I agree that friday night was a pathetic display from sportport. The main field isn't all that great to start with and its true that the manager of the facility never came out to check out the condition on the field. I belive that they were just trying to make a quick buck off the game, even though they already charge for parking, game admission and concessions. The strikers management had to fight just to be able to get the game in because sportport didn't want them to play on any of the lighted field because supposedly they had just been plugged although there appeared to be no sign of that. Finally they did let them play on one of the worst fields at the complex, which is really saying a lot, because most of you outside of the st louis area cannot imagine how bad these fields are. from what i hear, the strikers don't want to ever set foot in sportport again, even for practice. The game itself is difficult to gain any perspective for the quality of either team with all the players slipping around, and some of the worst officiating i've seen for a long time, and it was bad for both squads, there were many many missed calls, or random fouls called for no apparent reason. As for the michigan game, the strikers arrived about 20 min before the start of the game because of an error in travel plans. only 12 players traveled with 4-5 of them playing hurt and tired from the double overtime game less then 24 hours earlier. the game was a story of the strikers trying to play defense and maybe getting a counter attack. it was one of the grittiest performances i've ever seen from a team and they did score two very nice goals against the run of play. schreck had a spectacular game in the goal, the statkeeper game him credit for 8 saves, but it was more like 16-20, i mean they have the bucks down for 17 shots, and trust me they didn't miss the target more then once or twice. most of the shots they had were inside the penalty box and most were one on ones with the keeper but he just managed to get a hand or foot on anything they fired at him, absolutely amazing. he probably is one of the most under-rated players in the league because he doesn't have the great stats that others have, although that is no fault of his own, the strikers have just had major injury and club soccer problems that have decimated the team. i believe that this win could set st louis off on a tear through the rest of their schedule, as long as they get some players back.

St. Louis has been a big disappointment in my eyes. They showed up in Des Moines with 11 players and nobody in the technical area. I would think an area such as St. Louis could pull some very good club players and college players. I don't think the league will allow them to continue past this year unless they correct some serious issues.

It's unfortunate that they were forced to play a PDL game on a crappy field. Sounds like they need to resolve their issues with Sportport or find another venue.

Knowing the league, as long as St. Louis pays the USL their fair share, they will let them play. Plus the team gets fined if they don't have 14 players for the road games (and home games) plus the pay fines for not having a locker rooms (unless they get a waiver from the league office) and other things. They pay, they play.

Josh Schrek was one of the keepers for the Brass last year.

I think (hope actually) that St. Louis can make it through this first year, make some changes, and do better next year, it does not sound like they have any problems in people wanting to play and they seem to play with alot of heart. They are located so that the Tennessee teams can travel up to play them and then the Brass is a close 200 miles away to make a good road trip with minimal travel between games. The TN teams are the only ones in the MidSouth that are playing anybody out of their own division, giving them tougher schedules, which hurts the W/L column, but it does help to develop the players and give them experience, which should be the main goal anyway.

Back to the point, I don't know of anybody that is 'down on St. Louis' for what is happening this year.

Originally posted by Quista 14:
St. Louis has been a big disappointment in my eyes. They showed up in Des Moines with 11 players and nobody in the technical area. I would think an area such as St. Louis could pull some very good club players and college players. I don't think the league will allow them to continue past this year unless they correct some serious issues.

It's unfortunate that they were forced to play a PDL game on a crappy field. Sounds like they need to resolve their issues with Sportport or find another venue.

like latenightcreeper said, they have had MAJOR eligibility problems, among other things, and coaches with other coaching responsibilities-- the des moines game no doubt made them look bad (2 of the 11 were keepers, by the way), but it doesn't reflect the desire of those involved with the team. i just hope they can make enough money (i'm assuming they have to stay solvent to stay in the league-- true or not?) to come back next year and continue to build a fan base and a solid team.

latenightcreeper, thanks for the info on the game. great for schreck that he had such a fantastic game-- he's given up some soft goals lately, and i'm sure that helped his confidence a ton, as well as that of the players in front of him.

I really hope that St. Louis can establish a good franchise. Looks like they picked up a big victory last night against Mid Michigan.

Is St. Louis going to pick up some more players as their eligibility problems are solved?

guys have been making their debuts slowly-- i think 4 players (all 4 were originally slated to start) played their first games last week. also, as u-23 cup games are played (there's one club whose player played cup last weekend instead of strikers games), players will become available again. things really are looking up, and the team is playing with more confidence-- they could surprise some teams they lost to the first time around.

I travelled with CFR to St. Louis last week, I had heard good things about Sports Port, let's just say the field wasn't much better than the St. Laurence field we played on in Chicago. It sounds like the big difference is the School rent is extremely reasonable, they look at it as an opportunity to showcase themselves and it's a great fundraiser for the father's club concession stand; on the other hand Sportsport sounds like they charge a healthy fee.

The team on the field is going to be fine, beating the Bucks 2-1 is a nice feather in the cap. Those guys in Detroit take their soccer very seriously, beating them while on the road is a very positive thing (we did it early last year and it was a big boost). Everyone in the Heartland takes this team very seriously on the field.

The first year in PDL is tough. From what I've seen St. Louis has done better than most teams in their first couple of weeks.

It's still early and a lot of games on the schedule.

One observation, no gate control at the venue, I know that there were a lot of people in the stands i know didn't buy tickets. Sports Port doesn't look like it was laid out with collecting tickets in mind.

I heard the Sports Port does not charge the Strikers to play, the get parking, gate and concessions. You cannot beat that for a deal, except in the case that happened the other night. St. Louis is saving a fortune with that setup.

I heard (or read) that Nashville refused to play on the first field offered, one that was unlighted, and settled for the mud-bowl they were given. I wonder what the conditions have to be like for a team to refuse to play? I know the Express refused to play the last game of the road trip last year, they were awarded a forfeit from Houston and I believe Houston had to pay a fine for Memphis travelling and then not getting to play a game. But I don't know under what conditions this can happen, for instance grass is to be cut 1.5", if it is 2" can they refuse to play or what?

Hey, you guys could get your own board in the PDL section of this site. I contacted DanB and asked him to open up the New Orleans, Texas Spurs and Austin boards and he opened them up. I am sure that he would the same for St. Louis.

The New Orleans and Texas boards are doing well and I'm sure based on the discussion here that the St. Louis board would also do well.