Worse Than England, Italy and France Combined

A shockingly pathetic peformance saw the St. Louis Cure drop their first game of the year, 2-0 against the lowly New York Greeks. "We are doing our part to convince the Greeks ownership to come back and take charge of their squad," Lodes joked. But he was obviously upset at how the team played in their 1st game after the World Cup break. "The team had a chance to do something great. To set all kinds of records. They let themselves down. I don't know exactly what went wrong. I know the team were disappointed after USA were knocked out of the Cup. Perhaps I gave them too many days off during the break. I'm sure the lads took the Greeks too lightly. It was horrid, but we cannot press the panic button. Hopefully it was just a freak result. Findley and Buddle are on their way back. It's time to start over." Lodes mentioned he also has his sights set on hopefully landing a big-named player when the transfer window opens, but refused to mention any names.

Week 11 Preview/Lineup: Back to Work

The midseason break is over and the undefeated St. Louis Cure are hard at work preparing for the rest of the season, with league records clearly in sight. The team gets a gift for their fist week back, going up against lame duck franchise New York Greeks. GM/Coach Kirk Lodes, "It will be a good chance for us to remove the cobwebs. That being said, we must not underestimate anyone if we are to achieve the goals we have made for the second half of the season."

The Cure Week 11 Lineup:

Starters: Shea, Espindola, Barrett, Nyarko, Landin, Rogers, Convey, Morales, Nielsen (GK)
Subs: Torres, Renteria, Richards
Reserves: Buddle, Findley

Midseason Report Card: Top of the Class

As the team takes a well deserved break, it is a good time to analyze how the players have done after 10 games.

Robbie Findley: C 1 Goal from the number 1 draft pick was good enough to get him on the World Cup team, but is it good enough to keep him a starter for the Cure?
Edson Buddle: A+ The Cure's leading scorer has done everything that has been asked of him. Currently the front runner for the Bronze Boot.
Chad Barret: A- Free agent signee has delivered 4 goals in 4 starts.
Patrick Nyarko: A- Has started 9 of 10 games and is the Cure's leader in assists.
Fabian Espindola: B Supplied a few key goals, but his consistency is not what it should be.
Luis Angel Landin: B When he plays, he delivers. But he appears to be too injury prone.
Emilio Renteria: No grade--no starts.
Javier Morales: B Morales has played well, but he needs to deliver more points.
Dane Richards: C+ Acquired in a trade for Fred, Richards has added depth, but not points.
Robbie Rogers: C- 1 Goal and 0 assists is troubling numbers.
Bobby Convey: B+ Second in assists, but he needs to stop getting stupid yellow cards.
Roger Torres: B- Started out hot, but has lost his Union starting spot.
Brek Shea: B 2 goals in game 10 shows his potential.
Jimmy Nielsen: B 3 clean sheets for the horrid Wizards is pretty impressive.
Coach: A Lodes has hardly made a bad move (aside from the foolish Twellman draft choice). It may be just good luck; we will see during the second half of the season.
Team: A Each week, a new player seems to step up. Teamwork has made them number one.

Brek Point

Brek Shea has made a statement going into the World Cup break: "I deserve to start." His 2 goals helped pull out an exciting (and record breaking) victory. While it will be tough for the youngster to become a regular starter in the star-studded Cure lineup, more performances like Saturday's will make it impossible for Coach Lodes to keep him out of the starting lineup.

Game 10 Lineup

STARTERS: Nyarko, Barrett, Espindola, Shea, Convey, Morales, Richards, Rogers, Nielsen (GK)
SUBS: Landin, Torres, Renteria
RESERVES: Buddle, Findley