ALL-STAR
WEEKEND 2004
6/15/2004 – by Brandon Blankenship
Stepping off the plane at 8 pm Friday night, I
realized why they call it Hotlanta. I was in Atlanta to represent the Dallas
Magpies as a player for the West in the 2nd Annual East West All
Star Game and it would prove to be one of the best weekends of footy I’ve ever
participated in despite the hot and humid conditions.
I caught a train to the hotel with a couple of
Arizona players and we arrived just in time for our West team meeting. West coach Tommy Ellis went over some
details of the following day and passed out our jumpers. Then after a quick visit to the Revolution
(US National Team) trainer to have our body fat measured, we were free for the
rest of the night. I roomed with the
St. Louis boys who proved to be masters of logistics. Including myself, there were seven St. Louis players, and one
Portland player sharing two adjoining rooms.
We were lulled to sleep by Kocka (from St. Louis) serenading “Endless
Love” to Jagger (also from St. Louis),
and I had a good nights sleep despite Joel Shipley (the Magpies secretary)
calling me at 3:30 in the morning to gush that everybody is proud of me and to
wish me good luck on the game.
We got up at 8am on Saturday morning and went down
to breakfast. The hotel had prepared a
great breakfast, and I attempted not to stuff myself before the big game. Then the West squad met in the hotel lobby
around 10am to the ride to the game together.
The All American game had already started when we arrived at Atlanta’s
home ground. Atlanta had set up a large
field, allowing plenty of space to run into, and the ground was well
maintained; both factors that would contribute to a great game that day. We watched most of the All American game and
then started getting warmed up for the game, led by Denver’s Charlie
Ellis. Then the players were announced,
the national anthems played, and we were ready to start.
After a quick talk from Coach Tommy Ellis, we took
our positions on the field. I started
in the back pocket along with Jimbo and Rob from Denver to fill out the
backline. Matt Dainauski, whose
impending wedding next weekend relegated him to running the interchange bench,
did a great job of keeping players fresh in the stifling humidity. About 7 minutes into the first quarter, I
rotated to the bench and a player on the ball took my place in the back
pocket. After a short break, I went
back out to the back pocket for a few minutes, and then finished the 25-minute
quarter with a quick run in the center.
The West dominated the first quarter with strong
midfield play and lead the East five goals to one. I played the entire second quarter in the back pocket and the
West maintained the lead although the East had managed to pull within 15
points. Playing most of the first half
in the back line, I had fresh legs, so I moved to the wing and played the rest
of the game there. We increased our
lead in the 3rd quarter, but the East came out fighting in the 4th,
kicking a couple of quick goals in the first minutes of the quarter. The West played hard, but the East just
seemed to want it more in the final quarter and at the final horn, the East had
won the game by 4 points.
It was a great day of footy with good competition
between the East and West, and the tough conditions showed me that I still have
some fitness work to do if I want to be competitive in the 4th
quarter.
At the dinner Saturday night, Allan Nugent, the
Revolution head coach, announced 20 additional players named to the Revolution
team. These new players along with the
40 players from last year’s team will compete as two squads against the Canada
Northwind on July 31st and August 1st. More information can be found about this
competition on www.usfooty.com.
Congratulations to the East on their second win in
the East West All Star competition. I
look forward to playing against all of you in next year’s East West game and
alongside you with the Revo’s in Canada.
Cheers, and thank you for all your support!
Brandon ‘Revo’ Blankenship