Hoop Dreams!

It's relatively common knowledge that I love the sport of Basketball about as much as I loved the fact that my car got flipped over/towed away when the Philles won the World Series (that's another sport I love..).  Don't let the sarcastic intro fool you, I definitely watched our tallest Drexel Dragon squad take out #21Louisville on ESPN3.com, and was absolutely excited to see our boys snatch the win!  Drexel slipped ahead towards the end of the game after a few lead changes earlier in the second half, holding on for a 52-46 upset over the #21 ranked Cardinals.  Nearly every crucial player on the Drexel squad came close to fouling out, with only my namesake Dartaye RUFFin being forced to take a seat.  Head Coach Bruiser Flint gave credit to Gerald Colds for a calm senior performance as Drexel's point leader on the night, and my boy Yannick Formbor for some solid minutes in the paint.

That's as far as I go with commentary.  I've worn out my thesaurus choosing words that won't get me yelled at for bring up memories of bad pre-season press releases... and I don't think I can talk Basketball for much longer before I say something that makes me sound as dumb as anyone on SportsCenter trying to recap a premiership match... Hell of a win for the boys in blue & gold.  As our friendly neighborhood crack addict used to yell down to us from the projects out at Vidas Field - "Hey Drexel! Good game last night! Keep that SHIT up!"

Drexeldragons.com is good, but it looks like The Ineligibles beat them to the story yet again...  Look for a fuller official recap to be posted sometime tomorrow.

Check out both Drexel's & Louisville's pre-game previews for a bit more intelligent background on the game.  

December News

Yes, I am over my shock and bewilderment that the USA lost the World Cup bid to Qatar.  I will attempt to stem my sarcastic remarks for the next 12 years and instead start immediately on building up the excessive tan necessary to survive in the harsh desert climate.  For this weekend anyway, spin the globe away from the Middle East and land your finger on Philadelphia PA.  Drexel Soccer has a few great events to check out.  

Doug Hess & Brian Green will host a College Soccer Prep Camp this Saturday, December 11th.  One more step in the direction of "program building" is great for our men's soccer program.  Let's hope the coaches get a good showing of players interested in getting a look at the college soccer environment.  Details and sign-up information available on drexelmsoc.locker10.com.

One of the great fundraisers related to Drexel Soccer, The Laura Miekle-Koch Alumni Happy Hour will also be this Saturday, December 11th.  Hosted by our favorite sponsor Cavanaugh's Restaurant & Sports Bar.  Make sure you leave time in your weekend for this event, like I always say "It's a great cause and a great time, so why not..."  Details available on Facebook as well as under "Tailgating & Events" at the top of the page.

In other news, Drexel kicks ass at the CAA Blood Drive Challenge yet again!  This year is now the 5th straight in a row that Drexel Athletics has raised the most usable pints of blood of any CAA school.  One can't help but feel the irony that this consistent achievement doesn't seem to translate over to the athletics side of.. athletics..  Regardless of how simultaneously uplifting yet depressing this fact may seem to all those involved in Drexel Athletics, it is certainly great for the community and a considerable amount of credit has to go to Dr. Rebecca Weidensaul for everything she contributes.  Congratulations Drexel, The ACHIEVE Center and everyone else involved.  

2022, The Year Without A World Cup

Qatar 2022                     ---                     Russia 2018

2022 is now "The Year Without A World Cup" for The United States.  FIFA's surprising December decision to award hosting rights of the 2018 World Cup to Russia & the 2022 World Cup to Qatar can only be the work of the two most dubious holiday mischief makers of all time!  This photograph of The Miser Brothers was taken just minutes after the decision was made in Zurich Switzerland today.  The reason for the delay in the announcement is undeniably the work of these two tyrannical brothers, Heat Miser & Snow Miser!  While football conscious and fair weather loving voters were prepared to select England & The United States to host in 2018 & 2022, The Miser Brothers had other plans.  Any who dared express a view contradictory to holding the World Cup in two of the most miserably uncomfortable countries in the world, were simply melted or turned to snow by the touch of one of the Miser brothers... (Bun Num, BUM BUM!).  As the situation stands now, Rudolph along with Mrs. Claus, Jingle & Jangle are on their way to plead their case before Mother Nature in the hopes that she may be able to sway her two sons, Heat Miser & Snow Miser, into surrendering their evil plot.

"So it's funny furry hats for 2018 & sunscreen and personal fans with water spritzers for 2022?".  Russia & Qatar will be the next two nations to host The World Cup after Brazil in 2014.  Over the next 12 years the World Cup will take soccer fans from the savanna in South Africa and the jungles of Brazil, to the frozen tundra in the far north before heading to the Middle East to host the world's greatest spectacle on a desert peninsula.  While the executives at Coppertone are certainly licking their lips, american soccer fans are wide-mouthed and dumbfounded.  FIFA has blown our minds and crushed our hearts.  What seemed like a golden chance to catapult U.S. Soccer to the forefront of american and international sport turned out to be a gulf-sized oil spill of disappointment when we lost our chance to host.  Being the only bidding nation to receive 100% marks for its presentation, it just goes to show that good grades aren't everything.  Sometimes whoreish-ly disgusting amounts of oil money do the job much better...  

So Qatar it is for 2022.  It's a good thing they have all that oil money, because Qatar will need to construct one world class air-conditioned stadium every year for the next 12 years just for the matches alone.  These venues better be the most spectacular, sleekest, sexiest, sickest stadiums the world will ever see!  If you run on a promise of "We're going to pull a World Cup out of our ass, because we have the oil money to do it", then do it...  Mediocrity will simply not do.  I'm talking virgins in vending machines and air-conditioned gerbil tunnels from stadium to stadium!  I know I'm excited for it, so make it happen!  Personally I'm hoping for a Qatar vs. USA match up in the opening game.   

Laura Meikle-Koch Alumni Happy Hour!

If your someone who still reads this blog on a semi-regular basis I think you should have come to three conclusions about me by now.  1.) That I need to get a real job soon, because I have way to much free time on my hands.  2.) That I care enough about the goings on of Drexel Soccer to create a website that helps to build up the Drexel Soccer community, but still haven't found the motivation to locate the spellling/grammar check on the blog... 3.) And finally that humor, as inconsistent as its application may be, is a great way to keep people involved.  This post relates mostly to the first part of number two.

The Ineligibles do a lot of good things for the men's program, but we also like to do some good for the women's soccer program at Drexel when we can.  I can't think of a more important cause to endorse than the Laura-Meikle-Koch Restoration Fund.  Without risking butchering the powerful story that is behind the Laura Meikle-Koch legacy, I will just mention a few important facts you should know then refer you to a better source (like drexeldragons.com...).  In addition to an awesome 3v3 soccer tournament in the spring, there are a few events that our women's program holds to help add to the Laura Meikle-Koch Campaign during the year.

The next big event is the Laura Meikle-Koch Happy Hour at Cavanaugh's Restaurant & Sports Bar.  Details are all spelled out on the Facebook Event Page, but I'm so nice I copied them here for Leland and anyone else who is too much of a recluse to have Facebook.  You really can't have a better cause to donate to, so please plan ahead and make the effort to attend if you can.  It's a great cause & a great time, so why not!

Laura Meikle-Koch Alumni Happy Hour!
Saturday, December 11
6:30pm - 9:30pm

Cavanaugh's University City

39th and Sansom, Philadelphia, PA

This year's Laura Meikle-Koch Fundraiser Happy Hour will be held on Saturday, December 11th from 6:30-9:30 p.m. At the request of many, we have moved the happy hour back on campus and will have it at Cavanaugh's in University City. In addition, the athletics department is giving away free tickets to the men's basketball game at 4 p.m. that day to anyone that pays ahead of time. Please come out and see our guys take on Rider, check out the new recreation center and most importantly, come honor the memory of Laura Meikle-Koch, a former member of the Drexel Women's Soccer team. All proceeds go toward the Laura Meikle-Koch Locker Room Restoration fund. Tickets include a three hour open bar for only $30 ahead of time ($35 at the door). Please come out and support a great cause, catch up with fellow alumni and teammates! Look forward to seeing you then!

 - Any questions please direct to Jaclyn Barrett @ Jrb72@drexel.edu or call 267-679-9243  

NCAA Bracket-Watch, Round-3!

That's it then.  The last remaining CAA team has been eliminated from the NCAA tournament.  A decent run for William & Mary saw them knocked out in the Sweet Sixteen by Southern Methodist, with a score of 1-0 last night.  Both CAA team's each picked up one win and one loss in the big dance this year.  Old Dominion beat UVA in the first round then lost in the second round to Penn State.  William & Mary got a round further but only because of their first round bye, they beat UMBC in the second round then lost to SMU in the round of sixteen.  A decent showing for the CAA, but nothing spectacular.

Check out tribeathletics.com for the official game recap and box score as well as CAASports.com for their official write-up.   

NCAA Bracket-Watch, Round 2!

The CAA's two representatives in the NCAA Tournament part ways in the second round.  Old Dominion, who is coming off a stunning victory over last year's NCAA Champions UVA, crashes out in the second round.  While William & Mary narrowly escapes the second round after being afforded the luxury of a first round bye.

Old Dominion, probably still high off their win over UVA on Friday, was unable to keep their buzz going as they traveled to Penn State yesterday.  A 4-1 loss on the road was probably expected for a team that barely made it into the tournament to begin with, having missed out on the CAA playoffs at 5th on the table.  They legitimized their at-large bid for sure with the shocking 1-0 victory over UVA, but were brought right back down to earth when The Nittany Lions had there way with the Monarchs in the second round.  

William & Mary legitimized their automatic bid and first round bye by knocking off a tough UMBC side.  While not nearly as convincing as the last game the tribe played, the 4-0 win over Hofstra in the CAA final, a 0-0 (4-3 on PKs) was good enough to see them through to the sweet sixteen.  Now the only remaining CAA team in the big dance, William & Mary will recover and get ready to tango with Southern Methodist in Dallas next Sunday.  Or maybe its the Cotton Eyed Joe, I don't think they tango in Dallas...

Check out NCAA.com for full championship bracket & read the post game write-ups for both W&M and ODU on their respective sites.    

NCAA Bracket-Watch, Round-1!

ODU Monarchs!  The first round of the Men's Soccer NCAA Tournament has finished.  Last night's action was in danger of going unfortunately unnoticed by many college soccer fans.  Being nearly eclipsed by the drama and hype surrounding Round-1 of the final Harry Potter movie the NCAA Tournament was brought right back to the front page by one of Drexel's classic CAA rivals.  While William & Mary got to rest the first round of the tournament, sitting high on their CAA Champ automatic-bid, Old Dominion (the only other team to make it in from the CAA) made the best of one of the toughest draws in the bracket.  The Monarchs were stuck facing The University of Virginia, last years NCAA Champions, on the road in Charlottesville VA.  

They will certainly get good reviews for that one!  A 1-0 win bumps ODU's all-time NCAA playoff record to 7-9 and advances them to the 2nd round of the tournament (the 3rd straight year in a row they have done so...).  While in previous years you would have assumed that Old Dominion would get into the tournament and do well, 2010 was not a year to win a bet on that same assumption.  Old Dominion finished tied for 4th in the 2010 CAA table and didn't even make the playoffs by virtue of a head-to-head loss to Delaware.  Talk about a roller coaster!  Going from essentially 5th place in the CAA, because of a loss to one of the perpetually poorest teams in the CAA (That's UDel), to a surprise bid in the NCAA Tournament where they snatched a win from the defending NCAA Champions!  Harry Potter, sorry, but as good as Round-1 of The Deathly Hallows was (and it was good...) you got nothing on The Old Dominion Monarchs as far as cinematic drama.

Check out the official write up on UVA's website as well as ODU's and on CAASports.com.  You might find a bit of irony as well in the post NCAA bracket selection blog.  

Old Dominion and William & Mary both get right back to NCAA action on the 21st.  This Sunday, Old Dominion will travel to Penn State for a 2:00pm game and William & Mary will play host to UMBC at 5:00pm.  

Playoffs!?

Yeah Jimmy I wanna talk about playoffs... So there we have it, CAA Playoffs are over and its the end of the road for the majority of the men's soccer teams in the CAA on the long 2010 campaign.  For some the road wasn't so kind, Drexel is among these poor and weary travelers.  We finished dead last in the CAA for the second year in a row, making it ever harder to cling to the recent successes of the 2007 and 2008 seasons.  As depressing as that may seem, that will certainly not stop The Ineligibles from keeping up the usual nonsense, that is for certain.

For other teams though the road was less cruel than it was for the Dragons.  William & Mary finished their CAA season first in the conference, allowing them to play both of the CAA playoff matches at home in Williamsburg VA.  The Tribe took full advantage of the home playoff schedule by first knocking off Delaware in a double OT thriller in the semi-finals.  Thank god for that! Can you think of anything more depressing than Drexel finishing last in the CAA -AND- Delaware making it to the finals?  We may have shot ourselves in the foot plenty of times all season, but at least we dodged that bullet, thank you W&M.  The Tribe then went on to embarrass Hofstra in the finals with a 4-0 ass-kicking in Williamsburg earlier today solidifying their automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Check out the official CAA write up and nifty video after the semi-finals on CAAsports.com.
Check out the official CAA write up of the final game on CAAsports.com.  

Not quite sure yet how the 4-0 spanking of Hofstra in the final will play in the at-large bidding scene for the NCAA tournament... Usually when a conference like the CAA has so much parity (that's "evenness") as many as 4 or even more teams can get bids to the NCAA Tournament.  That being said the playoff parody (that's Hofstra's performance in the final game...) may tip the scales away from granting any other team an at-large bid to the tournament.  It may be the case that William & Mary solidified themselves as top dog and essentially screwed everyone else out of a chance to compete in the NCAA's.  Regardless of how it pans out, the only thing Drexel should really worry about is rooting for William & Mary when the big dance rolls around.  As much as it sucks to cheer for a team out of your conference, its in Drexel's best interest if The Tribe do well.. That whole "The enemy of my enemy is my friend" business doesn't really apply here.  The more success that more CAA teams have, the more recognition the CAA and its other teams get nationwide, even the ones at the bottom.

Visit NCAA.com for Tournament Central on Division I Men's Soccer action.

Some more Drexel specific post-season news is the 2 All-Conference selections that The Dragons received, despite their late season drop off.  Two of my favorite players Nathan "Gerrard" Page & freshman Ken Tribbet each received All-CAA honors.  #8 Nate Page (aka the only Englishmen ever to come to Drexel that didn't bring along an insatiable lust for loose women) was honored with a Second-Team All-CAA award in just his sophomore season in West Philly.  #16 Kenny Tribbet snatched up a CAA All-Rookie Team in his first go around at Vidas Field.  Two of the most solid performers in the midfield for The Dragons all season, these boys deserved the recognition.  Congrats gentlemen!

Check out the official write up on drexeldragons.com
Visit CAAsports.com for the full list of 2010 All-CAA selections.

That's a Wrap!

Stolle, Cory, Justin, Buzz, Max, Vignola, Nate, Baf, Thiago

Last Saturday Drexel displayed more heart, grit and determination than the fans at Vidas have seen from them all season.  Almost every senior honored got the starting nod and a hefty dose of overdue playing time.  The only senior missing out was the injured Max Crockett.  The end product of the night was a hard fought match with one of the premier teams in the CAA where Drexel came up just short of a victory due to a pair of truly unfairly accurate ODU srtikes.  Seniors Cory Rohlfsen and Andrew Stolle played particularly well for The Dragons in the 3-2 loss to Old Dominion.  All of the seniors had great games, to the point where you have to ask yourself why these guys didn't see more of the pitch all season?  

Man of the Match:  This one was tough.  Cory Rohlfsen certainly made a case for himself tearing it up down the right flank and getting himself a slick back-heal goal, the first of his career.  Andrew Stolle made his effort clear as well, an absolute workhorse in the center of the park Stolle was winning tackles and solidifying the backbone of the team all game.  Seeing as it was senior day and we're all about sunbeams and rainbows here on The Ineligibles... I'm giving it to both of them.  Way to finish boys.

"POOP SQUAD" Player of the Game:  I knew this one before the game even started.  Just after the senior presentations and before the starting lineups were even announced this clown solidified his place among the Poop Squad Legends.  Thiago "Fabino Chicharito Messi" Assumpcao is Poop Squad Player of the Game on a senior day that wasn't really even his. Asking our administration to go out of their way to involve him in the senior day ceremony is fair enough for Thiago, who had missed 2 seasons due to 2 successive ACL tears.  However, indulging in this ceremony then collecting the framed action photo and alumni scarf before (excuse my language pretty please...) F@%KING OFF to go out drinking for the night all before the game even started...  ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?  I made my frustration with this kind of behavior clear at the various alumni events after the game at a few bars and the only response I received was exactly what I expected... "(disappointed head shake) classic Thiago..." Fabio would not approve.

Check out the official game recap and box score on drexeldragons.com.

With no more games to look forward to for the Vidas Field faithful, its time now for thank yous and appreciation.  With a long off season there will certainly be time to get into the end-season outlook & CAA playoff news as well as talk more about all the off season comings and goings - the banquet, alumni events, recruiting etc., so we can take a break from the buzz for just a little bit.  

I do want to add a special and sincere thank you to Cavanaugh's Restaurant & Sports Bar!  Cavanaugh's, or "Classy Cav's" as many of its faithful patrons over the years have dubbed it, has been serving the university city community for way longer than I care to research.  So as you roam around university city grabbing a few beers, watching a game or jumping in on college nights on Wednesdays make sure you stop by Cavanaugh's over on 119th South 39th Street (@ Sansom St.), and show your support for our #1 sponsor of The Ineligibles.  Cavanaugh's has done wonders in helping to get The Ineligibles off the ground since we started in 2009 and on behalf of all of us we would like to extend this Thank You!

Senior Tributes, Class of 2010

That's right its finally here! Children of all ages, boys & girls and whatever Kyle wants to be called after his surgery... November is upon us and the beautiful fall weather is in full swing!  With the final match of the 2010 CAA regular season fast approaching, we will soon have a new class of Alumni to welcome into The Ineligibles.

After an epic end-season suicide dive to the dog house of the CAA the only remaining game for our boys in the blue and gold is an exciting Senior Day match up this Saturday at 7:00pm vs. Old Dominion.  While Vidas Athletic Complex will also play host to the CAA Field Hockey Championships this weekend, the prime event as far as The Ineligibles are concerned will be taking place on the actual Vidas Field.  Senior day for the guys is always a great time.  Regardless of the result, it's a time to get together and celebrate Drexel Soccer as well as honor the careers and efforts of a new class of players.    

Cory "Baby Face" Rohlfsen:  Thought I'd start with the little guy, no not Buzz.  This towering 6'2", 175lb. beast is just about as intimidating as a Tickle-Me Elmo.  A defensive midfielder with a sexy smooth touch who, although he often forgot which way he was going himself, could make even the best of defenders look like they just walked off the tea-cups ride at Disney World.  All the best that the Midwest has to offer, Baby Face is as genuine a kid as your gonna find.  Winner of the "Tits-Magee" award for the best bench press in the weight room Cory is our second favorite Omaha Nebraska native (after The Counting Crows).  We are thrilled to welcome him into the ranks of The Ineligibles.  

Tony "The Ringer" Bafile:  My man has seen it all.  With a playing career length rivaled by very few.  Anthony Bafile has seen Drexel Soccer go full circle.  From a dismal freshman year for the team in 2006, an identity changing 2 years in 2007 and 2008, the epic collapse in 2009 and finally in the painful rebuilding of 2010.  Throughout it all Baf has proved to be an ever present solid contributor in the Drexel midfield.  "Defend for Fabio, 'ok'.. Be the play maker, 'you got it boss'.. Lead the team in assists, 'no problem'.. Be a leader from the bench, 'only if I can listen to Bob Marley in the locker room'.. Play right back for us, 'ill give it a shot'.." Baf has played with players as old as Kwesi Hakim Klass and Grandpa Dom Balsamo to players as young as Ken Tribbet and Manny Cazares, & they ALL respect him.  It feels more like an overdue official notarization than an initial welcoming into The Ineligibles for this 3 year captain, Mr. Reliable, Anthony Bafile.    

    

Dan Vignola:  The Pike prodigy.  The only player in Drexel Soccer history to make it back on the squad after joining the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity.  Just about every player ever to get cut from the varsity team had joined Pike not a month before that.  Vignola is the special exception.  Although he did get cut his freshman year from the team and then joined Pike.. (a near death sentence for his soccer career) Vigs has miraculously made his way back into the squad and even snagged more than his share of playing time, especially his senior year where he scored his first career goal as a right back the other week against Northeastern.  A model on the side (easy ladies..) and an all around good guy, we are happy to bring Danny Vigs along.  

  

Justin Johnson:  Mr. Adidas, never a Nike swoosh in site.  This guys owns more clothes than I ever have in my entire life.  Never mind the shoes! I was gonna start with "more shoes than his girlfriend", but I think its actually more like "more shoes than everyone's girlfriend on the team combined plus a few alumni and next year's recruiting class."  At some point it becomes a fetish.. like the point where you own a "Ms. Piggy Edition" of casual Adidas sneakers.. as a straight college male.  Aside from the whole "he'll never be able to buy a house that doesn't have 6 walk-in closets" thing J.J. is as normal a guy as you'll meet.  My roommate for about 2 years this master skier is a gritty defender who works as hard as anyone during practice or games.  It's about time man, I'm buying your first beer as one of The Ineligibles.
    

Bryan "Buzz" Conzentino:  The actual little guy, although I think he'd beat out Cory in a tackle most of the time.  A Bryan after my own heart, especially because no one would ever know either of us were actually named Bryan.  Came to Drexel with a super sweet Hobbit mini-fro, that made him look even younger (as if thats even possible). An offensive midfielder with great vision and a few of those little tricks only the tiny guys can pull off, Cole Feffer I'm lookin at you.  For the little guys on the team Buzz was never on the "No Tackle" list (Fabio, Thiago, Cole, etc..).  He could take his fair share of hits and dish them out as well.  You're never disappointed to have Buzz in the room, and we can't wait to welcome Buzz into the group.

Nate "Trigger Toe" Baker:  You never had to tell this guy to shoot the ball thats for damn sure.  Happy to swing at a ball that most guys would hesitate to think was even in their possession, Nate is a born striker.  Quick as anyone on the pitch, it never really looks like he's even trying to run that fast at all.  A die-hard Boston sports fan who tends to be a little hot-headed, but we love him anyway.  I'm not so sure he pulled on his Lew Meehl tribute mustache in his senior photo (left) but that won't stop me from extending an official, actually an "unofficial" (because everything we do here is unofficial.. sarcasm intended)  invitation to Nate Baker to become a regular correspondent and guest poster on The Ineligibles blogpage.  After all, as good as I am I can't keep this up forever..  Welcome to the dark side Nate, I think you'll enjoy yourself quite a bit over here.
 

Andrew Stolle:  It took till his senior year for most of the team to figure out it was pronounced {stawl-ee} not {stoh-lee], (by the way it took forever to look that up..)  Just like Justin and Buzz, its much harder to write material on Andrew Stolle.  He's a relatively normal guy with a good sense of humor.  Maybe that makes him a little odd on the Drexel Soccer team... we certainly have collected a bunch of characters over the years.  As a player Stolle never complains much openly, just does his thing.  A hard working outside midfielder thats gets everyone with a perfectly executed stop-and-go about a hundred times a game.  I'm sure everyone (except Nedbal) is thrilled that Stolle is joining The Ineligibles this year.    

David Maxwell "The Rocket" Crocket:  Max is an absolute fan favorite.  As talented an athlete as you will find with the apparent self control of a crash test dummy.  Max has completely mastered the art of comedy so beautifully that his entire life appears to be one big sketch from Saturday Night Live.  One minute he's leapfrogging a kid on the field in the middle of a CAA game, the next he's dry humping Burgess in the back of the head when Lew isn't looking at practice.  Whether it's getting a lap dance from the coaches daughter, or just strolling around campus in boots and lacrosse shorts its always a good bet that at any given point simply asking "What is Max up to?" will get you a good solid laugh as a response.  Max can often be found throwing a lax ball at the wall before practice.. soccer practice.. or walking around by himself ranting about some encounter that's got him infuriated.  To the unsuspecting acquaintance he would appear to be Drexel Soccer's biggest space cadet, a true lax bro, or just an air-head but to those of us who have spent a little time talking to the kid its more like he's one of the funniest, down to earth kids you've ever met in your life.  He just operates a little different than the rest of us...  

  

Thiago "Fabino Chicharito Messi" Assumpcao:  The 1-season wonder!  This little bastard has had more ACL surgeries than season's played for Drexel Soccer.  He drinks more screwdrivers in a night than girls that Reber & Fisch hook up with in a year combined!  The "Sao Paulo Hurricane" is a walking administrative headache with an accent as thick as molasses.  Bow legged beyond comprehension, 80s mullet bigger than the legal limit, & laundry list of angry boyfriends wanting to whoop his ass for sleeping with their girlfriends, this guy doesn't go out for the night without ending up at an after hours bar downtown.  More importantly, he doesn't have a losing season... That's right, when Thiago is healthy Drexel win's games.  He finished his eligibility officially between 2008 and 2009.  In fact, his only full year played was in 2007, where Drexel was the best team we've seen in years capturing a CAA regular season title.  As a player he was more like Lionel Messi than Chicharito, just like he is more one of The Ineligibles than a 2010 senior but we thought we give him this unofficial honor anyway.

Gentlemen, thanks for you efforts and commitment to the program over the years.  You made it, you survived, now enjoy yourselves!  Welcome to The Ineligibles.

Drexel kicks off at 7:00pm tonight at Vidas Field.  Come join us in the parking lot around 4:30pm for some free food and appropriate beverages supplied as always by Cavanaugh's Restaurant & Sports Bar.  Official pre-game write up is on drexeldragons.com and you can follow the live stats online if you can't make it to the game.  

Mini-me

NU's #14 Dante Marini

Sadly, the loyal yet un-abundant fans at Vidas Field were overwhelmed with disappointment last night.  I don't know what was more obvious to those in attendance - that #14 on Northeastern had not yet hit puberty or that our boys in white and gold completely sucked.  There is no getting around it, no sugar coating and very little positive spin to be put on that performance against Northeastern last night (although I will get to the positive spin bit, so hold off on the lynch-mob just yet).  A mediocre Northeastern team out played Drexel the entire game.  Our defense looked like swiss cheese, our midfield couldn't complete a pass in our own half of the field never mind make it down near Northeastern's end, there was almost no offensive threat to speak of and the effort was abysmal from 90% of the team.  I believe this text message I received sometime shortly after the 2nd NU goal sums it up best - "Where is your MEN'S soccer team tonight?"

The first 2 Northeastern goals were the result of some pretty bad defending on our part (Mini-me won a tackle, god knows how that happened.. and slipped a kid straight through the middle of our back line in the box on the first one.  For the second one, it was pretty similar except the kid finished with his left thigh or left nut.. I can't tell which, but it trickled into the side netting back post).  Credit has to be given for the 3rd NU goal, that was as nice a finish as I've seen in the CAA in a while.  Everyone tries a back-heal finish on a cross once in their career, but to actually connect especially on a well driven cross under pressure from a defender or two... gotta give props there.

Drexel dropped the 3rd CAA game in a row and now sits decisively out of the playoff picture at 3-6 & 11th in the standings, and with more losses than any team in the conference.  A tiny ray of sunshine does exist in the efforts of a few players, Andrew Stolle & John Carroll were their usual hard working selves.  Among the non-stop hockey line-shift like substitutions that Drexel went through to try and get something going these two were the only ones that added any spark to the team.  Pentti Pussinen also did make a few key saves between the pipes, he should have a great career here if he keeps it up down the road.  

Man of the Match:  I'm giving it to Dan Vignola for picking up his 1st career goal late in the game off a corner kick.  No special back-heal finish or anything fancy like that, but at least he showed the balls to go up and challenge for the cross.  A little blue-collar attitude does pay off after all, good stuff Vigs.

Check out the official game recap and box score on drexeldragons.com.

CAA - Dramatic Conclusion

I've seen a lot of sports movies in my day and recent events have caused me to do some thinking about where to rank this year's season among my favorites sports movies of all time. Some of my more obscure sports favorites include Victory (Pele - "I do this, this, this, this, this, goal."), Caddyshack & Happy Gilmore, Cool Runnings, & Ben Hur (Chariot Racing was a huuuuge sport back then, and when the guy died during filming they didn't even stop the shot, now thats bad ass).

The 2010 Drexel Men's Soccer season, which I have unofficially titled "Enter The Red Dragon", has accumulated some rave reviews of it's own thus far.  drexeldragons.com says:  Enter The Red Dragon 2010 - "Explodes in second half..." and "...Continues Dominance at Vidas Field..."

While this season has certainly had its share of exciting moments, I hesitate to unofficially rank "Enter The Red Dragon 2010" without having seen the climax of the movie just yet... With the final 3 games of the CAA left on the table the director has certainly set us up for a dramatic ending. 

In typical zig zag fashion (and not the good Pele kind - go watch Victory if I just lost you..), Drexel managed to drop 2 away game in a row this past week after scraping out a 2-1 win at home against Georgia State. Losing to Mufasa & Simba 1-0 up in the Hofstra Pride lands was bad enough of a setback, but getting smashed in the nuts 2-0 by the VCU Rams (Jackass 3D style) over the weekend made things even worse.  The Dragons now sit at 3-5 in CAA and have almost fallen below my original prediction of 5-4-2 on the season.  

History (aka The Ineligibles) will tell us, the only games that really ever matter in the CAA playoff race are the last 3 of the season.  If Drexel wins out they can still technically squeeze into the Top-4 and make the CAA Championships with a 6-5 record... (I mean, I barely passed math in college, so...).  Hopefully I have managed to get my math right and we get a chance to witness the dramatic conclusion we've been waiting for all year!

One Up-ing Harry Potter 7, "Enter The Red Dragon 2010" divided it's dramatic conclusion into 3 juicy parts:  

 - Wednesday October 27th, HOME -vs- Northeastern

 - Saturday October 30th, AWAY @ James Madison

 - Saturday November 6th, HOME -vs- Old Dominion (On Senior Day!)

Leave your 3D goggles at home, the action comes natural at Vidas Field!  Let's just hope that this movie ends more like Happy Gilmore than Cool Runnings...  After all the boys have 3 chances down the stretch, but they need to get all of them right.  

Check out drexeldragons.com for the official write up of the Hofstra & VCU games.  

Reber Special!

I'd like to start by pointing out the difference between "the official drexeldragons.com" and "you're charmingly unofficial theineligibles.blogspot.com."  Anyone at the game this Saturday knows exactly why Drexel escaped with a 2-1 win over a less than mediocre Georgia State squad.  How Drexel is obviously going write the recap is quite different than how The Ineligibles are going to tell it to you and much much different that how Georgia State is going to write up the story.  Saturday's game is way too perfect an example to pass up the chance to illustrate this fact.  Let's begin with Drexel. 

drexeldragons.com:  "Dragon's benefit from Late Goal on Blustery Day at Vidas" ... "Freshman Mark Donohue broke a 1-1 tie in the 88th minute with his first career goal. The advantageous score gave Drexel a 2-1 win over Georgia State and helped the Dragons (7-5-1, 3-3) improve to 5-1 at home."  It might actually be funnier to put it this way for the sake of shear sarcasm.  Appropriate, informative, but still not quite the real story...

georgiastatesports.com:  "Men's Soccer Falls in Thriller to Drexel, 2-1" ... "Drexel found the game winner in the 88th minute when freshman Mark Donohue scored off a clearance to give the Dragons a 2-1 victory."   Wait.. Thriller?  Not so sure about that one, but good job glazing right over the ugly stuff at least.  Let's find out what really happened...  

theineligibles.blogspot.com:  "Reber Special!" ... Read all about it! Georgia State keeper "Charlie Browns the ball" in the 88th minute handing Drexel the win on a glorious silver platter.  Que 'banana peel sound effect' and more laughter than cheering in the stands at Vidas Field.  A shoe-in for our "Poop Squad Player of the Game", Georgia State keeper Vincent "Foermerly a starter" inspires The Ineligibles to announce a special new yearly post titled "Great Blunder's in CAA history."  This new post will come at the end of each season and will serve as the awards ceremony for our version of all-conference announcements, our "Poop Squad Legends."  Thanks Vinny!  Other news in the game is that Georgia State struck first on a corner kick (poorly defended by Drexel) late in the first half.  Drexel answered shortly after when Manny "Pacquiao" slipped nicely around a few defenders down in the right corner and had his cross blocker by a hand.  The PK was given and Nathan "Gerrard" tied it at 1-1 just before the half.  Drexel looked the better team most of the game, but not their usual offensively dangerous selves, aside from a few moments.  I'm a results based kinda guy and as long as we get the win that's enough for now.  Back to 3-3 in the CAA with an away match at Hofstra comin up on Wednesday.  Let you know what happened, tell you the important stuff you missed, reference a funny story that alumni can relate to, and throw in a cartoon picture followed by a few corny jokes.  It's all about staying involved and keeping it fun.

Man of the Match:  I'll give it to freshman striker Donohue for scoring his first career goal.  He must have done something right to make the keeper miss the ball before slotting it home for the 2-1 win. 

"Poop Squad" Player of the Game:  Yeah, that's our boy Vincent "Foermerly a starter."  I know it's tough to judge a ball that's bouncing off a perfectly flat turf field, but for your own sanity hope drexeldragons.com was right in that it had something to do with it being a "Blustery Day." 

Are we there yet?

The Dragons are almost 1/2 way through the 2010 CAA season.  With the 6th game of an 11 game CAA schedule coming up tomorrow, Drexel looks grab a crucial 3 points from Georgia State.  So far the Dragons have been zig-zagging their way through the first half of a tough CAA schedule.  They struggled at the start with two losses, one to William & Mary (Away 1-2) and another to UNC Wilmington (Home on Alumni Day 0-1).  They kicked it back into gear with two consecutive wins, one against George Mason (Home 4-1) and then again against Towson (Away 4-3).  This Wednesday they dropped back to 2-3 in the CAA with a loss to Delaware (Away 1-2) and are sitting at the #8 spot on the CAA table.  Check out drexeldragons.com for the official archived stories on each game so far this season & the archived blog posts from The Ineligibles to catch up on any news you've missed, drexeldragons.com also has the official preview up of tomorrow's Georgia State game on the website.  

Tomorrow's game isn't a "must win" but its starting to get very close to that for Drexel.  While Drexel is currently ranked among the top 50 of the national RPI Rankings, the only thing that really matters is keeping a solid record in the rest of the CAA games so that we end up in the top 4 come November.  Georgia State is next and hopefully the confidence of playing at home can see the boys improve to 3-3.  My guess is that it will be Senior Nate Baker (currently on a 3 goal in 3 game streak) or Freshman Kenny Tribbet (who just seems to come through in the clutch) that will cash in on the winning goal for us tomorrow.  Kickoff is at 3:00pm at Vidas Field, and free food and appropriate beverages will be supplied as always by Cavanaugh's Restaurant & Sports Bar.

Check out the Facebook Event and LIVE STATS if you can't make it to the game.  

Know what I mean?

Can't even begin without commenting on this FABULOUS photo from drexeldragons.com...  I can't figure out if it was a handball or Nate chest-bumped it thirty yards into the goal (I'm was hoping on the second, until I realized it was from the NJIT game).  Anyway back to the serious stuff...

Let's just deal with what we know:  Delaware is known for a student body that is comprised of a very large number of very attractive girls, crazy ex-girlfriends, a dumb school mascot (Blue Hen..), Joe Flacco and no sales tax.  What Delaware in NOT known for is a historically successful men's soccer program in the CAA, especially aganst Drexel - even Delaware knows this, in fact the most useful thing (I say "useful" lightly..) from the Delaware website was the historical tidbit that Drexel is 35-18-6 against Delaware since 1947.  Usually anyones first answer to "Who is the worst team in the conference?" is almost always "Delaware."  What Delaware has been known to do on occasion is knick a win from whoever is at the top of the conference near the end of the season.  We also know that in a CAA where only the top 4 teams out of 12 make it to the post season CAA Tournament.

So... Losing to a historically beatable Delaware 2-1 Wednesday night and dropping to 2-3 in the CAA does not make things easy for Drexel, that we know for sure.  The boys are very close to needing to win out in the remaining 7 CAA games the next few weeks in order to secure a top 4 playoff spot.  Bright side is Nate Baker picked up another goal (header on a corner served by Manny "Pacquiao" Cazares), that makes 3 goals in 3 games for Baker who has been carrying a large load of the goal scoring for Drexel this season.

Check out the official game recap and box score at drexelxdragons.com

The boys are back in action this Saturday when they host Georgia State at home on Vidas Field @ 3:00pm.  Ineligibles Tailgate at 12:00noon-ish with free food and appropriate beverages, supplied as always by Cavanaugh's Restaurant & Sports Bar.

Back on Track!

Well, I seem to have woken up from my coma finally and gotten around to putting up a post.  I have decided to take a day off from "The long defeat" (aka my job search for the past few months) and get back to news on the boys at Drexel.  Let's start with what I missed:

George Mason - After a sleeper of a first half, the boys got right to work at the start of the second half.  Malcolm LeBourne got us going early by tucking away two fast break goals in the first 6 minutes.  "The Nate's" followed suit and each tucked in a goal of their own later on.  The fans that braved the rain at Vidas were rewarded not only with goals but with a plethora of opportunities to rip on the opposing team.  The dreadful display of 'non-goalkeeping' by the Mason keeper brings back memories of Wade Gerhardt's fondness for some of the goalkeepers we used to have on the team.  I believe the phrase was "I think putting a trash can in the middle of the goal would produce more saves." - or something along those lines...  Mason did snag a goal of their own and put us under some late game pressure, but hell if we can rip a back-four apart like that, we can afford to be a little shaky on defense for a while.  After dropping the first two CAA games to William & Mary and UNC Wilmington Drexel needed a win bad to stay on track for making the playoffs and the 4-1 win was exactly the re-invigoration that the team and its fans needed.

Man of the Match:  Malcolm LeBourne.  The goals he scores may look nice, but unfortunately his celebrations look more like the first week of eliminations on Dancing with the Stars.  
"Poop Squad Player of the Game":  Mason keeper, Sean Cote.  Great job on the halftime warm-up routine.      
Official game recap and box score from drexeldragons.com.


Towson - Shootout!  I would have loved to make it down to Towson for this.  Either the CAA has recently received an economic stimulus of offensive talent or England goalkeeper Robert Green has been feverishly producing illegitimate offspring and sending them to live in Towson Maryland for the past 18 years.  Drexel won the game 4-3 and just like last year (when Drexel won 6-5 at home... yeah 6-5) the Tiger goalkeeper's inability to make a single save on the night was what lost the game for his team.  A familiar assortment of Drexel goalscorers made the difference for the Dragons.  Once again "The Nate's" teamed up to grab a pair of goals & freshman sensation Kenny Tribbet grabbed a pair himself, including the game winner.  John Carroll picked up 2 assists as well, good stuff from my favorite sweaty little Italian.  After Sunday's game, Drexel is back on form sitting at 2-2 in the CAA.
Man of the Match:  Gotta be freshman Kenny Tribbet, if he keeps going at this pace he'll rack up more career points than Ken Tribbet (now Drexel Basketball alum).
"Poop Squad Player of the Game":  Gotta be Towson keeper Angelo Viteritti, check out familytree.com you might find a link to the Green family in England.
Tougue Twisting game recap and box score on drexeldragons.com

Awards! Hurray:  Nate Baker & Ken Tribbet got themselves into the spotlight after two solid performances each this past week.  Drexel Athletics highlighted the awards for both on the website (Link)-  "Baker has been named Soccer Six Player of the Week and Colonial Athletic Assiciation Co-Player of the Week. Tribbett was named CAA Rookie of the Week, selected for the College Soccer News National Team of the Week and was also selected for the Soccer Six weekly Honor Roll.  Both players contributed two goals and an assist on the week to help the Dragons beat George Mason, 4-1, at home and Towson 4-3 on the road."  I'm done saying anything else about Tribbet because it's starting to sound too much like a man crush on my part.  I will say this... if the U.S. National Team had a striker with the same simple talent that Baker has (aka run fast down the field and put the ball in the net)  maybe we would have been able to beat Ghana in the World Cup or even Colombia yesterday (instead of tieing 0-0).  Drexel has fallen into a luxury of goalscoring capability recently and Nate Baker has been one of the key components in that. 

Back to the future:  Drexel now sitting on 2-2 in the CAA and playing pretty well, at least offensively, heads down to Delaware tonight for a 7:00pm game and is looking to complete the turn around to 3-2 in the CAA.   

Alumni Day Hangover...

Well my hangover after Alumni Day has finally gone away... no no not really anything to do with beer... more about the day as a whole.  Allow me to explain - Alumni Day started out great like a typical soccer party at Drexel:  Everyone was excited to see all the guys you play soccer with in one place, you start off playing a game thats a lot of fun, jokes are flying and spirits are high, mix in some food and a bigger crowd and things are looking up!  However, Alumni Day also ended a lot like a typical party at Drexel back in the day:  By the end of it Ray Nedbal was no where to be found, Johnny Martin had left early again, Thiago was at the bar by himself calling everyone to hurry them up, but mainly that there was a huge sense of disappointed in the "main attraction" - The turnout of females in the case of the party, and the turnout of the varsity game in the case of Alumni Day...  UNC Wilmington dropped Drexel like "Russell Himelein through a pong table"...It was slow, painful to watch, and Drexel never really put any effort into the fight.

A fluke goal, where the UNC midfielder was just as surprised as everyone else in attendance that his volley went in, was one of the only exciting moments of the match (and it happened in the 1st half).  Neither team played very well and in the end the large crowd of alumni and supporters left feeling frustrated that the boys hadn't shown more spirit.  Nate Baker was one of the only players that seemed to play with any kind of chip on his shoulder.  Check out the official game recap and box score on drexeldragons.com.

A huge Thank You has to be extended to Drexel Athletics for putting on a great Alumni Day.  No complaints from any alumni other than to leave the beer and food out a little longer, but who didn't see that coming haha...  Also, a Man of the Match "Special Nomination" to Associate Director of Sports Information Britt Faulstick, for two expertly crafted tributes to former Drexel coaches Lew Meehl & Johnson Bowie.  Britt has been making all of us sound like much better soccer players than we really were for years.  Instead of some kind of award for the quality of his work he gets stuck with Chris Schieve as his full-time graduate assistant for the next 2 years, poor guy.  Stay strong Britt...  

Drexel drops to a last place 0-2 in the CAA and gets prepared to face George Mason tomorrow at Vidas Field @7:00pm (Ineligibles tailgate as always around 5:00pm with free food and appropriate beverages supplied by Cavanaugh's Restaurant & Sports Bar).

Drexel has struggled the past few years against George Mason.  Mark Stevenson's header goal in 2007 was the last time the Dragons beat the Patriots (1-0).  In 2008, Cory Robertson picked up a red card for tackling a kid on a breakaway and we finished the game with a 2-0 loss, Mason went on to win the CAA that year.  In 2009, surprise surprise Drexel got their asses kicked (3-1) at home (you'll start to see that trend I as reference the 2009 season more).

Hope to see you at the game tomorrow night @7:00pm.

Check out the official pre-match write up by "Man of the Match" Britt Faulstick on drexeldragons.com shortly.

Rally the Troops! - CAA Home Opener on Alumni Day!

Juicy Historical Introduction...
It seems there has always been drama when Drexel plays UNC Wilmington.

Leland "Frodo" Raum

In 2007:  Leland "I own a cat named Elvis" Raum helped Drexel to top off a 6th CAA win in a row by scoring one of his infamous "out of nowhere, FIFA style goals" with 5 minutes left in double overtime down in NC.  On a rare occasion he got himself a nice lil photo headline on the website showcasing his Hobbit hair cut....  he looked like Cory Mattews before he hit puberty, still does...  Anyway, the entire team was so surprised that Leland actually scored the goal (and that it wasn't Fabio or Thiago...) that we lost the next two CAA games.
 - Archived Game Recap.  

Yours Truly

In 2008:  The stage was eerily similar to the one set for this Saturday.  Drexel was hot off their best season in the CAA ever in 2007 and was playing UNC Wilmington in the CAA opener on Alumni Day.  That game Drexel broke a 5 game scoring drought to take the lead in the game three separate times.  Things were looking good...but wait... enter yours truly (see me making fun of Leland's hair is funnier now..), who managed to give UNC Wilmington not just 1 pk late to tie the game but another 1 in overtime allowing UNC to snatch the win.  Talk about "POOP SQUAD Player Of The Game!", it was so bad everyone forget that Baf had missed a pk that would have seen Drexel go up 4-2 with 20 minutes left in the game.  I think I made the "Come-on Man!" segment of Monday Night Countdown that week... Spots Information even put my picture on the headline for the game as if to say - "Hey just in case you forgot, it was this retard who blew the game on Alumni Day..."
 - Archived Game Recap.

God I hate UNC.  

In 2009:  The game down in NC was cancelled due to weather and the boys had to return home with nothing but a few free Olive Garden meals & some missed class time.  They returned to NC later in the season to replay the match, only to get their asses handed to them 5-0.  UNC Wilmington went on to win the CAA Championship that year...
 - Archived Game Recap.
    
So we make it to 2010!

This is gonna be a big one!  Drexel returns to Vidas Field this Saturday, October 2nd for the first CAA home game of the 2010 season.  The Dragons will put their unbeaten home record on the line as they take on one of the toughest teams recently in the CAA.  UNC Wilmington is the returning CAA Champion & has been nationally ranked higher than 24th all year (until losing 0-1 to Coastal Carolina on Tuesday...).

Not only is Drexel playing one of its toughest opponents of the year, but the 1st CAA home game of 2010 is on Alumni Day!  Kick-off is at 3:00pm.  So grab your friends, family, classmates, co-workers, even a random stranger or two & bring um to Vidas Field!  This game will not disappoint!  

Details for the Alumni Day festivities.

Check out the Facebook Event! 

Check out the official game preview on drexeldragons.com.  Sports Info finally smartened up and used a photo of Danny Vigs on the article.  It's gonna be like those Axe Effect commercials at the game tomorrow... at least I hope so.  

Let's GO DU!

P.S.  This weekend's weather is supposed to be 70 & sunny!