Wednesday 3PM:

For whatever crazy reason I ended up driving to KC. It wasn't always meant to be that way. At first I was going to fly, then I was going to travel with other like minded lunatics, then that all fell through and here I was traveling on my own during the first real snowfall of the winter season.

The Central FC Select Under-15 girls team scored 18 goals in its four matches at the U.S. Youth Soccer Region II Presidents Cup over the weekend in South Bend, Ind., but just missed out on advancing to nationals.

The Stevens Point-area team won all three of its group matches, then lost to KC Fusion Cummings 4-3 in the final Sunday.

Play at the President's Cup begins today in South Bend, IN. Southwest Missouri is represented this year by a pair of teams. The U14 Girls features Missouri Elite FC while Cobra's 96 (Webb City) are playing in U15 Boys after winning the six team group in the State playoffs last month. There are no schedules posted on the website but I'll update as I find more info.

The season is just over a week away from starting. Seriously, containing my excitement for the season is getting hard to do. While I still have my questions about the team, I'm so ready for this season to start. I mean a week from now I'll be in LA for the opener against Chivas USA. Trips to LA and Chicago to kick off the season will certainly help with my excitement for this season.

Per Kenn, whose own take on NASL's woes is required reading - if Kenn were mineral water, he'd be Eau Snap - stop me if you've heard that one - various NASL supporters have sent a letter telling Sunil Gulati, in so many words, to go play in Traffic.
Also by way of Kenn, this is what NASL and USSF are wrangling over - the standards the Fed has set for a second division league.