September 2008 Archives

As I looked around at some of the city soccer fields in New York City on Thursday and Friday, it's safe to say some of the fields need some work - both in the city and surrounding suburbs.

But the key is NYC has fields for high school teams to play on - something that the CPS Public League continues to ignore. Money and space are issues, but there is no proactive plan to address the ongoing problem.

I'm tired of writing about it, and you are tired of reading it. So why hasn't the CPS Public League done anything?

Other news and notes:

Should the Chicago Fire force teams to sell tickets in order to play at Toyota Park?

Remember, the Fire has to cover costs but it also has to build a fan base.

Let me know your thoughts.

There is nothing like traveling. I love it, unless I'm on a bus.

While I'm in New York preparing to head to Shea Stadium tonight for the Cubs/Mets game, Lake View and Young will hop on separate buses and travel more than 50 miles roundtrip to play an 80-minute soccer game today.

Keep in mind, this is actually a home game for one of the two schools.

What does this mean? Kids in the suburbs should realize how lucky they have it, and people in the CPS Public League Sports Administration need to find more soccer fields.

On a sad note, this spring will be the last run for St. Ignatius girls soccer coach Aaron Carpenter.

As much as I love running the Pepsi Showdown powered by ComEd, not going to lie - it takes a lot of time. And if it wasn't for so many great people involved in, I have no idea how we could pull it off.

But after taking a break from a lot of things to focus on the tournament, I can now refocus on the world of soccer.

Guess what?

Just when you think the CPS Public League Sports Administration can't do anything else wrong, you start to wonder what the overall IQ is in that office.

Perfect weather is expected for the semifinals of the Pepsi Showdown powered by ComEd, which will take place Saturday at the Lyons Soccer Complex (1301 Cossitt Ave.) in LaGrange.

The 34-team event, which is partnered by YourSeason.com, kicks off at 8:30 a.m. Additional information may be obtained by visiting www.pepsishowdown.us.

Here is the Saturday Showdown schedule:

After taking some time off to get the Fifth Annual Pepsi Showdown powered by ComEd off the ground, here is the schedule for the Saturday Showdown at the Lyons Soccer Complex (1301 Cossitt Ave., LaGrange).

St. Edward (Ohio), the top team in Ohio, O'Fallon and Gibault are up this Saturday, too, and the trio will actually play a tripleheader at Prairie State College in Chicago Heights tonight against Bloom, Marian Catholic and Homewood-Flossmoor.

The Pepsi Showdown, which is partnered by YourSeason.com, kicks off at 8 a.m. and the last game will get underway at 4:50 p.m. B96 (96.3 FM) will broadcast live from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., while NIKE will allow players to try new cleats during games and have FIFA '08 on site to play.

Make sure to check out the Showdown ad on pg. 50 of today's Chicago Sun-Times.

So what did we really learn from the first true week of the boys soccer season?

Lyons, Hinsdale Central, Wheaton South, Fremd, Barrington, Sandburg and Waubonsie Valley are middle of the pack teams so far, while Streamwood, Deerfield and Larkin are just three teams to watch this fall.

But if there's one thing we know for sure...

Just when I thought this blog was going to be daily throughout the season, it stopped working last week. I assume it was someone trying to shut me up, but it you can only do that for so long.

Sorry soccerguru.

From this point forward, however, it will be daily. And with that said, let's get this week started with some food for thought....

Naperville Central coach Jay Konrad called today and gave me a hard time for not releasing the complete Top 10 all at once.

"Trost, are you waiting for someone to play," Konrad asked.

"No," I told him. "It's called a teaser."

And with that, let's look at a few more teams in the preseason Top 10.

At some point later this season, a state title will reside at North Central College in Naperville.

The only question is to whether it will remain in Naperville after it's all said and done.

For you loyal readers, here is a sneak peak at the Sun-Times Boys Soccer Top 10, which will appear on Thursday.