September 2009 Archives

It's easy to complain, but if you don't have a solution or ideas to help fix the situation - you are wasting the time of everyone.

So we all know the south suburbs are struggling - enough said. With that said, I think high school soccer as a whole is down this year, but the south suburbs are just farther down than the rest.

It's ironic I received Soccer America's Top Club list this morning after writing Tuesday's blog. There was the Chicago Magic free falling from No. 1 to No. 11. On the girls side, Eclipse Select remained at No. 2 in the country. Eclipse is slowly, but surely making its presence felt in the south suburbs, so that should help the area.

But what else can be done to help south suburban soccer?

Scott Davis (left) may be average in stature but he's turning in big performances for nationally ranked Neuqua Valley writes Joe Trost for ESPN.com.

As one person said to me last week, I say what people think but won't say.

So here goes...

Soccer lovers in the south suburbs please sit down and hang on, because you are about to enter "Reality 101."

The south suburbs need to look in the mirror and realize that face just isn't as pretty as they think it is.

As Michael Jackson screamed, this is the new t-shirt motto of the south suburbs:

"Bad."

ON A ROLL: Time to break up Maine West. Its latest win came Thursday over Deerfield. Keep an eye on them.

FREE FALLING: How the mighty have fallen in the south suburbs. The new schools within the Lincoln-Way district spread the talent pool out, but I never thought I'd see the day when Lincoln-Way East and Lincoln-Way Central really aren't true state contenders.

And Sandburg...wait until next week. I have a few thoughts on the state of the Sandburg program and where it's headed.

SOMEONE STEP UP: The start of the boys soccer season features the Best of the West, the Barrington, Hinsdale and Glenbrook South Tournaments and the Pepsi Showdown. But after mid September, it's pretty quiet around here.

Maybe it's time for someone to create an end of the season tournament?

Ahhhhh....welcome back, even though I never left.

This little thing called the Pepsi Showdown - the largest high school boys soccer tournament in the Midwest and third largest in the country - somehow managed to take up a little bit of my time since Labor Day.

I don't know how that is possible, but it did. In past years, I had to listen to the so-called pundits from Hinsdale to Barrington through Naperville moan and groan that all I was blogging about during this span was the Pepsi Showdown.

So I decided this year to say, well, enjoy the silence.

I then sat back and watched all the coverage of the Pepsi Showdown and wondered if I didn't run the Pepsi Showdown - would I be covering it?

From the Tribune, Daily Herald and Sun-Times to ComcastSportsNet, B96 and countless other media publications, the Pepsi Showdown was the focus for all media.

When you have 38 teams at one site promoting more than 800 kids and allowing them a chance to play part of a doubleheader with the Chicago Fire at Toyota Park, I think it's easy to say that yes I would be covering.

It was the crown jewel of the boys soccer season this season, as it was last season, and as it will be next year. And as I've said since 2004, the girls version of the tournament will hands down be the bigger and most talked about of the two tournaments. It will be at 48 teams in 2010.

So with that, let's get into it. Boy, do I have some thoughts. Do you have any idea how hard it was to shut up for three weeks?

Horrible.

Completely horrible.

Yes, I know, I agree.

But Cornerkicks returns Thursday...as strong as ever.

See you then...

Back from sunny San Diego, here are some news and notes:

*Preseason Player of the Year candidate Alex Perez of Streamwood could be out for an extended period of time after suffering an injury Saturday during a 1-1 tie to Wheaton North. "With 40 seconds left in the game, Alex went up to clear the ball out of the box," coach Matt Polovin said. "He also headed the back of the Wheaton North player's head and broke his nose.

"Blood was pouring out of his nose, and the bridge of it swelled up pretty bad. He is going to a specialist today and hopefully he won't be out that long. I don't know if he can wear a mask, but he is definitely bummed right now."

*Lake View earned a spot in next week's Pepsi Showdown after recording a 5-3 victory over Timothy Christian in Tuesday's Pepsi Showdown play-in game. Lake View, which knocked off Loyola 1-0 last week, finished fourth in Class 2A a year ago. Timothy Chrisitian finished fourth in Class 1A.

*I was a little surprised Lincoln-Way West would schedule Hinsdale Central as its first ever opponent, as were many, many other people throughout the soccer community. But people were also stunned Hinsdale Central would add a first-year program to its schedule.

According to Hinsdale Central coach Mike Wiggins, both schools got together before kickoff, took a group picture together and had Lincoln-Way West kick off the first ball, sending it out of bounds as a commemorative item for its history. The Red Devils won 6-0.