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Showing posts from April, 2024

These things are fun, and fun is good

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I always have the best seats in the house. (photo: Luke Martin) If you missed my recap of Tormenta's late comeback to tie Charlotte, only to fall in penalties in their first Jagermeister Cup match, you can find that over here at the Statesboro Herald . (Possible paywall, I honestly have no idea how they decide what is free and what isn't.) I wasn't sure how much I was going like the penalty kick shootout after the draw and after having watched one, I'm still not sure how much I like it. It was fun, don't get me wrong. But I get the feeling I'm not necessarily the target demographic for ending the game on penalties. And that's ok. I have more than enough stuff that does target me that I don't need one more thing. I was a little... "amused" may not be the right word, but "intrigued" is probably closer, when Tormenta midfielder and captain Conor Doyle said he'd of forgotten that there were penalties after Tormenta tied the game three

Good Charlotte

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Photo courtesy of Tormenta FC Hi friends, busy week this week for yours truly so just the one post this week leading up to Saturday's match with Charlotte. ( Certainly thankful it's a Saturday game this time. ) Lest you think I forgot about Sunday night's game with Greenville, I did not, but I was writing for the Statesboro Herald and my story is posted over there . (There may be a paywall, but that helps pay me so consider subscribing if you're in a position to do so.) Needless to say, Sunday night did not go well. We're not going to dwell on goalkeeper Ford Parker's dropped cross in the first half that led to Greenville's first goal. Every player on the field makes mistakes from time to time, but it's magnified when it's the goalkeeper and comes with the territory. It happens to the best players and Parker answered questions about it after the game. For the first 15 minutes of the second half, Tormenta looked really, really good. They were moving t

Greenville Calling

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It's Peach State Derby Time We're back to League One action this weekend as Tormenta and the Greenville Triumph close out the league's action with a Sunday night contest at Tormenta Stadium in the first round of the Peach States Derby's 2024 edition. If you're wondering why the game is on Sunday night, well, country music star and local legend Cole Swindell is in town for a concert Saturday night (I'm not going to make that one, but I hope those who go have a great time.) For Tormenta, they're coming off their US Open Cup win against Miami FC Wednesday night that saw South Georgia fall behind just before halftime but rally in the second half for a 4-2 win. They'll face Charleston Battery of USL-Championship in the next round, while in the other matchup in the bracket MLS' Atlanta United who will face fellow League One team Charlotte Independence.  Greenville, meanwhile, is fresh off a 3-1 loss to Louisville City Tuesday night in Kentucky in their Op

Don't Call It a Cupset

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Photo Courtesy Tormenta FC Tormenta Defender Preston Kilwien during Wednesday night's game. Well that was fun. Tormenta advanced to the round of 32 in the US Open Cup last night with a 4-2 win over Miami FC down in south Florida as they overcame a 2-1 halftime deficit with three unanswered goals in the second half to be one of three USL League One teams on to the final 32. Tormenta is now 4-0 in their professional history against USL Championship teams in the Open Cup, defeating Charleston and Birmingham in 2022 and Rio Grande Valley in 2023. You can add Miami FC to the list of USL Championship teams Tormenta has defeated in tournament. As I'd mentioned in my previous post , I wasn't able to catch most of the first half as my son's soccer team played in the first round of the state playoffs ( Congrats to Chamblee on the win over Statesboro ). I was finishing up my article on the Statesboro game in the car while waiting for the team to be dismissed when Jake Dengler put

Welcome to Miami

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Niall Watson's three goals across all competitions have been critical to Tormenta's early season success. (photo from Tormenta FC) I almost went with Ian Cameron and the Goblet of Fire for the title, but I never actually read the Harry Potter books and while goblet is a fun word, using it in place of Cup for the Open Cup seemed a bit much. But hey, if Tormenta wins, there's always the next round. Tormenta Manager Ian Cameron has said he likes three-game weeks because it means South Georgia keeps winning in the Open Cup. This week isn't one of those thanks to a bye this past weekend, but a midweek Cup game and a Sunday League One game is still a good thing. We'll look ahead to Sunday's game closer to the weekend, for now, we're on our way to Miami (well, the team is, as we'll see below, I'm not going to Miami.) Tormenta will take on Miami FC Wednesday night with kickoff at the FIU soccer stadium set for 7:30 p.m. You'll be able to stream the game

April Power Rankings

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You never know what you'll find when googling for images for a blog post. It's Power Rankings time again. Can Richmond hold on to the top spot? Will Charlotte rebound from it's precipitous fall last time? What will we do with Omaha and Chattanooga?  Well, friends, there's only one way to find out so lets get to it, shall we. If you're new here, first off, are you lost? But if not and you actually mean to be here, then welcome. We're glad you're here. You may be wondering how Richmond could possibly be the reigning number one in our power rankings when they currently have three points through three games while Greenville and Knoxville are both sitting there undefeated? Well, we do Power Rankings a little differently . Instead of looking at things like "talent" and "results," we tend to use different factors when it comes to ranking the 12 teams in the league.  With baseball season starting (if you saw the guy in the blue Cubs jacket at th

About last week

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Me and my oldest at the 2022 USL League One Championship Game I'm never sure how much to write about myself and my personal experiences here but then I go back through my Twitter posts and remember that I would regularly tweet my way through my experiences of visiting my in-laws and that oversharing has never been something that bothers me. Kids, you won't remember this, but way back when the internet first became a thing, we were warned never to put personal information on there and that danger was lurking around every corner. If you'd told people in 1999 that there would come a time when people would just get in cars of strangers that they summoned from the internet, the moral panic about that would have been through the roof. But at this point, most of my life is online. I mean, if you wanted to you could go see my dad on Google Maps waving to the Google Car in front of my childhood home, which brought endless delight to my youngest kid who is the one who actually found

Battle for the 912

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Ian Cameron watches on at training Tuesday, April 2. If I'd waited five seconds, I'd have had an exasperated Cameron throwing his arms up, but alas.  Hello friends and welcome back to StormWatch912.... No, no, that's too much Jim Nantz at the Masters and that's not the vibe we're going for. Let's try again. Welcome back, my friends, to the show that never ends. We're so glad you could attend. Come inside. Come Inside.... Nope, went too far the other direction with Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Sorry about that. Let's just jump right in, ok? First off, sorry about the absence the past few days. I'll spare you the details, but let's say a sick five-year old is not conducive to having the energy to write a blog. Fortunately he's feeling better. But enough about him. It's U.S. Open Cup Match Day. Tormenta is taking on the Savannah Clovers as they make the short ride up Interstate 16 to Statesboro for Round Two as the two teams meet for the fir