Reeves' Army

They’ve permanently changed the American football supporting game.

Last year, a new group cropped up with a goal least expected: export an authentic soccer-style supporter experience to American football.

It happened in a place least expected: Jacksonville.

They are the Bold City Brigade. Their beginnings were modest in 2012. But with the support of the Jacksonville Jaguars, they are looking to take the concept to the big time.

The group has turned the north end zone (NEZ) at EverBank Field into a supporter end, and will have the run of sections 122 through 124. The Jaguars are working with the group to move season ticket holders to this area. (The 9-game season ticket package for that area, 7 regular season home games and 2 preseason home games, is $62 per game.)

The group has Facebook and Twitter accounts. Its website is currently under reconstruction. The group incorporated at the beginning of this year, allowing them to take memberships and sell merchandise.

In addition to having the NEZ, the group is working on having its own tailgate spot in the EverBank Field parking lots. They are also planning on an organized road trip to the Dolphins game this season, and want to have a presence at the 2013 NFL Draft.

As I have been promoting here, tomorrow is the big Ruckus-ILF Supporters Summit at XL Soccer World, which doubles as a 2012 MLS Cup Watch Party.

In addition to the leadership and rank-and-file of the two main supporters groups, and anyone else who wishes to show, Orlando City players including Jamie Watson and Rob Valentino will be in attendance. Phil and Kay Rawlins will also be there.

However, today the team announced their second-annual Orlando City fan summit. This is a town hall-like function which will be held downtown at Harry Buffalo (formerly Mojo Cajun Grill & Bar), a new sports bar at Church Street Station. It will take place on Tuesday, December 11, at 6pm.

In addition to the Q&A with owner Phil Rawlins, the team will have new merchandise available, including the new 2013 team jerseys.

Orlando City ended their regular season with a 1-1 draw against Dayton Dutch Lions. The match was before a regular season record crowd of 8,932.

Stoke City opened their season with a 1-1 draw at Reading. Burnley opened with a 2-0 win over Bolton Wanderers.

I have a friend who was invited to the President’s Suite last night during the match. While there, she heard that Orlando City was considering a West Orange County site for a soccer-specific stadium. In the distant past, there has been an idea to plant a soccer complex with a MLS-class stadium site near Horizons West. That site is roughly at SR 429 and New Independence Parkway. But I didn’t hear any particulars about this rumor. It’ll be something worth researching.

Playoff tickets are now available. Our semifinal match will be on Friday, August 31. Like last year, playoff ticket prices are the same as the regular season.

Orlando City grabbed the initiative early and never let go in a 1-0 win over Los Angeles Blues last night.

The Lions got an early corner, and Anthony Pulis delivered it in to a header by Kieron Bernard, grabbing the lone goal. The Blues wouldn’t do much pushing of their own, but City was unable to find the onion bag any further.

They’ll do it again tomorrow at 8pm. The Ruckus will be at Fiddler’s Green in Winter Park.

Orlando City has released its full list of activities for Faith & Family Night, the theme for Saturday night’s match against Richmond Kickers. Game time is 7:30pm.

The fan zone will have performance areas for several local Christian performers, including local freestyle Christian rapper StefanOtto, Christian rap/”psychobilly” group The King’s Offspring, and the choir of Body of One Ministries. They will also have a live art display from Evoke Ministries. Having researched the entertainment, it looks like they all are non-denominational Christian. The national anthem will be sung by Lucinda Howard, and sponsored by the Olympia High School chapter of FCA.

I previously mentioned that former wrestler-turned-minister Marc Mero will be giving a testimonial following the match. His event will be in the Citrus Bowl Varsity Club. To attend, exit the Citrus Bowl after the match and bring your ticket stub to the Varsity Club entrance. It’s the building next to the box office, between Gate C (our entry gate) and Gate D.

Those who bought tickets through Groupon or ODealsDaily can pick up their tickets at a table that will be set up next to the Box Office Will Call window. Those with vouchers from FCA can pick their tickets up in front of the Varsity Club. Those ticket locations will be available starting at 4:30pm, when the box office opens.

Weather is supposed to be excellent on Saturday night, if a bit warm. The Weather Channel and Weather Underground both have highs pushing 90°F, but AccuWeather predicts 86°. All have lows in the mid-60s Saturday night, with rain chances no higher than 20%.

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As usual, Juan Terrazas has his take on Monterrey taking out Santos Laguna for the 2012 CONCACAF Champions League title.

Translation via Google Translate:
Monterrey: Thank you, my king… every time you touch me, you turn me to gold!
Santos Laguna: And every time he touches me, he makes me the runner-up.

As usual, be careful when visiting Juan’s comic website. Mexican humor can get racy at times.

Monterrey dropped the away leg 1-2 to Santos Laguna, but scored the away goal late to steal a 3-2 aggregate victory, taking the CONCACAF Champions League and the North American club championship for the second straight year.

Los Rayados had difficulty dealing with the away crowd for most of the match, giving up goals at 45+2′ and 51′. But a goal at 82′ by Argentine midfielder Neri Cardozo invoked the away-goal advantage, putting Monterrey instantly two goals ahead and silencing the Torreon crowd. If the aggregate had remained 2-2, the match would have entered extra time.

Although he was suspended for the match for yellow card accumulation, Humberto Suazo won the golden boot for the competition. He tied for the most goals in the competition at seven with Santos’s Oribe Peralta, but Suazo scored two goals in the first leg of the final, while Peralta only scored one in the final tie.

With the win, Monterrey will now take a second consecutive trip to the FIFA Club World Cup in Japan this coming December. They are the first to qualify for this year’s tournament. Oceania (OFC) will determine its championship with a two-legged Final on April 29 and May 12 between AS Tefana of Tahiti and FC Auckland of New Zealand. UEFA will decide the European participant in a one-match final on May 19 between FC Bayern Munich of Germany and Chelsea FC of England.

Asia (AFC), Africa (CAF) and South America (CONMEBOL) are still running their tournaments. The host berth from the J. League in Japan will be decided this fall (J. League has a similar schedule to MLS).

Stoke City is looking to make the most of the end of the season. With four matches to go, they have slipped to 14th place, but are well off the drop zone. They will play at Newcastle today at 10am. The match will be on Fox Soccer (619 DirecTV, 1654 U-verse).

Burnley is pretty much played out of promotion this year in the Championship, 11 points out of the playoff with only two matches to go, but a run of 7 points in the past four matches has them firmly in the middle of the ladder. They play at Blackpool today at 10am.

Monterrey is in 4th place in the 2012 Clausura, but only three points out of the top seed, currently held by Monterrey rivals and Apertura champs UANL Tigres. They host Pachuca tonight at 10pm.

As for AS Roma, they head to Juventus tomorrow at 2:45pm. With six matches to go after last week’s match abandonment, they are only four points out of the Champions League. Their match will also be on Fox Soccer.

USL Pro posted an excellent article detailing the team routine prior to and during Orlando City’s home opener this past weekend.

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Adrian Heath has been named on Stoke City’s list of their greatest players to wear #7.

The number 7 has special meaning for the Potters, as the player most cherished in their history, forward Sir Stanley Matthews, wore it. Matthews played for 29 seasons (34 minus World War II), a length of time that would be considered insane today. He played 11 seasons for Stoke (1931-1940, 1945-1947), then 14 seasons for Blackpool (1947-1961), then four more for Stoke (1961-1965).

With Stoke, he won them promotion to the First Division in 1933 and 1963, and they remained in the First Division during both of his spells, peaking at 4th in the First Division when they returned to action from the war in 1946-47. With Blackpool he won the FA Cup in 1953, and peaked at #2 in the First Division in 1955-56. However, he scored 54 of his 71 career league goals with Stoke.

Heath was named one of seven among the greatest players to wear the #7 for the Potters besides Sir Stanley. Considering he’s best remembered for his playing career at Everton, where he won two First Division titles (1985, 1987) and an FA Cup (1984), that’s quite an achievement.

Reports are that Orlando City tickets are selling rapidly. At the end of yesterday, six sections were sold out. Orlando City’s ticket office will remain open today until 6pm, then will open tomorrow morning prior to moving to the Citrus Bowl box office. Any e-mails will be responded to.

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All plans for pregame tailgates and postgame after-parties are set.

The Ruckus will kick off their tailgate in Lot L at 1pm. Scarves are available ($20), and they have membership cards ($10).

Iron Lion Firm will kick off in Lot U at 2:30pm. They are selling membership cards ($20, includes T-shirts, which are available in sizes S-3XL), and taking pre-orders for scarves ($15 with membership card).

The team itself will hold its after-party at Mojo Cajun Bar & Grill downtown at Church and Garland. The Ruckus will have its own after-party at The Milk Bar across town on E. Robinson St. past Bumby Ave.

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Other USL Pro matches will be available tonight on USL Nation. The matches will be Charleston Battery v. Richmond Kickers at 7:30pm, and LA Blues v. Rochester Rhinos at 10:30pm.

In other matches, Burnley earned a 1-1 draw with Coventry City in the Championship, and head to Leicester City on Tuesday afternoon.

Stoke City is off this weekend, and head to Newcastle next Saturday.

Monterrey, who have recovered to second place in the 2012 Clausura with three matches left before the playoff, head to Atlas tonight. They will play at 9:45pm, and it will air tonight on Galavision where available…which, in Orlando, is only AT&T U-verse channel 3003.

I am still following the Fabrice Muamba situation.

The Manchester Guardian has an entire section dedicated to coverage of Muamba’s condition. According to them, in addition to the calling of Bolton’s match with Aston Villa, scheduled for tomorrow, Blackburn Rovers have offered to postpone their match at Bolton this coming weekend. This is a terrible time for this to happen, as Bolton is currently in a struggle to avoid relegation. The Wednesday match between Tottenham Hotspur and Stoke City at White Hart Lane will go as schedule.

Some idiot in Wales was arrested for racist tweets regarding Muamba, and has pled guilty. He initially tried to claim his account was hacked, but later admitted he was drunk after watching the Rugby Six Nations match between Wales and France on TV. Personally I am against the idea of arresting people for what I would view as free speech. I would think flaming him off of Twitter would be enough to chasten him.

The Sun has several stories about Muamba, several of them inspirational. One talks about his childhood with Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe. Another talks about the role of head referee Howard Webb, whose experience as a police officer helped him control the situation about as perfectly as it could’ve been given the circumstances.

No decision on resuming the FA Cup tie has been made yet. There are rumors that Bolton may quit the FA Cup this season altogether, though some want to push on as a tribute to Muamba.

Among the salutes this past weekend: Gary Cahill of Chelsea exposed a “Pray 4 Muamba” shirt under his jersey when he scored in their FA Cup tie against Leicester. The ref understandably swallowed his book for the “offense”.

Muamba remains in intensive care at London Chest Hospital in critical but stable condition. The latest this afternoon is that he is responding to stimulus, moving his arms and legs. One can only hope he continues to recover. But with reports from several outlets stating it took nearly two hours for doctors to get his heart beating on its own, you just never know.