If you would like to contribute something to the tailgating i.e more BEER, a special dish, soda, chips, dips, etc. the thought would be GREATLY APPRECIATED. The more food and drink the merrier.

Wear your Crocketteers shirt if you have one. If not we will have few for sale for $10 in sizes L, XL and 2XL.

See everyone in Houston on Wednesday.
Still need tickets? Here is a link to ticketmaster.  Tickets as low as $35 bucks when you buy 4.  http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/0C004493A55E67C6?artistid=875665&majorcatid=10004&minorcatid=11

The Austin Aztex played the Charleston Battery Friday, losing in a 2-0 shellacking.  It wasn’t a huge surprise, as the Battery are very good, and the Aztex are new to the USL-1.  However, the effort was there for the Aztex, which means more to me after watching the USA National team sleep through their game against Costa Rica recently.  The Aztex seemed to push the ball far more aggressively than the US team did, unfortunately they really did seem to be just physically outmatched at most positions.

Overall the game was an enjoyable experience, I got to see some things I never would have on TV, with my favorite experience being the poor distracted ball boy.  We were sitting near the Charleston goal about midway through the second half, with the Aztex attacking.  The ball was kicked into the stands by a Battery defender and rather than immediately feed the Aztex the ball for a quick throw in before the defense got set up, the poor ball boy tracked the flight of the ball into the stands.  He was completely oblivious to the crowd and Aztex player as they screamed for him to provide a ball to the player.  Hilarity ensued as the ball boy freaked out , threw a new ball to the player, and then refused to look at the crowd for the rest of the game.

While it was a sizable defeat to the Aztex, their faithful Chantico’s Army did not let that discourage them from supporting their team for the duration of the game and beyond.  They banged their drums and played their trumpets trying to coax their team to even greater effort.   The Aztex cheers and drumming was highly reminiscent of what I saw the Costa Rican crowd do in their match against the USA.  Unfortunately, for all of Chantico’s Army’s efforts, it didn’t seem to get the rest of the crowd as involved in the game as one would hope.  When San Antonio gets a soccer team I think we could learn from this and try to develop ways to get the whole crowd involved, perhaps through something similar to the college games, where they have appointed cheer leaders spread throughout the stands, where they could teach the chants and cheers so even new fans would have the chance to learn and participate in them.

With all that said, the best part of the game was the crowd that went along with it.  There were some very nice people from both the Crocketteers and Aztex supporters .  Crocketteers Daniel and James  were both highly helpful in explaining some points about the more technical aspects of the game and the business side of the game.  After the game, the Crocketteers were invited to the semi-official gathering place of the Aztex, Cuatros, which was more fun than a barrel of monkeys in a hot tub.  If you ever get a chance to go to a Crocketteers event, know that you are going to be hanging out with some quality folks.

Overall, while I still wouldn’t rate soccer as my favorite sport in the world, after watching 180 minutes of it in the last few days, I certainly don’t find it quite is repellant as I may have before.  There is a flow to the game that certain American sports (football, baseball) can’t quite match, although those sports certainly have their own redeeming qualities.  I still doubt that I will be watching soccer all the time, but now, I certainly won’t be so quick to turn the TV off.

After a 2 – 0 loss by the Aztex to the Charleston Battery (a great team in the USL-1 division), we Crocketteers met up with the Chantico’s Army (Aztex Fan Club) at their regular hangout, Cuatros.

Chantico's Army (June 5, 2009 Aztex vs Battery)

It was at Cuatros where myself, and my cousin Michael Macias, were introduced to Mr. Phil Rawlins, owner of the Austin Aztex and part owner of Stoke City FC in the EPL.  After being introduced to Mr. Rawlins, we also met Austin Aztex coach, Mr. Adrian Heath, and General Manager for Charleston Battery, Mr. Mike Anhaeuser.  All soccer enthusiasts, they were especially welcoming and especially grateful for our visit to Austin to watch the Aztex play.

Let me also take the time to thank Matthew Gray (mgrayscale on BigSoccer), President of  the Austin Aztex fan club Chantico’s Army, for hosting the Crocketteers and hooking all of us up with tickets to the game. Hopefully, in the future we can return the favor and party on the riverwalk.

Also had some Crocketteer faithfuls at the game, James Hope & Daniel Rodriguez.  James (jhope on BigSoccer) certainly proved himself to be a great knowledge base with the economic aspect of soccer as well as a general soccer fan. Daniel (Danilo on BigSoccer), a recent transplant to San Antonio (originally from Venezuela), was also right there with us meeting and greeting these new, influential people.

Lastly, and certainly not least, on our way out the door, Michael, Daniel, James, and myself got into a very good conversation about soccer here in San Antonio with Mr. Eric Vormelker (VioletCrown on BigSoccer).  Eric does the stats for the Austin Aztex and is also a member of Chantico’s Army.  This is where James really demonstrated his familiarity with the economic aspect of bringing soccer to our city.

One way or another, last night seemed to me to be a great night for the Crocketteers as we are working to establish a solid relationship with some strong soccer fans, faithful to soccer and dedicated to spreading soccer around Texas.

Victory or Death!

Thanks for reading guys! and feel free to correct any errors I may have made!

- Sergio J. Macias (ChexMex on BigSoccer)

PS I would definitely like to make it back out to Austin to watch some more games, and hopefully share some more drinks at Cuatros!

As I have told Mike a number of times, soccer is just boring.  Eleven men per side, jogging back and forth kicking a ball and then faking injuries just doesn’t interest me.  However, Mike keeps claiming that soccer involves more than that, that it involves things like defense, crisp passes and accurate shooting.  Since these are the things that I treasure and love about basketball and hockey I’ve agreed to give soccer a chance.

To that end over the next few days I’m going to be watching some soccer, with the U.S.A vs. Costa Rico in a World Cup qualifier on Wednesday and then on Friday going to Austin and watching the Aztex take on the Charleston Battery.  During this time I will be writing about my hopefully enjoyable experiences, as I try to learn to enjoy the “beautiful” game.  Hopefully by the end of this time, I will have learned to love the game and be ready to be a fan when San Antonio gets a team.