Denver Road Trip: The Team

I am now going to give my commentary on what happened following the match involving the RSL team and organization.

As the final whistle blew the rage of a frustrated supporter simmered inside of me. We were there. We were loud. The support from the stands drove all night in a bus and sang their voices out and the team still lost.

The boys left the field with heads hung down, and rightfully so. They had a game that they could have and should have won and couldn't close the deal.

To avoid any further altercations with the black and blue faithful we waited in our section before the state police came to clear us out. On our way out Eric received a call from Scholesy calling on behalf of Ellinger who requested that the supporters come to the team hotel. It turns out that he was not impressed with the lack of appreciation his players showed the supporters and wanted to make it up to us.

We arrived at the hotel lobby not sure what to expect. Some of the players, including Jay, Jordan, Seth, Kenny, and Bryan Kamler stopped and said thank you to us. While most of the others, understandably, bolted through the lobby for the doors.

I'm pretty sure it's not what Ellinger wanted, but really what could he expect. As a player, if I had just had a bad game, at the end of a hard season, the last thing I would want to do is make small talk with a bunch of wide-eyed fans.

Needless to say some of the fans felt that a long and frustrating night had only been made longer and more frustrating. I for one felt silly standing there in the lobby. Someone even mentioned feeling like a groupie, which is pretty close to what we looked like.

In hind sight, all the players were going to be at the reserve match the next day as were all of the supporters. The gathering should have been made at the reserves match.

Back at the hotel in Willow Creek, a group of us were having a pickle of a time finding a place to eat. We ended up at an delicious pizza joint called Old Chicago.

Sleep was received well that night, especially on the soft hotel beds rather then the bus chairs.