Milwaukee's Week in Wichita

Milwaukee’s Week in Wichita

Thirteen hours is the time it takes for the bus to leave Hartman Arena on its way to US Cellular Arena in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  The Wings have made three of their scheduled four trips to play the Milwaukee Wave this season and before they venture into the Champions house again, the Wave will play in Wichita three times in one week.  The duration of time it takes to get from Milwaukee to Wichita is more than twice as long as it takes any Eastern Division opponent to get to one another’s arena.  A little over six hours is what it takes to get from Baltimore to Rochester out East, that is longest between any of the four teams.  Pending the Wave do drive to Wichita, by the end of the season over 180 hours of bonding time on a bus will be spent by the two teams.  It is not the most ideal method or distance of travel, but some Wings players have admitted that the sleep missed on these busses is unfortunate but they do enjoy the quality time spent with their teammates. 

This weekend Wichita will host the current MISL champions Friday and Saturday night at Hartman Arena, then they will return Thursday for the same fixture.  The Wave look to continue their dominance over the Wings as they have taken the first three games over the Wings all in Milwaukee.  The first two games were highly contested and were decided by two and three points.  The Wave were stifling in the third as Marcel Feenstra and Co. allowed only two Wings goals.  They took the game easily, 15-4.  I think it is safe to say that this weekend has become much more important for the Wings as their playoff hopes continue to hang in the balance.  Winning two out of six against Missouri has hurt them but the Wings have put themselves in a position to disrupt what looked to be an easy glide into the playoffs for the Comets.  With four games in hand on Missouri the Wings can really apply some pressure if they go on some sort of win streak, doing it will be quite a challenge against the league’s top club.  Milwaukee is going to win the Central Division and have had the Wings number this year.  When they enter Hartman Arena on Friday, things will be different. 

There will be a vast difference in the matchup this weekend between the Wings and Wave.  These next three games for both teams will include something that the first three only saw for about twenty minutes of play, that being the rejuvenated and incredibly entertaining Tijani Ayegbusi.  The Nigerian’s knee injury that left him out of the action for almost two months happened during the second quarter of play in the Wings first trip to Milwaukee.  He made his wonderfully triumphant return on January 7^th in a 13-10 home loss to the Comets.  In that game he was the driving force, and despite the loss he was the man of the match.  He picked up his first goal of the season as well as three assists.  An overworked TJ saw him limp off the pitch in the fourth quarter.  He was rested for the Wings win over the Comets this past Saturday at the Sprint Center, but I think he will be primed for another stellar performance when the Wave come to Wichita.  If his fitness is good and he can put in regular shifts for the entirety of the game, he will be the difference maker for the Wings.

The Wings have brought in a new player, but head coach Lebaron Hollimon has made it very clear that he is NOT Carlos “Chile” Farias’ replacement.  Of course, Chile and the Wings parted ways a few weeks back and Chile now gets his paycheck from Rochester.  New signee, Kareem Yearwood, is now with the club but will not see any game time until Lebaron is convinced he is ready for the speed and technical ability required for the indoor game.  Kareem is a 6’2” 180 lb native of Trinidad and Tobago.  He graduated from the College of Charleston in 2010 and was the last player Hollimon chose not to keep after the Wings Black and Orange scrimmage before the season began.  The most important thing about bringing in Yearwood is that it symbolizes the final move to the end of Farias in Wichita.  I am not saying that Chile’s departure has been tough for the team because it hasn’t.  Nine games with Chile only resulted in three wins against lesser teams.  Without Chile, the Wings have won two of four against top opposition.  Yearwood is a player for the future, but his presence and the Wings previous victories over the Comets lets the Wings fan base know that there never was a reason to dwell on Chile’s exit.  The club is more functional without him.  For the remainder of the season they will need to be functioning at the highest level if they want to continue their season into the post season.

My prediction:  A large crowd will be very beneficial for the Wings this weekend.  Hearing the raucous Wichita fans through a headset as I do every game has become a very welcomed and exciting sound.  The louder the fans are the more confidence I have that the opposing team is having trouble sticking to their game plan or setting up a free kick.  Disrupting the Wave’s rhythm will be key for the Wings the weekend.  I predict the fans show up in great numbers.  The other professional team in town, The Wichita Thunder, doesn’t play at home until Sunday.  That means professional athletics can only be found at Hartman Arena both Friday and Saturday night.  If The Wings can attack early and stay off the back foot, getting behind their adoring fans should see them in a very good position to be the night’s winners.

Wings Practice Yesterday

Kim Røntved Interview

Here is the Kim  Røntved Interview from the very first game.  The interview was done with Kim and and I before the Wings first game VS the Comets.  It was played during halftime of the game.  This is the full version, the version played during the broadcast was shortened by about a minute and a half.  Enjoy and Thanks to Kim  Røntved and Jeff Husted for setting this up for me.

Great Weekend

Let’s talk.  The Wichita Wings are on a bit of run.  They have won two straight and have won three out of their last four, with their only loss coming in a confusing game against The Wave in Milwaukee.  The game consisted of the Wings being held scoreless for three plus quarters until they fired off 10 PTS in the 4^th to make it a 13-10 loss.  They even killed a 5 on 3 disadvantage in that same quarter.  The Friday before that they won their first game beating the struggling Norfolk SharX 16-11 at home.

            This past weekend was possibly THE turning point in the season for the Wings as they showed no mercy against The Syracuse Silver Knights on Friday night.  They rolled over the very poor Knights 20-4.  Every time my color commentator, Cliff Brown, and I went to commercial during this game, we would discuss how appalled we were at Syracuse.  Once a 3-0 team they now looked like a reserve side.  Cory Elenio scored the first goal of the game within the first 12 seconds.  At that point there was a bit of an ‘Uh-Oh’ feeling inside Hartman Arena.  Once The Wings settled down and equalized through the now MISL player of the week, Jamar Beasley, it was easy business from then on.  The Wings ran things in the middle, didn’t allow Sanaldo to do much as their defense took some great pride in defending their goal that night.  Their shots were on target, which has been an issue in the past, they showed confidence to take on players 1 on 1, and killed off every power play the Knights had.  A major change to LB and Sammy’s game plan that made things flow much better for the team was dropping Chile back in the midfield to run things.  I could talk all day about Chile and his fantastic vision, but I will just say this; the more of the field Chile sees, the better the entire squad is.  Runs made off of him are found by him, the team’s shape is better, and even though he isn’t scoring as much he would like, he is simply a goal creator.  He leads the MISL in assists right now with 12. 

            The next night, battered and beaten Norfolk came to town.  They jumped off their plane that morning, having been plowed through by Rochester just two nights before 16-2 at home.  Having just signed two new Brazilian players being the only positive thing they had to look forward to, they, like Syracuse, scored the opening goal but then proceeded to completely throw away any moment that provided them with.  They scored only one more goal the entire game as The Wings rolled 17-4. 

            Important Weekend Notes: 

·      Freddy Moojen finally came alive and single handedly destroyed Syracuse with 4 goals and an assist to triple his total PTS for the year in one night.  He scored 2 more the next night as well.

·      Jamar Beasley scored a weekend total of 13 PTS to overtake the leagues scoring lead.  He leads Geison by 4 PTS and is 2^nd in the MISL assisting only behind his teammate, Farias.  He is this week’s MISL player of the week.

·      Brian Cushing continued his good form at home has he scored in both of the weekend games and had an assist against the Silver Knights.  His rambunctious and elongated celebrations will definitely keep the fans coming back to Hartman Arena.

·      Larry Inlow, although no PTS this weekend, had a top-notch couple of games.  His defense was stifling and as we are still without TJ Ayuegbusi, Larry has become the defensive Muscle for the Wings.

·      Daniel Villegas had his first day of full training today and hopes to be considered for the squad that travels to Milwaukee for next Friday’s game.

Keith Tozer Interview

Also, here is the Keith Tozer Interview that was played at the HT of the 2nd Milwaukee game. Big thanks to Keith Tozer and Leah Toohey for setting up this interview.

Lebaron Interview: 11/30/11

Here is the LB Interview he graciously did with me that was played during the HT of the Syracuse game last Friday. Check it out.

Sorry for the wait, But here's an update.

I apologize for the delay in the updates.  I have underestimated how busy things become during the season.  Since I last posted the Wings have enjoyed their first win.  It took a sloppy performance at home against Baltimore for the team to get back to scoring goals.  Baltimore came in to Hartman Arena and controlled the game very well.  They didn’t pile it on as they didn’t need to.  They ran out 12-6 winners on a seemingly desolate Wings attack.  Jamar Beasley put away two more on the night and continued his fine form in the early stages of the season.  He has now scored in five of the team’s first six games and has three multi-goal games as well.  He currently leads the team with 9 total goals and 23 points.

The ensuing weekend brought the struggling Norfolk SharX to Hartman Arena.  The SharX were a team that had been destroyed in it’s two opening games as a franchise.  They had allowed 20 plus points in their first to games and had only scored 14 of their own.  On paper it looked to be a very winnable game for the Wings.  Many of the players called it a must win game as they were now 0-4.  The game ultimately ended in a win for the Wings as they won in front of their home crowd for the first time this year.  They held off a late SharX surge to win 16-11.  It wasn’t the prettiest of wins as many times it seemed as if they should have broken the game open and killed it off.  But it is a job done, first win of the new Wings era.  The only negative about the final buzzer sounding was that it meant the team, including me, had to immediately get on a bus and drive 13 hours through the night to go back to Milwaukee for a rematch against the Milwaukee Wave.  The Wings fell to the defending MISL champs only three games ago 13-15.

Maybe it was the long trip up to Milwaukee, and the two games in three days, or that Milwaukee hadn’t played a game in over a week and were very well rested.  Whatever we want to blame the first half performance on we can, but the fact is a few defensive slip-ups and a very big 4 minutes at the beginning of the second quarter resulted in a lead big enough for the Wave to hold us off in the fourth.  Gradually the Wave built a sturdy lead, including 6 points from 3 goals in under 4 and half minutes to start the 2^nd quarter.  By the beginning of the 4^th quarter it was 13-0 and the thought of the Wave shutting the Wings out loomed large.  We would have been the first team to be shutout all year.  Two minutes into the fourth Bryan Perez quelled our worries as he tapped in a great nutmegged pass from Victor Quiroz to make the score 13-2.  So a bit of relief as the 0 was wiped off the board, and also the slightest bit of hope that a rally was on its way.  That bit of hope provided from Perez was enough to urge the boys on and really start believing they could get something from this game.  They scored all five goals of the quarter and even killed a 5 0n 3 disadvantage half way trough the period.  They did come up three points short and they were beaten 10-13.  The comeback really was brilliant though, I told the guys after the game it was the most exciting 15 minutes of Wings soccer I had called all season.  They showed us that they are team that can come from behind and compete with a top team once again.  Now the final element of that equation is for them to find the final element that pushes them over the hump.  Competing is good and everything, but winning that competition is what ends the day with a feeling of satisfaction.  I know this for sure, the feeling after the game was not satisfaction.  The ‘almost’ comeback was not satisfying in the locker room.  It probably did however provide the post-game talk with a bit less negative feel. 

As they move forward they see an expansion weekend.  Tomorrow the Syracuse Silver Knights then Saturday the Norfolk SharX enter the 1-2 home record fortress of Hartman Arena.  I won’t give a preview because not having seen much of Syracuse I don’t want to give my two cents when it is probably only worth half a penny right now.  All I will say is that Slavisa Ubiparipovic is the league’s leading scorer.  He is young and had a trial with the New York Red Bulls.  He sounds like the real deal, and with the Wings defense still in some injury trouble he might have a big night, so I think containing the team’s other threats will be key.  I won’t say anything about Norfolk because I believe the score line should and will be about 19-8 Wings.  Adios