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Fuck The Vikings

Filed under: Imported

Provided I can get my shit together--and financial prudence doesn't prevail--I'll be traveling to Milwaukee for the Minnesota Thunder's playoff opener tomorrow night, and then on to Chicago for a Saturday MLS dust-up between the Fire and the Columbus Crew. 

The Thunder head into the post-season with a record of 17-9-2, tied for third best in the 19-team A League. Unfortunately, the team is limping into the post-season, having gone winless in its last four games, easily its worst skid of the campaign. That dry spell included a 3-1 drubbing by this weekend's opponent, Milwaukee Wave United (prior to this season known as the Milwaukee Rampage). The two teams split the regular-season series, with each squad winning three times. It's a home-and-away playoff contest, with the return finale slated for Sunday afternoon in Blaine.

I've witnessed just four Thunder games this season so I have no business making pronouncements about the team's play--but I will do so anyway. The one player who has repeatedly stood out is midfielder Marco Ferruzzi. Snatched away from the Richmond Kickers following an MVP season, Ferruzzi is a dominant presence in the midfield, spraying the ball around the pitch with an accuracy rarely witnessed in the A League. What he lacks in speed (quite a bit, frankly) the 32-year-old makes up for with creativity and poise.

That said, Ferruzzi's offensive statistics are surprisingly meager: six goals and four assists on the season. The explanation for this seeming paradox is that the Thunder's forwards--most notably Johnny Menyongar, Johnny Torres and Marshall Morehead--have at times seemed pathologically incapable of putting the ball in the back of the net. In two of the games I witnessed--against the Cincinnati Riverhawks and the El Paso Patriots--the Thunder thoroughly dominated possession and constantly had scoring opportunities, yet barely eked out one-goal victories.

These bouts of scoring ineptitude have not been fatal owing to the team's defense, which has allowed a scant one goal per game. This stinginess will be severely tested against Milwaukee, a team that has scored a whopping 61 goals, easily tops in the league.

Thunder downtown-bound? This will likely be the Thunder's last season at the National Sports Center in Blaine. The team will spend the offseason scouring Minneapolis and St. Paul for a new home. According to general manager Jim Froslid, fans have consistently expressed displeasure at having to trek up to Blaine for each match. My beef with the NSC has always been aesthetic as much as geographic. Despite being a fairly intimate stadium, the atmosphere is severely hampered by the presence of a 10-lane track in between the stands and the field, meaning that the closest seats are roughly fifty feet from the sidelines. Hopefully the Thunder can find a new home that is more fan friendly--both in terms of transportation and viewing. Lord knows where that will be.

Posted by Paul Demko at September 4, 2003 9:37 PM

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