Winnipeg Fury Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 1992 Winnipeg Fury vs. AC Italia Saturday, November 8, 2008 1 PM Kick-Off The new University of Manitoba Indoor Soccer Complex Join us when the majority of team members from the Winnipeg Fury, the 1992 Canadian Soccer League Champion, and 2008 Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame inductees, take to the field in their first match together since defeating the 4 time champion Vancouver 86’ers in 1992. Come see the Mita Cup trophy, which is being donated to the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame prior to the start of the match. Come out and enjoy the action as the Winnipeg Fury take to the field one last time! For more information please contact former Winnipeg Fury Assistant GM, Gerald Olin. _______________ Dr. Gerald Olin (204) 489-2658 (Home) (204) 831-8326 (Office) (204) 291-7246 (Cell) teamchiro@shaw.ca Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winnipeg Fury Posted November 5, 2008 Author Share Posted November 5, 2008 Winnipeg Sun http://www.winnipegsun.com/Sports/OtherSports/2008/11/04/7295446-sun.html An innocent thought through an e-mail exchange has grown into an opportunity for Winnipeg to relive its past soccer glory. The Winnipeg Fury -- the 1992 Canadian Soccer League Mita Cup champion edition -- will be celebrated when the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame honours the squad at the induction dinner Saturday night. During the day, members of the same Fury club will participate in an exhibition game at the University of Manitoba Indoor Soccer Complex (1 p.m.). It will be the first time since the '92 season that the team will get on the pitch together. "The idea came through an e-mail I had with one of the players, Kevin Holness," said Dr. Gerald Olin, who was an assistant GM on the '92 Fury club that beat the four-time defending champions Vancouver 86ers 3-1 in a two-game aggregate final. "He was wondering if we could arrange something where the guys could kick it about on the weekend and my mind took off on a whole other thing. Wouldn't it be neat if we got together and played together one more time?" Organizing a game was almost a no-brainer. Fifteen of the 18 players (including nine of the 11 starters) have committed to the Sports Hall of Fame dinner, indicating to Olin "their connection to the city during the Fury days," so he contacted the Manitoba Soccer Association to see what they thought. They loved the idea and arranged not only for the Fury to use the new, full-sized indoor facility, but also helped in finding the people who officiated the CSL games back then. All that was needed was a team to play against. Olin thought AC Italia (2008 Western Masters bronze medal winners) would be a perfect fit. "We could have gone with a younger team, but we thought the guys needed to play someone their own age," he laughed. "I think the guys will appreciate the decision. I've already had a couple requests for larger size jerseys and a toupee from one player. The names will be the same but I think we'll look a little different than we did when we were on TSN 16 years ago." Local members of the team include Sons of Italy's Tony Nocita, former Lucania players Marcello Paolucci and John Berti, and current South End United coach Constantin Ignat. Former Canadian Olympic team members Holness, Mike Dodd, and Peter Sarantopoulos are expected, as are John Gasparic, Brett Pence, Kent Kowalski, and captain Steve Millar. National team alumni Carlo Corazzin, Paul Fenwick, and Ian Carter will be here, too. Former head coach Tom McManus headlines a group of non-playing Fury staff. Going through the list of players, Olin feels what many still connected to the local soccer community feel -- that Winnipeg never really knew how important the Fury were for the growth of the game in this part of the world. "We did take for granted what we had," he said. "That championship team had two local starters (Nocita and Paolucci), who absolutely were key parts of the championship squad and we had other Manitobans who came off the bench. At the time, it may arguably been the best team in North America when we beat Vancouver. There were several players who went on to successful professional careers in Europe. Our goalkeeper, Pat Onstad continues to have success in Major League Soccer (MLS). He's been the top goalkeeper twice in that league and has won championships." Unfortunately, Onstad will not be in Winnipeg this weekend. His Houston Dynamo are in MLS conference semifinal action on Sunday. Admission to see the Fury one last time is free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheeta Posted November 5, 2008 Share Posted November 5, 2008 Hey is Andy Sharpe coming in for this one? Wasn't he McManus' assistant? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redhat Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 A friend forwarded this to me: http://www.itsportsnet.com/leagues/5167/documents/2008Furygame.pdf Note the team picture. Nice hair, Carlo. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winnipeg Fury Posted November 8, 2008 Author Share Posted November 8, 2008 If I can make it, I will be in full uniform, Fury jersey (if it fits) and V's scarf. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
masster Posted November 8, 2008 Share Posted November 8, 2008 Same day as CFL playoff game in Winnipeg. Not the best timing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheeta Posted November 9, 2008 Share Posted November 9, 2008 ^ Yeah. And add in our 1st dosage of freezing rain/snow of the year turning Winnipeg streets into a Death Trap on Friday and it just keeps getting better. Things were pretty much cleared up by Saturday but Friday! Oi. Wicked evil ice. The sort you only get when it's near zero, the snow keeps coming and the City of W runs out of salt. Facility</u> Didn't get to see the dressing rooms but the pitch looks excellent and well organized. Good viewing from the mezzanine and flanking cat-walks. Plenty of parking. Still a work in progress though. That much is clear but this facility is looking a winner once it becomes more of a fixture in the footie community. No restaurant/lounge yet which maybe isn't entirely surprising but I don't think that will take too long. Expect they're trying to get the right establishment or blend of establishments into the place. No need to rush things but sooner rather than later would be ideal. Red Card Soccer has a wee shop in the place with all the usuals, but that's about it. As to the match.</u> Was kinda fun actually. Took a bit but you could pick out who was who after watching the lads for a while. Some fellows there was no mistaking (Corazzine, Fenwick, Miller, Nochita, Berti, Ignat, Holness. Even wee Marcello) others not so much. Aging and memory being what they are. AC Italia won 2-nil scoring one each side of the half time whistle (30 min halves, this is Masters after all!). Italia looked organized but where playing against a clearly superior bunch of retired players. Or maybe Italia where holding back, but I don't think so. The game got heated in the 2nd half. More competitive but still fun even if the pitch was tilting hard towards Italia's goal. Doesn't matter how old you get or feel, with some people that fire in the guts will only leave once the coffin lid goes down. Corazzin headed onto the crossbar and had one called back (wrongly) for goalkeeper interference/reckless challenge. Well, maybe 50-50 on the call when you consider the age of the players. Berti had a tap in (rightly) called back for off-side. Berti looked great. Even Marcello who hasn't played for a few years stood out. Carlos & Kevin have been eating lots of pasta but were both more than a handful. Tony was Tony. Fenwick? Still a giant, but he's lost his wind and has no vertical anymore. Ha! Who does? For all the old time haters out there you'll be happy to know I lost track of the number left footed punts up-field. (Love yah, man. Keep that Gold Cup Winners medal safe & sound). Don't know anything about the Italia players so can't say much other than they're a fair decent team for their age. Especially organized at the back and picking their attacks carefully. Scored on a breakaway in the 1st and finished an unchallenged 18 yarder just before the final whistle. Played well. Good choice for an opponent. Little One knocked off a few pics and will post them if they're worth a damn. P.S. Ralph Cantafio (no idea how to spell his name but everyone knows who I'm talking about) was out for the Mita Cup donation ceremony. What can I say? Oh yeah. BUY A NEW COAT YOU CHEAP BASTARD! I kid, I kid... P.S.S. Maybe 150 adults in attendance (plus kids). Disappointing really, but the timing was bad. Glad to have been there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winnipeg Fury Posted November 10, 2008 Author Share Posted November 10, 2008 Thanks for the report. I never got a chance to make it, but sounds like a decent crowd considering the weather and the Bombers were in the play-offs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redhat Posted November 10, 2008 Share Posted November 10, 2008 "Ralph Cantafio (no idea how to spell his name but everyone knows who I'm talking about) was out for the Mita Cup donation ceremony. What can I say? Oh yeah. BUY A NEW COAT YOU CHEAP BASTARD! I kid, I kid..." That's pretty funny considering he's a tailor ... Glad you could make it. I was sick as a dog and stayed home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redhat Posted November 10, 2008 Share Posted November 10, 2008 "Ralph Cantafio (no idea how to spell his name but everyone knows who I'm talking about) was out for the Mita Cup donation ceremony. What can I say? Oh yeah. BUY A NEW COAT YOU CHEAP BASTARD! I kid, I kid..." That's pretty funny considering he's a tailor ... Glad you could make it. I was sick as a dog and stayed home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jeffery S. Posted November 10, 2008 Share Posted November 10, 2008 What position did Joey Torchia play? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheeta Posted November 10, 2008 Share Posted November 10, 2008 quote:Originally posted by Jeffrey S. What position did Joey Torchia play? punchline Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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