Rain, Cold, Wind---and a Saint Louis FC Win

It was cloudy and with a bit of rain falling when I went to World Wide Technology Soccer Park (https://www.saintlouisfc.com/SOCCERPARK) last Saturday morning (30 March). The St. Louligans (http://stlouligans.com/) had set up their tailgate prior to that day's USL Championship (https://www.uslsoccer.com/usl-championship) match between Saint Louis FC (https://www.saintlouisfc.com/) and Charlotte Independence (https://www.charlotteindependence.com/).

I enjoyed two cups of Ale d'Or from Schlafly (http://www.schlafly.com/) and some servings of chili prepared by several St. Louligans members. The chili sure hit the spot this day.

About 30 minutes from kickoff, the St. Louligans marched from the parking lot to Toyota Stadium for the match. The weather got worse, as it rained, the temperatures dipped to around 34 degrees F (1 degrees C). Plus, the wind picked up to around 15 mph (24.1 kmh). This weather appeared to have cut down on the crowd, including in our section, but we who were there stayed put and cheered on the home side.

We were rewarded in the 5th minute, when Kyle Grieg headed Bradley Kamdem Fewo's cross into the Charlotte goal. This was all the scoring, as Saint Louis FC ran out 1-0 winners. This was their third win in the first four matches, and Saint Louis now stands atop the Eastern Conference.

Most players were too cold to stay much after the match to serenade us St. Louligans as usual. (I don't blame them!) A few did join us for the Man of the Match ceremony, and we St. Louligans did sing the victory song the players normally sang to us.

I was wet, cold, and stiff in my legs when the match ended, and it was a long, slow walk back to my car. Still, it was a good feeling to see Saint Louis FC start off this season so well.

I came home to change clothes and get warm. I rested at home this past weekend, taking time yesterday to work on and file my income taxes. Glad to get my taxes out of the way for another year.

Later.

St. Louis vs Tampa Bay Sports Doubleheader

Yesterday (23 March) began for me at Toyota Stadium of World Wide Technology Soccer Park (https://www.saintlouisfc.com/SOCCERPARK) in Fenton. I went to the St. Louligans (http://stlouligans.com/) tailgate in the parking lot, where I enjoyed a bratwurst with sauerkraut washed down with beer.

We marched into the stadium for the USL Championship (https://www.uslsoccer.com/usl-championship) match between Saint Louis FC (https://www.saintlouisfc.com/) and Tampa Bay Rowdies. Saint Louis scored in the 26th minute to take the lead; however, Tampa Bay equalized from the penalty spot in 50 minutes later. The match ended in a 1-1 draw, and the two teams stood atop the Eastern Conference table. (Tampa Bay is ahead on goal difference.) It was disappointing to settle for a draw when we had a win in our grasp; however, having 7 of a possible 9 points after the first three matches of the season is good going.

After the match, I came home to rest, then headed for the Enterprise Center (http://www.enterprisecenter.com/) in downtown St. Louis for a NHL (https://www.nhl.com/) game between the St. Louis Blues (https://www.nhl.com/blues) and the Tampa Bay Lightning. My brothers bought me a ticket for Christmas, and I finally got around to redeeming it this month. After shopping in a souvenir store and getting a soda from a food stand, I made my way to my seat in a corner of the lower deck.

It was quite a game, with the Blues taking a 3-0 lead in the first period, scoring these goals in a 1 minute 15 second span against a team that had the NHL's best record. Tampa Bay came back with two goals early in the second period, then the Blues got one back in mid-period to lead 4-2 after two periods. The Lightning scored late in the third period to make it 4-3, but an apparent tying goal late in the game was waived off after the Blues challenged the call, citing a Tampa Bay player being offside before the goal was scored. Thus, the Blues held on to win the game, 4-3. They are now close to clinching a playoff spot with seven games to go over the next two weeks.

I was one very happy man among many when I walked out of the Enterprise Center after the game. I think my brothers did me very good with their Christmas gift for me.

Later.

IPMS/Gateway Meets in March 2019

After work last Tuesday (19 March), I was at Calvary Presbyterian Church (http://calvarypresbyterianchurch.org/) in Mehlville for this month's meeting of IPMS/Gateway (https://sites.google.com/view/ipmsgatewaychapter/home). We had a nice turnout for the meeting, which featured several Show & Tell presentations by members of their latest projects--completed and in progress. We also had a demo by Jim Triola on making water for ship display bases. He showed how to turn paper mache and paint on a board into ocean water. It was very fascinating to watch. Triola has started a base on a large (1:200 scale) model of the World War II aircraft carrier USS Hornet (CV-8).

Later.