2012, our third year of existence, was a difficult year for the Louligans.
But, the pirate ship that we are, we fought through it and are coming around to kick ass in St. Louis soccer in 2013. Because that’s what we do.
The year started off with the Illinois Piasa making the PASL playoffs. They fought tooth and nail to get into the playoffs, but lost to the Detroit Waza in the quarterfinals. Losing to the Waza always sucks for the Piasa; while an unbelievable talent, Dominic Scicluna is always a fan target of the Louligans. We’ll talk about our revenge later in this article.
The Louligans luckily didn’t have to wait long for the pitch to change to natural grass. The Lions had tryouts in early March. About a dozen Louligans braved the cold sunny day to watch the tryouts to see the talent that was trying to earn the hoops. Some Louligans got involved helping timing the runs; a few players were sent over to talk to the Louligan “media” team for interviews. (Interviews are still available at XXXXX) There was a lot of promising skill coming in along with our returning veterans.
The Lions
season started with three games on the road, coming home with only one point. The first home game was critical, and the Lions were ready. They surprised the Louligans by coming out with “4 U Casey” shirts, a tribute to our Louligan brother, Casey Blick, who was battling cancer. The Lions came out flying, and pulled out a 2-1 victory.
A road win to Springfield was followed up with a return leg at the Glavin Complex. This game was a draw on the scoreboard, but was more important than the results. Casey had lost his battle with cancer a few days earlier; the funeral was the day of the game. Those of us who were close to Casey came to the game, and the love and brotherhood shown by the Louligans cemented that day what we are and how we treat each other. The Lions, especially Tony Glavin himself, paid respects as well, and that will never be forgotten by his friends and family.
Two losses to Thunder Bay, and the Lions came home for a doubleheader weekend against Real Colorado. The Lions lost the first game 2-1, with the only goal coming from Jamie Lovegrove. Jamie earned a legendary place in the Louligan history by running over not only to us, but jumping into Kyle Scarborough’s arms to celebrate. The linesman wasn’t pleased with this celebration, which should have been an indication of what was to come….
T
his game was also notorious due to the awful officiating. The referee, failed actor Justin Tomicich, falsely accused the Louligans of yelling racial slurs against a Thunder Bay goal scorer. His threat of sending the Louligans out of the park if it occurred again set the Louligans spiraling into an uproar of provocation. Adding this foolishness to his ineptitude on the pitch has cemented him as villain #1 in the Louligan archives. A return visit by Justin was greeted by the Louligans brandishing his head shot, and being the target of the Louligan banter. It’ll be interesting if Justin is assigned any more Lions games this year.
The oppressive St. Louis heat, worse than years prior, made every game struggles to give your all. The product on the field was equally uncomfortable. The Lions couldn’t put together back-to-back wins in June or July, and lost the last six games of the season. They finished a dismal last place in the PDL Heartland division with a record of 3-11-2. They were equally poor on both sides of the ball, allowing the most goals in the division, and scoring the second least. The season was a disappointment in all aspects.
The year ends with the Piasa season starting up in November. The Piasa got off to a slow start, but the first home game was against the rival Waza. When Dominic went to do his halftime circus seal-tricks, he had a surprise coming. The Louligan Luchador, aka Greg Schuette, invaded the pitch to the Theme Theme from Gene Gene. Greg chased Dominic around the field for what seemed like hours to Greg’s lungs. It was the funniest thirty seconds of the year.
The Louligans, however, continue to grow with quality additions. Some additions from the American Outlaws led the way, their vocal styles meshing well with the Louligan antics. And the years continue to strengthen the core members’ resolve; many are as dependable as the summer humidity. We hope to see some more familiar faces return to the stand this summer along with the new faces we find along the way.
