Filed under: Family Fun, Major League Soccer, Supporter Culture, US Soccer | Tags: Des Moines Menace, ML$, MLS, Union Omaha, US Open Cup, USOC
Sneak peak of Des Moines Menace Open Cup game vs Union Omaha
It’s been a minute since I wrote about soccer. We’ve all been through some things for the past few years: we’ve survived a pandemic, we’ve lost beloved members of our soccer family, and I haven’t quite known how to put myself back together. Who am I if I’m not traveling around the world following soccer?
If there’s one thing I learned during the pandemic, it’s the value of local soccer. I have supported Des Moines Menace for the past 30 years, first as a referee wife, briefly as a referee, as a supporter and now as the corporate tifo sponsor (mainly because Mr. Tanya is insubordinate and refuses to listen when I say we need to focus on Hat Trick Renovation work). Which is fine, because local soccer is the best soccer, and the US Open Cup is the best of local soccer.
This year, ML$ decided to not participate in the Cup, yet another disappointment from on high (#youknew). It’s just too much work for them to deal with the clubs that train their players for them. It must be so hard.
No disrespect if you just heard about US Soccer leagues when Messi suited up, but we’ve actually been doing this for a really long time. In the 30 years of Menace Soccer history, we have made many lifelong friendships at the Open Cup. We loved our rivalry with Minnesota Thunder and because of our friendships with Neal Logan and his crew at Minnesota 1st Volunteers, we have traveled to watch the Loons play in MLS many, many times.
What I didn’t realize until this year is it’s also like that for players. I about lost my mind when USMNT alum Sacha Kljestan agreed to play for my Des Moines Menace. I thought it was because Charlie Bales is the greatest GM in all the land, but it turns out that we supporters of Menace soccer helped seal the deal.
Kljestan played against the Menace during his time at Orange County in the semi finals of the PDL Championship. He remembered our passionate fans and the experience of playing in Des Moines. Turns out plenty of players have great memories playing in the Open Cup, and a good number of them have signed with Menace, because the Menace are freaking awesome.
I’ve dedicated a good chunk of my life to building soccer supporter culture in the United States, and the culture we’ve built in Des Moines is so much bigger than lower league energy that ML$ doesn’t have time for. Having Sacha Kljestan and his posse show up for us is exactly the recognition Des Moines Menace deserves. I love my club, I’m psyched to see my friends in Omaha, and I can’t wait for another regular season of watching the future of soccer play out on a field in Central Iowa.
Filed under: Major League Soccer, Supporter Culture | Tags: Des Moines Menace, Sporting KC, US Open Cup
What a week! We had a great trip to watch the Menace win in Minneapolis, and now here it is, game day in Kansas City for the 3rd round. I’m pretty amped up for this thing, and the Des Moines Register’s article left me wanting more, so here it is, the story I want told about the Des Moines Menace.
This week has been a roller coaster, with Adrian Healey tweeting and talking about our Menace, getting our 15 seconds of fame on Big Head and the Red Head (at minute 33) at the high points, and Taylor Twellman’s snarky, disbelieving tone every time he says “Des Moines Menace” at the low, but even then…he was snarky about us on an MLS broadcast! It’s been a great week to be a Menace fan.
Now we have 2 full buses of people committed to go down to Kansas City in a few hours, to see if we can put the brakes on Sporting’s plans to keep the Open Cup trophy. Our PDL David to their MLS Goliath. My first chance to see Sporting Park NOT from the Members Stand.
I know we’re a long shot, but there’s a reason we play the games. It’s like my husband was saying tonight, the difference between success and failure in professional sports is tiny thin line, let’s call it 2% more mental focus. All high level players have the physical prowess to win matches. It all comes down to the focus, mental clarity, and speed of thought to make it happen on that particular day. Do you have the clarity that allows you to see that strike, and have your laces hit it just perfectly at the moment when everything is on the line? Who will have their Lafester Rhodes day tomorrow, and light it up like we’ve never seen?
On any given day, any one player can make or break it for the whole match. When we played in Minneapolis last week, the Menace dominated the first half, and looked like a sure thing. In the second half, I was positive that Minnesota United would win, they were beating us to the ball, out shooting, out possessing….but like in so many soccer games, it came down to one Menace player timing his jump better than his defender, and Menace keeper Scott Avengine not allowing anyone to make it back. That’s all it takes to win in Open Cup or any other game.
The Menace is in their 20th year, and I have watched them all 20 years. This season feels like something special. We have a new GM, Matt Homonoff, fresh off the NASL circuit, and every time I talk to him, I get more excited about soccer in Des Moines. We have Mike Jeffries, (not the evil one…google Mike Jeffries soccer) a former USMNT player and former MLS coach. I like our player roster…I mean, I barely know them, but these guys played really well together in Minnesota, and they’d hardly met each other yet. I’m excited to see how they look against an MLS side after another week playing together.
They say the third time’s the charm, and this is the 3rd appearance for the Menace against a Kansas City MLS team (let’s all be thankful that the Wiz years are over). So, Sporting KC, I’ll see your #CupStaysHere hashtag, and raise you a #ThirdXCharm for my beloved Menace Soccer. Go get em, boys!
Soccer....Family Style 