THE LOUISVILLE EXPERIENCE 2009

That, my friends, is tough to re-capture. A whole lot happens in 48-72 hours, with, it seems like, every minute action-packed. Upon our arrival in mid-afternoon on Friday, a few of us went out & played 9 holes of very ugly golf. That kicked off the start of the "Louisville Experience".

Most of the STL participants, of which there were many, stayed at the Holiday Inn Expo, a place we've stayed at previously. The most notable feature of the hotel is not even at the hotel. It's around the corner. It's a local one-room dive bar called Ott's Tavern, a very friendly spot that provides great southern hospitality. Anyone that travelled to Louisville from STL knows Ott's. What many people didn't know about Ott's, including your's truly, was that it was a 4am bar. Good thing we got the O-30 & O-40 matches scheduled for a Saturday afternoon start. Even that was a struggle, but, looking around, everyone made it. Save for Steve Rankin. The Chief hought our game started an hour later. We'll just blame that one on the Louisville time change.

Saturday wen't well for both the SSL O-30 & O-40 teams. Each finished with a 2-1 record, good enough for the gold medal round the following day. The girls O-30 team did well also, with their Saturday wins propelling them into the O-30 finals the next day. The STL open team, "Special Sauce", captained by Ryan & Patrick Curry, sons of O-30 player Jeannie Curry, didn't fare too well on Saturday, posting a 1-2 record. But don't be mislead. Their journey thru the Silver Medal bracket was a thing of beauty.

The SSL O-30 men won their first match convincingly versus the Indianapolis SC, overwhelming them 6-1. They stretched their record to 2-0 on Saturday with a tight 2-0 win over the local team, the Kickers. Then came the hiccup. They dropped a very tough 2-1 decision in their 3rd game of the day to an old adversary, the Dayton Rogues. Still in all, they played extremely well on Saturday & were excited about their chances in the Gold medal round on Sunday.

The SSL O-40 men didn't start as well, but had some help along the way. First game out of the box, they faced a tough, seasoned side from Ohio, Dayton United. They dropped that match 2-1, with one of the Dayton goals coming on a shot from the center off. Tough way to start a tourney. But, they bounced back with a 2-0 win of their own against the local Louisville team, the Buds. Their good fortune continued when the 3rd match for the day was a forfeit win, when a local team, the Phantoms, failed to show.

So, Sunday looked golden for the SSL O-30 womens & the O-30 & O-40 men's teams. Let the pre-celebration begin.

As the players gathered at the hotel to make arrangements for the traditional Saturday evening dinner, the talk was about the playoffs the following day. Everyone was fired up & there were few injuries to report. Everyone felt good about their chances. As the teams returned to the hotel following dinner, many gathered in the Hospitality Room, graciously provided to the SSL contingent due to so many room reservations placed by Jeannie Curry.

It was raucous. Players & hangers-on filtered into & out of the room all evening. Word was that there was a 1am curfew. Few adhered to it, in spite of the fact that several teams had 9am start times. Finally, about 3am, most had headed to their rooms to get at least a few hours sleep. They would need it.

One ot the two matches on this Sunday that captivated all who watched was the first round playoff for the O-30 men. As luck would have it, they would be facing their old friends, the Budweiser Flyers from STL. The Flyers scored first & the SSL fans felt their heart sink. But the players did nothing of the kind. They were playing fabulously & had dominated from the opening whistle, in spite of the Flyers goal.

They soon knotted up the game at 1-1, & still, they continued to dominate, creating many chances, several of which caromed off the woodwork. But still they persevered. After a 1-1 score at the interval, SSL scored early in the 2nd half to take a 2-1 lead, & still, they continued to press the attack, coming close on a couple of occasions of taking a 2 goal lead at 3-1, but, the Flyers dodged that bullet.

But a quirky thing happened on the way to the finish line. On a seemingly innocent play, after the ball caromed off & around several SSL defenders, the Flyers managed to score the tying goal with just a few minutes left in the match. Then it happened. Upon receiving a pass, a SSL player stumbled & the ball bounced right to a Flyer attacker, with nothing between him & the goal. One of the SSL defenders, rushed up & tackled the player from behind, just outside the penalty area, stopping play. Unfortunately, that resulted in a red card ejection for the SSL defender. That would loom large later.

As time ran out on this match, a 2-2 draw, it was now down to shootouts. The remaining 5 players on the field had to be the shooters. However, since SSL was a man down, the keeper had to take the shot. Long story short, after 10 rounds, (someone said is was 15), whatever, the Flyers ended winning the match in a shootout. It was a heart-breaker. There was no question as to how well the SSL side had played, but unfortunately, they came up on the short end of the stick. They'll be back for Indy. Watch out!

The Flyers then lost their next match 2-0 to the Whistle Pigs, a tourney regular. The Pigs went on to win the finals against another STL entry, Barristers, with a 4-1 score. Heart-breaking, but fun.

The O-40 team got off to a better Sunday start than the O-30 side. They won their 9am game 2-1, in spite of, shall we say, not feeling all that well. The next match, @ 10:30, was against the Whistle Pigs O-40 side. SSL dropped that match 2-1 & ended up the tourney with a 3-2 mark. The Pigs ended up losing in the finals to another STL team, Kolping. There sure were a lot of STL teams at this tourney. Seems like every year there are more. In fact, there was another STL girls team there, captained by Amy Champaine, but, I never did get their results.

"Special Sauce". Where did they ever come up with that name. Whatever! They kind of flew under the radar on Saturday, going 1-2 & qualifying for the Silver bracket. Not many took note of them that Saturday night. However, Sunday belonged to them. They steamrolled their competition, winning 4 straight matches, including a 4-1 decision in the final to capture the coveted "Louisville Baseball Caps". They dominated their competition, playing great defense & cruised into & out of, the final. Congrats to them.

So, as far as I can tell, & as I mentioned, I don't have all the stats, but a STL team won the men's O-40 & the Open men's silver bracket. Of the eight different divisions, four STL teams were in the finals. And all of the STL teams that participated in the tourney aquitted themselves well. Whether it's Indy or Louisville, when teams in those tourneys play a team from STL, they know they have their hands full. Congratulations to all. A great time & a great experience makes for great memories. See you in Indy.

LOUISVILLE FINAL RESULTS