October (Part 1): Already off schedule

October (Part 1): Already off schedule

by scruffyrube ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

It was supposed by the 10th, it’s the 15th, this is life.

Recap

Griz Biz

I’m certainly not interested in a trip to Moscow (either Russia or Idaho) but Delanely Lou Schorr handled the Big Sky match with such grace and success maybe she could handle the Kremlin too (2-0).

On their return to the South Campus Stadium, the Griz kept the same determined focus. With Ashlyn Dvorak saving a penalty, Abby Gearheart, Sydney Haustein and Maddie Ditta finding the net and a welcome return for defender Ally Henricksen to notch wins against Weber State (2-1) and Idaho State (1-0)

But the real test came on the road with a visit to reigning conference champions Northern Arizona, and Northern Colorado. The NAU game did not disappoint, with the other top team in the Big Sky hitting the net within 15 minutes to take the lead. But the Griz answered with a sterling individual run from Skyleigh Thompson and a tremendous connection between Ava Samuelson and Delaney Lou Schorr before big time goalkeeping from Ashlyn Dvorak sealed the win (2-1). While the trip to Colorado could have been anti-climactic with a winless team trapping overconfident favorites, the Griz didn’t blink against their fellow Ursine warriors beating Northern Colorado handily (3-0)

Up next: v. Sacramento State, v. Portland State

Punjab Zindabad

Our favorite team in North India (who for some reason is playing in Delhi…NOT Punjab) is still yet to get a point in the highest level of subcontinent soccer. The defense left too many gaps and got punished by Goa (1-0). On their return “home” the Warriors had a great individual moment when goalie Ravi Kumar saved a penalty, only to see Northeast United scramble the ball in. But Punjab did not wilt and Juan Mera’s assist in the second half found defender Melroy Assissi to get the goal, and get the Shers their first Superleague point (1-1).

Up Next: @ Jamshedpur, @ Chennayin FC

What’s in Store at Rosenborg?

The women were able to grind out a win against Asane thanks to a goal from Camila Linberg in only her 5th start since joining the team from Italian side FCF Como 2000 (1-0). That win put the Trolljenta at the top of the Eliteserien. But that lofty perch was almost immediately at risk when the women dropped points for the first time since June, as Stabaek had them on the back foot from the start en route to a 1-1 draw.

The Midsummer boost for the men is fully forgotten as they gave up 5 goals to two players against Sarpsborg. Oh, defensive lapses, why must you lapse! (L 5-2)

Next: The Menn face Valerenga; the Kvinner face Brann

Minnesota a la Mode…ah

Hasani Dotson opened the game against LAFC with a shock goal that followed a shock playoff victory for another Minnesota Sports team (the Twins). But that was the last bit of good news the Loons got en route to a 5-1 shellacking (with Miguel Tapias netting a rare own goal).

The Loons responded to this hardship with something I honestly wasn’t sure they’d ever do. They fired manager Adrian Heath. Frankly, I don’t root for people to lose jobs, but my sympathy really only extended to Heath here. I think the players, club, and fans will all be well served with someone else in charge, as evidenced by the 5-2 smackdown executed by Teemu Puuki against the other LA team in the first match without Heath.

Up Next: @ Sporting Kansas City (Season finale…unless there’s some miracle playoff game)

Grenoble’s Games

It’s four in a row for the women with a 3-0 win over As Lattes including another goal from Candice Charbonnier, and then the biggest result so far, as Melanie Chabrier and wily veteran Claudia Fabre hit the net to beat rivals Clermont Foot 2-0 and take sole possession of first place in Poule B. Rather than rest there, they went back out and hit Marignier for a mercy rule (10-0) to move on to the 4th round of the League Cup

Meanwhile, Jessy Benet continued his resurgence with a goal against Guigngamp, in a 2-2 draw that required a fortunate bounce off of a Guingamp defender to rescue a point for the men and keep them as the only unbeaten side in Ligue 2 (though they do have fewer points than teams who have been beaten)

Next: Valenciennes and Pau for les hommes; Olympique Valence for les femmes

Live from Legon!

Nicholas Mensah stepped up again to help ground the defense against Aduana Stars, and score a goal to help them to a 2-1 win, and the defense held up for a draw against new foes Nations FC, before a couple of red cards and a Frank Antwi showcase got the same result against Bechem United (1-1).

Next @ Nsoatreman, v. Dreams FC

Take a Sec with Emelec

We have another champion in the year 2023! While Las Electricas were not able to beat 9 de Octubre during the regular season, there was one more match for the championship, and that’s the one they won (2-1) with Alison Ocho and Cinthia Bone finding the net, and total jubiliation surrounding your 2023 Guayas Region Champions!

The men managed to score not once, not twice, but THREE WHOLE TIMES against Cumbaya! The outburst almost doubled their goals for the season and grabbed them a much needed win (3-0). It’s not quite as cool as a trophy over your rivals, but…it’s not shabby.

Next: high profile Ecuador sides LDU Quito and Universidad Catolica are next for men, (The ladies should be bound for a playoff to make the women’s Premier Liga, but no word on timing for that yet).

What’s the Word in ol’ Freiburg?

Freiburg hasn’t quite been as fluid or high flying as recent season starts, but a comfortable and effective win against Augsburg (2-0) can go a long way. Vincenzo Grifo and Phillip Lienhart led the way and Lienhart’s defensive unit was back in form again.

Or it was until they had to run the gauntlet of Europa League Champions West Ham (losing 2-1), and perennial spoilsports Bayern Munich (losing 3-0). The team wrapped up a hectic week with a friendly against FC Basel…but they’re hopping right back in the frying pan next week.

Meanwhile Die Frauen will feel disappointed in giving up a very late equalizer to Duisburg (2-2), but should feel great about capitalizing on a few errors by Werder Bremen to snag 3 points (2-1)…and then can return to ruing their performances after a 3-0 thumping against Bayer Leverkusen

Next: Men v. VfL Bochum, (Europa League v. Serbia’s Backa Topola) and v. Leverkusen; Women v. Nurnburg

County’s Bounty

Actually there wasn’t any because lousy weather cancelled their game against Dundee. But at least they get to play St. Mirren, Dundee and Motherwell in a one week span.

Next: (See above…ooof boy this is gonna be a doozy)

Gotta see this, Alebrijes!

The Oaxacans were pumped up before their game against Atletico Morelia which made the draw (0-0) a little disappointing. But it’s worth remembering that the draw was only possible thanks to a stellar kick save by Octavio Paz on a Morelia penalty. So…as ever, thanks Octavio!

Unfortunately Octavio wasn’t able to hold down the fort against Cancun the very next match, with five goals pouring in and the Oxacans getting cited for 7 yellow cards (0-5). So, the frustrating dance of a step forward and three back remains

Next v. Tepatitalan and then Halloween special v. Atlante

What’s the haps at Vozdovac?

The dragons have been maddeningly inconsistent this year, but the inconsistency pays off when they follow lackluster defeats with solid wins. That was the result when Bogdan Vastsuk got the goal to beat Novi Pazar (1-0). The dragons followed that up with a valuable point on the raod against regular challengers Cukaricki (1-1) with Borisav Burmaz doing the honors.

Next: v. Backa Topolo (softening them up for Freiburg, I hope), v Partizan Belgrade (hopefully beating more facists)

News & Notes

Alex the Blackhawk

One of the biggest downsides to this rush of a new work life I have is that I didn’t get to talk much about Alex’s new soccer season with his first club team: the St. Paul Blackhawks. It was our first experience playing with MANY much bigger kids, and well, 2017 born kids are not all the same. (Our end of November kid was a little dwarfed by early January kids, which made for some mis-matches, some frustrating moments and more than a few tears).

But hard as it was to see those moments, it was great to see Alex get back up and try again. To watch him celebrate and cheer when teammates played well, and it was very nice to hear coaches take a beat to comfort him when he needed it. (As long as he’s having fun, I’m good)

Players Of the Month (so far)

It’s all too common to get sucked up in the thrill of scoring goals and forget that stopping them is a huge part of the game too. So with much sympathy to Teemu Puuki’s hat trick plus, we’re going with Griz goalie (fake gasp) Ashlyn Dvorak and Legon’s defender Nicholas Mensah.

Standings

Minnesota may be our first team to wrap up for the year unless they get some miraculous news this next weekend, but the drama is still building on our own table. The Griz are close to running away with their second title in four years, and Rosenborg has moved up into second place as Punjab falters in the Super League….add to that, a couple wins by the Loons and continued good runs by Grenoble might make North India’s finest slip all the way from first to the mid-table.

TeamWDLPPGGFAGAA
Montana11322.251.690.50
Rosenborg319181.761.831.16
Punjab12471.741.781.04
Minnesota2813151.732.181.27
Grenoble2511171.621.400.91
Legon Cities11991.451.241.24
Emelec1315121.351.800.90
Freiburg1710231.221.281.68
Ross County126171.201.461.63
Alebrijes89131.101.301.77
Vozdovac77121.080.811.38
Table Updated 10/15/23
b–Team is between seasons
Nobel FC: Newest Member Draft

Nobel FC: Newest Member Draft

by scruffyrube ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

In just a few days, the Nobel committee will announce the winner of the 2023 Nobel Prize for Literature. They will join an elite group of writers from around the world, and a small selection of those writers who we have read, reviewed, and classified as members of Nobel FC: The only Fantasy Football team where the Fantasy is that these people would ever play.

I’ll try to read the author in question as soon as I can, and write their post by the beginning of November, but I wanted to take a moment to consider who will be joining this august group.

How does the “draft” work

In Professional Sports there are annual “drafts” where teams select from a collection of players not yet in the league. They study and examine their abilities, debate the best choice, and then “draft” someone to become a part of their organization.

The Nobel Prize is a little like that. The “Team” in question is the Swedish Academy (of Literature). They collection of players not yet in the league is literally everyone on earth, who has yet to be awarded the Nobel, is living, and who wrote something. (Literally, they have awarded a prime minister for stirring speech writing, and a folk singer for his lyrics.)

That’s a big field so they take in nominations from other Academies of Literature around the world, professors of universities, living laureates, and presidents of Authors’ guilds. That is still a very big field so they narrow it down to five finalists: study and examine the writers abilities, debate the best choice and then “award” someone the Prize.

This process has been a little controversial over the years. After all, why do the Swedes get the final vote? (Alfred Nobel said so) Does the fact that the Swedish Academy is mostly old, white, male, Europeans explain the fact that most of the laureates in history have been old, white, male Europeans? (Yes) Will they try to be more inclusive in the future? (Yes, though they kind of had to after a pretty ugly scandal).

So Who Could be “Drafted” This Year?

We don’t know the top 5 candidates, or even the top 100 candidates who got nominated, and we won’t for another 50 years (long after the internet, including this post becomes a time capsule for aliens). But we have a list of likely candidates from gamblers and prognosticators. (I’ll toss out 11 here)

The leading favorites are Can Xue, a Chinese author who frequently challenges the increasingly authoritarian establishment in Beijing, and Haruki Murakami, a Japanese writer (and one of my wife’s absolute favorites) who writes book that have a following in seemingly every country on earth. However, given that the Nobel likes writers who court a little political controversy, Murakami seems less likely than Xue. It’s also been more than 10 years since an Asian Writer was awarded the prize, so you could argue that Xue/Murakami would get an overdue award.

Of the last ten laureates 4 have been from Western Anglophile countries, and 2 have been French. So other plausible candidates like American Thomas Pynchon, Global Indian/Brit/American Salman Rushdie, Canadian Anne Carson and Australian Gerald Murnane and Frenchman Pierre Michon seem to be plausible if the Academy doesn’t try to break from it’s old habits of just cycling through the West’s heaviest hitters. (YAY FOR HEGEMONY!)

If they wanted to award a Western literary heavyweight but NOT someone who writes in a frequently awarded language, then they could consider Norwegian playwright Jon Fosse, or Romanian novelist Mircea Cartarescu. Then again they have given out 3 awards to similar writers in the past ten years, all of whom were political, but one of whom (Austrian Peter Handke) had massive PR blowback due to his excuses for genocidal dictators.

Beyond Europe and Asia, the oddsmakers and the pundits don’t have many options. Perennial contender Ngui wa Thiong’o of Kenya looks to represent Subsaharan Africa, while Mexican poet Homero Aridjis is judged the best bet from Latin America (an area of the world not awarded since 2010)

Analysis: Who will it be? Who should it be?

In articles analysing a team’s draft-day decisions, writers look at two things. What they think the team leaders will do, and what the author themselves would do if they had a chance.

Having already read books by Murakami and Rushdie, I read a few well-recommended lines from the other nine and came up with this analysis.

The Academy Will Pick

The Swedish Academy tends not to prioritize the best selling or most widely acclaimed author available, they prefer those who have something artistic to offer in their work and especially if they have something beyond the purely personal to uncover. At times that leads them to revel in awarding obscure writers, and in the last three years, awarding more diverse picks.

So I think they will pick: Can Xue. I only read very brief exceprts from her work…but even that seemed weird and obtuse. Critics claim her work is often plotless, but that’s not a negative in the hands of the Nobel Committee. She’s got art, she’s got style, she’s got a point of view. She’s got to be the favorite.

Honorable mentions: John Fosse, Mircera Cartarescu, Homero Aridjis.

I Would Pick

If left up to me, I would try to award a writer from outside the common-sphere of Nobel winners (ie Western Europe/America and white men). A more diverse writer with a point of view that connects to the wider world would be the ideal for me. Artistry is something I think lies in the eye of the beholder, so better to be clear than artful in my eyes.

So I would pick: Homero Aridjis. Admittedly, I only looked at four of his poems, but he evokes a universality similar to Paz and Neruda, while also considering the broader scope of history and nature–which might suit the climate change conscious Academy/myself to boot.

Honorable Mentions: Salman Rushdie (I still think of him as an Indian writer despite his increasingly American identity), Ngui wa Thiong’o, Louise Erdrich (totally left field pick, I also wanted to offer a woman of color)

Who would you pick?

Leave a comment below, please, even alien overlords, comment with your pick.

Next Time…I rush to judgement on whomever our winner is Jon Fosse

Jon Fosse is your 2023 Nobel Laureate.

I’m awarding myself 2 Nonsense points (1 if they’re on the 11, 2 if they’re in my Honorable mentions, 5 if I actually call it…see how long it takes me to get to 11)

September: A Lifetime in a Month

September: A Lifetime in a Month

by scruffyrube ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Author’s Note: This month I went back to teaching and running a classroom independently. And Alex went to Kindergarten for the first time. So, daily writing tasks like match recaps turned into a low priority. I have made the command decision to make the recap posts a more limited affair. Rather than 4-5 a month we’ll do three (on the 10th, 20th, and 30th of each month). In part because designing a class and grading 75 assignments a day takes significantly more out of me, and in part because it’s my writing project, and I am answerable to no one…so you’ll get my updates when I write them and you’ll like it non-existent contemporary readers. (kidding)

Also…because I just need to post things so I can move on. I’m not worrying about pictures this time…hope you can imagine things.

Recap

Griz Biz

The University of Montana spent most of it’s last two weeks looking like a force to be reckoned with. Sure there is the win over Utah Tech, and an annual smackdown of MSU Billings (continuing their unbeaten run in the Grandma Di Derby). But they also notched huge milestones for the program. Midfielder Kathleen Atchinson got two goals, but the biggest one came against Oklahoma, one of the biggest sports programs in the country…giving the Griz their first win over a top 5 Conference school. As if that weren’t enough they also welcomed THE Ohio State University (another one of those prestige programs) to Missoula, got a record attendance at South Campus Stadium, and walked away with a draw.

And then things came unglued a bit. They lost to Colorado State at home, and after opening strong against Georgia Southern seemed to go all wibbly wobbly after the first goal dropping two in a row. But regardless of results, the Griz have played well with Ashlyn Dvorak has been great in goal and Delaney Lou Schorr remains a fulcrum in attack (playing the most minutes and notching three assists) and Eliza Bentley is doing your grandma Di (a fellow Billings Senior alum) proud as a super sub. The team righted the ship with a 4-0 win over Miami of Ohio, and draws in Corvallis Oregon and Easter Washington. They might not have been favorites coming into the season, but look out Big Sky, the Griz are for real.

Up next: @ Idaho, v. Weber State, v. Idaho State

Punjab Zindabad

Punjab kicked off their first ISL campaign. They filled out the roster bringing in Wilmar Jordan Gil to join Luka Macjen up top, and Sweden Fernandes (who is not Swedish) as an outlet on the wings. The defense built up with Suresh Meitei and Mashoor Shareef in front of Shibin Raj (who may push Kiran Limbu for playing time).

The result still has them looking for a way to win at this level. Kicking off against perennial contenders Mohun Bagan led to a 3-1 defeat, but Lucka Macjen did find the net, so let’s keep our hopes up.

Their next mission? Figuring out what exactly the nickname they’ve settled on is. The translations I read said “Punjab da Sher meant Punjab Tigers (you know with the orange), but every social media thing is advocating for Lions, and the hashtag is PunjabDaJosh…or Boys of Punjab…I’m totally lost.

Up Next: @FC Goa, v. Northeast United FC

Minnesota a la Mode…ah

The Loons had a much more eventful fortnight than the score lines suggest. Tying personal bogeymen Seattle is a good accomplishment, and hanging a 3-0 drubbing on Colorado at least spurred the Rapids to change their coaching. But the real icing on the cake came just last night, after being stymied at every turn by an intense and talented New England team (also going through their own coaching crisis). The Loons took their fifteenth corner, and in desperation sent up the goalkeeper, Dayne St. Clair, to help out, a move I’ve never, ever seen work before.

So naturally, it worked this time. St. Clair got the assist and the Loons fought back to claim a valuable point.

To celebrate flying high, the Loons then instantly crashed to the ground by taking leads and then losing it against Kansas City, St Louis, San Jose and a bizarre three goal capitulation against LA Galaxy.

Up Next: @LAFC, v. LA Galaxy (Owen’s big game)

What’s in Store at Rosenborg?

Returning from the World Cup, the Trolljenta had a heck of a run. It started with a first round cup match against Stabaek which ended up requiring 30 more regular play minutes, and would have gone to Overtime if not for the very late winner by Camilla Linberg mere moments after Stabek had fought back to equalize. Oddly it was their second end of game decider, with Sara Horte (she of the National Team call up, got an equalizer in the third minute of regular stoppage time. Horte and her crew were much stronger back in league matches with 2 goals allowed over three games, while the offense pumped in 16 from 10 different scorers (three a piece for Selma Magnusdottir and Cesilie Andreassen). The last win came in the cup semi-final against LSK Kvinner, which will give the women of Trondheim a chance to win their first hardware in the black and white

The men on the other hand? Well, my early wondering if the loss to Hearts would send them reeling was answered: a big fat honking yes. Though they had a 4-0 win over Aalesund they were promptly whomped by Tromso and quickly sold off some long-standing leaders including Samuel Rogers and Carlo Holse. (Holse did get his final team goal against Aalesund, and so did the new young gun Sverre Nypan). A draw against Bodo/Glimt and another walloping against Lillestrom.

Next: The Menn face Sarpsborg 08; the Kvinner face Asane

Live from Legon!

Ghana’s Premier League will kicked off with coach Paa Kwesi Fabin in the standard role of miracle working manager, but most eyes will be on Ebenezer Armegah in his first season as the front target, and captain Nicholas Mensah anchoring the back line.

That was a help in the team’s opening match as 19 year old winger Frank Antwi got a brace to give the Royals an opening day win. (The following 1-0 loss to Accra Lions was much more familiar) The team will be full of different faces this season, but will hopefully bring all the style we’ve come to expect from the Royals ( a lot of boasting and occasional follow through).

Next v. Aduana Stars, @ Nations FC

Grenoble’s Games

The men of the alps have remained unbeaten, but they also seem to have caught Emelec’s goalless draw bug, using three of 0-0s to stay unbeaten. Brice Mableu shows no signs of stopping and the defense remains stout as ever…but boy I miss Matthais Phaeton, and his attacking prowess. The offense came alive at the end of the month with three straight 2 goal efforts to win three straight matches. Jessy Benet and Pape Meissa Ba have been superb, and might have Grenoble fighting for promotion if they keep this up.

The women started their campaign for promotion from the third division of the French women’s league with with new coach Alassane Diakhite, and they seem pretty excited (and with good reason). They opened with two wins including one against old foes Nimes Metropole and Le Puy. Melanie Charbier led the way and maybe there will be double the reason to celebrate in Grenoble

Next: Guingamp for les hommes; AS Lattes and Clermont Foot for les femmes

County’s Bounty

Following the all to predictable 2-0 loss to Rangers, County bounced back with a little win against Kilmarnock that left their fans….a little cranky…. Simon Murray continues his great form, both driving towards goal and flopping like a spawning Salmon (which made him the focus of much Killy ire), but Ross Laidlaw stood up to a late penalty awarded in spite of Killie getting a goal on the offending play…it was wierd, but that’s life on the dark side.

The Stags seemed to pay the karmic consequences in the second half of the month. After a 1-1 draw against Livvy, they were manhandled by Aberdeen both in the league and in the League Cup Quarterfinals. Add to that a loss at home (to Hearts) and we regret cheering for the floppery.

Next: @ Dundee

Take a Sec with Emelec

As the Electricas cram their season into a rapid fire round robin of games it’s worth noting some strong showings. They notched a 3-0 win versus Guayquil City and a 9-0 against LA Familia. But the real drama came against 9 Octubre, where Madeline Ladines launched a gorgeous rocket to grab a tie against the toughest team in the group. (Unfortunately in the return leg, they came up short…but still managed to earn a spot in the final…against 9 Octubre…)

As for the men…there’s predictable news and good news. The goalless streak hit 5 matches before Miller Bolanos (who else) scored. 529 minutes of demanding perfection from Pedro Ortiz, or 529minutes longer than you should ask it of anyone took its toll on Emelec’s standings. A 3-1 win over Mushuc Runa helped as did Jaime Ayovi’s ability to score while not being named Miller Bolanos…but the Bombillos dropped another to Independiente del Valle (though they did score again).

Next; Cumbaya awaits the men, while the ladies kicked off before you likely read this post.

What’s the Word in ol’ Freiburg?

Freiburg was looking their old convincing self in the 1-0 win over Werder Bremen with the inemitable Vincenzo Grifo orchestrating the show. But the wheels came fully off the wagon in 5-0 drubbing against Stuttgart. New top goalie Noah Atubola followed that with another lousy game against Dortmund and the usually steady back line seemed to break down. A reinforced back line got a win over Olympiakos in the first Europa League game and a 0-0 draw against Frankfurt (where a more confident Atubola did great). An unsurprising common denominator: Vincenzo Grifo and Rolland Sallai.

The women kicked off their season against eternal powerhouse Bayern Munich, and after opening with a great goal from Janina Minge, they got a very late equalizer from Svenja Folmli to snatch a great tie.

Next: Men v. Augsburg, West Ham and Bayern Munich; Women v. Bayern

Gotta see this, Alebrijes!

While the 5-0 was bad, Freiburg can take solace that hey didn’t give up the 7 that Alebrijes conceded to Correcaminos. Octavio Paz’s return wasn’t enough to overcome Luis Mouret’s red card. But the team was back in shape with a come back win over Venados as young Kaleth Hernandez and Julio Cesar Cruz continue their mutually beneficial partnership. Cruz remains the primary goal scorer who found the net every time Alebrijes took the field during September (including against Tlaxcala, La Paz and in the big 4-0 win over Dorados). But the best moment for Alebrijes seemed to be when a dog ran on to the field…seems about right.

Next @ Atletico Morelia

What’s the haps at Vozdovac?

For the first time in your LIFETIMES, the Dragons notched a win against the prodigious Red Star Belgrade…home to facist gangs a plenty. 3-2 over red star, take that fascist pigs! Borisav Burmaz, Mihajlo Neskovic, and Danilo Teodorovic got goals and though Red Star tried to equalize late, the Dragons took all the points!

(Yes, they lost 2-1 to totally un-prodigious Napredak…and dropped another against Spartak Subotica on a last second penalty, but we still beat the fascist pigs…so I’m calling it a win!)

Next: v. Novi Pazar, and @ Cukaricki

News & Notes

Cue More Celebrations in Spain

It’s not great when instead of a ticker tape parade, you get a fussilade of negative press coverage and force the executives to become the story instead of the players. But it’s entirely in keeping with the mess that is Spanish Soccer right now. After many uneasy conversations about whether or not you can just kiss women on the lips when you feel like it (YOU CAN’T), both the coach and the Federation President have stepped down…finally.

Mothers of Dragons?

Abby Ostrem and Makenzie Langdok have both signed for Spartak Subotica. Which makes me ask the question, is Vozdovac interested in starting a women’s side? If so, can they start scouting with Aurora and the Griz?

Players

While the routine of these posts is changing, the number of people we have gratitude for is not. So, let’s hear it for four weeks of stellar play. We’ll take this time to shout out those who scored in major results: give it up for the Griz’s Delaney Lou Schorr, Vozdovac’s Borisav Burmaz, Grenoble’s Jessey Bennet and Emelec’s Madeline Ladines.

Standings

Every team is playing! Take a deep breath, because we’ll be full bore from now until late November. Also, every team is now above 1 point per game! (Of course, no teams are above 2, but we’ll take what we get.)

TeamWDLPPGGFAGAA
Montana6321.911.550.55
Punjab12361.861.901.05
Rosenborg308171.781.851.11
Minnesota2713141.742.151.19
Grenoble2210171.551.160.94
Legon Cities10791.421.231.27
Emelec1115121.261.790.92
Freiburg159201.231.301.66
Ross County126171.201.461.63
Alebrijes88121.141.271.45
Vozdovac46110.860.711.57
Table Updated 9/30/23
b–Team is between seasons
Nobel FC: JM Coetzee

Nobel FC: JM Coetzee

by scruffyrube ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Background

Our first laureate from outside of Europe, John Maxwell Coetzee was born in Cape Town, South Africa back when the country was fiercely divided between the white colonists and the native black population. Living with this unjust and racist system from his childhood shapes what Coetzee writes about throughout his career and helps him to always balance the powerful and the marginalized in his space. It’s also why the committee made sure to point out how he finds countless ways to “[portray] the surprising involvement of the outsider”

Works

From The Death of Jesus

“You have a false understanding of what it means to read. Reading is not just turning printed signs into sounds. Reading is something deeper. True reading means hearing what the book has to say and pondering it— perhaps even having a conversation in your mind with the author. It means learning about the world— the world as it really is, not as you wish it to be.”

–2020

From “Youth”

 What is the point of coming all the way from Cape Town to London if he is to be quartered on a housing estate miles outside the city, getting up at the crack of dawn to measure the height of bean plants? He wants to join [the government], wants to find a use for the mathematics he has laboured over for years, but he also wants to go to poetry readings, meet writers and painters, have love affairs. How can he ever make the people [in the government office]—men in tweed jackets smoking pipes, women with stringy hair and owlish glasses—understand that? How can he bring out words like love, poetry before them?

Published in Granta (2017)
Illustration from New Yorker

From “The Better Player”

I have played sports (tennis, cricket), I have done a lot of cyccling, bit in all of this my aspiration has simply been to do as well as I can. Winning or losing–who cares? How I judge whether or not I have done well is a private matter, between myself and what I suppose I would call my conscience.

–Letter written to Paul Auster year 2009

Message

Literary criticism of Coetzee tends to emphasize a few things: the sparsity of his prose, a degree of absurdity in how plainly bizarre things are stated, and a degree of desperation and disaster that the protagonist uses as a source of strength. In that sense another quote from his letters to Auster stands out: both an elite tennis player and a great artist elicit a common response in Coetzee: “I can see how it was done, but I could never have done it myself, it is beyond me; yet it was done by a man (now and again a woman) like me; what an honor to belong to the species [he/she] exemplifies”. In a humanity marked by a quest for transcendency, Coetzee’s work highlights how beautiful and powerful our fleeting and daily thoughts and experiences can be. Whether it be watching a backhand, biking to the shops, parenting a stubborn child, or reacting to an author’s work, that is where the power of humanity comes.

Position: #11 Winger

The main work I read for this was The Death of Jesus. The book opens with a depiction of a young boy playing as a winger. While I doubt that Coetzee’s choice was personal, it does seem apropos for the author himself. Like a speedy winger charging towards goal, Coetzee is direct, driven and transparent in his objective. At times he fails (Death of Jesus often got overwhelmed by the religious allegory rather than the more engaging humanity of a flawed father–something I know quite well), but the failures seem to drive him and his characters to stand back up and do the same thing again. You likely know what Coetzee is up to, but he can still put it past you with ease. (As such, the player he reminds me of most is his fellow South African Bongokhule Hlongwane, though the team colors I applied here suit Emelec as Guyaquil feels more of a fit for the urbane Coetzee and more fitting for the Spanish medium of Death of Jesus).

One complication with all this, I am basing my interpretation on evidence from after Coetzee’s prize winning works were published. Have you read his other lauded work? Does it change your opinion to read Waiting for the Barbarians or Disgrace? Leave a comment below…please (seriously…someone is reading these, right?)

Next Time: 2023 Honoree–???

Week 33:

Week 33:

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Recap

Tecnico Universitaro 0 – 0 Emelec (M)

Honestly, at this point I want to know how long Emelec can go with 0 – 0 draws?

Hearts 3 – 1 Rosenborg (M–Europa Conference)

Isak Thorvaldsson scored early to build the hopes of a Rosenborg romp, but Hearts two goals in the second half gave Hearts a decisive edge in the game, in the two-way tie, and in the race to stay alive in the European competition.

North Dakota 0 – 1 Montana Grizzlies

Delaney Lou Schorr picked up exactly where she left off as the Griz’s leading scorer netted the winner against the Eagles!

Hoffenheim 1 – 2 Freiburg (M)

The Bundesliga kicked off with a familiar feeling as Freiburg brought their best game to the table. We actually watched a bit as a family with Alex insisting that the boys from Breigsau were wearing stripes, while Owen thought they were wearing a giraffe print. Whatever he wears, Roland Sallai makes a great threat and his goal was the difference as Freiburg came away with three road points.

Airdrieonens 3 – 4 Ross County (Cup)

The Staggies are still going in the ViaPlay league Cup, but it wasn’t for lack of trying. Holding a 3-1 lead after Kyle Turner scored and assisted within 90 seconds, The Stags defense proceeded to give away the store in the last ten minutes with a penalty and a late equalizer for the lower level opponents. Fortunately, Eamonn Brophy came through with a winner in additional time to move the Stags to the last 8.

Zeleznicar Pancevo 0 – 1 Vozdovac

The Dragons got their first win of the season with a quick long ball finding Niska Vujanovic who dribbled and slashed enough to find the net for the game’s only goal.

Grenoble 0 – 0 Troyes (M)

Grenoble didn’t win but they did remain unbeaten for this campaign.

HamKam 3 – 0 Rosenborg (M)

Before the game I was fantasizing that a continued run of good form could help Rosenborg back into European places, but they were too burnt out from the game in scotland to keep up with HamKam

Photo of Eliza Bentler by Ryan Brennecke

North Dakota State 1 – 3 Montana Grizzlies

The Griz got their second win in the Peace Garden State (all the more impressive because it tripled their win total from 7 previous games there). Within 15 minutes the Griz got three goals off of four shots, as Skyleigh Thompson, Riley Carolan and Eliza Bentler all found the net.

NYCFC 0 – 2 Minnesota (M)

We were able to watch a little of this as a family too…you know, when you weren’t dive bombing your mom or playing drink coaster tricks, but we didn’t get to see a goal. While you were falling asleep Jan Gregus struck back, and then I could see Miguel Tapias and Dayne St. Clair contort their frames to avoid giving up a penalty and save an own goal before Mender Garcia got a final goal to pull away.

Cimarrones 4 – 2 Alebrijes

Julio Cesar Cruz got the first goal, but Cimarrones stormed right back and the Alebrijes dropped another.

News & Notes

We Have a Champion!

Spain became the second country to win both a Men’s and Women’s World cup. Unfortunately it seemed to validate the widely disliked and player loathed coach Jorge Vilda.

It’s an unfortunate story-line to hear developed. But, honestly, coaches don’t play the games, and their effect is often over estimated. I’m going to choose to celebrate Olga’s winning goal, Aitana Bonmati’s golden boot, and Salma Paralluelo instead of Vilda (or the louche of a leader the team is also dealing with).

Other Cup-Dates

Rosenborg’s hopes of moving on to the next round of European competition were dashed with Hearts having a great showing in Edinburgh…but again, it’s Edinburgh, hard not to have a good time there.

That didn’t take long (via USA TODAY)

Meanwhile, Ross County will stand with their fellow premier leaguers in their cup quarter finals. Next up will be Aberdeen on September 27th, four days after they play Aberdeen in the league…so familiarity will breed…something.

The Loons might not like their quarterfinal flame out against Nashville, but since the Music City Men made it to the final there’s some solace (also a little solace in the fact that Lionel Messi dominated literally EVERYONE)

The Gang’s All Here!

With the Griz back in action we can fully appreciate the game from Mount Sentinel to the Punjab plain, from the Black Forest, to the Gold Coast’s brightest star.

Player of the Week

Kyle Turner! (Via SkySports)

One of the many things I love about team sports is how substitutes can make as much of a difference for a team as the stars. When that sub helps win a game, it’s great. When he goes out and helps win another…that’s flipping awesome. So Kyle Turner’s gumption stepping up as Ross County’s midfielder merits this week’s award.

Standings

For the first time in Months a team not named Punjab is at the top of our standings (though with the wonkiness of my internet connection the bottom of the standings may not be as accurate)

TeamWDLPPGGFAGAA
Montana2003.002.000.50
Punjab12351.951.950.95
Minnesota249111.842.391.20
Rosenborg237151.691.691.09
Legon Cities–b9781.421.251.29
Grenoble177171.411.151.05
Emelec81291.241.720.97
Ross County105131.251.571.54
Freiburg137191.181.261.62
Alebrijes6791.141.271.45
Vozdovac46110.860.711.57
Table Updated 8/24/23
b–Team is between seasons

What’s Next

Thursday, August 24th

Montana Grizzlies v. MSU Billings (the Grandma Di Derby)

Friday, August 25th

Saturday, August 26th

Freiburg v. Werder Bremen(M)

Ross County v. Rangers

Vozdovac v. Red Star Belgrade

Auxerre v. Grenoble (M)

Sunday, August 27th

Rosenborg v. Aalesund (M)

Montana Grizzlies v. THE Ohio State University

Minnesota v. Seattle (M)

Emelec v. Delfin (M)

Monday, August 28th

Tuesday, August 29th

Correcaminos v. Alebrijes

Wednesday, August 30th

Minnesota v. Colorado (M)

83. New Season, New-Ish You

83. New Season, New-Ish You

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There’s always a slightly sad air to the end of Summer. The days get shorter. The freedom gets staler. The brightest greens and liveliest flowers start to droop and fade.

But it’s also an exciting time of year. For all the ends and declines, there are many important starts at hand.

That’s especially true in our household. Alex is starting kindergarten. I’m going back into full classroom teaching. And teams around the world are starting new seasons.

Now isn’t just the time for things around us to change, it’s time to see our world and ourselves with fresh eyes.

Dear Boys,

At the start of the year every soccer team is handed a clean slate. The league table is a beautiful string of zeroes. You can write your team down at the top of the league for possibly the only time all year.

In the classroom, the white boards and chalkboards seem totally unblemished, and you can imagine anything and everything on them. Before you walk into the room, you can imagine uncovering any number of universal secrets inside its walls, even the mystery of friendship, or the perfect fart joke, or how to write an “R”.

All of those possibilities exist because, during the summer, your time and mind was consumed with day to day doing and being. The previous school year or football season has just been gestating in your brain, mellowing, maturing, leaving behind ingrained skills and important areas for growth that you will now leap at with full enthusiasm.

Alex is hesitant to fail, but can, more often than not sound out the letters in simple Consanant/Vowel/Consonant words (“hop”, “but”, “red”, etc.).

I am leery of collapsing into bad habits, but I’m also more prepared to accept my limitations and work with less obsession in my grading and more gratitude in my everything else.

Guittieriez (Quadratin Oaxaca)

Our favorite teams are in new situations as well. Alebrijes brings their new coach Carlos Guitierrez with a new style into the mix. Freiburg will have high hopes for the new striker Junior Adamu, possibly being the dribbling, penetrating attacker that frees up Vincenzo Grifo to do more than feed the ball into the box. The Griz will have new keepers to audition including, fingers crossed, our favorite Aurora/Grizz Bayliss Flynn.

With all this new-ness you can feel like its time to start over.

But it isn’t.

Don’t let the smolder deceive you…I wasn’t feeling good.

Yes it’s a new season. Yes it’s a new opportunity. Yes, you have new skills, and talents, and ideas…but you are still you. You still have the same history, the same memories, the same triumphs and tragedies.

Carlos Guitierrez doesn’t get to mind-wipe all of Oaxaca’s old habits. Freiburg still has a recent habit of fading out of top spots at the end of the year. I will always remember the hard, cold, charred sensation that came with another sheaf of essays weighing down my bag and sitting heavily on my conscious with guilty self-critique because I didn’t do enough to help every kid improve.

And Alex still wants to use whatever he learns to build and control a dinosaur robot. Chris Citowicki still manages to coax epic goalkeeping outings from the scholars who stand in Missoula.

This is a new season, just as last year was once new, and the year before that, and the one before that.

We struggled and we grew then. We will struggle and grow now.

It’s a new season, and a new-ish you, a new-ish me, a new-ish team. We have an opportunity to start again, with both our talents and our flaws to guide us. This new season, this new school-year, might be great, it might be hard, but it will definitely be what we make of it.

Week 32: Catch-22

Week 32: Catch-22

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Recap

Punjab FC 0 – 0 Bangladesh Army (Cup)

Punjab got a point! But they still are looking a little punchless against some toothier competition. Macjen and Mera remain the teams’ focal points, but vision is getting blurry.

Rosenborg 2 – 1 Hearts (M–Europa Conference)

Sverre Halseth Nypan managed a pair of first half assists against a familiar Scottish foe and a rowdy crew of scots on the road. Nypan pressed forward repeatedly to make the right side supremely strong for the Trolls as they hit their seventh straight match without a loss.

Mineros 1 – 1 Alebrijes

The Oaxacans continued to have their testiness translate into some difficult situations. Coach Carlos Guittierez and Esteban Escobedo were carded right before the end of the first half, which left Oaxaca with just ten men (and a worried coach). Julio Cesar Cruz got the equalizer early in the second half which was fortunate as defender Miguel Arreolo was sent packing later in the half and right after the match, goalie Octavio Paz was given a red card to carry over into the next match. So 8 Alebrijes managed to hold on to a draw against 11 Mineros…YIKES

Nashville 5 – 0 Minnesota United (M-Leagues Cup)

Speaking of Yikes…this game. (DJ Taylor was ejected after 34 minutes, and the rest of the defense was totally torched)

Ross County 2 – 0 St. Johnstone

St. Johnstone had more looks at the goal, but County had the best looks…and they didn’t miss. Despite Yan Dhanda having to leave the game after just a half-hour, his replacement Kyle Turner did a superb job and got his first goal for the Staggies on an excellent long ball. Connor Randall found the net as well to thrill the home supporters, but the defense was in fine form and kept the box in front of Ross Laidlaw neat and tidy.

Vozdovac 1 – 1 FK Radnik Surdulica

Vozdovac was fortunate to equalize on an own goal, and even more fortunate not to concede a late winner after Filip Damjanovic left with a red card in the 81st

Grenoble 2 – 0 Paris FC (M)

Mathys Touraine is rapidly becoming the latest in a long line of super strong Grenoble defenders. Like Loic Nestor and Adrien Monfray, he’s been a tremendous asset both in attack and in defense. This week that included starting a great passing combination that lead to his own volleyed finish. His work this week gave Grenoble the needed push to make them one of only three teams to reach 2-0 in the young season

Emelec 0 – 0 Orense (M)

Emelec is also undefeated in this fall’s Ecuadorian campaign even though they haven’t scored a single goal yet. Unlike the six point gap between top and bottom of the French League, Ecuador’s has every team within one game of becoming league leaders.

SV Oberachen 0 – 2 Freiburg (M-Cup)

Oberachen welcomed Freiburg for the first round in the DfB Pokal, and Freiburg never looked remotely bothered. Rolland Sallai and Christian Gunter got the goals, and the boys from Breigsau geared up to start their season in earnest.

Alebrijes 2 – 1 Celaya

Oaxaca’s run of cards on cards on cards came to an end and also lead to their first win of the campaign. It helped to have Kaleth Hernandez strike within 1 minute of kick off. Despite giving up an equalizer, Julio Cesar Cruz nailed a penalty to take the lead.

East Bengal FC 1 – 0 Punjab FC (Cup)

Roundglass Punjab got one more shot at the Durand Cup and their first big result as part of the top flight of Indian Soccer, it went about like the others. Kiran Limbu has done his best, but there’s just not enough to push them past the strong defenses of the two Bengali clubs.

Emelec 22 – 0 La Familia (F)

That isn’t a typo, Las Electricas legitimately put twenty goals past their fellow Guayaquil team and then put two more through. It was 6 in the first 18 minutes and 12 in the first half.

News & Notes

Women’s World Cup-Date

The Women’s World Cup Final is set with Spain facing England on Sunday.

It’s worth noting that Spain is here, frankly, in spite of a host of problems with their national federation. The players, who fought for a decade to have any support for their team at all, have continued to advocate for what they want and need and frankly deserve. The response of the federation was to say, “stop asking for things or we’ll stop letting you play”. It has lead to the awkward experience of watching players celebrate the greatest moments in national team history without even looking back at the coach (the representative of the dismissive system).

Meanwhile, England has a massive psychological investment in winning a world cup and proving that they can still win trophies in the game they invented. So, quite a lot of drama is afoot.

Other Cup-Dates

Likewise the men are wrapping things up in their cups as well, both Minnesota and Punjab saw this chapter of their seasons crash down around them. While that’s disappointing, there’s still a long way to go for their regular seasons, so wait and see.

Freiburg’s cup run started well, and the women’s side will see the same start soon. Rosenborg has another match up with Hearts to stay alive in Europe (Hearts having one goal on the road will make this match in Edinburgh extra important). Meanwhile, Ross County will look to stay alive in the League Cup this weekend.

Vamos Electricas!

It’s been hard to follow, but there is a competition for the Women’s Side in Emelec. They’ll play this year in the Campeonato Provincial (for Guayaquil), win the league and you’ll have a chance to move up to the top league. (It may be hard to track down player names and statistics, but we’ll do what we can.)

It will be a little easier to follow the results for the Griz soccer team when they kick off this week (and when they do, we’ll have every team on the table)

Player of the Week

Mathys Tourainne might have had the best moment of individual play, and the Electricas had a tremendous outing, but I couldn’t identify any players to award. So instead, I’ll give this week’s honor to the often named but as yet unheralded Jayden Nelson.

Standings

With their twenty two goals Emelec has suddenly gotten an extra half a goal a game which doesn’t make much difference to the points total, but does keep them ahead of Ross County. The one mover is Grenoble that sneaks up to fourth place…while Punjab’s rough Durand Cup has them much closer to the chasing pack.

TeamWDLPPGGFAGAA
Punjab12351.951.950.95
Minnesota239111.812.401.23
Rosenborg176131.771.741.00
Grenoble176171.431.181.08
Legon Cities–b9781.421.251.29
Emelec81191.251.791.00
Ross County105131.251.571.54
Freiburg137191.181.261.62
Alebrijes6791.141.271.45
Vozdovac46110.860.711.57
Montana–b000———
Table Updated 8/17/23
b–Team is between seasons

What’s Next

Thursday, August 17th

Tecnico Universitaro v. Emelec (M)

Hearts v. Rosenborg (M–Europa Conference)

North Dakota v. Montana Grizzlies

Friday, August 18th

Saturday, August 19th

Hoffenheim v. Freiburg (M)

Airdrieonens v. Ross County (Cup)

Zeleznicar Pancevo v. Vozdovac

Grenoble v. Troyes

Sunday, August 20th

HamKam v. Rosenborg (M)

North Dakota State v. Montana Grizzlies

NYCFC v. Minnesota (M)

Monday, August 21st

Tuesday, August 22nd

Wednesday, August 23rd

Cimaronnes v. Alebrijes

Week 31: Oh, here goes gravity

Week 31: Oh, here goes gravity

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Recap

Rosenborg 3 – 2 Crusaders (M–Europa Conference)

It took a while, including all of extra time, but Rosenborg survived the Northern Irish with a late Leo Cornic goal coming after a string of intense goal mouth chances that the Trolls couldn’t seem to finish. Cornic’s final rooftop blast was great, but still needed Andre Hansen to make a critical save to seal the victory.

UDG 5 – 0 Alebrijes

Ooof. Oaxaca trailed by 4 within 30 minutes and though a raft of defensive changes stymied UDG in most of the second half, this was just ugly.

Libertad 0 – 0 Emelec (M)

The second half of Ecuadors knock out round kicked off but Los bombillos couldn’t capitalize on a Pedro Ortiz clean sheet.

Columbus Crew 3 – 3 Minnesota United (M–League Cup)

Bongokhule Hlongwane struck twice again to continue forcing the question about whether he or Lionel Messi is having a better tournament. But the Loons still needed Hasani Dotson’s long range effort to bounce off of something bizarre to get the Loons for a shout-out. That’s where Dayne St Clair saved two penalties and helped the Loons squeak through.

Celtic 4 – 2 Ross County

It only took 3 minutes for the dominant team in Scotland to take the lead, but County came back in the second half to score their most goals at Celtic since the 2020 upset shocker. Goals from Jordan White and James Brown gave the stags a valuable moral victory (though those don’t help the standings any).

Saint-Etienne 0 – 1 Grenoble

Grenoble’s golden signee, Moldovan striker Virgiliu Postolachi, had several first half chances go wanting. While Saint-Etienne had the better looks in the second half, Brice Mableu stood strong with a penalty stop as well. Finally, late on in the game Amine Sbai managed to dash down the line, feed the redoubtable Jessy Bennet who passed through an absolutely gorgeous dummy run (I couldn’t id the player) to Abdoulie Sanyang for a late winner.

FK IMT Beograd 2 – 2 Vozdovac

The Dragons got another draw with a clever bit of desperation passing from Mihajlo Neskovic leading to Bogdan Jocic’s first goal of the campaign. Some suspect defending and spotty goalkeeping gave IMT a lead but substitutes Lazar Kojic hit Borisav Burmaz on a pin-point cross to hit the equalizer.

Fk Haugesund 1 – 2 Rosenborg (M)

An early goal for Haugesund and Ulrik Jenssen’s injury gave Rosenborg a lot of doubt. But Jennsen’s replacement–Hakon Rosten–at just 18 kept up with the big guys and was in the right place on a deflected free kick to slam home the equalizer. After Haugesund was reduced to ten men, Magnus Holte was again in the right place at the right time to find the winner.

Mohun Bagan SG 2 – 0 Punjab FC (Cup)

Mohun Bagan is one of the premier teams in Indian soccer, so Punjab was unlucky to draw them for their first game in the big time. The Unluckiness continued when defender Melroy Assissi scored the first goal of the game, into the net he was helping to defend for Punjab. One game does not make or break a year, but here’s hoping it wasn’t a sampling of what will be coming.

Defensa y Jusiticia 1 – 0 Emelec (M-Copa Sudamericana)

Trailing by three goals already, Emelec had their work cut out for them, and they didn’t get it done.

Toluca 2 – 2 Minnesota United (M–League Cup)

When I was doing Owen’s bedtime, the Loons were dominant. Joseph Rosales and Bongokhule Hlongwane managed gorgeous goals. When I started watching the match, they looked great, and then it all came undone with Michael Boxall failing to clear a ball near the goal that was hammered for Toluca’s first, and then Hasani Dotson making an ill advised challenge that earned him a second red and Toluca a penalty that promptly equalized. Once they were down a man, the Loons were clearly rattled, and had to hold on with every fingernail to make it to penalties. Despite my doomsaying the Loons came out like Lions during the shoot out, with an Argentine, a Kiwi, an Ohioan, and a Korean finding the net while our Canadian keeper (Dayne St. Clair) saved one and saw another bounce off the corner.

News & Notes

Women’s World Cup-Date

Norway’s great showing against the Phillipines didn’t come with a renewed vigor. The squad bowed out to Japan with Sarah Horte getting a brief run out…I blame the lack of playing time for Blakstad and Josensdal. Denmark’s storied run came to a conclusion as well, losing by 2 to Australia.

Sorry President Rapinoe

But while some of our favorites fell away, THE favorite: the US Women were also ousted, in a major upset for the top rated side in the world and the back-to-back defending champions. Some will blame technology, but c’mon…we know what’s what.

Other Cup-Dates

As the Men’s leagues continue to copy the ladies with cups on cups on cups, we saw Emelec wrap up their run, we will see Freiburg star theirs, while Rosenborg advance to the next stage of Conference League knockouts where they will face Ross Conty’s old foe: Hearts.

Luka Macjen Back in Actjen

The Stags they have another week before their next cup tie, but Minnesota United will march on to face Nashville (this despite the fact that America thought they had won twice and my internet news feed couldn’t decide either). Punjab FC has two matches to round out their group stage, including one against the Bangladeshi Army team…so a bunch of guys trained to kill you…no pressure…and East Bengal, another ISL team, but one less imposing than Mohun Bagan.

Player of the Week

Two teams grabbed a pair of wins this week, and while there are some strong performances from Rosenborg to consider, the Loons wouldn’t have either win if it wasn’t for Dayne St. Clair. So take a bow big Dayne, you are the player of the week.

Standings

The gap is closing between Punjab and their closest rivals, but I couldn’t find it in me to give the Loons 6 points for skin of their teeth penalty wins, otherwise we’d be within 0.1 at the top of the table. Meanwhile, County’s great run in the Scottish Cup has boosted them up past Freiburg and into a dead heat with the fast fading Emelec (Miller Bolanos to Dingwall?)

TeamWDLPPGGFAGAA
Punjab12232.242.290.94
Minnesota22691.952.461.05
Rosenborg176131.581.670.94
Legon Cities–b9781.421.251.29
Grenoble156171.341.161.13
Emelec7871.321.231.14
Freiburg–b127191.131.241.66
Alebrijes5581.111.331.39
Ross County64121.001.231.50
Vozdova43110.830.671.65
Montana–b000———
Table Updated 8/9/23
b–Team is between seasons

What’s Next

Thursday, August 10th

Punjab FC v. Bangladesh Army (Cup)

Hearts v. Rosenborg (M–Europa Conference)

Friday, August 11th

Mineros v. Alebrijes

Nashville v. Minnesota United (M-Leagues Cup)

Saturday, August 12th

Ross County v. St. Johnstone

Vozdovac v. FK Radnik Surdulica

Grenoble v. Paris FC

Sunday, August 13th

SV Oberachen v. Freiburg (M-Cup)

Emelec v. Orense (M)

Monday, August 14th

Tuesday, August 15th

Alebrijes v. Celaya

Wednesday, August 16th

East Bengal FC v. Punjab FC (Cup)

Weeks 30: Back to Reality

Weeks 30: Back to Reality

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Recap

Crusaders 2 – 2 Rosenborg (M–Europa Conference)

The Northern Irish team started out well, getting the first goal, but Carlo Holse and Ole Saeter were able to return fire and put Rosenborg ahead even though they were in hostile territory. While Erland Reitan’s late own goal gave the Crusaders a draw and an even footing for the next match, Rosenborg’s two away goals means they can draw this next week and still survive for the next round.

Minnesota United 2 – 3 Chicago Fire (M- US-Mex Cup)

The Loons looked to be living their best life in their second League Cup match. After dispatching Puebla 4-0 they were holding strong against one of the hottest teams in the US (no pun intended). When Bongokhule Hlongwane found the net to take the lead, things looked great, when he scored again ten minutes later to take the lead back after a Fire penalty, I felt like we were almost unstoppable. When Chicago scored twice within the next ten minutes to take the lead and leave the Loons hoping for results to advance, I remembered that I live in Minnesota, and we can’t have nice things.

Ross County 3 – 3 Kelty Hearts (M-Cup)

Kelty gave the Staggies their most challenging game of the ViaPlay League Cup to this point. Simon Murray continued his absolutely torrid form, but a late penalty for Ross Cunningham gave Kelty a life line and they took full advantage in the penalty kicks that followed (truth to tell, I’d rather lose penalties here than in the premiership playoff that the Staggies had last June.

Vozdovac 0 – 0 Javor

The Red Dragons are back in action in Serbia! Well, action might be a bit strong given the showing against Javor, but we’re always happy to have a reason to cheer and shout for Belgrade’s best Shopping Mall Based team.

Rosenborg 3 – 2 Odd (M)

Odd came out guns blazing in this match, with two goals within the first ten minutes, leaving the normally strong Rosenborg defenders grappling with how things had gone so wrong so quickly. But Andre Hansen stood strong for the rest of the match, and the team came out reset in the second half to notch three goals with Ole Saeter heading in from a corner, and connecting from the spot. When Odd lost a player to red card, Ulrik Yttergard Jenssen was once again ready to capitalize with a chaos goal, giving RBK the win.

Alebrijes 1 – 1 Tapatio

Oaxaca has taken some time this summer to prepare for the new campaign with a new coach, a new mascot and the typically daring new jerseys. The team once again brought on a host of young players to learn the craft and only said farewell to Christian Canozales. The new look team started the campaign with a familiarly tame draw against Tapatio.

Emelec 1 – 2 Defensa y Jusiticia (M-Copa Sudamericana)

Los Bombillos grabbed an early lead against one of the most dangerous teams in Argentina. For a bit it seemed like they might be able to grab a surprising result to take into the second half of the tie…but Defensa y Justicia came storming back, getting two road goals and leaving Emelec with a lot to do during. the away tie in Argentina.

News & Notes

Weekly Kids Highlights

It was Alex’s final week playing for the Highland Groveland Recreational Area’s U-5 Sunday 5 Pm session….breeding ground of champions. Ok, that might be overselling the competition, really, but it was very fun to have both sets of grandparents, both parents and a little brother in attendance. Alex ended up on a team with a young man with an extra six inches on everyone and a real will to dominate the game, so the goals weren’t coming as usual for Big A. But he found a way to have fun, taking the lead in defense, stepping up and knocking away the ball from several opponents, and trying to get a coach to stop eating a sucker while she ran around (it wasn’t safe, said Alex).

Women’s World Cup-Date

Norway left their struggles behind them with a staggering 6 goal outburst against the Phillipines that sees them through to the next round. Unfortunately for our sake, none of the Rosenborg Kvinner factored in the match. I’m holding out hope for Julie Blakstad, super sub miracle worker in the knock-out stages.

Haiti lost both of their final games in the group stage, a heart breaking 1-0 defeat against China, and a 2-0 loss to Denmark that saw Lene Christensen stop Sherly Jeudy’s shots…bestill my heart. Denmark will advance, and Haiti will go home, but don’t take anything away from les Grenadieres, they performed better than most predicted and did their home nation proud.

Other Cup-Dates

A few more Cup related events here in the summer months. Rosenborg and Emelec are in precarious positions going into the next matchday for their continental competitions, but could both advance (or both be eliminated…who knows).

Within domestic contests, both Ross County and Minnesota United have advanced to the knock out stages. Minnesota plays old friend Christian Ramirez in Columbus, while the Staggies join ten other teams in the round of sixteen (where top four finishers Aberdeen, Hearts, Hibs, Celtic and Rangers were already waiting). The Stags will play against Airdrieonians a Lancanshire side that went unbeaten in their group matches.

And finally Punjab FC, who officially joined the Indian Super League this week, will get a taste of the level of competition by taking on Kolkata stalwarts: Mohun Bagan and East Bengal in the group round of the Durand Cup (India’s oldest soccer competition).

Players of the Week

Given the lackluster week for club teams and the enduring strength of her goalkeeping for Denmark let’s give it up for Rosenborg and Denmark’s choice in the goal: Lene Christansen.

Standings

Punjab is back and ready to try to hold on to their spot atop our standings, but there’s plenty of opportunity for the other teams to catch up now that Punjab can, you know, lose. (Due to some delays in posting, standings will be updated next week)

TeamWDLPPGGFAGAA
Punjab–b12232.242.290.94
Minnesota22691.952.461.05
Rosenborg176131.581.670.94
Legon Cities–b9781.421.251.29
Grenoble–b156171.341.161.13
Emelec7871.321.231.14
Freiburg–b127191.131.241.66
Alebrijes–b5581.111.331.39
Ross County–b64121.001.231.50
Vozdovac–b43110.830.671.65
Montana–b000———
Table Updated 7/27/23
b–Team is between seasons

What’s Next

Thursday, August 3rd

Rosenborg v. Crusaders (M–Europa Conference)

Columbus Crew v. Minnesota United (M–League Cup)

UDG v. Alebrijes

Friday, August 4th

Saturday, August 5th

Celtic v. Ross County

Saint-Etienne v. Grenoble

FK IMT Beograd v. Vozdovac

Sunday, August 6th

Fk Haugesund v. Rosenborg (M)

Libertad v. Emelec (M)

Monday, August 7th

Mohun Bagan SG v. Punjab FC (Cup)

Tuesday, August 8th

Emelec v. Defensa y Jusiticia (M-Copa Sudamericana)

Wednesday, August 2nd