Calgary vs Edmonton

[tmcmurph]

Nov 22cd, 2008 at 7 PM at the Calgary Soccer Center.

The provincial rivals go at it for the first time this season.

[Kevin McMillan]

Should be a good'er, I imagine Calgary will be looking to get a little revenge for last year.

[tmcmurph]

quote:Originally posted by Kevin McMillan

Should be a good'er, I imagine Calgary will be looking to get a little revenge for last year.

At least Dave Randall hasn't poked the bear in the cage with the door open this year

No more "we'll win every game" comments. Of course it just means he is in stealth coach mode this year. He still intends to win every game! Especially against Edmonton! [}]

[tmcmurph]

Great game. Lots of action and both teams are really fast and aggressive! First blood goes to the Drillers with a sudden death overtime win 7-6.

[Kevin McMillan]

Sounds like an exciting game!

Much of any media there? How was the crowd?

[Jason]

quote:Originally posted by Kevin McMillan

Sounds like an exciting game!

Much of any media there? How was the crowd?

I don't think any of the main media outlets reported anything. The crowd was maybe 400-500 I'd guess. If the venue is supposed to hold about 900, this would be about right as the ends were pretty much empty and the side stand was maybe 3/4 full. I thought there might have been more fans at the match on the other side of the complex.

I had to give it at least one match a try, and I convinced a friend of mine to join me. He's not a huge soccer fan, but he does enjoy watching the odd EPL match, World Cup, and was committed enough to drive up to Edmonton last year to watch Canada at the U20 tournament with me. When we walked out, he said, "I just paid $15 to watch that?" I was similarly unimpressed. Part of it is that I don't think I'll ever really like the indoor soccer game that much. I've tried three separate times now. However, I think I could appreciate the fact that this was a decent quality match for this type of soccer. But it really doesn't grab me like the outdoor version.

The whole game experience doesn't really make up for it either. It is a very amateur production. Bad music playing at times, no beer in the stands, and not much crowd involvement. At the Soccer Centre, it is one of only four matches going on. There are a lot of people around, but few of them are there for the match.

The sightlines for the game is terrible. You are up too high in my opinion. Seats are rush - in the first half we sat in a place where we could not see much of anything happening in the far corner. For the second half, our seats were less obstructed in theory, but there was a protective railing that I had to look over/under whenever play went to the other end. I don't think there are any seats that enable you to see the whole field, as the play that occurs along the boards nearest to the stand cannot be seen unless you are sitting on the ends.

It was nice to see a bunch of familiar faces on the field (Nic Reyes, Mark Slade. Felix Napuri, Liam Desilva, Chris Kooy for Calgary, Angelo Sestito and Chris Lemire for Edmonton), but I won't be back. The biggest positive is this just makes me want to do whatever I can to bring outdoor soccer back to Calgary ASAP.

Jason

[Stuart]

Since the local media don't seem to care, I stole this from the PASL site:

EDMONTON DRAWS FIRST BLOOD IN BATTLE OF ALBERTA

The Edmonton Drillers rallied from 5-3 and 6-4 deficits late in the game against Calgary United, to come away with a dramatic 7-6 overtime victory in PASL-Pro action on Saturday night in Calgary.

The crowd at the Calgary Soccer Center was treated to an entertaining back and forth affair that saw Edmonton jump to an early 2-0 lead, before United leveled things just before the half.

Despite it being their first competitive match of the indoor season the visitors surprised the hosts when they tucked a loose ball in at the back post just a minute and twenty seconds after kickoff. And although Calgary countered immediately with sustained pressure and an organized half court style offence, they couldn’t solve Tristan Ilko in the Edmonton goal. The best chance coming when Allen Jovica rang one off the crossbar with three minutes to go in the opening frame.

Chris Lemire scored Edmonton ’s second goal against the run of play early in the second quarter, and Ilko’s dominant performance continued until Kyle Yamada broke the shutout with 2:35 left in the first half. Andre Duberry tied the score 35 seconds later, but Lemire put Edmonton back in front 25 seconds into the 3rd quarter on a sloppy turnover by keeper Bryan Klaus deep in the Calgary end.

Despite being out shot 20 to 4 to that point, Edmonton had a 3-2 lead and began to assert themselves on the attacking end of the floor. The action was end to end, both teams hit the crossbar, and Ilko and Klaus traded saves until United’s Felix Napuri bundled one in from close range to tie the score 3-3.

Shortly after Napuri set up Chris Kooy, and Kooy eventually set up Mark Slade to give Calgary a 5-3 lead, but Edmonton’s Freddy Halek pulled one back with only minutes left in the quarter.

Klaus stopped an Edmonton penalty kick late in that same quarter, and Calgary killed off a Matt Deeprose penalty that carried over into the fourth, before taking a 6-4 lead on a pretty passing play between Yamada, Milan Timotijevic, and Napuri. But Edmonton refused to go away, and got goals from Halek and Eric Pinell to send the match to overtime.

There were times in the game when Edmonton looked out of sync, but the veteran squad never panicked, and were rewarded when Pinell chipped a little ball over a sliding Klaus two and a half minutes into the overtime frame to give Edmonton a 7-6 victory.

The Drillers got two goal efforts from Pinell, Halek, and Lemire, but Ilko came away man of the match on the strength of a 24 save evening.

Calgary coach Dave Randall was disappointed with his clubs effort on the defensive side of the ball.

“It was our own fault we lost the game. The defending in our own third was horrendous. All credit to Edmonton , and their goalie was brilliant, but it was the worst performance in the back from some of my guys that I’ve seen in a long time.”

Kyle Yamada’s strong effort in the midfield earned him man of the match for United.

[Kevin McMillan]

quote:Originally posted by Jason

I don't think any of the main media outlets reported anything. The crowd was maybe 400-500 I'd guess. If the venue is supposed to hold about 900, this would be about right as the ends were pretty much empty and the side stand was maybe 3/4 full. I thought there might have been more fans at the match on the other side of the complex.

I had to give it at least one match a try, and I convinced a friend of mine to join me. He's not a huge soccer fan, but he does enjoy watching the odd EPL match, World Cup, and was committed enough to drive up to Edmonton last year to watch Canada at the U20 tournament with me. When we walked out, he said, "I just paid $15 to watch that?" I was similarly unimpressed. Part of it is that I don't think I'll ever really like the indoor soccer game that much. I've tried three separate times now. However, I think I could appreciate the fact that this was a decent quality match for this type of soccer. But it really doesn't grab me like the outdoor version.

The whole game experience doesn't really make up for it either. It is a very amateur production. Bad music playing at times, no beer in the stands, and not much crowd involvement. At the Soccer Centre, it is one of only four matches going on. There are a lot of people around, but few of them are there for the match.

The sightlines for the game is terrible. You are up too high in my opinion. Seats are rush - in the first half we sat in a place where we could not see much of anything happening in the far corner. For the second half, our seats were less obstructed in theory, but there was a protective railing that I had to look over/under whenever play went to the other end. I don't think there are any seats that enable you to see the whole field, as the play that occurs along the boards nearest to the stand cannot be seen unless you are sitting on the ends.

It was nice to see a bunch of familiar faces on the field (Nic Reyes, Mark Slade. Felix Napuri, Liam Desilva, Chris Kooy for Calgary, Angelo Sestito and Chris Lemire for Edmonton), but I won't be back. The biggest positive is this just makes me want to do whatever I can to bring outdoor soccer back to Calgary ASAP.

Jason

Well it's not a game for everyone... if you're going in wanting it to be outdoor soccer, I'm not surprised you wouldn't think much of it.

[Jason]

quote:Originally posted by Kevin McMillan

Well it's not a game for everyone... if you're going in wanting it to be outdoor soccer, I'm not surprised you wouldn't think much of it.

I knew going in it's not outdoor, but I was hoping that it would be a good overall experience that I'd be sufficiently entertained and want to come back. After all, I'm not much of a baseball fan, but I enjoyed several Vipers games this year. Same with hockey and the WHL Hitmen.

What do you think of the experience? Maybe I was unlucky and picked the two worst places to sit in the park, but I found even watching a game to be difficult. I didn't pay $20 for the central seats, but I have a hard time imagining they are that different as they are still high and have that rail in the way.

Jason

[tmcmurph]

quote:Originally posted by Jason

Well it's not a game for everyone... if you're going in wanting it to be outdoor soccer, I'm not surprised you wouldn't think much of it.

I knew going in it's not outdoor, but I was hoping that it would be a good overall experience that I'd be sufficiently entertained and want to come back. After all, I'm not much of a baseball fan, but I enjoyed several Vipers games this year. Same with hockey and the WHL Hitmen.

What do you think of the experience? Maybe I was unlucky and picked the two worst places to sit in the park, but I found even watching a game to be difficult. I didn't pay $20 for the central seats, but I have a hard time imagining they are that different as they are still high and have that rail in the way.

Jason

[Jason]

quote:

I like the arena game but even I find it hard to see in the soccer center. It wasn't meant for 100's of fans in the stands. It was meant for parents and a few friends of the players. The sight lines are bad to say the least and they spoiled the best ones.

Right where they put the speakers at the end of the seats on both ends. If you stand there you can see goal to goal and all along the near boards.

They need theater type seating (steep and raised) from board level up. They probably could do it at the far east end arena. I don't know if they will or what the costs will be.

I just get the $15 tickets and either stand at 6 feet in front of the speakers or I stand on the back row of the seating by one of the pillars for support.

It is much cheaper for the team than renting the Coral for $20k but the sight lines need to be fixed. God what I would give to redesign the inside of that place! So much potential!

So even for someone who likes the sport, they've made it a tough sell. How much would it cost to rent Max Bell instead? It might exist for a couple of years on a tiny budget with a few hundred friends, family, and diehards showing up under any circumstances, but I can't see it growing at all beyond that. Any suggestions?

Jason

[tmcmurph]

quote:Originally posted by Jason

So even for someone who likes the sport, they've made it a tough sell. How much would it cost to rent Max Bell instead? It might exist for a couple of years on a tiny budget with a few hundred friends, family, and diehards showing up under any circumstances, but I can't see it growing at all beyond that. Any suggestions?

Jason

Yea I am one of those weirdos who likes the arena game. I don't think kids should play it because it teaches lazy habits like punt and chase where the bigger faster teams win and touch is not as important. Passing becomes secondary. But when you get a team of over 16 year olds playing it becomes very fascinating to me. They use the boards like another teammate. The sprints, ricochets and on the fly changes have a strange appeal to me.

That being said I think a Futsal league would work better but be harder to get going.

Why would futsal be better? (IMHO)

1) It has FIFA behind it. It is THE internationally recognized indoor soccer game. It is on the rise while the arena game is in decline with MISL folding last year.

2) Passing and control is paramount. Both of points 1 & 2 would appeal to the soccer purists and traditionalists more than the arena game.

3) It can be very fast and exciting as long as the refs force the play to resume quickly when the ball goes out of bounds.

4) It is easier to see because you don't have boards blocking your view.

5) The surface isn't a pile of carpet or fake turf. It is a very durable, long lasting, non-toxic, low abrasion surface designed for this use.

But that brings up the hard part. Where can you find a small arena in Canada WITHOUT boards? Unless there are some old arenas that can't be used for hockey anymore I don't know where.

For the games at the Calgary Soccer Center I wish they would get rid of the speakers at the ends of the main seating. I will bring ear plugs next time in case they are still there but they ruin the best spot to watch from. If they had steeper seating then you could watch it easier but the shallow difference between rows adds to the problem. There is not much else you can do about the site lines because of the boards. Redesign and retrofit would be expensive.

[snake]

nice to see all the former aviators-storm/mustangs names again.