The El Paso Patriots open their 2003 campaign this Friday at the Sun Bowl against the team that bounced them from the 2002 playoffs, the Minnesota Thunder. Two days later, the play again same place, just different time.

The Patriots.............oh, whats that? You didn't know the Pat's where starting the season tomorrow?

Really?

How is that possible? Haven't you read all those stories in the El Paso Times focusing on the 2003 team and season? Oh wait.......

Well surely you have seen all those advertisements in the Times right? Oh wait......

Well the El Paso Times is a sh!tty newspaper anyways. (It really is) You definetly have seen all those advertisemnts around town right on TV and billboards? Oh wait......

Wait a minute, dont you go to UTEP? You don't? So then you definetly have not seen the game announced on the electric bill boards at the University ticket Center or the main one visible from I-10. I thought everyone had seen those. What? Yeah your right, not every El Pasoan drives by UTEP everyday.

Don't worry, I am sure some of the TV stations will have at least have something to say on the game. Oh wait.....

What's that? Yeah I did too. I really thought that since the Pat's had the somewhat decent UTEP special events office behind them, more advertising would be made for this upcoming season.

Well surely you must of definetly seen the countdown clock on the Pat's website. Oh what's that? ..........Yes the Pat's have a website. It finally works too. The only thing is that most of the news on there was originally written in spanish but translated into English using an online translator. Other than that, it is a decent site.....what Oh thats true I never thought about that. Yes it is funny that an organization who is priding itself as being El Paso has their website hosted by a company in Juarez.

I can go on and on...... :rolleyes:

Ladies and gentlemen, the 2003 El Paso Patriots. According to the Pat's website, the team is coming into the season opener with a 2-0 preseason record (they played a college team and some amateur team I believe) For the millionth time, the Pat's will begin the season with a new coach.

Here are press releases from the Minnesota Thunder and the Patriots

chuwy,

man you are absolutely right. Here I thought some of it had to do with me being in Las Cruces and that was why I hadn't heard anything about the season...

Come on guys, help us support your team already.

oh well...good luck to the Pats tomorrow and Sunday.

Gameday
Minnesota Thunder vs. El Paso Patriots
2003 season opener

Press Coverage
a-league.com: Patriots readying for season
Better late than never.

EP Times: Patriots begin 13th year in new venue
Darren Hunt is the only good writer thay have.

Twincities.com: Thunder ponder if they\'re ready for MLS
Not related to the game, but interesting nonetheless.

And finally,

Joe Muench:
Just a few of the things I\'ll do when I\'m elected mayor

Doesnt relate to the game at all, but I found his comment funny. Sadly, such a thing would be more successful than the Pat's.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by chuwy9:
[QB] Ladies and gentlemen, the 2003 El Paso Patriots.

Man, you can't say this year's Pats don't have the distinctly local flavor. Only three players on the entire roster (Dos Santos, Pierce and Millan) are not from within 35 miles of El Paso.

Interestingly, it could be argued that those three players are the best players talent-wise on the team.

Wonder how well that bodes for the boys this year. Hope the local talent is outstanding, or it could be a long year.

For what it is worth, Minnesota is doing essentially the same thing. About 3/4 of their roster is from Minnesota. I don't necessarily think that is such a bad thing in the A-League. The Canadian teams did the same thing last year, and although Calgary was horrible the others were very competitive.

Jeff

Yes, most a-league teams do have a degree of local talent, but the Pat's take it even further. The teams tries to have their players from the El Paso/Las Cruces/Juarez areas only. In the case of Minnesota, they seem to have players from throughout the state of Minnesota, not just one particular place. If the Pat's went with Texas talent only, we would have way better quality players and teams.

If you've seen the posts lately about new signings of Canadian teams you've noticed that most of them (virtually all of the last ones) are Canadians.

Let's see...all of Canada.

Let's see...all of Minn.

Let's see, 40 square miles of the largest state in the Union...makes sense to me.

Hello, Jeff Georges

Just to pick a nit here, the Thunder this year have only 10 Minnesotans out of 22 players on the roster, which works out to be slightly under 50%. Reference:

www.mnthunder.com/news/default.asp?id=813

I do think, as you seemed to imply, that a hefty local representation is good for the teams in the league. It helps to form a bond with the community and helps the management to portray a commitment to the community.

Willing to play for any team operating within a two block radius of me, I remain

That little old jersey collector

Me

define "local".

Then, define "shooting yourself in the foot".

Speaking of local "talent", a few years back both Manny Lagos and Tony Sannah were in the Thunder starting 11. They also played on the same local high school team together.

Ah, the good old days. Wish I was there tonight.

Donovan