Quite a Week for This Soccer Fan

Last Saturday night (6 October), I was at Robert R. Hermann Stadium on the Saint Louis University (https://www.slu.edu/) campus to cheer on the men's soccer team (http://www.slubillikens.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=27200&SPID=93202&SPSID=632571&DB_OEM_ID=27200) play Atlantic 10 Conference (http://www.atlantic10.com/) rival LaSalle. The Billikens came back from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits to win 4-2. It was quite a fine match and I was happy to be supporting my alma mater. A number of SLU men's soccer alumni were honored at halftime.

The next morning, I was at World Wide Technology Soccer Park (https://www.saintlouisfc.com/SOCCERPARK) to run lines on two under 16 girls soccer matches. These were friendlies among member teams of the Elite Clubs National League (http://www.eliteclubsnationalleague.com/), a group of top girls soccer clubs around the country. The matches went well, and it was good getting some nice exercise that morning.

Two days later, I heard of the big announcement about an effort to land a Major League Soccer (https://www.mlssoccer.com/) team here in St. Louis. A new group named #MLS4THELOU (https://mls4thelou.com/) introduced themselves. They are made up of the Taylor family, of Enterprise Holdings, Inc. (https://www.enterpriseholdings.com/en/index.html), and my friend Jim Kavanaugh, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of World Wide Technology, Inc. (https://www.wwt.com/). The group announced that they would seek an MLS franchise, shooting to begin play in 2022, and that they would have a privately funded stadium built in downtown St. Louis. This soccer fan is most happy about this development--not just because I am friends with Kavanaugh and an Enterprise Rent-A-Car employee--and wish this group all the best in their efforts.

Wednesday night (10 October), I was back at World Wide Technology Soccer Park for Saint Louis FC's (https://www.saintlouisfc.com/) match against Tulsa Roughnecks FC. This was the match rescheduled from 14 July, when lightning and stormy weather interrupted the match. I joined in the tailgate before the match with the St. Louligans (http://stlouligans.com/), where I enjoyed nachos and beer, and took in a soccer kit contest by several of our group. We then marched into Toyota Stadium for the match, were a first half goal sufficed for Saint Louis FC's 1-0 win. This result means a draw in tomorrow night's season finale at home against OKC Energy FC will be enough to send us into the United Soccer League (https://www.uslsoccer.com/) playoffs for the first time in club history. This should be great!

Later.