First, let me just say congratulations to the Milwaukee Rampage and their fans. It was a great year for the organization, team, and those fans that found their way out to Franklin, WI this season and they were duly rewarded with their first A-League championship since 1997. Second of all, let me also congratulate the Richmond Kickers and their fans on a well-played final and season. I certainly hope the Kicker fans aren't all that upset with the loss as they should be more focused on the tremendous efforts and accomplishments of a more than capable team this season.
That being said I don't know if I can honestly say that the better team won. Part of this is because I like being honest with you guys (and gals, if you're out there). The other part is probably because I grew a bit of a soft spot for this Kicker team. Then there's the added factor that Digital Takawira, a man who had meant so much to previous Rampage squads was unavailable for this final due to injury. So maybe it was fitting that the Rampage overcame a couple of things to get here. Then again, so did the Kickers and they came a long way just to come up short.
Regardless, the play of John Wolyniec has been crucial all season long and he looks to be sharper and even more ambitious now after a year in MLS to go with his previous "call-ups". Boro Sucevic also needs to be commended in his efforts to know what his squad was capable of and how best to bring that out of them. Although, one slight criticism to Boro or maybe just a handful of his players, the flopping, guys come on, you're professional athletes not salmon trying to swim upstream. Now I know they're not the only ones guilty of it but it seems a bit of a shame to have to sit through that kind of thing in a match that was so even and so well played with respect to a couple of possibly borderline penalty calls.
Anyway, enough of that as this should celebrate both of these teams and the league as a whole. What can we say about the USL and how they went about setting up this final? Well, they did the best job they could with the support of an outside web site and Fox Sports World. Before everyone starts kicking and screaming about the lack of a USL owned dot com keep in mind that these guys do enough as it is just holding this league together. Also, while I think there are things that could be done better and maybe even more sensibly on the league's part they aren't paying me to do them and besides, you can get most of my thoughts on the issues for free right here, every week or so… for the last 97 times I've been cranking this thing out.
Oh yeah, that last bit up there? I threw that in for fun just to put you all on notice that I'm nearing the 100th article mark for this lovely little site. Just think, they said it would never… oh never mind. On with your regularly scheduled ranting.
So the Milwaukee Rampage are champions, the Kickers are second best, and contenders such as Seattle, Rochester, and Charleston are sitting at home sharpening their knives. What's the next big thing on the schedule for the league? How about a new deal between the USL and MLS, an AOM, a draft, maybe new ownership in Vancouver, and possibly a new internet home? Either way I'll find a way to keep us all busy through the long, cold winter…. Well, after a vacation of a short time but not before I take a look at the year that was and hand out the "Commies" better known as the Second Annual a-league.com Awards.
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