Spring Showcase- Part I

After arriving at the airport at 4:15 am for a 6:30 flight out of St. Louis, we flew to Dallas for a ten-minute lay over. Then after a two hour and five minute flight we were in Tampa. We barely made our second flight because BL tragically lost his phone but it was heroically rescued. On our way to get the vans instead of walking ten feet to the lot we took a twenty-minute monorail ride instead. After collecting the vans we headed to our hotel in Sarasota. It took an hour to get the vicinity of our hotel but then another twenty minutes to locate the facility after we discovered we had already passed it various times. Shortly after settling into our rooms we received a brilliant idea to do the SPARQ warm up in the parking lot from Blake who was six hundred miles away.
Later on, we went to Stacey’s Buffet for dinner, which Sam Carenza described as, “ Not bad, but better then an Old Country Buffet”. Ariel particularly liked the tomales. Afterwards we went to see the fields, and tested out the off road capabilities of the van. We arrived back at the hotel, and went to bed shortly after a lizard catching extravaganza led by one Travis Hoguet.
Wake up, 6:30, the older team got up early to get ready to play. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Seth and Blake boarded Air Trans at 6:00 AM, excitedly getting ready to join us in Florida. Seth described his trip with Blake as, “extraordinary! And bonding.” However, Coach Decker got in trouble from the flight attendant for standing up when he wasn’t supposed to, a real disappointment. The Polo grounds that the games were played at were nice, though muddy. We opened up the scoring with a brilliant finish by Dakota after beating the goalie to the ball, juking him, and putting it in. Half time score: 1-0. After a particularly inspiring speech by Coach Schilly while wearing his bowling shoes, the team came out blazing at the beginning of the second half. After a series of three cornerkicks played in by Joe Bettger, Marshall finally got a head on the ball. Though the shot was blocked by a sprawling keeper, Gus/Forbes was able to put the biscuit in the basket. SLSGM-18 was in the lead 2-0, game over.
This game was followed by the younger team, who were inspired by their elders to come out hard. One player was quoted as describing the game as, “A hard fought draw, that resulted in a tie.” Word for word. The game ended 0-0, with neither team gaining many chances. Travis Hoguet had the best shot of the game, a freekick blasted from 30 yards out, but was repelled by the goalkeeper.
We returned to the fields later at 4:00 to watch the US National Team play a team of all-stars from around the Academy League. The challengers opened the scoring, but the National Team quickly scored to tie, scoring again in the second half to win 2-1. Miller described the game as, “A close game, with many opportunities. But for sure, the National team is legit.” One detractor is quoted as saying, “I’d be on the National team if I was 6’5” too.”
After the game, we went to Big Poppa Nick’s (the fourth) Italian Restaurant. We all went in to get pasta, though nobody got the white sauce, except for Forbes. The food was pretty good, though certain people had tipping issues. They will be punished at a later date.
Presently, we are writing this journal and preparing to cuddle up for a good night’s sleep. Reinforcements are expected to arrive any moment in the form of Blumberg and the Indiana kids.

By Dakota Gilbert, Seth Rudolph and Joe Bettger