-24T13:17:00.004-05:00

Bucks defender spent much of February in training camp with Major League Soccer's Real Salt Lake after going unselected in January's SuperDraft. The speedy left back sat down with The 14 Point Blog to give us his view on his time with RSL, among other things.

14P: Having just come off a great season with Michigan State, you were invited to the MLS Combine and touted as the best left back there by a number of journalists. What was your feeling when you weren't initially selected in the SuperDraft?

DH: My initial feelings were disappointment, but like a lot of things in life you live and you learn.

14P: How did RSL's Discovery Pick come about with you? Did you know of other teams interested in your services?

DH: One day I received a phone call from Jason Kreis and he said they were going to bring me in for a little bit of their preseason. I also had contact with Chivas USA, but by the time everything happened RSL tagged me as a discovery pick.

14P: Bucks teammate Steve Clark joined you in RSL training camp a few weeks ago, had you heard he was coming or did he show up and surprise you?

DH: Yeah I had heard he was coming, he gave me a call a few days after being tagged and said he had had the same thing happen.

14P: How was it to have someone you know training with the same team?

DH: Its always nice to have a guy on the team that you know and like, but also another Spartan was there who played on the team named Kevin Reiman so between Steve and Kevin it made the situation better.

14P: Were there any players in training camp that you'd looked up to as a kid?

DH: Yeah. Clint Mathis was definitely one I remember from the 2002 World Cup.

14P: What are the noticeable differences between the college/PDL level and the MLS level of play?

DH: The intensity and speed of play. In MLS you have good players who are all fit so in that nature it tends to speed up the game, and it does take a little time to get use to.

14P: Do you stay in touch with any of your Bucks teammates?

DH: Of course some of the Bucks players are good friends. Shipalane, Holody, Stacy, Demartin, Scaffidi, Clark, Russell, the list really goes on and on. We’re all a family.

14P: Did RSL manager Jason Kreis know about your flip throw?

DH: Haha. No I was kind of glad.

14P: Before coming to the Bucks last season you played the previous 3 summers for the West Michigan Edge, much closer to your hometown in Holland. What’s more the team featured a number of your teammates at Michigan State. Was there any bad blood between you guys?

DH: No, we don't take those moves personally and they knew that the Bucks have been very successful in the past summers. So, there were no hard feelings.

14P: Did Clint Mathis given you any hair advice?

DH: No, but it turns out he is a real nice guy

Short Answer (just pick one) Best city: Holland, East Lansing or Salt Lake City?

Toss up between EL and Holland

Best League: England, Spain or Italy?

England

Better Player: Ronaldo or Messi?

Ronaldo

Thanks Dave and good luck!

Pondering Beckham

2009-02-23T10:09:00.007-05:00

The talk of the soccer world lately has been the David Beckham/AC Milan soap opera (not surpisinly, knowing how much the soccer world LOVES a good soap opera), anad a lot of that talk has come from those with an axe to grind.

The European press, aghast first that Beckham would play in MLS, aghast second that his foray into America wasn't a sign that he would never be able to play at the highest level again, is aghast third that the LA Galaxy hasn't rolled over and given Becks away to the might rossoneri for the first offer they made (whether they actually made it or not, which is still something of an open question).

As a result, their reporting has been wildly slanted and, in some cases, probably just made up out of thin air.

As far as anyone can tell, Milan made an offer of $3 million, to which the Galaxy and MLS replied with a polite, “No, thank you.” MLS commish Don Garber then set a deadline for negotiations of last Friday (Feb. 13), saying that he had a season to start and inviting Milan to merda or get off the pot.

Since then, Milan and Beckham and other Milan players and coaches have all weighed in, and kept flapping their gums about how much they want Beckham to stay with Milan, how “indispensable” he is, and how hard they’re trying to make a deal.

But, again as far as anyone can tell, they really haven’t done anything BUT flap their gums since.

This got me to wondering, what if Milan actually DOESN’T want to keep him, or at least pay to keep him?

First, Beckham is much more valuable financially to the Galaxy than he is to Milan. If Milan were making a run in the Champions League or had a legitimate shot at the Scudetto this year, it might have been different, but it isn’t. It would take a miracle (read: more bribery than even they could afford) to get them to the top of the league, and to a club like Milan, the UEFA Cup is hardly worth paying much for.

Furthermore, as his current hamstring reminds us all, he isn’t a spring chicken, and isn’t going to be part of Milan’s long-term plans, justifying an eight-figure transfer fee.

On the other hand, LA and MLS have put a lot of financial eggs into the Beckham basket, a heck of a lot more than $3 million worth. The team would have to go out and find a replacement for him on the roster, for one, and the league and its sponsors would be left holding the bag if the face of the league bolted.

What if Milan is just pretending to work real hard for their newest friend, to keep him happy while he’s still around, knowing full well that LA won’t take anything less than a lot more than they’re willing to part with for him?

Maybe MLS and LA know this, maybe they don’t. Maybe Milan is just blowing smoke up everybody’s kilt, and maybe Garber and Galaxy head honcho Tim Lieweke are parties to the charade for the benefit of keeping Beckham, who has said that he wants to stay, but will return to LA if a deal isn’t done, as a courtesy to a club to which they don’t want to burn a bridge.

I don’t know if this is the case or not. But if it were, things would be happening exactly as they are now.

Disappointment

2009-02-20T10:23:00.005-05:00

Picking up where Brad left off yesterday, has anyone been watching the Pistons lately? I am not quite sure what is going on with them this year. I have only been to one game this year but I am pretty dedicated to watching them at least a couple times a week on TV. It seems like they have forgotten what it takes to win those close games. I understand we did loose Chauncey who was some what of a piece in the puzzle, but is seems like there is something missing. After there fifth consecutive loss last night I am starting to wonder what kind of moves Dumars has up his sleeve for the off season. Not that I am righting this season off quite yet but, if they cant remember where they put their DEFENSE or how to protect the ball, then I am afraid they are going to continue on this downward spiral right out of the playoff picture.

It is sad because if you look at individual talent, they seem to have it. Iverson, Hamilton, Prince, these guys seem to bring it pretty consistently but then there is Wallace. He has incredible talent, not only on the post but as a 3pt threat as well, it just seems like he only gives partial effort most of the time.

Well enough of my venting!!! As for us here at the Bucks we are getting really excited for this upcoming season. With everything we have been working on over the last few weeks I think we are going to have a really great year. It was exciting to see things getting kicked off this week with our first soccer camp. All those kids coming in for the week to do nothing but play soccer. Those were the days!!! Although this week is coming to an end, it will only be a couple weeks and the next camp will start and only a month after that will be our home opener! See you all soon!!!

The Good Ole Days

2009-02-19T15:44:00.004-05:00

Do you remember the good ole days? Those days way back in elementary school when you were worried about not wetting your pants, having to talk to the girl next to you, or getting those last few cookies you saw the night before. Every day I knew that all I needed to do was pretend to be listening to the teacher, answer a few simple questions and then be rewarded by playing with my friends for an hour or so. It was a vicious cycle back then but I loved it. Most of all, I loved playing sports.

Sports were my life, they still are. Only now I don’t get to play sports like soccer, tetherball, or kickball. I get to watch them on television and occasionally get the opportunity to play basketball but it's nothing like it use to be. Although I must toot my own horn here for a moment and say I did have the opportunity to play kickball this past summer. It was the first time in 15+ years and in case you’re wondering; I went 2-3 kicking a double, a homer, and putting a few RBI’s on the old stat sheet. The excitement every day during recess was overwhelming, my life has been filled with sports and I now know why it is so important to have them introduced to kids at a young age. I think teaching sport to our youth gives us valuable tools and life lessons that we can keep and continue to build on throughout our lifetime.

Personally, my favorite times were attending at the various camps (like the one the Bucks are holding this week, register for the one in April by clicking here). My most memorable experience was attending a Steve Fischer basketball camp. It included a weeklong stay on the Michigan campus. I went with one of my best friends and all we did for a week was play basketball and have fun. We always ate off the buffet, got plenty of sleep, and got to play around on our down time. If I could do it all over again I would have attended more sports camps because to me, those made my childhood worthwhile.

Stock Up/Stock Down

↓ Alex Rodriguez – COME ON ALREADY!!! Does anyone really believe this guy, I am in total disbelief. Yes, I will give credit for stepping forward and confessing, however he knew it would come out sooner than later so I’m sure his PR team and staff decided to take the initiative and confess (he should hire Jeff). This way he has time to rebuild his rep and hopefully get in the good graces of the public. Personally, I think there is a lot more to the story than he is telling. Oh A-Roid, COME ON!

↓Texas Tech Athletic Director – Wow, good job sir! You are on the verge of firing one of the best offensive coaches in the game. Texas Tech averages 500+ yards of offense every year starting in 2005. Mike Leach almost won a bid to the big dance and now they are going to fire him because he didn’t bend and take the deal Texas Tech offered him. Give me a break, you have to keep Mike Leach, hands down no two ways about it. Make a deal later, let him coach now.

↑Chauncey Billups – I think everyone knew when this guy left Detroit we were losing a big part of our team. He was the catalyst for this offense, he would set up, get it going, and create his own shot if the offense wasn’t working Billups was. Congratulations Denver Nuggets, you got a steal, now I just want to know what Dumars plans are.

Football Etiquette

2009-02-17T10:24:00.007-05:00

It has recently occurred to me that the football watching public in the United States has grown a great deal in the past few years. I feel comfortable saying football because if you’re reading this blog you should already know which sport I’m talking about. With the influx of new fans in this country I’ve come to realize that sometimes they don’t pronounce teams, names, or even leagues correctly. So, without sounding like too much of a snob, this blog entry will work to correct these newbie errors.

Follow this simple protocol of pronounce, rinse, repeat and you will be a fine football connoisseur in no time (I EVEN MADE FLASHCARDS!):

It is not proper when referring to a team in Manchester, Madrid or London, to simply say the city name to specify a team. There are two teams in Manchester both with the city name in the title. When referring to Manchester United one should say “United”, when referring to Manchester City, they should say “City”. Full names are appropriate, shortened names can be a wobbly road depending on your company.. The same goes for the two top teams in Madrid – Real and Atletico. Now when it comes to London, there are more professional teams there then we have in the entire United States, none of which have London in the title. Arsenal, Chesea, Fulham, Charlton Athletic, West Ham, Crystal Palace, etc. should never be referred to as “London”.

Times when referring to the city is appropriate: When one of the teams in the city is named after the city and the other isn’t: Liverpool and Everton; Milan and Internazzionale; Barcelona and Espanyol; Los Angeles and Chivas, etc…

It is not “The MLS”. Spell it out. That would be “The Major League Soccer”, the same as saying “The Major League Baseball”. I’m no English expert so I cannot point to the rule regarding why this is incorrect, but its not rocket science, please quit calling it “The MLS”.

Tottenham Hotspur can be referred to as Tottenham or Spurs, but never as the Hotspurs. For those who don’t know, the team takes its name from a character in a Shakespeare play, named Harry Hotspur. Repeat, not the Hotspurs… In the same theme, Blackburn Rovers are not called The Rovers. If not using Blackburn, just say “Rovers”.

One cannot support more than one club in the same league. One can definitely not support two of the big teams in a certain league. This is football treason, while there is no capital punishment for this crime, it’s likely that neither team’s fans would want anything to do with you anyway.

Simple Pronunciation:
-Portsmouth is really pronounced Portsmith
-Fulham is really prounced Full-um
-West Bromwich Albion can be referred to as just West Brom, but if using the full name, it’s pronounced West BromICH Albion

That is all. Class dismissed, for now...

Recap: Columbus

2009-02-14T11:32:00.019-05:00

Let me preface by saying reasons aren’t important, but it took me 3 days to fully recover from our trip to Columbus, for that I apologize. Additionally, if you were waiting for a full recap because you weren’t there, well you should have been and you’ll have to wait four years to experience something like it!

Timeline:

12:30 PM – Arrive in Columbus. We meet a bunch of US fans as we step out of the car to check in to our hotel. The town is painted in US, not Buckeye Red. After checking in, the Motor City Supporters Group heads over to the Claddagh to meet more US fans and start with match-day libations. By the way, its beautiful outside. I tell MCS member Alan, "I don’t care what the meteorologists say, I think this beautiful weather is going to carry through the game."

1:18 PM – Someone from Sams Army runs through the bar offering up commemorative USA-MEXICO World Cup Qualifying Scarves. Interested in adding to my scarf collection, I along with a few others purchase one. Best $20 I’ve ever spent, although I’m positive I’ve said that a number of times before. Also at this point the bar is pretty full, people poor out into the beautiful weather to play a little footy in the town square outside the Claddagh…

2:30 PM –Waiting on the rest of the MCS to arrive, we run into Bradd a huge Crew fan, who live in Oakland County. We know Bradd from a few Bucks games, he especially enjoys going to matches against Kalamazoo. WHOA! DID YOU SEE THAT ROBINHO GOAL FROM YESTERDAY!?!? Bradd offers to buy me a beer, but I tell him that I need to stay level headed for the match. As Jose would say, still fantastic outside.

3:01 PM – The rest of the MCS crew FINALLY arrives. I think they might have brought bad weather with them, its gray outside and the wind is picking up.

3:29 PM – While outside, I discover a group from Grand Rapids, who just happen to have a meteorologist with them. Lightly raining, all of a sudden I find that I’m speaking to myself and have rain pelting me in the face. Apparently I ignored Meteorologist Jim’s warning about the clouds in the distance and became soaked for the first time that day. I guess weather guy’s know what they’re talking about sometimes.

4:03 PM – Still drying off and knowing that the storm outside isn’t a one-off, I decide to dress in layers and put on all my waterproof clothing. I wish I’d done this earlier.

4:50 PM – Last call for MCS. The Claddagh chartered two busses over to Crew Stadium. One at 4:50 and one an hour later. Wanting to make sure we arrive for the fan march in, the group goes on the earlier bus and we wait.

5:12 PM – We’ve moved about half a mile. Columbus rush hour, how’d we not think of it? Mind you Crew Stadium is only about 6 miles from the Claddagh, we were in the Brewery District, where I guess a lot of traffic occurs.

5:50 PM – We moved another half mile.

6:10 PM – A drunk fan vomits at the front of the bus, and we’ve moved a couple more miles.

6:45 PM – “Hey, look the rain stopped. Hey, look we’re pulling into Crew Stadium. Hey look isn’t that the other bus from the Claddagh that was supposed to leave at 5:50?"Major fail on our part.

6:55 PM – Just as I step foot off the bus, the clouds open up and within a matter of seconds, I’m soaked again. Worried we’ll miss kickoff some of MCS gets separated and misses watching the match with the rest of the group.

7:10 PM - Anthems. Oh say can you see?

7:15 PM – KICKOFF!

7:20 PM – HUGE SAVE BY TIM HOWARD. I’m pretty sure my voice had already gone at this point.

7:56 PM – MICHAEL BRADLEY MAKES IT 1-0. Who ever said anything about nepotism with the National Team? MCS member Chad, who experienced his first ever cap comments that he’s never experienced anything like the celebration that ensued after Bradley’s goal.

8:00 PM – HALF TIME!

8:35 PM – Mexico captain Rafa Marquez gets SENT OFF for a dangerous challenge on Tim Howard. From our vantage point, we were quite surprised to see the red come out of Referee Carlos Batres pocket. What we couldn’t see was Marquez cleat Howard when he was up in the air to claim the ball. This is the sixth time in Rafa’s career he’s been sent off in an international match and second time against the US. Anyone remember his head butting of Cobi Jones in the 2002 World Cup?

8:47 PM – Feeling nervous, I comment to those around me that even though I predicted and wanted 2-0 (dos a cero), I’d take the score as is.

9:01 PM – MICHAEL BRADLEY AGAIN! On a shot from distance that Mexican keeper Oswaldo Sanchez should have had, the US completes another “dos a cero” scoreline. GREAT SUCCESS!

9:30 PM – Soaked, with a coarse voice, we finally meet up with the rest of MCS and head back to the Claddagh for the post match celebrations! Everyone, no matter where they’re from is high-fiving, singing, hugging and just generally happy. What a great day!

The next day, middle of nowhere, Ohio:

About 11:00 AM -- We find out that the US is playing Honduras as Soldier Field on June 6, the day before the Bucks play at Kalamazoo. I supposed we’ll have to be there...

Special thanks to MCS members Andrew and Dan for helping with photography.

So Many Faces

2009-02-11T09:56:00.007-05:00

Well today myself and several other front office members from the Michigan Bucks will be over at the Palace for the Career Fair. Every year the Palace Sports and Entertainment group host a great career fair for just graduated students that are looking to break into the sports industry. We enjoy being a part of this, this is a great opportunity for us to find interns for our summer program. This year we will be looking for several interns to help with our marketing and all of our camp work for the summer. Of course it is always a bonus to stay after the career fair and enjoy the Pistons game as well.
Well as many of you probably know, (and if you don't know, that means you haven't talked to Jeff), that today is the Mexico vs. U.S match. Jeff is currently on his way down to Columbus to enjoy the match, while the rest of us are here WORKING.. not that I'm bitter. So in honor of the game I took it upon myself to get some predictions from the guys here in the office.

Kyle Karns - U.S. 2 - Mexico 1
Brad DeLange - U.S. 2 - Mexico 1
Brad Jakubiec - U.S. 1 - Mexico 1

So we wish the best of luck to the U.S. men down in Columbus today, and we also wish those of the Motor City Supporters who made the journey south, a safe trip back.

Of course one of my blogs would not be complete if I didn't update you with my E.S.P.N. streak for the cash. It has been fun talking about this here in the office, since I started it back around the holidays, I have now got Jeff, and Brad hooked on it as well. Unfortunately we are all keeping our day jobs since our longest streak is 5 correct picks in a row. Now for those of you who are soccer fans, today is the day to look at the streak and get started playing. There are 5 different matches that you can choose from, including the U.S. match later tonight. I am taking Poland over Wales in the early match up, and then U.S. over Mexico.

Kyle's Streak - 1
Jeff's Streak - 1
Brad's Streak - 0

Last but not least. The Karns video of the day. One of my friends sent this to me this past weekend, I thought it would be a great goal celebration for the game tonight.
Click here to see video.

Kyle Karns
President of Operations

Less Than 36 Hours...

2009-02-10T10:26:00.005-05:00

…until the US-Mexico clash on Wednesday night. I need to say that my excitement is nearly uncontainable. While driving around doing errands with Kyle yesterday, I think he became a bit annoyed with my anticipation.

About this time tomorrow, I’ll be heading down to Columbus with the Motor City Supporters Group to represent Detroit among Sam’s Army and the American Outlaws as we make sure the US gets off to the best possible start in final round qualifying. Although I’ve been to a number of US matches since 1994 this is my first ever match against Mexico – I surprisingly hadn’t realize the fact until yesterday.

With that said I do have experience with a Mexico match. Attending the 2007 Gold Cup semi-finals at Soldier Field in Chicago, me and a friend went to see the US play Canada, but as it was a doubleheader, stayed for the Mexico-Guadeloupe match that followed. During the first half of the US game there were no more than 20,000 fans in the stadium. Around halftime, Soldier Field began to fill with green shirts. By the 65th minute, the stadium was full, mostly a sea of green and white, and the crowd had become decidedly pro-Canadian. Luckily we came away with a 2-1 win, with help from a call that went our way at the end of the match.

Long story short, this is why a game as big as tomorrow’s is played in the small confines of Columbus, Ohio. Among US fans, the sport just isn’t big enough yet. If the USSF put this match in a big stadium, near a large Latino population, American fans would be decidedly outnumbered and it would be no different than an away match.

Flash back to that night in June ’07: US fans stayed for El Tri’s match with tiny Guadeloupe (pop. 405,500) and cheered heavily for the French speaking island nation, who held Mexico, ranked 20th in the world at the time, until the 70th minute, when Pavel Pardo scored, setting up the US-Mexico final (2-1 to the US!) two days later. I wasn’t able to attend the final because of duties with the Bucks that weekend, but I’m not bitter, we beat Indiana 7-1 after all…

I believe I mentioned in my last post on this topic that I get extremely nervous for this game every year, even if it’s a friendly. My nerves are already here, and I’ll likely be a wreck as I drive down tomorrow morning. Keep me in your thoughts. Remember gametime is 7PM tomorrow, live on ESPN2 and UNIVISION.

Someone else in the office will be blogging tomorrow, so I’ll leave you with a prediction (2-0 US, of course) and a loud and boisterous “SHUT UP SVEN!”

Enjoy:

Besmir on YouTube!

2009-02-05T16:57:00.002-05:00

Just a quick update today on a member of the Bucks playing abroad. I spoke yesterday with Besmir Bega, who played with the Bucks most of last season before heading to Albania in July searching for a pro contract. I specifically remember Bes' play in our two-game road trip last year at Cincinnati and West Virginia. He was the hardest working player on the field in both matches, setting up Kenny Uzoigwe for the game winning goal in both matches.

Not to long after arriving, Bes signed with Tirana FK in the Albanian capital, who are currently 2nd in the league. Soon after his arrival, Bes suffered an injury to his miniscus, which dropped him in the pecking order at the club.

He has recently been sent out on loan to city rivals Partizani, currently 10th in the 12 team league. Yesterday, Partizani defeated Dinamo Tirana 1-0, lifting the reds 2 points ahead of 11th place. Check out this video showing the Partizani players celebrating their victory. Bes is #18.

A Typical Day

2009-02-04T19:01:00.004-05:00

It’s just another day in the life here in the front office of the Michigan Bucks. It’s quiet in the this morning and everyone is hard at work. Today has just been one of those typical days. While we have some new projects brewing we are still putting the finishing touches on a few older things as well. I must say though, in between all the working, we do have a lot of fun. There is not a day that goes by where sports isn’t the hot topic at the figurative water cooler. Today we revisited the Super Bowl and the excitement it brought all of us. It is ironic to think about the amount of football (American and the Beautiful Game) we talk about day-to-day. As a general rule we all like to talk about current sports events.

A few weeks ago we watched with baited breath at the MLS SuperDraft and somehow we transitioned into the NFL Draft. Eventually we brought up Mr. Mel Kiper Jr. and his lack of a life (ratings of each player). He not only rates the players entering the draft but also keeps up to date information on each player and how valuable that individual’s stock is at the moment. It started to make me think: "Why not use this system to rate current sporting moves?” So with that I’ll mention a few current sports events and what I think of that person, team, or organization. Comment to let me know what you think.

STOCK UP/STOCK DOWN↑↓ Manny Ramirez - Decision Making. Can someone please tell me what this guy is thinking? He won the lottery with the contract the Dodgers offered. I say: Take the money this year and live comfortably the rest of your life. Go to the Yankees or the Mets next year and win another title. Look Manny sit down tonight and listen to the Steve Miller Band. Get the greatest hits album and throw on song number 3 – “Take the Money and Run”.

↑↓Orlando Magic – Key Loss – The Orlando Magic may have suffered a terrible blow this past week as their point guard, Jameer Nelson, may be done for the season. They have been on an absolute tear this year with the help of Nelson and Superman Dwight Howard. I thought this team could’ve made it to the big dance but without Nelson I think they’ll be a playoff threat at best. I hope Nelson comes back and helps take the Magic to the finals.

↑↓Michigan Football – Incoming Freshman – Today was National Signing for high school football players and Michigan, ranked seventh nationally, look to have a good pool of talent this year. What stood out to me is their one 5 star athlete, a defensive tackle from none other than Detroit. His measurables (6’5” 315) make him look he is going to be an absolute force to be reckoned with. He and their 12 four star athletes should give Rich Rod a good foundation and get the Wolverines back on top. (Although Jeff thinks otherwise).

Picks of the Week:
Miami Heat 101 @ Detroit Pistons 97
Pro Bowl: AFC 30 NFC 31

Bucks on the Road

2009-02-03T13:05:00.007-05:00

With the release of the 2009 Regular Season schedule last week, I started thinking about what away matches our loyal and dedicated supporters would want to attend. While all 16 Bucks regular season games are important, there are a few this year that stick out, here are my thoughts:

*The first two away games are usually the most important of the season because they double as US Open Cup qualifiers. This year our away qualifiers are at Ft. Wayne (Wednesday, May 20) and Indiana (South Bend; 5/25 Memorial Day), both places are about 3 hours away from the metro area. From experience I can say that away Open Cup qualifying matches are very intense, especially the last game when qualification is always on the line. Case in point, Memorial Day 2007, where after trailing 2-0 to the same Indiana team we’ll play this Memorial Day, the Bucks came back and ended up drawing 3-3 with the Invaders. The result gave us 10 points from our first four matches, finishing 2 ahead of Indiana in qualifying. If you have to pick one out of the first two away matches, this one may be the best to choose.

*While we’ll have already played Kalamazoo at home in the season opener, the Bucks will play the return leg with the Outrage on June 7 at 5:00 pm. Last year their fans brought a decent contingent over in their two games on this side of the state and I think it’d be nice to visit them as well. Remember the Bells Brewery is only a 15 minute drive from Loy Norrix High School -- that is if pre-match libations are your thing.

*Have you visited Toyota Park yet? July 1 in Chicago could be your chance. The Bucks will renew their rivalry with the Fire, who’ve moved back into our division again. Last years home match against Chicago was one of the best of the season and nearly a carbon copy of the 2007 away match vs. Indiana. Trailing 2-0 at halftime the Bucks scored three goals in 22 minutes, before surrendering the tying goal in the 85th; 3-3 at full time.
*The end of the season Canadian road trip will be fun for all. Start off on Friday night (July 17) when the Bucks play their first ever match at Forest City London. The next day head north to catch the Toronto FC-Houston Dynamo game downtown at BMO Field at 1PM. Hopefully the exchange rate will still favorable, in order to take a night on the town, before going to cheer on the Bucks on Sunday afternoon (July 19) against the Toronto Lynx at Hershey Centre. This happens to be my birthday weekend, so I’ll fully be expecting the 6 points from this trip.

Of course though as loyal fans, you should try to make every away game...

Side note: Steve Clark is back stateside and has caught up with Bucks teammate Dave Hertel and Real Salt Lake in Ventura, CA, as they both try to earn roster spots with the Royals.

Lastly, just 8 days till La Guerra Fria! Get excited.

The Big Game

2009-02-02T14:53:00.003-05:00

WOW!!! What a great game last night!!! Along with many of you I was looking forward to the Superbowl all week and was hoping for a great game. While my dreams of the Lions being there didn't come true, (no surprise) I was at least hoping for a good close game. Since I really had no allegiance to either team I was not really sure who I would root for. I decided just before the game that I would probably cheer more for the Cardinals just because they are the under dog but as the game progressed I found myself feeling like a lifetime Cardinal fan.

Yes I can become one of those fans that gets up and starts yelling at the TV thinking that my voice can some how make a difference. While over all I thought the game was reffed fairly well I still was disappointed in the last play of the game when they called the incomplete pass a fumble.

On a lighter note I thought that the Super Bowl Commercials made a comeback this year and were hilarious. From the E-Trade Baby's to the Great Doritos adds it made for good entertainment. While the NFL Season is wrapping up after the pro-bowl this Sunday the real FOOTBALL will be starting sooner than we know. So make sure you check out the Michigan Bucks site for the upcoming season schedule and we look forward to seeing you all soon! www.buckssoccer.com

All Your Dreams Can Come True in Norway

2009-01-30T11:45:00.006-05:00

So I have a few more players I need to mention that happen to be in pro training camps this week.
In my last post I hinted at a certain goalkeeper being abroad. That would of course be the Rat Tail, the Stonewall, none other than Mr. Steve Clark, who is currently on trial in Norway with Nybergsund IL. Additionally, Real Salt Lake has filed a Discovery claim on Steve so if he comes back stateside, he could potentially join Bucks teammate Dave Hertel in RSL training camp.

A little closer to home, attacking midfielder Nate Jafta is currently in training camp with the Chicago Fire. We figured that the Fire PDL team is sick of having to face Nate during our season. The Bucks are after all 5-2-1 against Chicago the last three years and haven't lost to the Boys from Bridgeview since 2006... Who could blame them?

Finally, Lake Orion native Billy Weaver is set to trial with the Minnesota Thunder of the USL First Division in a couple weeks. The Bucks staff were able to hang out a bit with the Thunder front office while at the USL Annual General Meeting this past November and they couldn't have been a cooler bunch. Some might remember that Minnesota is the home to former Bucks defender Kevin Taylor who anchored the backline here from 2002-2005.

With the three players above, the Bucks now have 9 alumni trialing with professional teams this week or in the near future. We hope the best for all of them as they look to take the next step in their careers.

Now I guess I need to give a score for the Big Game, but to be honest I don't follow the NFL at all and Kyle will tell you I'm poor at picking results of any game. With that said, I like Cinderella stories, so I'll say:

Arizona 27, Pittsburgh 21.

Enjoy your weekend.

Why Can't Soccer Have "Friday Night Lights"

2009-01-29T13:42:00.007-05:00

So I recently started getting into this show called Friday Night Lights. I am sure it has nothing to do with Minka Kelly (see below) who is one of the lead roles, but more because it is a good show and of course it ties sports into it. Usually that is enough to draw me in.

The show is about a high school football team in Texas. As most of you are probably aware of, football is the lifeblood of most young men in Texas. We have seen movies that showcase the idea of nothing else exists except football in Texas. We all remember those Wes Canaan Coyotes and James VanderBeek as the heartthrob quarterback. And in all actuality Texas does love their football, they take the game very seriously have produces a lot of talented football players over the years. And the idea that the town would shut down on Friday night, so everyone could go to a football game. That's not so far from reality in Texas. So what am I getting at?

Well, the other night when I was watching the show, I just couldn't help but wonder if we would ever reach a time where soccer becomes the thing to do. Sure in other places, such as England, Spain, and Italy, everything does stop when its time to watch a game. But does anyone truly think that soccer could reach a level like Texas football. Just imagine the idea of a community rallying around a soccer team, and the soccer players on the high school team with the big signs in the front yard. Personally, I don't know if soccer could ever be the new "Friday Night" activity. Can't hurt to dream right.

Streak Meter
Well once again it is time for me to give my update on where I stand on my 27 consecutive correct picks to win a million dollars. Unfortunately I am sitting at 0 once again. I know, I know, I was at 0 the last time I wrote, and yes, I did make some picks in between there. However I have hit a bit of a rough patch.
Kyle's Streak - 0

Super Bowl
As we head into the weekend everyone is preparing for the big game. I will be watching the game with some friends and hoping that the score lands on my squares. So because of the game this weekend, for my clip of the day, I thought I would leave you with a commercial from last years game.
Click for commercial
Enjoy the weekend everyone.

Kyle Karns
President of Operations

DAVID BECKHAM DAVID BECKHAM DAVID BECKHAM

2009-01-28T14:35:00.007-05:00

Ok, now that I have gotten all of your attention.....let's chat shall we? Today I think I'll list a few topics on my mind and I'd like to know what you all think.

First off, all this David Beckham talk. Blah blah blah, who cares!!! I am sick of hearing about this guy. He seems to always be in the headlines -- which is cool if you like that sort of thing -- but never for the right reasons. It's always contract talks, changing clubs, and making appearances. Just once I want to hear about him going out and scoring two goals or making a great defensive play. I'll tell you right now; I'm a stud and I'm not making headlines. Maybe I should start making appearances around town and someone will give me a lot of money. I'll tell you what right now. I would have made a better show at the Australian Open than Novak Djokovic. I'm not saying I would have beaten Roddick, but I would have put on a better show.

Secondly, if any of you out there could tell me what it takes to finally get some good packing snow around here... I mean why is it that all I want to do is make a snowman with my girlfriend and Mother Nature has become one jealous lady? If anyone, and I mean anyone out there could clue me in on what it takes. Whether it is the weather conditions, the snow, or a miracle please let me know. The original plan was to build a 10 foot igloo but so far it has been a no go.

Lastly, if you didn't get Jeff's amazing Insider earlier, the 2009 Bucks schedule was released today at 12 noon. A very big deal for us around here. It looks like we had a good draw this year. The excitement in the office is at its peak thus far this year. Not that the Steve Clark appearance wasn't great. Looking forward we feel we have a great chance to do some very good things again in 2009.

I hope to see you all out there this year.

Brad Jakubiec

Alumni in Preseason

2009-01-27T16:43:00.008-05:00

As MLS training camps opened over the last week, we've realized there are a number of Bucks alums currently in camp with MLS teams.

The two all Bucks fanaticos should know about are Doug DeMartin and Mike Holody who were taken in the MLS SuperDraft almost two weeks ago by Kansas City and Colorado respectively. The Bucks have maybe the most rooted ties to these two MLS teams seeing as the Wizards have drafted more Bucks then any other MLS side with 6, one in each of the last 6 years. Currently DeMartin is in camp with former college and Bucks teammate Rauwshan McKenzie (2005-2006) as well as Aaron Hohlbein (2004). In addition, Bret Jacobs, currently the youth director with the Colorado Rapids was the assistant to Dan Fitzgerald from 2006-2007.

Lets check out the other Bucks in camp:

Dave Hertel is in Utah, training with Real Salt Lake, who filed an MLS Discovery claim on the defender. After having an excellent combine, Hertel was surprisingly not selected in the draft, but RSL Manager Jason Kreis was impressed enough to bring him out west to compete for a spot. Addtionally Ty Shipalane was invited to Columbus, after obviously having impressed the Crew coaching staff in the three matches the Bucks played with their sister team in 2006 and 2007.

Bucks 2007 backliner, Eric Brunner, who was drafted by the New York Red Bulls in 2008 after having a stellar senior season with Ohio State is back in camp this year after spending the last season with Miami FC of the USL First Division. You may remember Brunner was initially signed by Red Bull, but was asked to take a significant pay cut after the team acquired Andrew Boyens from Toronto FC just before the season began. Before joining the Blues, Brunner was able to play for the US U-23's at the Toulon Tournament in France, where he scored a goal, in preparation for the Olympic games.

Two-year Bucks veteran, Kyle Veris (2001, 2005) is back stateside after spending last season with IL Hodd of the Norwegian Second Division. Veris, another Bucks and Buckeyes defender, played for the LA Galaxy from 2006-2007 and is currently in camp with DC United.

Additionally a number of other Bucks are looking at possible trials with MLS and USL teams, including a certain outspoken goalkeeper who is not currently in the country... We may hear from him soon, so keep watching the 14 Point Blog. Also, watch tomorrow as the Michigan Bucks 2009 Regular Season Schedule will be released.

First Day!!

2009-01-26T11:18:00.011-05:00

It is always exciting getting started on the first day at a new job and today is no exception. For most of you who don’t know who I am, my name is Brad DeLange and I am the new Director of Business Development for the Michigan Bucks Organization. My past is one of many experiences, but for the most part I have been in real estate sales and marketing for the past 5 years. I specialized in new homes and land development. The last company that I was with was a great company based out of Houston,TX called LGI Development. While at LGI part of my duties were to market and sell 1-2 acre custom homesites on a 2,000 acre piece of property in Charlotte, North Carolina.

This was an incredible experience for me and while economically things didn’t work out, I feel that I was able to learn a great deal from this experience and hope to expand on my experiences here with the Bucks.

Outside of my business career soccer has always had a big part of my life. I have been playing soccer ever since I was 4 or 5 and have had some great experiences winning 3 State Championships in high school, traveling all over the country with my club team, and playing 2 years on the ODP team here in MI. Since high school I have been playing on men’s leagues and more have gotten more than one black eye (for those who have played on a men’s league you know what it’s like). J/K!!

While sports and business have been a lot of fun for me my real pride and joy is my family! I have been married to my beautiful wife, Kellie, for almost 8 years and we have two incredible children. Halle(7) and Parker(18mo.). Halle is in first grade and she loves to read and do cheerleading and gymnastics.

Parker is all about sports! Any type of ball is his favorite toy and he will sit down and watch football for hours. Both of them are great Kids and I love them very much!!!

Hopefully this gives you a brief look at me and my family; I am extremely excited about this opportunity here with the Bucks and can’t wait to meet all who are involved. Let’s make this one of the most successful seasons ever!!!

Brad DeLange
Director of Business Development

Bad news....... I think anyway.

2009-01-23T09:42:00.005-05:00

Well just like any other day I went out to the mailbox after getting home from work. Always looking forward to the next Sports Illustrated. However this time, after sifting through the mail, I found something that was a little unexpected. I was summoned for Jury Duty. Now I have never gone to jury duty before, I just hear all of the stories from other people who have the "luxury" of going.

So immediately I started thinking what an inconvenience this will be, and I started to think about how I will make arrangements. But then after 5 minutes or so, I thought to myself (someone who likes to try everything once) that this could actually be fun. Of course I also pictured myself on some sort of a national level murder case. I am pretty sure that wont be the case, my luck it will be something lackluster.

Not long after accepting the fact that I was going to be participating on jury duty, and actually being rather excited, someone informed me that I still have to call and see if "my group" was going to get called in. What a roller coaster of emotions. I was actually looking forward to seeing what it was like, and now there is still a chance I wont have to go. Oh well, I will tell you next weekend what the result is. if anyone has any fun jury duty experiences leave them in the comments, I would like to hear some stories, and prep myself for what might happen.

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I take part in the streak for cash on ESPN.com. I keep telling myself it is the fastest way to win a million dollars. Just pick 27 winners in a row and I win. Well my highest is at 4, and after another loss last night I am back to 0. Ouch. This time it wasn't even Jeff's fault.
Kyle's Streak Meter - 0

I usually like to leave a funny video with most of my blogs. However with all of the hype this past week about the Inauguration, I thought I would leave you with this. The link below is a fun website where you can actually photo shop a picture of yourself in the crowd of the inauguration. Kind of fun I suppose, if you really wanted to go. See now you can tell the kids some day you were there to witness history.
http://www.myinauguralphoto.com/

Have a good weekend everyone. Enjoy the heat wave, it is supposed to get up to 20 degrees.

Kyle Karns
President of Operations

A Little Treat for Thursday

2009-01-22T17:47:00.002-05:00

As I came into the office today I knew there was lots of work to be done. What I wasn't aware of was that we would be having a special guest.

I got to sit down with Bucks goalkeeper Steve Clark. Steve is quite a guy, he's done everything from soccer to skydiving. After being passed up in the recent MLS SuperDraft, the Bucks netminder was a little let down. Who wouldn't be? With his talent I am surprised that no team had given him a shot. However, Steve has been contacted by several clubs about a possible tryout and should do well -- especially after hearing about his training regiment.

I believe Mr. Clark has the impression he might be fighting Roy Jones Jr. instead of trying out to be a professional goalkeeper. The guy works so hard everyday and I think in a few weeks time we will no longer be seeing Steve in the Pontiac area. We wish "Stonewall" all the best and hope he does well in the coming weeks.

And if you were waiting for my prediction...

Superbowl XLIII Arizona 27, Pittsburgh 24

What is Beautiful?

2009-01-21T19:03:00.008-05:00

Hello Bucks fans, Jordan here.

I need to first congratulate Andrew who answered our trivia question yesterday correctly! Here's your shoutout. The correct answer was indeed Nate Jafta. We'll have harder trivia next week.

Without further adieu:

It's been quite a long time since my last rant on the education system. Luckily enough I have another one for you today. I was my "Art Appreciation" class today, which is my huge blow off class. I know it is a huge snoozer, but it's an easy 4 credit A. The professor is more than a little weird -- he got way too in to the sixties and nature. He was trying to sell the class on the idea that anything can be art as long as there was effort put into it. That is completely ridiculous. My personal feeling is that there is no universal art. Beauty and art are in the eye of the beholder. There are few things in this world that most of the world can agree are beautiful or art. So art and beauty are just mere physical shapes, with the title to those shapes being assigned by single individuals and not a massive audience. Basically what I'm saying is, art and high priced pieces of beauty are a ripoff and we shouldn't listen to what is "beautiful or art" because it's probably neither.

Take it easy Bucks fans.

Inauguration Day and TRIVIA!

2009-01-20T10:35:00.002-05:00

Well today we’ll have a new President. I’m excited. Along with being a soccer nerd, I am also a political junkie and while a bit ashamed, I get into all the pomp and circumstance that goes along with a change in government. While I’m not an expert when it comes to picking matches for Kyle (who thought Fulham would lose 3-1 on the weekend?), I do remember the day Barack Obama announced his candidacy, predicting that he would be the next President of the United States. It was almost two years ago, on February 7, 2007. I remember the date because it was also the day the US defeated Mexico 2-0 at the then new University of Phoenix Stadium, home of the Super Bowl bound Arizona Cardinals. Look at all those facts. My mind works in strange ways…

As is likely, some followers of the 14 Point may not have voted for Obama, but with the financial crisis being what it is nationally and especially in our area, I’d hope everyone can get behind our new President and hope for his success.

With that said, I thought I’d take a page out of the US National Team Blog’s book and try some trivia. Post your answers in the comment section!

We’ll start easy - What Bucks player was named to the PDL Best XI from 2006-2008?

The Gaffer

2009-01-19T10:15:00.011-05:00

Michigan Bucks Head Coach
Dan Fitzgerald is entering his fourth season leading the team in 2009. Since taking over, he has led the Bucks to their most successful three-year span in the Premier Development League. Along with two Great Lakes Division titles (2007-2008), he has led the Bucks to back-to-back PDL Championship matches (2006-2007, winning in 2006) and the 2008 PDL Regular Season Championship. The easy going manager is also 2nd on the Bucks All-Time wins list with 41, just 12 victories behind Steve Burns. Fish was nice enough to have a chat with the 14 Point this weekend:

How have you been keeping busy since July?
My full time job has kept me very busy and I have spent a lot of quality time with my family.

What does a Buck’s coach do during the in the offseason?
I watch a lot of college soccer games, talk to college coaches about their players and work at recruiting players for the summer, something I've done a lot of this year with all the seniors we had on our team in 2008.

You've coached the team through their most successful three year span in Bucks league history, but the last two seasons have ended in disappointment. Which was harder to take?
I like to think about the positives rather than the disappointments. In 2007 we lost the PDL championship on the road in PKs to a very good Laredo team. In 2008 we had the best regular season record in the PDL. I am very proud of the players and their accomplishments both years.

While the Bucks have qualified for the U.S. Open Cup every year you've been at the helm, the team has been knocked out in the 1st round the last two years. Is it a goal of yours to get the Bucks back to cup success in addition to league success in '09?
We hope to have continued success in the U.S. Open Cup in 2009. It is first of all a competition that is very difficult to qualify for. With the team's past success in the Open Cup no USL or MLS pro team is going to look past us. Yes, success in the Open Cup and in the league are very important to me and to the Bucks organization.

Other than the 2006 Championship win, what is your most memorable game as Bucks coach?
There have been a lot of them. I think the 2007 game on Memorial Day vs. Indiana Invaders in South Bend stands out. We needed to tie or win to qualify for the Open Cup and Indiana put out an excellent team that night. We found ourselves down 2-0 at the start of the second half. We showed unbelievable heart and character and scored 3 straight goals before conceding one. It ended 3-3 and we qualified. This game was played at a blistering pace and had excitement, intensity and 6 fantastic goals.

You're currently 2nd on the Bucks Coach's All Time Wins list, 12 behind Steve Burns. Do you keep that in the back of your mind going into the 2009 season?
I wasn’t aware of this and to be honest these type of records don’t mean anything to me. My 7 years as both an assistant and head coach with the Michigan Bucks have been a great experience. I am so fortunate to have had the opportunity to coach so much quality and be part of the best organization in the PDL.

For the first time maybe ever, all teams in the Bucks division will play a balanced schedule (playing everyone twice). Your thoughts?
The schedule could not be more fair than it is this year. I am excited for the season and can’t wait for it to start.

Thanks Fish!

Say Goodbye, and Good Luck!

2009-01-15T11:12:00.005-05:00

For most sports fans in the Metro-Detroit area, including myself, we hear and see constantly all of the different draft projections for our Detroit Lions. Who will they take? Will it be Matt Stafford from Georgia, or Andre Smith from Alabama? Or will they do what the Lions do best and draft "some guy" who will never pan out.

In the meantime, another draft is going on. A draft that falls much closer to the hearts of the soccer enthusiasts in the area. That would be the MLS Super Draft. Each year the Michigan Bucks progress players through the ranks and they move on to the MLS level. It is always difficult for myself and the rest of the staff to try and find players that can move in and take over. However players from all over the country realize the type of talent that plays here, and understand that this is the best place to play if they want that shot at MLS. I look forward to watching the Super Draft today(coverage on ESPN 2) to see how many of the Michigan Bucks players will get that chance to showcase their talents on MLS teams next season. It is always tough to say goodbye, but it is nice to say good luck as they depart on to their next venture.

On a more random note, I am a huge fantasy sports guy. I enjoy playing fantasy football the most, but I recently discovered this game on the front page of ESPN.com. It is called Streak for Cash. Basically the object is to pick 27 winners in a row, and you win a million bucks. Well it sounded simple, until I kept losing after 5 wins. They have all sorts of games that you can pick winners for, including soccer matches. So for some of my soccer picks I have enlisted the help of Bucks Soccer guru, Jeff Crandall. Now, I haven't kept track of the picks Jeff has given me, but more times then not, my streak goes back to zero after his selection. The game is easy to play, and I encourage all sports fans to give it a try. However if you win the million bucks, remember that I should get some sort of finders fee.

Another thing that I can't get over right now is the weather outside. I can't remember the last time it was this cold outside. We finally hit zero degrees today. In fact, in my college town of Big Rapids this morning, they reported a temperature of -22 degrees. I can't encourage everyone enough to stay inside if you don't have to go outside. And if you are going outside, just consider giving yourself some extra time on the roads. It took me over an hour to get to work this morning because of all of the black ice. I found this video on YouTube, I could swear that someone taped my drive in this morning.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pV7uKn6S4Y

Have a nice weekend everyone, and stay warm.
Kyle Karns
President of Operations

Brad's Turn

2009-01-14T12:48:00.003-05:00

Well folks it looks like we're in for a few days of blistering cold. Do you know why I love the cold? I love it because only then does my '96 Ford Exploder(not a typo) decide that it no longer wants to work anymore. This is the second year in a row now that my car, which seems to sense when the coldest few days of the year are going to be...makes the executive decision that it will no longer be working. The best part is I do not know jack, didley, or squat about making automotive repairs so I will be left hoping for the best.

You know once I found out yesterday I kind of felt like Clark W. Griswold from Christmas Vacation. Do you remember one of the last scenes where Clark receives his Christmas bonus and then throws around a few colorful words out of frustration because things were not going his way. Yay, that was pretty much me yesterday. Although I have to admit, I think I was more articualte and creative than Clark was. And PS - If any of you are one of those who have never seen Christmas Vacation, do yourself a favor and go buy it. Best money you ever spent.

Switching gears now to the wide world of soccer. The office has been quiet lately. Not a creature has been stirring yet this year. Everyone has been working hard and following through with thier commitment to team excellence. We are however very proud to acknowledge three Bucks as who were named First Team Academic All Americans.

Congratulations to Mike Holody, Doug DeMartin and Piotr Nowak!

These men have excelled on the field and in the classroom. . We are very proud to have them as part of our team and while moving forward hope they continue thier success in whatever they pursue.

Quick reminder: boys and girls soccer camps are coming up quickly. So if you've not yet signed up and are still interested please let us know. The dates are Februrary 16-20 and April 6-10 from 9 AM- 3 PM at Ultimate Soccer.

For more information go to Bucks Soccer Camps.

That's all for now. I hope everyone is enjoying the New Year and having fun.

B Jak's Picks of the Week
PHI 34 AZ 27
PIT 24 BAL 13
PHI AZ Coin Flip: Take Heads
PISTONS 95 PACERS 91

Contemplating US Soccer in 2009

2009-01-08T13:27:00.004-05:00

I must admit, I'm a die-hard US Men's National Team fan. The type of fan that used to sit in front of his computer watching a match tracker update me every 5 minutes during on a game that wasn't televised. Thankfully pretty much every USMNT match now is televised by ESPN or FSC or some Spanish channel, even the friendlies like the one coming up on January 24 against Sweden in LA. Neither team is really bringing a strong roster as the match isn't on a FIFA approved international date. With that said its the first match of the year and the only warm up before "La Guerra Fria" or "The Cold War", the US-Mexico World Cup Qualifying match to be played February 11 at Columbus Crew Stadium. I'll be attending that match, but ahead of that, I'm excited to see some of the new and young faces called into the National Team get a chance to impress Bob Bradley before he picks the roster for Mexico.

Notably on the roster for the Sweden game are 5 players from the Bucks MLS affiliate team, the Columbus Crew, 4 of whom were up here in May 2007 to play us in an exhibition (the Crew won 3-0). They are Eddie Gaven (who scored the first goal that night), Chad Marshall, Robbie Rogers and Will Hesmer. Crew midfielder Brian Carroll was also called up. Gaven, Marshall and Carroll all have a few appearances for the national team but for Robbie Rogers and Will Hesmer will look to gain their first cap against the Henrik Larsson led Sweden team.

A few weeks later the US will take on Mexico with all their top guns back. This is a very special match between the two best nations in CONCACAF and bitter rivals to boot. The US currently has a home undefeated streak against Mexico which dates back almost 10 years, with the last home loss coming on March 13, 1999 in San Diego, a 2-1 result. Since 1999, the US is 9-4-2 in all matches vs. Mexico. At home they are 8-1-2. While recent history bodes well, no game, even if it's a friendly makes me quite as nervous as when we play Mexico. I hate losing to Mexico...

So with that, I'm listing my Top 5 US-Mexico match memories:

#5- September 3, 2005; Columbus Crew Stadium; Columbus, OH; US 2, Mexico 0: Two 2nd half goals in the span of 5 minutes from Steve Ralston and DaMarcus Beasley were enough to clinch US qualification to the 2006 FIFA World Cup. This match is also memorable for Oguchi Onyewu's bossing of Jared Borgetti all over the park that night, leading to this very special stare down:#4 November 2, 1997; Azteca Stadium; Mexico City, Mexico; Mexico 0, US 0: Although not the most exhilarating of games this match is important for a few reasons. First, the US earned their first ever point in Azteca Stadium during World Cup Qualifying. Secondly, they did it a man down after Jeff Agoos was sent off in the 32nd minute for an elbow to the head of Pavel Pardo. That only adds to the allure of this match. The US would go on to qualify for the 1998 World Cup a week later with a 3-0 win over Canada in Vancouver.

#3 February 28, 2001; Crew Stadium; Columbus, OH; US 2, Mexico 0: La Guerra Fria original...When the US drew Mexico at home in February, the Federation knew they had to take advantage of the opportunity to make our neighbors to the south as uncomfortable as possible. Early on things didn't look so good as US captain Claudio Reyna and star striker Brian McBride both went off injured in the 1st half. The two players that subbed in for them Clint Mathis and Josh Wolff went on to connect for the first US goal in the 47th minute, with Wolff setting Earnie Stewart up for the second in the 87th minute.

#2 June 24, 2007; Soldier Field; Chicago, IL; US 2, Mexico 1; Trailing 1-0 at halftime in front of a pro-Mexican crowd in the Gold Cup Championship, the US rebounded first with a Landon Donovan penalty kick in the 62nd minute and then with the 2007 Goal of the Year, a Benny Feilhaber one-time volley from the top of the 18 into the opposite side netting. This was also special because it was the 2nd time the US had beaten the Hugo Sanchez led Mexican team in 2007.

#1 June 17, 2002; Jeonju World Cup Stadium; Jeonju, South Korea; US 2, Mexico 0; The only match that really matters in the grand scheme of things because it was played at the World Cup. The US took the lead early with Brian McBride linking up with Claudio Reyna and Josh Wolff after a quick restart down the right flank. Absorbing a lot of pressure and with great goalkeeping from Brad Friedel the US was able to keep Mexico off the scoreboard. In the 65th minute on a counterattack winger Eddie Lewis swung a cross to Landon Donovan who put the match away and put the US in the final 8 of the World Cup.

Of course this list could be different depending on the person, however I'll just say I'm not wrong.

Have a good one,

-Jeff

Happy New Year!

2009-01-05T10:52:00.011-05:00

What to Expect
I know it has been a little while since I have posted on here so please let me start by wishing all of you a Happy New Year and I hope you had a safe holiday season.

As we say goodbye to 2008, we could possibly be saying goodbye to the most amazing year in sports history. When you look back on some of the events that took place, starting with " The Catch" by David Tyree in the Super Bowl. Then we all remember (whether your a golf fan or not) Tiger Woods winning yet another Major, on a knee that had tendons that looked like shredded cheese. And of course, probably the most prolific event of 2008 were the Summer Olympics. One man, Michael Phelps changed the lives of many people, as they stayed awake into the wee-hours of the night or early morning to watch him break world records and make history. The viewing ratings sky rocketed compared to previous Olympics and gained a new generation of fans.

Of course we even had some highlights here locally. Once again Hockeytown erupted as Red Wing fans got to celebrate another Stanley Cup victory. Detroit also hosted the Women's National Soccer team against China down at Ford Field. The first national level event in Michigan since the World Cup in 1994.

However on the flip side, with the good comes the bad as well.
Thankfully as we say goodbye to 2008 we can say farewell to our 0-16 Detroit Lions. No more Matt Millen, or Rod Marinelli.

We can say adios to the last place Detroit Tigers. After spending oodles of cash on the big names in the offseason, only to fall below the Kansas City Royals and to the foes across the lake in Cleveland.

All in all, 2008 was a fun year in sports. Depending on who some of your favorite teams are, it may have been a better year for some. Personally I am looking forward to the new year, and what it might bring for the Michigan Bucks.

We are looking forward to annoucning our schedule soon, and we are working on filling out our roster as well. We have a lot of new things that we are going to introduce this year, and I can't wait to give you more details. So once again, goodbye 2008, and hello 2009.

Happy New Year everyone.

Kyle Karns
President of Operations

Catching Up With T

2008-12-22T11:40:00.010-05:00

Ty Shipalane has been a key player in the Michigan Bucks run to two consecutive North American Championships [in 2006 and 2007] and a PDL Regular Season Championship this year. T recently attended the USL Combine with a few of his Bucks teammates and gave us a quick wrapup, as well as insight into his life and what he's been doing since August.

You played your final year of collegiate soccer at Lindsey Wilson last fall (2007), so what have you been doing since the Bucks season ended in July?
First I went to train with the Cleveland Stars USL-2 team (now USL-1) for a couple of days right after our season ended. Basically I’ve been training on my own for the most part, developing my strength physically by lifting weights and running and staying in shape. Spending some time with my family and friends that I don’t get to see much very much during the summer league with me being in Michigan. As far as school goes, with soccer not taking anymore of my time out of the day I was able to concentrate more on my studies and education was the only major part that I had to balance. I graduated December 13 and then headed to Charleston for the USL Combine the next day.

How did the combine go? Did you see your Bucks teammates there?
The combine was very challenging, well organized and fun. I had the opportunity to play with my former Bucks teammates Jake Stacy, Steve Clark, and Ian Daniel. We won 2 games and lost one. Personally I had a slow start with the struggle of fitness and not having played competitive soccer in a while, but I did great. I feel I could have done better but I was glad with the interest that I drew out of the combine really.

What is the outlook for your future? Where do you hope to be on February 1, 2009?
Well I’m planning to become a professional football player. Really at this point in time it doesn’t matter where I begin my pro career but I would love to play in Europe and in South Africa sometime in the future. But right now in God’s willing hopefully I’ll sign with a pro team here in the United States whether is MLS, USL D1 or D2 then work my way up to become the best that I can be.

Favorites

Player - Robinho, because he has been a major influence on my playing style since I’ve entered my mature stage of football. He always play with passion, commitment, and more important joy and happiness.
League - Spanish La Liga. They play the most entertaining football in the world and the style of football I grew up playing.
Club - Real Madrid. They’re simply the best and most successful football club in the world.
Food - “Pap and Chicken” is a traditional South African dish. Pap is made out of Maize Meal Powder and well chicken is chicken.
Quote - "If at first you don’t succeed, its because of me.”
Bucks Game - Michigan Bucks vs Laredo Heat in the 2006 PDL Championship. Scoring the winning goal that helped the Bucks bring home the title to Michigan was special.
Bucks Goal - Michigan Bucks vs. Chicago Fire at the 2007 Canton Cup. I shot from 35 yards to the top corner in a 4-0 win.

This or That

Video Game (FIFA or Pro Evolution): Pro Evolution
Best in the World (Ronaldo, Kaka, or Messi): Messi
Best of All Time (Pele or Maradona): Maradona
Place to Live (South Africa, Kentucky, or Michigan): South Africa of course!

Thanks T!

Game Day

2008-12-17T10:35:00.002-05:00

No long post today, we'll do something tomorrow. Hope everyone's out tonight for the US-China game. Enjoy it!

Tomorrow we'll do a wrapup of whatever happens tonight downtown and also hear from a Bucks player who just finished the USL Combine...

Have a good day.

Almost Here

2008-12-15T06:05:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone is as ready for the US-China match on Wednesday as I am. For those of you that have been patrons at Ultimate Soccer Arenas in the last week, you surely will have seen me sitting at the entrance hawking tickets for the game. As much fun as spending 10 hours of your one of your weekend days sitting at a table can be, I'm ready for the fun part of all this.

With that said, the mood all weekend at USA was one of excitement and anticipation for the visit of the Chinese team to the facility for today's training session. It surely is the biggest event to occur at the facility since they opened their doors a little over a year ago. I can't imagine what the mood would be like if the US team also elected to train there. Either way it is a great honor and also really cool to be involved in an event like this one. For me personally this will rate up there with my trips to Craven Cottage and el Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, the home grounds for Fulham and Real Madrid respectively. Yes I have photos to prove it:

If you're sitting on the fence about attending Wednesday night's game, let me remind you this is the first US Soccer event in the metro area since the '94 World Cup. If you've read the press releases I've written, you'll already know that, but I feel the point still needs to be driven home - this is a BIG deal. The Bucks still have tickets left and we'd be happy to sell them to you this week, although with this article and this article in the Free Press yesterday their is very little time for fence sitting. I hate to sound like that infomercial guy who's always screaming, Billy something, but seriously, "WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?"

Hope to see everyone at training this morning, please remember that its FREE and open to the public and if you've read this blog, please chat me up and tell me how enjoyable it was.

See ya,

Jeff Crandall

DoC.

Two BIG weeks

2008-12-12T10:08:00.001-05:00

Welcome back Bucks fans.

Another big week coming up soccer fans as the US Women’s National Team faces China in a friendly game next Wednesday at Ford Field. Hope you all get there early and get snuggled up in your seats. As you do you can look for me, I’ll be the young lad pulling stretcher duty during the game in case any one of those ladies are lucky enough to “break a leg” and get to be carried off the field by yours truly. I’m thinking I’ll grab the back right corner of the gurney so the lucky lady can catch my good side. Ahhh, what a thought; down on Ford Field. I’ll make sure to give it my blessings next week before that other team's last home game of the year.

The Lions final home game will be played in two weekends against the New Orleans Saints. Over a month ago I said it would be their best chance to win this year and the Lions will put on a show. Christmas came early this year and I was lucky enough to receive a ticket to the game. I’ll be in section 107, roughly the 50 yd line so I’ll get a firsthand look at the boys in blue. In the end I think Detroit comes up with a big defensive play in the 3rd quarter...

Lions 31-Saints 24.

That’s all for now sports fans – Come back next week when I give you a firsthand account of events of what it is like to be a part of the grounds crew at the US Women’s game next week.

USA ALL THE WAY

USA vs China Tickets
Directions to Ford Field

Locks of the week:
NFL:
Colts 34 Lions 13
Raiders 16 Patriots 13
Steelers 27 Ravens 20

NBA:
Jazz 97 Pistons 93

Brad Jakubiec

What's The Point?

2008-12-10T14:21:00.001-05:00

Hello again Bucks fans, its Jordan the Marketing Director. My never ending journey through useless facts and equations that will never be used again is almost over. I've been on a stupid marathon of four exams, four speeches and three research papers in a 3 week period. After this evening I'll be completely finished for the semester, with only 4 semesters to go. Going through this relentless task has made me ask myself, "What's the point?" I asked a professor of mine "What's the point?" and his response was generic, "To show future employers you have discipline and to expose your mind to different theories." I've been a firm believer for many years that any class you take in college that doesn't deal with your major is a scam. If you never use the knowledge you gain from the class it's a waste of time.

A perfect example was History of the Middle East. After one week I realized first that I would never use any of this information and then asked myself, "Why do I care if a camel died 2000 years ago?" It doesn't make any sense to me. For all my fellow peers out their learning the facts that will never be used I salute you for your efforts, and the useless knowledge you gained.

I leave you with this poem:

If I Should Fail to
Learn this Junk,
I Pray the Lord
I Will Not Flunk.

Jordan Przybylo

Marketing Guru

The President Says.

2008-12-09T13:00:00.001-05:00

Well as many of you may know by now, and some of you may not, the U.S. Women's national team will be coming to Ford Field to play against China. The game is next Wednesday at 7:30 and the Bucks are currently selling tickets through our office for the match. This will be the first major soccer event in the state of Michigan since the World Cup back in 1994. I would encourage all soccer enthusiasts to attend this event. To order tickets call (248) 334-7460.

Familiar Face

For those of you who may have missed yesterdays blog, former Michigan Bucks goalkeeper Steve Clark stopped by to write a blog for everyone. It is always nice to hear from the former players and see how they are doing. I know with the seasons just ending, many of them are enjoying some relaxation for the very first time in awhile. Stay tuned for more players that will be writing soon.

Campers

Also I wanted to make a note, those of you with children that might be interested in our winter camps, those are now posted on our website. You can click on the camp page and click on the link to register right online. This years camp will be very exciting, as we are working in coordination with the Oakland University Mens Soccer Team featuring head coach Gary Parsons and Bucks legend Eric Pogue.

Video of the Day

Once again I wanted to make sure all of you enjoy my video of the day. I figure with the new year coming up, some people might be getting ready for a New Years Resolution. If yours is to start working out, and get in shape, make sure you don't use your excersise ball like this guy:

-Kyle Karns

The Rat Tail Speaketh.

2008-12-08T10:30:00.001-05:00

Steve Clark is one of the most renowned and recognized Michigan Bucks of all time. A three year veteran of the team, Clark backstopped the Bucks to the North American Championship in 2006, two consecutive PDL finals ('06-'07) and a PDL Regular Season Championship in 2008. In collegiate play he was recently named as the Summit League's Defensive MVP while backstopping Oakland to the League Regular Season Championship. With all this said, we're not positive but pretty sure he holds a number of Bucks Goalkeeping records so for now that premise works for this piece in which Steve (sporting a new hairstyle yet again) tells us all he wants for Christmas...

What a wonderful time of year the holiday season. My house is overflowing with cookies, poinsettias, Christmas decorations and most importantly, Christmas presents. For many impatient kids like me, Christmas is a time of anticipation, wondering and waiting to open presents. This holiday season my presents aren’t under the tree or in a stocking or even dropped off by Santa and his reindeer. The only thing on my Christmas list this year is, well, a professional soccer contract.

I am often asked these days questions that go something like:

*"How is the contract search going?”
*“ What team are you going to play for?”
*“Are you going to like, play for Manchester United?”

I often answer politely with the rehearsed script in which I try to summarize a very complex process in thirty seconds or more but it recently occurred to me that I feel like a kid waiting to open presents Christmas morning. I am overwhelmed with anticipation of what the next month or so will bring. I often catch myself daydreaming for long periods of time about countries or teams that I could play for much like a kid thinking of what kind of presents he will receive. Well, I have to admit that I do know one thing; I AM NOT GOING TO PLAY FOR MANCHESTER UNITED.

As the days count down to the MLS combine in January and the USL combine in a week, I have found myself more and more anxious about the ambiguous nature of my future. The one really fun part is that I am not alone in my anticipation; I am sharing it with many of my former Bucks teammates. Over the years while playing for the Bucks we have all become friends and as friends often talk about the future; us soccer guys are no different. The form of communication varies form phone calls to Facebook messages but we all are sharing the common goal, the common dream of becoming professional soccer players. I could not be happier pursuing a professional soccer career and having my buddies right along with me.

If you really think about it, what could make Christmas better? Having your friends right next to you opening presents.

Go Bucks!

Steve Clark # 25

Tough Week in Sports

2008-12-05T15:28:00.001-05:00

This week was certainly an interesting one in sports. For starters we had a former Spartan and current New York Giant shoot himself in the thigh ending his season. Then we found out another Spartan, and former Detroit Lion Charles Rogers violated his probation putting him back in court and off the field. We also had Sean Avery, current NHL bad boy berate fellow NHLer's and ex-girlfriend Elisha Cuthbert of "The Girl Next Door" and "24" fame. Finally as I write this I am watching former NFL great O.J. Simpson get sentenced to 18 years for armed theft and kidnapping charges.

Whatever happened to the days where kids could grow up and watch SportsCenter and hear the good stories about athletes? Unfortunately when you tune into SportsCenter now, it seems that you hear more about who was arrested, suspended, or using illegal drugs. When I was much younger I grew up watching sports, just like many of you I am sure. But when I turned on the highlights, I would see true role models like Dan Marino, Jim Kelly, Barry Sanders, and Steve Yzerman. Don't get me wrong, I know there are still some great athletes out there that devote a lot of their time to helping causes, but its just sad you don't hear more about it.

Fantasy Weekend

Not sure how many of you are fantasy football fans like myself. Each year I join several different leagues, and I follow it every Sunday. This weekend most leagues begin playoffs. So I just wanted to wish everyone good luck unless of course you are the person playing me.

Just Weird

A guy has acquired (not sure how) the underwear of Alex Rodriguez, and Josh Beckett and is currently auctioning them off on E-bay starting at $9.99.

Sports Video of the Day
I figure since it was Friday and for some, it may have been a long week, I would treat you to something new. The sports video of the day. Hope you get a good "Kick" out of this one.

Enjoy your weekend,

KK

Another New Face.

2008-12-04T16:10:00.001-05:00

Buck fans, supporters, and soccer freaks…..thank you for joining me on the 14 Point Blog. This is a place in internet space where you can come and enjoy firsthand insight into our organization from individuals behind the scenes. My name is Brad Jakubiec and I am the newly appointed Soccer Business Development Manager here with the Michigan Bucks.

As a former student of Central Michigan University with a degree in sports and business I was looking for an opportunity in the wide world of sports to learn the industry and hone my skills. When I heard of the opportunity to apply for the Bucks I jumped at it. Of course it took a lot of hard work to impress Kyle Karns, a man who has a vested interest in the Bucks as a former intern and current Team President, but he’s a sensible man who saw potential in me and brought me in to join this team.

Eastside Brad pictured left.

To tell you the truth the Bucks were not my first job choice. When I learned several weeks ago that a sports team president was needed, with no previous experience, with minimal hours and maximum pay I thought this was a job I could do. I thought to myself, “I know nothing about being a team president,” but neither did another recent Detroit team president. I will not mention any names but his last name rhymes with “chillen.” Anyway, myself being the highly coveted prospect out of CMU, had been trying to contact the Lions but surprisingly, unlike the Lions other 11 opponents, I had no success.

Now, unlike our marketing director, Jordan Przybylo, I am not an adrenaline freak. All though I enjoy being physically active and adventurous I prefer to keep my feet firmly planted on the ground and my body out of harm’s way. All though I enjoy Jordan’s attitude on life and thrill seeking style I do not share in those thrills. Call me the crazy one but I do not enjoy being thousands of feet in the air nor do I actively seek being punched in the face or letting my life teeter on the edge. I have been to the Grand Canyon and I was perfectly content looking down from afar. I was the guy enjoying the view, not from the edge like Jordan, and not next to the railing, I was perfectly content about 5 giant steps away from the railing.

As for the Bucks, it has been what seems to be a fairly busy first offseason. So far we’ve began the challenge of rebuilding last year’s team who had much success with quite a few good players. We are all excited around here about the upcoming season and are working hard and striving to continually distinguishing ourselves as one of the game’s elite teams. Get ready soccer fans for another exciting Michigan Bucks season.

Only 202 days left to the start of the Michigan Bucks 2009 Season. Get Ready To Get Buck Wild!!!

Sports Weekend Predictions: Lions 13 Vikings 45
Brad’s Weekend Outlook: Finding someone who will bet the Lions

A Day Late...

2008-12-03T10:45:00.001-05:00

On Monday two NAIA schools with Bucks ties played in the Championship tournament in Fresno and both schools lost.

In the first match of the day #15 seeded Madonna University, coached by Bucks Hall of Famer Tino Scicluna, fell 2-1 to #2 Rio Grande University (OH). Trailing 2-0, the Crusaders were able to pull a goal back in the 74th minute but couldn't find the equalizer to send it to overtime. Madonna finished the season with a 17-3-0 record.

Later in the day #3 Lindsey Wilson, led by Bucks midfielder Nate Jafta were upset by #14 Mount Vernon Nazarene (OH) 1-0. Despite Lindsey's 29 shots, Mt Vernon were able to hang on to the lead causing the biggest upset in the NAIA tournament thus far. Lindsey finishes the season at 18-2-1.

Earlier in the week...

Bucks and Michigan State senior forward Doug DeMartin was named one of 15 semi-finalists for the Missouri Athletic Club's Hermann Trophy (The Heisman of college soccer). DeMartin ranked nationally this year in a number of categories: fifth in points per game (1.95), fourth in goals per game (0.89), third in the nation in goals (17) and points (37). Additionally he was named Big Ten Player of the Year and led the Spartans to the Big Ten Regular Season and Tournament Championship.

According to the NSCAA website:
"Division I college head coaches who are current members of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) will vote to determine the 2008 MAC Hermann Trophy recipient. Three finalists for the award [from the field of 15] will be announced on Friday, Dec. 12. They will be invited to the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis for a news conference on Friday, Jan. 9, 2009, where the winner will be announced. A dinner and formal presentation of the award will follow the news conference that evening."

Good Luck Doug!

-JC

A New Face

2008-12-02T10:47:00.001-05:00

Hey, Bucks fans. To all those who don't know me I'm the new Marketing Director for the Bucks organization. My name is Jordan and I'm a student at Walsh College aspiring to be a marketing major (some day).

A little about myself, I'm an adrenaline freak. I'll do anything that takes my physical ability to the next level. Skydiving, hand to hand combat sports, barefootskiing -- done all those things and loved it. Each of those activities pushed me to the edge where I didn't know if I was going to survive, and I loved that feeling. I'm only content when I'm on the edge. My goals and ambitions are to take my energy and zest for life into the Bucks organization.

I'm all about having more than a good time, I'm about having an experience. A Bucks soccer game isn't going to be an event it'll be an experience for all those who attend. I have a lot of great plans and ideas for games this season. I'll be sharing them with you at a later date.

European Vacation

A little more insight about myself. I just got back form a little European vacation; I was in Hungary visiting my girlfriend's family. It's a very odd thing travel to Eastern Europe. Everything (except for the women) is very,very tiny. I had a go-cart as a child, which was a little bigger, and more powerful than the car we rented. The roads were a little bit wider than a king size bed.

Jordan met many interesting people at the public steam bath

Meeting the Hungarian people was interesting. I went through a little bit of culture shock there when her guy friends tried to kiss me on both cheeks when they said "Hello". To say the least it was a little weird, a little too weird for my liking. However, Hungary was a very beautiful country; all the villages look like towns from an old Christmas movie. The people seemed nice, even though I didn't have a clue about what they were saying. Over all visiting Hungary was an experience of a lifetime, I'd highly recommend to any person to travel to another country and experience a different style of life.

That's all for now, I'll be posting more later.

Jordan Przybylo
Marketing Director

The Next Day...

2008-11-30T16:37:00.000-05:00

Let me preface this post by saying I am a graduate of the University of Michigan...at Dearborn, so although I don't feel the pain quite as bad when a team from Ann Arbor loses, I'm still not happy. Of course as the Bucks "PR Guy" I'm sad whenever a school one of our guys plays for loses. Its amplified though with Michigan because not only do we have 6 current or former Bucks players on the Wolverine roster this year but also two Bucks Hall of Famers, Steve Burns and Paul Snape coach the Maize and Blue.

Steve Burns (middle) and Paul Snape (right) watch the Wolverines in their 2-1 win over UC-Davis on Tuesday

For those unfamiliar, Steve Burns was the Mid-Michigan Bucks first coach from 1996-1999 while also serving as the UM Men's Club Soccer coach. When the UM program took on varsity status in 2000, Burns was elevated to lead the Wolverines fulltime and left the Bucks in the process. Burns was inducted into the Bucks Hall of Fame last July when we played back in Saginaw against Indiana, a game we won 5-1. He's the Bucks all-time winninest coach, going 53-25-2 in his four seasons at the helm.

Paul Snape was one of two Bucks to be original inductees into the Hall of Fame in 2006 along with Tino Scicluna (more about him later). He played for the Bucks from 1997-2003 and holds numerous records. In the US Open Cup he has scored more goals (5) and played more minutes (971) all-time than any Bucks player in history. In 2005 he coached the side to the PDL Quarterfinals.

Of course I got all this great information from the new Bucks History section located on our website. (shameless plug for all the work I did). Let me know if their is something you'd like to see that isn't already there.

Crows coming to roost...

With all that said, I need to eat crow as I predicted a 2-1 Michigan win last night and they ended up bowing out 3-0. Watching the match online, I thought it wasn't as one-sided as the score says and thought the Wolverines dominated the first quarter of the match. After IU scored 34 minutes in Michigan had a hard time breaking through on goal and got caught offsides a number of times. With the Wolverines pushing for an equalizer, Indiana caught them out to take a more comfortable 2-0 lead and with the game all but over added a third late.

Indiana was the better team and seem to be playing their best soccer of the season at exactly the right time. They'll visit St. Johns (NY) on December 6 for a right to go to the College Cup in Frisco, TX. Remember the Bucks are represented on the Indiana roster by Lake Orion native Billy Weaver, so thats a plus.

As has become common practice, I would like to congratulate the UM/Bucks seniors on great college careers, those players would be Mike Holody, Alex Morisset, Jake Stacy, Santos Perez and Steve Bonnell. Only Mauro Fuzetti has a year of eligibility left. Best of luck to all of you.

Others still alive...

Also of note, Bucks midfielder Luke Norman came on as a sub today and scored a goal in #1 seeded Wake Forest's 7-0 thrashing of Dartmouth. With the win the Demon Deacons will host South Florida on a date TBD in the NCAA Elite 8...

Lets also not forget midfielder Nate Jafta of Lindsey Wilson who will take on Mt. Vernon Nazarene tomorrow afternoon at 4:30 pm in the NAIA National Tournament in Fresno, CA. Also at that tournament is the aforementioned Tino Scicluna, now the head coach of Madonna University in Livonia. Scicluna's team will face Rio Grande College (OH) earlier in the day at 11:30 AM.

And finally...

If you're getting sick of hearing from myself and Kyle, have no worries, we'll have better blog posts from more interesting people later in the week. Tell your friends.

Hope everyone had a good holiday and avoids a case of the Monday's tomorrow.

-Jeff Crandall
DoC

Michigan at Indiana

2008-11-29T10:31:00.000-05:00

Remember that tonight Michigan, featuring this year's Bucks Mike Holody, Mauro Fuzetti, Alex Morisset, Jake Stacy as well as Bucks of the past, Steve Bonnell and Santos Perez will take on Indiana in Bloomington at 7PM. Indiana also features Bucks striker Billy Weaver who hasn't featured lately because of injury. Fans that can't make the treck (myself) can watch for FREE and LIVE online by clicking here. It was 15 days ago that the Hoosiers won a knockdown dragout war against the Wolverines 1-0 at the Big Ten Tournament in Madison.

Did you know...

*The two teams have nearly identical records: Michigan (13-5-3), Indiana (13-6-3).
*Billy Weaver isn't the only Michigander playing for the Hoosiers. Junior midfielder Eric Alexander is from Portage.

*Tonight's game will be the rubber match in the season series. Michigan won their first ever game against Indiana duriung the regular season, 1-0 on October 4 in Bloomington. Indiana beat the Wolverines 1-0 in the Big Ten Tournament November 14. Indiana has dominated Michigan since the Wolverines first season in 2000, with a 10-1-0 record.
*Indiana's top goal scorers Will Bruin and Andy Aldard have 6 goals a piece this season. In contrast Michigan's top 3 have more Peri Marosevic (13), Mauro Fuzetti (9) and Jake Stacy (8).
*Indiana keeper Chay Cain has played every minute of every game for the Hoosiers this season, posting a 0.94 goals against average and 9 shutouts along the way.
*Michigan and Chicago Fire PDL keeper Patrick Sperry has been impressive as well posting a 1.04 goals against average and 6 shutouts.

Michigan players celebrate Jake Stacy's goal from Mauro Fuzetti on Tuesday

I attended the game on Tuesday against UC-Davis in the cold and snow and can say Michigan played well. Indiana is tough and while history isn't on the Wolverine's side in this one, I still think Steve Burns' side can pull it out and make it back to the Elite 8 for just the second time in the program's history. My prediction 2-1 Michigan. Go Blue!

Have a good Saturday,

-Jeff Crandall
Director of Communication

Almost That Time

2008-11-26T12:04:00.001-05:00

Giving Thanks
Hey gang, back again. Right off the bat, I want to wish everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving and a safe holiday. Like most, I get together with my family and enjoy the largest meal I will probably have all year. By the time I leave, I feel like I have to go down a notch on my belt. However, in addition to all of the wonderful food, I usually make sure I watch some football. Unfortunately our hometown Lions are not having a great year, but nonetheless, I will still watch the game. No matter what your traditions are, or where you will be spending the holiday, make sure you enjoy the food, and cherish the time with your family.

Bittersweet
Yesterday was the second round of the NCAA Men’s Soccer Tournament and a good chunk of Michigan Bucks players took to the field. The Michigan State Spartans, Big 10 Tournament and Regular Season Champions, hosted the University of Illinois-Chicago, and played tough till the very end. Both teams had opportunities but neither could get a goal in regulation or in the extra frames. After trading penalty kicks, the Spartans came up short, falling 3-2, ending an amazing season and an astonishing career for Head Coach Joe Baum.

Miles away the Michigan Wolverines took the field and came out victorious against UC-Davis. The Wolverines won 2-1 with Bucks players contributing to both of the UM goals. Once again I am happy to see our boys having success well after the Bucks season has concluded. The Wolverines will play Indiana for the third time this season on Saturday. Michigan won the regular season match 1-0, but fell to the Hoosiers twelve days ago in the Big 10 semifinals. Saturday in Bloomington will be the rubber match.

Random Thoughts
When is the right time to start putting up your Christmas lights? Driving through my neighborhood last night, I noticed that one of the houses has turned on their lights and has a tree in their living room window. Is there a correct time, or an unwritten date that all lights and decorations are allowed to be displayed?

What will be the hot item this holiday season? With the notorious day after Thanksgiving shopping day quickly approaching, what is the item on everyone’s list? Of course there are all of the wonderful deals on televisions, DVDs and CDs, but unless you’re awake and shopping by 5am, you’re not going to get those deals. I went through that mess one time, and I learned my lesson. That was the craziest shopping experience I have ever been a part of. I have never been afraid of so many women and their shopping carts. So if you are going out, keep your head on a swivel, and your eyes open, because there is no mercy out there.

Happy Thanksgiving,

Kyle Karns
President of Operations

November Madness

2008-11-25T08:30:00.000-05:00

While the professional outdoor seasons have come to an end this year in the US, the college game has just started tournament season. On Saturday Bucks owner Dan Duggan, GM Kyle Karns, along with myself and our friends from Cleveland and Chicago crowded around a laptop at the Hyatt in Tampa to watch our boys from Oakland take on Ohio State in the NCAA tournament in Rochester. Five former or current Bucks helped OU dominate the Buckeyes but the Grizzlies couldn't put one in the back of the net and ended up falling to the team from Ohio on penalties. At least they faired better than Michigan did in football (the games were played at the same time). I'd like to congratulate coaches Gary Parsons and Eric Pogue on another great Grizzlies season as well as OU and Bucks seniors Steve Clark, Ian Daniel and Piotr Nowak on great collegiate careers!

That same day longtime Bucks midfielder Nate Jafta helped Lindsey Wilson to a 6-0 victory over King College (TN) and into the 2nd round of the NAIA tournament. They will next take on Mount Vernon Nazareth in the 2nd round on December 1.

That brings me to...

Today in the cold and snow of our great state, the Spartans and Wolverines will open up NCAA tournament play at home. #4 seeded Michigan State, led by Big Ten Player of the Year Doug DeMartin will host UIC this afternoon at 1PM. The winner will take on the winner of North Carolina-Jacksonville. An hour after the Spartans kick off, Michigan will host UC-Davis in Ann Arbor. If the Wolverines win, we could see a rematch of the Big Ten semifinal if Indiana also beats St. Louis today. Michigan fell to the Hoosiers 1-0 in a scrappy match played in Madison, WI about 10 days ago.

And the pitch...

Although its freezing and snowing (again) as I look outside my window, I assure you their is nothing better than tournament soccer. If you can take the afternoon off or have already taken an early vacation, get out to one of these matches and support your Bucks! Their are a ton of senior Bucks players on both squads and many will soon be moving on to bigger things.

If anyone is going to Ann Arbor this afternoon, come say hi.

Until next time,

Jeff Crandall
Director of Communications

Start of Something New

2008-11-24T09:57:00.000-05:00

Welcome Bucks fans, to the first of the Michigan Bucks blogs. Beginning this week, a Bucks staff member or player will blog right here on our website each day. This is a great way for us to stay connected with our fans, as well as giving you the fan a great opportunity to know what is going on inside the organization with insight from our staff members. We encourage your feedback, and look forward to hearing from you.

Congrats are in Order
First things first, I would like to congratulate our Major League Soccer affiliate, the Columbus Crew. Yesterday afternoon the Crew capped off their amazing season with their first MLS Championship, beating the NY Red Bulls 3-1 at the Home Depot Center in Los Angeles. We are very proud to be partnered with a first class organization like the Crew, and I couldn’t be happier for not only the players but also the staff that put in the long hours to make the season a success.

In regards to the players, I was very happy to see that former Michigan Bucks player Pat Noonan returned to MLS and was able to contribute to the Crew down the stretch. Certainly it is an honor to watch former players move on and continue their success at the next level. I would also like to send out special congratulations to Frankie Hedjuk. Frankie is an ambassador to MLS and a role model to many youth soccer players. It was very nice to see Frankie have a great game in his first MLS Cup appearance.

USL Annual General Meeting
This past weekend members of the Bucks staff and I attended the United Soccer Leagues Annual General Meetings in Tampa, FL. The meetings are designed to bring the teams from all levels of the USL together to discuss league topics and prepare for the upcoming year. Each year I personally look forward to going to these meetings to discover new ideas that have been successful with other teams. So many different promotions and great ideas are floated around, and it always gets me excited for the upcoming season.

Also during the AGM each team representatives attend the USL Hall of Fame dinner. This year I was fortunate enough to witness both Amos Magee of the Minnesota Thunder and current Houston Dynamo goalkeeper Pat Onstad (formerly of the Rochester Rhinos) inducted in the USL Hall of Fame, an honor well deserved for both players. In addition to inducting in new members, awards from the 2008 season are given out. Of course all members of the Bucks staff were excited when our name was called to accept the 2008 Regular Season Champions trophy. This was a pleasant reminder of our recent success, but of course left us itching for more in 2009.
Be sure to check the website each day for a new blog posting. Until next time, enjoy the start to a short week.

Kyle Karns
President of Operations