Women's Matches:
Match #1 Minnesota: We had five girls who traveled to Des Moines to take on our first tournament as a team. Filling half of the 9 a side team, we had the honor to wear our red and white colors for the first time in a USAFL match! Joining us were girls from Houston Lonestars, Wisconsin Wombats and North Star Blue Ox. Our first match was against Minnesota Freeze, who as always had a very strong lineup! Rookies Kelsey, Melissa and Julia proved their potential very early in the game with Kelsey taking on the ruck, Melissa in the center and Julia in the backline. Combined with the swans captain Bekah in the center and Aish, our new recruit from New York Magpies, in the back. Despite the low score, or lack of, we definitely made a great impression for our upcoming Swans Womens team!
MVP: Melissa "Tank" Geldmeyer
Match #2 Denver: After playing our first official game as a team, we came into this game a lot more confident. Stand outs were Bekah who kicked two goals and Kelsey who kicked her first ever goal! The swans girls have shown so much potential, we are excited to continue our recruiting efforts for the rest of the season and into 2020.
MVP: Kelsey "Big Girl" Lawson
Women's Lineup:
B: Julia Townbridge, Aishlin Greig, Jackie (Hou)
C: Bekah Quinn, Kelsey Lawson, Melissa Geldmeyer
F: Olivia (Blue Ox), Helen (Blue Ox), Nafla (Wis)
Int: Beth (Hou)
Men's matches:
Match #1 Denver: We were met first up by Denver, a Div I team from 2018 and one of the favourites for the tournament title. However, they had clearly not anticipated The Great White Hope. Cliffy dominated the game kicking 3 and even managing to mark most of Dave Martin's rubbish kick-ins from full back. Tim Hermann was again resolute at full back on a much taller opponent. We took a two goal lead into half time and carried on from there. With AJ and Vinnie "wrecking ball" Lewis controlling the midfield, we ran over the top of Denver.
Match #2 Des Moines: This would prove effectively a semi-final, with both teams having beaten Denver before. We knew what Des Moines was capable of after their first game, and with a full bench of 7 and a large fan base. Unfortunately they managed to get the jump on us. This was not for lack of possession, but our inaccuracy was doubly cost. Not only did we miss out on kicking crucial goals, but we were unable to defend the rapid Des Moines kick-ins, which led to at least 3 coast to coast goals. Despite being down 6 goals at half time, the Swannies boys stuck at it but ultimately did not have the legs in their second consecutive game to come back against a rested Des Moines. Credit again in this game must go to the Wrecking Ball, as Vinnie in his first full game in the midfield showed exactly what he's capable of.
Men's lineup:
B: Richard Strapps, Tim Herrmann, David Martin
C: AJ Crosley
F: Stu Nicols, Bill (MN), Ben (MN)
Foll: Jeff Dick, Brad Clifton, Vinnie Lewis
Int: Tim (MN), Gloves
Best on ground: Vinnie "Wrecking Ball" Lewis
Best off ground: The entire women's team
Golden Goose: David Martin (for being too much of an all-round legend)
Chicago Swans vs Austin Crows
The Swannies’ tournament started with a tough match against a team who had won 3 of the past 5 National Championships in Division 1. Jeff “I-play-for-the-USA” Kraemer was his usual self, working hard in the ruck and trying to drag the rest of the team along with him. Ajani “AJ” Crosley provided plenty of run and chase on the wing. Brad “The-Great-White-Hope” Clifton’s move into the middle of the ground was a great tactical shift and he spent the rest of the day winning hard balls and pirouetting through traffic. Unfortunately, poor kicking at goal from Marcus ”Cheese” Colby ensured that we were not able to keep in touch with the boys from Texas.
Thanks to Austin for lending us a couple of players throughout the day and ensuring we were able to field a full side!
Chicago Swans vs Denver Bulldogs
Our second match for the day was against the 6-time Division 1 National Champion Denver Bulldogs. We played much of the game from our back half, where Eric “Money” Monroe starred at full back and Mikæl “Magic” Ðråzba and former Kangaroo Matt "I'll-pick-a-fight-with-a-guy-whos-4-feet-taller-than-me" Filchak piled on pressure and gave good carry out of the backline and through the middle of the ground. Colby went down with a crippling ankle injury which prompted a coaching masterstroke from Coach Crameri, sending Gordon “G-Train” Barnett to full forward for the second half, sparking some activity on the scoreboard for the Swans.
Goals: Crosley (1), Barnett (1)
Chicago Swans vs Nashville Kangaroos
The boys showed that our pre-season had paid off, running the tournament hosts off their feet to finish the day with a strong win. After playing in the forward line earlier in the day, Jeremy “Swingman” Hede played a commanding role in the backline in this match. The Kangaroos were unable to hold on against the powerhouse performance in the midfield from Alex "I-drive-a-Subaru" Campanella and Joe "Shirt-Off" Caffarini. Adam "My-knees-don't-bend" Strachan and Stu "F**k-it's-hot" Nicol plugged the forward line, applying the pressure to Nashville's backs, whilst Kyle "Mr. Wisconsin" Maichle caused havoc around the ground. Tom “Barrel” C
rameri lived up to his name, kicking a 65m torpedo after the siren to cement the win and send the fans into a frenzy.Goals: Crameri (4), Monroe (1), Barnett (1)
Womens
This year’s regionals saw the debut of the mighty Mid-West All Stars Women’s team, a combination of players from Chicago, Nashville, Minnesota, Des Moines, Atlanta and Cincinnati. Whilst most players had just met that day and over half the players were new to the game, you certainly would not have known it from the teamwork and camaraderie shown on the field throughout the day!
Game 1 – Texas Heat
A scorching midday game against the Texas Heat saw a strong opening half from both teams with the Mid West All Stars up at half time, proving to be the more dominant through the middle. Unfortunately as the heat grew more intense the Swans were unable to convert up forward, letting the Texas heat slip through with a few forward entries to score an extra two goals and take the win just before the final siren. A strong effort by all with special mention to new Chicago player Sheridan Agasilou and second gamers Sarah Roughead and Tess Maisey.
Game 2 – Denver Lady Bulldogs
A quick break for the All Stars and the ladies took to the field for their second game against reigning Nationals Champions Denver Lady Bulldogs. A strong hit out from the outset, the All Stars starting midfield put up a strong show against the Bulldogs, demonstrating solid football skills and impressive teamwork. New players in particular took to the game like a Swan to water showing they weren’t afraid of a hard-ball-get, putting their head over the ball and contesting marks all over the field. Showing us just why they’re the champs in the league, the forward barrage from the Bulldogs was relentless, however the All Stars backline consistently took intercepted marks across the half back thanks to Laurell and Carson, and on the goal line thanks to Tess and KP to keep the Bulldogs from surging ahead. Link kicks up through the midfield led by experienced players Emily, Bron, Natalie and Kate pushed the All Stars toward our forward fifty, however were unable to stop the Bulldogs gaining a hard fought win.
Thanks to all the players for travelling from all over the mid-west to form a team of true All Stars, we can’t wait to see you all again at Nationals!
Congratulations to everyone who was making their first appearance with the Swans at a regional tournament and thanks to all those who supported the team over the weekend!
]]>Another beautiful Friday night welcomed the latest edition of the Metro League with the Piranhas taking on the Rhinos down at Waveland Field. With a number of regulars MIA, it was a great opportunity for a number of the newer players to step up and take accountability for their side. It was great to see out of the two sides, 7 are new recruits playing their first season of Footy. The game got underway with Coach “Play on” Hendrie taking up umpire duties on a shorter field. The field was shortened due to expected numbers, but was expanded at the end of the first quarter as the game resembled more of the proposed AFLX game rather than a footy game. Every now and again, the Metro League sees a legend return to the oval, and this week, the players and spectators were graced with the Swans greatest goal kicking machine, Al MacGlashan taking to the field for the first time in quite a while.
It didn’t take long for the first goal of the game as the Piranha’s Stu “About to get rattled” Nicol snapped one from the boundary on his favored left foot. The Piranha’s continued the onslaught for the first 10mins or so with Tom “Bearded Beast” Shearman and John “Fend-off” Reynolds roughed up the midfield. After that, it was all Rhinos with Nathan “My mate’s coming, can we play a footy game” Bird linking up with Gordon “Pikmin” Barnett to slot several before the break. Newcomer Dan “Hispter Socks” Armstrong played a pivotal role in moving the pill out the center and into the forward line. The experienced Mike “Panic@theDisco” Panek provided another newcomer Troy “Mr. Vape” Kuziel with valuable direction in the backline and Kuziel is a quick learner, which came to the annoyance of his man, Barnett. The Rhino’s confidence rocketed, however this was soon to bite Bird after he was through on goal with no one ahead of him, his lack of urgency and la-de-da finishing saw him get caught by Kuziel and Panek. While Bird was able to get a generous point and the endeavor of the backline was second to none, the goose award was all but sealed by this point.
The second quarter started with much of the same as the end of the first with Shearman, Nicol and Reynolds struggling to get the ball to the point man in MacGlashan in the forward 50. Pedro “Bring your brother to footy day” Jimenez and his brother Vicente “The Rib Rattler”, brought the physicality to the Piranhas midfield with Vicente laying a particularly strong tackle on Nicol that left him counting his ribs. As if the Piranhas day couldn’t get much worse, Micah “Fab Movran” Brown, who was quiet in the first, sprang to life just before the halftime. Sprang is an appropriate term as the agility of Brown is freakish and he left all in his wake.
At the half there was some changes with Shearman having to leave to feed his horses back in his village in Wisconsin and Brad “Never on time” Clifton, well… showing up late. Kev “Topper Harley” O’Reilly landed his plane and with suitcase in hand, showed up to lace up his uggs and get a run in. O’Reilly’s rust, thankfully, subsided after a few possessions as a couple of his teammates were starting to wane after a few floaters and hospital passes. Clifton and Paul “DJ Gloves” Enzinger solidified the Piranhas backline and plugged the one way traffic that was being lead from the Rhino’s stalwart backline in Rob “Watch how loose I can get later” Schmidt. Amy “One of the lads” McGuiness was able to keep the Piranhas from bottoming out with a couple of late goals after some fine footwork.
Barnett’s accuracy never wavered in the third and the only saving grace the Pirahnas had was that “Mack Truck” MacGlashan snagged numerous sausage rolls with some sensational snaps. A bit of comic relief for the spectators, opponents and well, teammates saw Nicol and MacGlashan collide front on whilst chasing a wild ball out on the boundary. Needless to say, physics was not kind to Nicol who by this point had enough ribs for a family BBQ on the 4th.
Speaking of the 4th, an epic rivalry consumed the 4th quarter when Armstrong and Steve “such a nice guy” Stavropoulos seesawed in dominance over one another that highlighted the grit and determination of both. Both these players are ones to watch and come Columbus is a couple of weeks, it’ll be great to see them working side by side.
Some more magic from MacGlashan, some fancy footwork from former dancer O’Reilly and some hard running from Reynolds wasn’t enough to pip the Piranhas over the line, with them going down by 3 goals at the siren. Another great hit out as we lead up to the July 15th tournament in Columbus. Next round of Metro is July 7th, 6pm @ Waveland Field.
Best: Shearman, Reynolds, Brown, Clifton, McGuiness
]]>The cold weather subsided finally to allow for a beautiful spring day in the Second City to get Round 4 of the Metro Competition under way. The Chicago Swans were graced with some Tassie Footy Legends who were travelling through Chicago and stopped by to have a gander. William Leitch medallist and Hall of Fame member Darryn “Hollywood” Perry even laced up in full Swans attire to join the rest during the warm up and showed the way. While Perry put in a hard shift during the warm up, the rest of the lads rested to put in a harder shift later at the bar. It was an honour to have Perry and the rest of the Tassie lads down as they criss-crossed their way throughout the country.
But back to the game at hand! We had another special fly-in player in Frankin “OBK” “Da Plumchise” “The Handsum One” “Yours Truly” Plummer who made is way up from the great city of Marcellus, Michigan to strap on the boots one last time before walking down the aisle next weekend.
With the teams picked, the game got underway. Coach/Umpire/Bad Guy Hendrie modified the field slightly as the goal posts have been lost under a shroud of mystery, dispair and unsportsmanlike conduct. New posts have been bought and will be back in action at the next home game. Not having point posts and resulted in out of bound calls being called definitely separated the men from boys when it came to goal kicking ability. However it was the female on the team that led from the front with Amy “Sharpshooter” McGuinness slotting a couple majors in the first term. It didn’t take long for Andrew “Coach Carter” Woodman to show his experience and shutting out McGuinness during a number of following contests.
Once again, the usual suspects in the midfield had consistent runs with Jeffrey “Mike Pence” Kraemer leading the charge and linking up well with Tim “Hamstring” Herrman to move the ball quickly out of the middle. John “This is not Rugby” Reynolds rucked against Tyrone “Backstreet’s Back” Lavery with both players getting the better of eachother only a handful of times. This led to a scrappy clearance effort with Stu “They did what to the posts?” Nicol, Jayson “Not Nolan” Schmelzer and Pedro “Let’s talk politics” Jimenez tussling to get the ball out and down to OBK and McGuiness respectively.
Newcomer Matt “Hockey Hit” Hacker had a resounding effort in his first game ever with some bone crunching tackles and unrivalled endeavour throughout the backline. Opposition should be wary of Hacker as he when he connects, he means it. Exciting stuff from a future star of the Swannies. Another hard hitter Greg “It’s Miller Time” Miller got the best of a few players in what was turning to be a physical game, even for Metro standards. Luckily there were no injuries, however just after 1st quarter time, Hamstring Herrman went down with a hamstring injury. Hopefully a quick recovery will mean he will be right for Minnesota in few weeks time. Latecomers Jeremy “Winter is Coming” Stark and Clement “Daddy Duties” Chiesa brought about a change of pace to the game. Chiesa and Lavery linked up well to crunch Nicol a few times, making him second guess any more side steps. Multiple majors for Kraemer, Nicol, Schmelzer and Reynolds added to the OBK and McGuinnesses tally as the teams saw out the half.
Trent “I can score from here” Smith moved from the backline into the middle and was on fire from there on out. Already racking up a number of Fairest and Best Award points, he’s been killing it in recent weeks. The confidence level is high and he can slot the ball home in the forward line from almost any angle. As the game wore on, legs grew tired and the lads who have been working on their fitness notched it up a gear. Kraemer and Schmelzer ran ragged through the middle while Nicol tracked back well and was rewarded with a few held balls for his tackling efforts. As the game neared the end, Stark, Jimenez and Reynolds regained control of the midfield as they soaked up pressure from the comeback of the Rhinos. It wasn’t enough though as fittingly, OBK slotted a few more majors to pip the Rhino’s horns over the line first.
Final Result:
Rhinos : 13.0.78
Pirahnas: 11.0.66
(We didn’t have point posts)
Best: Kraemer, Lavery, Schmelzer, McGuinnes, Smith
]]>Our 2016 award winners included:
Shoutout to Four Corners Group's Sidebar Grille for hosting the evening, and to all the folks who keep the club running, including referees Daniel Estes, Lisa Albergo and Paul Enzinger, and Executive Committee and coaches Bryan Hoyt, Stu Nicol, Andrew Woodman, Alastair Martin and Anthony Hendrie.
]]>Just 15 minutes before the scheduled bounce down of the first metro match of the 2016 Chicago season thigs were not looking too promising. Only a handful of players had roughed the 38 degree rainstorm and made it to Waveland Field. Although that might have been because umpire Brian Hoyt linked to the wrong field on the Facebook post about the game which led to him winning the first Golden Goose of the year. An award he fully accepted and wore all night even while he played guitar at Irish Eyes later that evening. But just as all hope was almost lost the Rhinos and Piranhas showed up in full force and before you could say "Outback Kid retirement tour" the game was underway.
From the beginning it was an epic clash in the middle as Graeme Radford battled Jason "Pony Boy" Wilhelm in the ruck. Off the initial tap Pedro Jimenez scooped up the ball and went bang through the big sticks for an early 6 points. After that the Piranhas settled in and were getting solid clearances out of the middle from Jayson Schmelzer and first Chicago gamer Shae Tulley. Those clearances led to some early marks and goals by the Piranha front line being led by Coach Woody and Brad Clifton who slotted an early goal. An early highlight was a goal attempt that rocketed off the foot of Rhino forward Trent Smith and landed square in the guts of Swans VP Stu Nicol. The sound of the ball slamming into Nicol's ribs could be heard from clear across the field...as well as the resulting laughter as Stuey crumpled in pain. At the end of the first quarter the Piranhas held an 8 point lead.
The rain continued to drop as the second quarter started. But an electric energy overtook the field as Franklin "The Outback Kid" Plummer donned the Rhino jumper and entered the game. Along with Plummer there was a look of shock on everyones face as Ryan "Hayzie" Hayes and Graham "Crackers" Brennan entered the game as well. It had been a few seasons since these two legends had been on the pitch together at the same time.
The presence of these three Chicago footy legends seemed to energize both clubs and the action was moving back and forth with both teams making the most of their efforts. Tyler "Minutes" Dorsett slotted two goals while Jeff Kraemer and Stu Nicol each got their second goals of the day. Schmelzer rewarded his hard work with a goal of his own and Joe Sweirupski who an anonymous source said "looked 10 years younger out there" slotted his first of two goals on the day. But the real action was by the back lines of both teams. The Rhinos backline was buoyed by first gamer and future prospect Ben as well as the always hard charging and hard hitting Tom Shearman. The Piranhas backline was holding their own as well with strong performances by Greg Miller who was getting a ton of the ball and Cliff Holmes who seemed to be everywhere. At halftime the Piranhas were up 6.3.39 to 5.5.35.
The rained continued to make things difficult for both teams as the premiership quarter got underway. After a stop off at Home Depot the one man who wasn't having any trouble was Paul "Garden Gloves" Enzinger. With his trademark gardening gloves Enzinger was able to take a few strong marks as well as reward himself with a goal in the 3rd. Sweirupski kicked another for the Piranhas while Kraemer was getting hot and collected his third goal for his eventual bag of five on the day. The slippery conditions were turning the game into a real street fight with skills going out the window as each team looked to slug it out with each other. At the end of three the Rhinos held a slight 3 point lead at 7.7.49 to 7.4.46.
With the 4th quarter underway this game was tighter than a camels arse in a sandstorm. From the initial bounce down though Radford started to get the best of Wilhelm and the forward clearances were being gobbled up by Smith who was getting a ton of the ball and put through 2 goals to get the Rhinos going. Kramer then followed up with a beautiful goal off the left from about 30 out all while the relentless run of Alistair Martin was starting to become too much for the exhausted Piranhas. As the quarter rolled on the Rhinos simply ran over the top of the Piranhas and kept pouring it on like a heavy handed bartender. The Piranhas got one last goal from Wilhelm but it was way too little and way too late. As the final siren went off the Rhinos celebrated a 11.12.78 to 8.4.52 victory.
Rhinos: 2.4 5.5 7.7 11.12(78)
Piranhas: 3.2 6.3 7.4 8.4 (52)
Goals
Rhinos: Kraemer(5), Dorsett(2), Smith(2), Jimenez, Enginer
Piranhas: Nicol(2), Wilhelm(2), Sweirupski(2), Schmelzer, Clifton
Best
Rhinos: Kreamer, Radford, Shearman, Jimenez, Smith
Piranhas: Miller, Schmelzer, Tulley, Nicol, Wilhelm
]]>Tomorrow’s game will see Stu’s Piranhas take on Hoyt’s Tigers. The game kicks off at 6, with drinks at the Brownstone afterwards.
]]>What seems like a common thing moving forward both teams meeting half way to play each other on a neutral ground as one of two games the clubs will play against each other. MN went into the game without a few of their big names; regardless The Swans weren’t going to take this one lightly; MN already had some actual game time under their belts playing in a Tournament in Des Moines a few weeks ago.
Chicago was an unknown quantity with 6 first gamers coming into the side, all had big boots to fill with Frank Bradley, Alistair Martin, Al MacGlashan, Andrew Woodman, Drew Wolfe, Joe Swierupski, Danny Kastilan, Andy St John, Nolan Schmelzer, & Keith Campion to name a few, all unavailable for selection, adding to this scenario Dan Saarbacker & Matty Webb both sidelined because of injury. Full credit goes to the first gamers, Brett Barrett, Corey Barker, Jeff Kraemer, Graeme Radford, Nathan Bird & Brenton (Milwaukee Bombers) who all made valuable contributions to the win.
The Chicago traffic stifled our early exit, and because of that our preparation was shortened, and this showed in the first quarter. It took the Swans a half a quarter to warm up, and by that time the Freeze had banged on 3 goals, against what was a 3 goal breeze! The Swans were finally able to get their hands on the ball through the mid field, with Jayson Schmelzer, Pedro & Pony Boy starting to put their stamp on the game. The Swans added 2 goals late in the term through Tommy ‘Tank’ Shearman, and Sammy Svoboda. Paul Ensinger got himself a brand spanking new pair of ‘garden gloves’ and this did appear to aid his performance in the quarter with some sharp tackling and if wasn’t for errant kicking could have bagged a couple himself.
The second quarter saw the back line tighten up, Tiger was being well held by Nathan Bird, and the two Brads, along with Hoyt continually dented any forward thrusts by the Freeze. Tommy Edelstone found his position in the back line and arguably played his best game in a Red & White jersey. A solid team effort around the ground restricting the Freeze to just 4 behinds for the quarter. Graeme Radford bobbed up and added one to the Swans tally. The game was evenly poised at half time with the Swans taking the honors by the slimest of margins.
Game on in the third quarter with the contest being hard fought across the centreline, with the Freeze adding the only goal for the quarter. Some of the things we spoke about at halftime were hallmarks of our game in the third; our tackling, blocking, shepherding and getting to the bottom of every contest set us up for a ding dong battle in the last.
Trialling by 7 points going into the last quarter, the Swans threw caution to the wind and moved Graeme Radford into the ruck, Stu Nicoll found it difficult to get into the game for the first three terms got himself a few telling touches, and Corey Barker lit the forward line up and managed to slot a nice one from about 35 meters out on the run to help seal the deal. A great finish to the game that saw important goals to Sammy Svoboda, Nathan Bird, & Jeff Kraemer. Keep your eye on Jeff Kraemer, a very exciting taken that will be a huge asset for the Swans 2015 campaign. While it was tense in the last couple minutes the defense was dour and the midfield willing to chase down the opposition and make any possession they got ineffective.
A real satisfying win with everyone playing their part to win their position and help get us to our first win of the season. If this is a taste of things to come, with the addition of the absentees, the selection committee is going to have some headaches this year.
Our next challenge looms large with the Wayne Schwass Cup up for grabs in a couple weeks with the Swans traveling to Nashville to take on the inform Kangaroos, who will be hopping mad after their win on Saturday against Columbus in Columbus.
For any lads that have not responded to Hoyt about your availability, do it now. Nashville is always a cracking weekend, even better if we get to keep the Cup!
Chicago Swans Q1 2.3.15 – Q2 3.5.23 – Q3 3.7.25 – Final 7.8.50
Minnesota Freeze Q1 3.0.18 – Q2 3.4.22 – Q3 4.7.31 – Final 5.9.39
Goals: Sammy Svoboda 2, Tom Shearman, Graeme Radford, Nathan Bird, Corey Barker & Jeff Kraemer
Best: Corey Barker, Jason Wilhelm, Jayson Schmelzer, Brad Clifton, Brad Ross, Tommy Edelstone, Sammy Svoboda, Pedro Jimenez, Paul Enzinger
]]>On Saturday June 13, a depleted Swans squad of 16 blokes descended into Nashville to defend the Wayne Schwass Cup at Elmington Park. Stu has either 20/120 vision or a nose that a TSA sniffer dog would be proud of, but lucky for us he recruited an Aussie on the flight down to Nashville. Zane was handy for us as we needed all the men we could at that point.
The ground was a treat, a fast track, a lot of sunshine and more heat than us Chicagoans had seen in 10 months. Thankfully we had Hendrie running water in between shuffling the side around as best he could.
Pony Boy won the toss and kick with the aid of a two goal breeze. The Swans made the most of their opportunities, with Nathan Bird, Woody, and Stu slotting majors for the term. The quarter was marred by an incident that occurred at the 5 minute mark more likely to be seen in a cage fighting bout. Corey Barker wore two clinched fists to the forehead, which kept him off the field until the second half. The incident really did spur the boys on and finished the quarter strongly, Swans in front by 13 points.
The second quarter tightened up considerably with the Swans adding a solitary goal through through Nathan Bird. Webby in his first game back from a pre-season hamstring injury was serviceable at center half back, the two Brads, Clifton & Ross were working overtime in the back line. The junkyard dog was a welcome addition back into the Swan outfit, big things to come once the dog finds his form later in the year. New bloke, Jonno lurking on the last line of attack calmly took a number of telling grabs and thwarted a good number of their forward thrusts. With Corey off the ground, the mid fielders, Pony Boy, Pedro, Tommy Shearman, Al Martin were wearing the load. Nashville had a couple nippy mid-fielders that were causing head aches for the under manned Swans. The Swans battled gallantly in the quarter and went into half time with a slender 7 point lead.
The premiership quarter saw the Swans play like rock stars ignoring the heat, Corey defied the pain barrier and touched it out and appeared to inspire the boys. The Swans banged on four goals to three; Stu benefited from a couple down the field free kicks making The Roos pay for each. Brad Clifton and Pony Boy each nailed goals. Nashville were beginning to carve out goals of their own in the quarter adding three goals and six behinds. Swans went into the final term, 8 points ahead.
In all honesty, as coach, it was hard to watch the boys do their stuff against tough conditions, but they continued to battle on but in the end were over run by Nashville, who were obviously more attuned to the oppressive conditions. I might add, that had we travelled with 3 or 4 more players the result may well have been in our favor. That said, it was a tough hit out, aside from the first term incident which is not part of our game, the game itself was played hard and tough and we new Nashville would be keen to atone for their loss in Chicago last year.
The Swans now set their sights on the Central Region Tournament in Racine on July 11th. At present they are expecting an excellent turnout with 12 men’s teams competing (Austin, Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Denver, Des Moines, Houston, Milwaukee/Indy, Minnesota, New York, Ohio Valley and Tulsa). Now is the time to keep the ball rolling lads, let me or Hoyty know if you are going to make the day trip on the 11th.
Onwards to Victory!
Chicago Swans: 3.3.21 4.5.29 8.6.54 8.7.55
Nashville Kangaroos: 1.2.8 3.4.22 6.9.45 10.13.73
Goals: Stu 3, Nathan Bird 2, Woody, Clifton, Pony Boy
Best: Jonno, Corey, Clifton, Ross, Pony Boy
The night kicks off at 9 p.m. on Friday, October 2nd. There will be food and drink specials all night, and a chance to win over $1,000 in cash prizes.
]]>Saturday saw a depleted Minnesota outfit, one could only assume it was wasn’t cold enough for the Freeze to bring a full squad, rolling up with 12. Chicago not flushed with their full compliment, but a few blokes were willing to put their hands up to don the blue and white jersey to help make a competitive game of it.
The boys were serious about their last hit out before Nationals in Austin, TX this year. And it was plain to see from the outset peppering the goals in the first quarter but not really damaging with only three majors from ten scoring opportunities. One thing was for sure, forward 50’s which dictates the game these days saw the Swans in control. The mid field led by ruckman Graeme Radford, were dominating. GR finding the rovers, Pedro, and Wilhelm with relative ease. Jayson Schmelzer came into an uncustomary role of playing in the middle and played very well, picking up telling kicks and getting in and under dishing out hand balls to the on ball brigade, and laying important tackles when new needed some grunt.
A similar result in the second with many inside 50’s but inefficient in front of the big white ones. Corey Barker had the ball on a string in the front half notching up his third before half time. There were however many contributors, Brad Clifton and Sam Svoboda was rebounding at will from the back line. Making it difficult for the Freeze forward line to settle into a rhythm, with Alistair Martin (Swans) doing all the grunt work for the Freeze, but he didn’t have many friends up front and the Swans kept at it, pushing the first term lead (16 points) out to a 28 point lead. Once again if it wasn’t for errant kicking the Swans could have put the game away by half time.
You could sense at half time that the Swans weren’t entirely happy with the results posted on the scoreboard, and were determined to make the premiership quarter theirs. And they ran rampant, the red and whites piled on six goals to two in the third to blow the game wide open. It has been a while since the Swans have been able to put a game away that was somewhat teetering. Once again Corey Barker dictating terms in a lethal term of quality football. Joining in the scoring frenzy, future Revo Jeff Kraemer showed us some glimpses of why the selectors have a keen eye on him. Wilhelm, must still be on his honeymoon because he ran into two open goals that returned behinds, Stu Nicol wasn’t able to rub the shine off his boots on Saturday despite numerous attempts to kick a goal during the goal frenzy in the third. Swans pushed their lead out to 53 points at lemon time.
The fourth saw a few unusual moves with Wilhelm and Stu Nicol relegated to the last line of defence. Stu saw this as a huge opportunity, and found himself actually kicking a goal from the back pocket, coach might be onto something! At this stage in the game the word around the stadium was there a possibility we would witness a Swans player kicking 10 goals in a match! A feat at hasn’t been seen since Wazza was bedazzling the Swans faithful back in the good old days! Corey finished with 9 and was unselfish in handing two out. Nathan Bird played second fiddle today but finished the game with three and provided many forward thrusts with his creative play further up the ground.
All in all a great result for the club and the supporters who came out to support the boys in their last game before Nationals. Some really good individual efforts, but more so to see the team effort overall to knock off Minnesota for the second time in a year. No doubt we will come up against a full strength line up for the Freeze at Nationals. This will certainly be something to look forward to.
The warm up for Nationals is in earnest with the last round of Metro this Friday night, and with just a few training sessions left, all of you attending Nationals should attempt to get out for these. At this point we have one of our better squads heading down to Austin in October, any blokes on the fence about going this year should get on board. Onwards to Victory!
Swans – 3.7 5.13 11.16 18.17
Freeze – 1.3 2.4 4.5 7.7
Goals – Corey Barker 9, Nathan Bird 3, Pedro Jimenez 2, Jeff Kraemer 2, Joe Swierupski, Jayson Schmelzer, Stu Nicoll, Brad Clifton
Best – Corey Barker, Sam Svoboda, Graeme Radford, Pedro Jimenez, Brad Clifton, Nathan Bird
]]>The Chicago Swans Australian Football Club met at The Brownstone this past weekend for their 2015 Annual General Meeting. A good mix of established and new leaders stood for office, and the following committees were formed to lead the Swans for the 2015 season.
Executive Committee:
President: Brian Hoyt
Vice President: Stu Nicol
Club Liaison Manager/Metro Commissioner: Andrew Woodman
Treasurer: Bradley Ross
Secretary: Keith Campion
Webmaster: Tom Shearman
Coaching Subcommittee:
Anthony Hendrie, Alistair MacGlashan, Sean Curran, Andrew Woodman
Communications Subcommittee:
Doug Malcolm (Social Media), Sam Svoboda (Internal Communications), Stu Nicol, Andrew Woodman, Tom Shearman
Branding Subcommittee:
Keith Campion, Drew Wolfe
Operations Subcommittee:
Michael Panek, Danny Yunes
]]>Red + White night details as follows:
When: Saturday 15 November
Where: SideBar & Grill – 221 N LaSalle
Time: 7:30pm – 10:30pm (after party @ Benchmark)
Cost: $40 per person (Food, beer & Oxford Landing wine ALL inclusive)
Your payment will be via PayPal, click the button belowRight now, you should be making arrangements for sitters, dusting off your Red & White bag of fruit, and making sure your better halves are dolled up for this glamorous night of nights.
The MVP count will be a really interesting this year, a number of players have put their hands up, none other than Pedro who had a stellar year. Stu Nicol must have at least one hand (or boot) on the Al MacGlashan Goal Kicking award, and of course the coveted Rich Noty award, awarded to the best clubman. These and others will be presented over dinner and stories from the weekend will be revealed on 15 Nov.
]]>This past weekend the boys headed over to Dublin, OH for the USAFL Nationals Tournament. Four divisions of 6 teams and a women’s division rounds out the carnival with Clubs from as far as North as Calgary and the Squids in the South.
The Swans headed down there with a reasonable amount of confidence with solid wins over Nashville, Ohio Valley & an admirable loss to the Freeze in the lead up to the 2 day carnival.
The Red & Whites travelled with a squad of 23 and were pretty confident of a positive start to the carnival first up with a noon game against our rival, and Division Premier last year, Columbus Jackaroos. The home team were always going to be hard to beat. While the scoreline shows that we were beaten, it wasn’t without chances, and in 40 minutes of football you have to make the most of your chances.
A couple of marks in the forward line may have resulted in goals and this could have made the world of difference, but instead Revo half back, Chet was able to thwart a lot of our forward thrusts. We did go down swinging but to no avail. We had a number of individual performances that were really pleasing.
Brad Ross on the wing had a stellar game, Webby was asked to step up and play center half back for the Tournament and his first game was superb. Mike Panek was his usual reliable self. Cliffy came in for his first Nationals with the Swans and fitted in very well, there is no frills with Cliffy, just hard at it honest football. Additionally, nationals newbie, Tommy ‘Sherman Tank’ Shearman was firing on all cylinders and providing some much needed grunt in the middle. Woody was our sole goal kicker for the game, taking a fine mark and goaling after the half time siren.
Game 1 – Saturday @ Noon
Swans 1.1.7
Columbus 4.6.30
Goals: Woody
Best: Panek, Tommy, Brad Ross, Pony, Cliffy, Webby
Our next challenge was against unknown side, Houston Lonestars. There was nothing lonely about their game, they were a tall group of athletic lads, and really rolled over the top of us, all too easily. Our shining light from that game was the continued good form of Pedro. He has impressed all year, and will look to see him polling well in this year’s MVP award. With a scoreline like this, you would expect the back line to feature heavily in best player awards.
Once again Webby played really well, and interestingly enough, his soul mate, Danny showed us some glimpses of the sort of footy he has shown of his potential. Pony continued to battle but around the ground he was often left to do the ground work with some second efforts almost non existent.
This was quite a disappointing game for the Swans as I don’t believe we have ever been beaten that comprehensibly in a Nationals game. We all recognized as a group that this was not the way the Swans play, and Rich Noty would have had a sleepless night knowing that we had one game on the Sunday morning to make amends.
Game 2 – Saturday @ 5pm
Swans 1.2.8
Houston 10.6.66
Goals: Stu
Best: Webby, Pedro, Pony, Joe, Danny, Stu
Dinner on Saturday was not as jovial as it could have been, however the food and Oxford Landing wine was really good at Mezzo, somewhat taking our minds off the days events. The ball sat squarely in the lads court in the final game against, a once powerhouse Boston Demons.
The determination and will to get to the contest and tackle was a pleasure to see on Sunday morning on a dewy track. Boston burst out of the blocks and had 2 goals on the board before we had travelled past our own half forward. To the boys credit they stood up and basically said this is our game and were gonna fight for it. And fight for it they did. Danny Yunes continued on from the 5 o’clock game against Houston to play a quality and valuable game for the Swans. Panek took quite a few marks playing that kick behind play that he does so well. Pedro has gone from strength to strength this year, and has really become one of the club leaders, recognized with being named, vice captain for the tournament.
It was really good to have the footy smarts of the junkyard dog, Joe on board for the tournament and his game against Boston was valuable. Gambol who battled hard all weekend, took a couple good marks and was able to nullify his opponent.
Pony played an uncustomary role in the second half, giving us some much needed height at center half back, he played this role very good and even managed to kick a goal. New the club Stu Nicol, made a special request to play back pocket, but coach Hendrie recognized pretty early on in the piece that he likes nothing more than to kick goals, his two goals proved to be the difference in the two sides, with Boston managing just one point in the second half.
Game 3 – Sunday @ 9am
Boston 2.2.14
Swans 4.2.26
Goals: Pony, Al, Stu 2
Best: Pedro, Panek, Joe, Gambo, Danny, Stu
Full credit to the squad that pulled on the jersey this weekend, we didn’t make the final but we did manage to come out Sunday morning and prove to ourselves and the supporters that came out to watch that we can play big city ball. Let’s harness that energy and bring it back next year.
Our next event is Red & White night, where we recognize the individual efforts for the year. Pedro would have to be in the hunt for MVP this year, Stu will have a big say in the Al MacGlashan goal kicking award this year, and who will win best first year and most improved? All will be revealed in four weeks time.
]]>Another glorious Saturday afternoon at Waveland saw the Chicago Swans seeking another win at home in consecutive weeks. Their opposition Ohio Valley River Rats, a combined squad of Cincinnati, Louisville & St Louis. Unfortunately one of their guys had a wedding and so headed up with 14 players. Big thanks to a 4 of our lads volunteering their services, to help even up the numbers, Frank, Nolan, Allan, & Tyler Dorsett pulling on the opposition jersey; full credit to them! Drakey turned back the clock and put on his dusty old boots for a crack at the visiting side.
The Swans had been working hard in recent weeks to go out hard early and were able to get off to an early lead in the first quarter with some straight kicking, leading by 19 point at the first break. The River Rats kicked just the solitary goal, but could have easily been a couple more, if it hadn’t been for the Swans defense being rock solid, led by Tommy Shearman and Eric ‘Mac’ McLimore, once again two players leading from the front. In the middle, Drakey, Hoyt, Alistair Martin, & Pedro who seems to be in the middle of a purple patch; great form that we hope he can carry into Nationals.
More of the same in the second kicking three straight to extend the half time lead to 30 points. Stu was creating some nice plays in the forward half and even picked up a couple goals for his troubles. Sammy and Joel were also chiming in with some hard work in the forward line and had it been for some straight kicking would have rewarded themselves for that good work.
The third quarter was pretty tight, with the Swans boys missing a couple golden opportunities, winning the quarter by just 3 points. Mike Panek took a spell off the ball in the third, Sammy came into the middle and after a few minutes getting acclimatized began to find the ball with ease. Tommy Shearman came into the middle in the second half and began to make an immediate impact. The Dockers had two fine players in the middle, Jack, who played for the Revos last month in Australia in the International Cup & Cookie both carried the grunt work for the visitors all day, they continued to be a thorn in our side.
The flood gates opened in the last with Big Al running riot in the last to bring his game tally up to 5 majors. Straight kicking throughout the day saw the Swans run out comfortable winners on the day by 63 points. The defense continued to send the ball into attack, with Joe the Junkyard, & Alistair Martin tireless back there. Brad C moved into attack and took some telling marks and selflessly gave away a couple goals he could have kicked himself.
It was a pleasing victory in as many weeks and a good workout in the lead up to Nationals in October. Next week is a massive game and one that we always look forward to. Minnesota will be at full strength and the Swans will need to be on top of their game next week to topple The Freeze.
Swans
4.1.25 3.0.18 2.4.16 6.2.38 15.7.97
Dockers
1.0.6 1.1.7 2.1.13 1.2.8 5.4.34
Goals: Al 5, Stu 2, Alistair Martin 2, Tommy 2, Hoyt, Brad C, Sam, Joe
Best: Pedro, Mac, Al, Joe, Tommy Shearman, Alistair Martin, Sammy, Tommy
What a perfect afternoon for footy down at Waveland it was on Saturday. Chicago playing their first home game of the season against our arch nemesis, the Nashville Kangaroos. The Roos have been very solid for the past few years, the Swans would go back a long way to remember their last win against them! Playing for the Wayne Schwass Cup always adds additional spice to this game, this was a big game for the Swans. While The Swans had been competitive in the past couple years, we had struggled to reward themselves for effort.
Start time was pushed to 5:30pm as the field was fully booked; the game was actually played in perfect conditions. While The Swans had not been able to get their best side on the park for quite some time; they were finally confident that today was going to be the day, at least on paper it appeared this way.
Pony Boy was fresh back from the Revo assault in the International Cup in Melbourne. As a side note, the Revos played extremely well and we’re very well served in the ruck with our very own Pony Boy, Alex Wallace played very well against Finland until his Revo campaign came to an end with shoulder problems, congratulations boys!
So the Swans had a squad of 23 going into the game, Nashville came up to Chi-town with the bare minimum of 16 players, so it was decided we would play 14 a side. Given the size of Waveland, 14’s or 16’s are well suited.
The first quarter was a torid affair with no side able to gain the ascendency. Luke Nemeth was working hard for the Kangaroos as was Pedro for the Swans. But it was the defence that proved the stumbling block for the Kangaroos; Frank & new comer Brad Clifton continually thwarted their attacking forays, ‘Mac’ McLimore & the junk yard dog, Joe Swierupski back wearing the Swans jersey after a lengthy break through injury. Something to be genuinely excited about is ‘Mac’ who plays like a man possessed, his grunt at half back was a pleasure to watch, keep an eye on this player, expect big things. The red and white went into quarter time leading by a straight kick.
Both sides began to find targets inside the forward area in the second quarter. Another tough quarter with the Roos beginning to land a few body blows, something the Swans knew they had to be aware of when playing the Roos. The only way to play against sides like this is to hurt the, on the scoreboard and that is exactly what the Swans did, rounding out the second quarter with 3 goals to 2, going into the long break, 13 points clear.
Certainly not a match winning break. The message at the break was to regroup snd begin from scratch start, continue on with the blocking, shepherding and link up team work, that had been a feature of the Swans game in the first two quarters.
The third quarter began slowly for the Swans, and things looked ominous with the Roos jumping out of the gates to take the lead halfway through the third. And then all of a sudden it was the Woody & Seano Show the duo proved no match for the inexperienced Kangaroo back line. Dougy & Pony got a sneaky ones and this all but knocked the wind out of the Kangaroo sail.
The last quarter was one way traffic with the red & white lads lining up to kick a goal. Gloves chipped in for one of his trademark ‘soccer’ goals, one that Ronaldo would have been proud of. A couple of lads ran into open goals, and should have really rubbed salt in the wound.
Some really tremendous efforts all around the ground which was pleasing from a coaching point of view. Pedro played a blinder and hope this is a sign of things to come, Frank was the glue that held the back line together, I already mentioned Mac who is an excitement machine, he has a bright future with the Swans! Pony Boy had no competition in the ruck, and when they did, they message was just to take the body, sadly for them Pony was always one step ahead. Russ was understandably a bit rusty but his hands are always going to be a huge benefit late in the game when a big mark is needed.
The forward line functioned very well with Seano bagging 4, and Woody his able assistant threading 3 through the sticks when the game was there to be won! Hoyt battled well all day, and Tommy Shearman completely nullified their big forward.
A really fantastic win for the Swans who finally get some reward for effort, and one that should give us some good momentum into next weeks Sponsors game against Ohio Valley River Rats. Training has been really good of late, albeit light on numbers, but has been really energetic and clearly some of the boys are getting into their fitness groove before Nationals, which is only 5 short weeks away. Some of the blokes clearly need to work on their fitness, and of course there is no time like the present.
Swans 1.2.8 3.3.21 4.4.28 4.3.27 – 12.11.83
Roos 0.2.2 2.2.14 3.1.19 1.1.7 – 6.6.42
Goals: Seano 4, Woody 3, Pony 2, Brad, Dougy, Gloves
Best: Pony, Seano, Russ, Mac, Frank, Pedro,
Who will raise the trophy?
The AFL finals are underway with eight teams fighting it out to lift the AFL premiership cup on the last Saturday in September. You don’t need to fly to Australia to watch the game. The Chicago Swans and Brownstone Tavern are once again throwing the greatest AFL Grand Final party in the midwest.
The night kicks off at 9pm on Friday, 26th September 2014 at the Brownstone Tavern. $20 entry includes food and drink specials all night, chances to win over $1000 in cash and prizes and the AFL Grand Final televised LIVE!
Purchase tickets below ($20 per person):
During the game we also have a Squares competition with prizes drawn every quarter. Proceeds of the squares competition goes towards the club for help with the expenses of running the club – permits, equipment, travel etc. So purchase a square or two and be in the running for some great prizes and support the club at the same time!
https://www.superbowlsquares.org/p3b33/
Username : Swans
Password : Footy
John was all by himself. He had his own small verdant bubble in the hill endowed—and this is a big thing in Chicago, a hill!, and in the Pool Table Metropolis, no less—bucolic expanses of Lincoln Park playing fields which spreads, as damselfly wings, from Montrose Avenue, a pretty little rolling jewel, an edenic cushion for the dusty, still golden-toothed skull of Uptown to rest on, his lime green shirt echoing the incandescent centipedes of lightning flashing between the city’s northern skyline, and he was kicking into the air … something, a fat little alien ball apart from the other implements rolling or sailing about.
It was pleasingly buxom in shape, like a football had been subjected to gavage, the traditional nose points of the gridiron’s prolate spheroid softened and the whole thing a lava red that completed the whole swollen football look, and John was taking a few half-speed steps, dropping it down onto his foot as a cigarette butt, and giving it a quick, clean snap of a kick—the kind wherein the knee ends up only slightly ahead of its non-kicking counterpart, the power coming from the abrupt stop of the forward momentum and the quick swing at the knee’s pivot, the tibula and fibula and foot as little flail—that saw the fat tick of a ball spiraling end over end, like an uncorked punt, and John ran it down, flashed over there in his neon, and kicked it again.
The ball goes up over and over again, a maritime distress flare on Montrose Harbor, and it occured to me that I was most likely the only other person currently in the park who not only knew what he was looking at, but would respond to it as well. John was kicking the ball used for Australian rules football—hereafter referred to, at the author’s discretion, as Aussie rules, footy, Australian football, or AFL—and as he unknowingly lofted yet another signal, I made my way in his direction.
***
First things first: Aussie rules is not soccer. Australia, like Canada and the United States, refers to association football as soccer—it should be noted, by the way, that this means “soccer” may be the numerically superior name of the game among English speakers, an interesting thought for those who insist on calling it football over here—nor is it rugby. It is, however, something of a chimera, mixing elements of the less parochial football codes, even with slight glimpses of our own gridiron iteration.
According to introductory materials from the Australian Football League (AFL; sometimes the sport is even referred to by the league; it’d be like you and your friends going out to play some touch NFL), the game originated in 1858, when cricketer Thomas Wentworth Wills invented the sport as a way for fellow cricket players to stay in shape during the winter.
Wills’ game is contested on circular ovals—a vestigial element, one imagines, from its cricket-oriented origins—between two sides of 18 players a piece. The oval is divided into three pieces, with two 50 meter arcs designating the team’s respective attacking/defensive zones, which contain four sets of posts. Two of these, centrally located and 21 feet apart, are the goal posts, which are flanked by smaller behind posts.
A goal, worth six points, is scored whenever a player kicks the ball through the opposing team’s goal posts; the ball can sail through, or bound, roll, and bounce, but it must have originated from the foot of the attacking team and it must pass through the posts untouched by the defenders for the full six. If the ball touches the goal post, goes between the goal post and a behind post, or is subjected to any of the other, sort of nebulous (to me) arrangements—usually involving contact with members of the defending side—the team is awarded a behind, worth one point.
There is no offsides, which, in combination with the circular field and teams the size of a small-scale war game, leads to the action looking like something of a swirling maelstrom of flashing arms and thighs, most of which have the bulging curvature of Bass Strait swells during a small craft advisory. The sleeveless guernsey and rugby-short shorts, combined with soccer boots and high, often hooped, socks, give the game an instantly recognizable aesthetic, one quite popular—as my antipodean lover pointed out—with women, and, aside from showing off the often Grecian physiques, useful both in its freedom of movement, of which there will be a lot, and merciful lack of coverage, as Australian winters are not particularly cold.
Players can run in any direction they please with the ball, provided they bounce it every 15 meters or so, which looks absolutely ludicrous and is not altogether unchallenging upon first attempt. The ball is advanced either by kicking it or handballing, which consists of holding the ball steady in one hand before punching it with the other in the direction of one’s teammate, another action which is unique to the game and just as much fun—and more intuitive than one would think—as it sounds.
Marking is, far and away, the most magnificent and eye-catching aspect of the game; if anyone has seen a brief clip of footy footage, it is almost assuredly a spectacular mark, aka a specky, screamer, hanger, etc, and it almost always consists of one player scaling another, often ending up genuflecting upon his ladder’s shoulders , to snatch the ball from mid-air. Any clean, on-the-flight catch of a kick results in a mark; once caught cleanly, the players steps back from the spot where he caught it, and is allowed to disseminate the ball unobstructed.
As one can imagine, a series of quick marks, which resembles, at its best, the dinking and dunking and eventual bombing of an Air Raid offense, can swiftly move the ball upfield; as such, spoiling, or the punching away of the ball before the catch can be made, is of prime defensive importance; basically everyone is a cornerback or a wideout at some point. Tackling also comes into play; if a player is wrestled to the ground before giving up the ball, a similar, uncontested moment is allowed to the defender for kicking/passing.
In the end, the whole thing kind of looks, if one can excuse the slightly too on-the-nose analogy, like a sporting platypus, incorporating elements of soccer—the kicking, the near constant fluidity—and rugby—the physicality, including the manner of tackling—with dashes of basketball dribbling, American football pass catching/defending, punting, and field goal kicking, and all of this contested on the vast, mutable expanses of a cricket oval.
And I really, really wanted to play.
***
I came across the Chicago Swans when my girlfriend Maggie and I were discussing the national sport of her ancestral home over breakfast one morning on the West Side. Upon discovering that there is a United States Australian Football League—which, it seems, feeds the United State’s national team—and that Chicago had a team, she suggested I write a story about them, a suggestion I took to immediately.
I was already familiar with the game, being a rather avid sport junky, but my exposure to Aussie rules mainly revolved around jumper reveals on the Uni Watch blog and the odd clip here or there—almost always a specky, which to me resembles those soaring great whites off South Africa—and some YouTube highlights. I had a favorite team, the Fremantle Dockers, chosen for reasons both arbitrary—a fondness for nautical imagery, chevrons, and, with apologies to Paul Lukas, purple as uniform color—and tangentially belayed by it being Maggie’s hometown.
As research revealed the Swans to be an organization more along the lines of a roller derby team—i.e., one travel team, the actual Swans themselves, comprised of the best players, which played other teams cities in USAFL sanctioned contests, and which was then split into Metro league teams, in this case the Lincoln Park Piranhas, the Lincoln Square Tigers, and the Wrigleyville Rhinos—and, like most roller derby teams, inviting of potential participants, the story shifted from the novelty of AFL in America to something more involved: Could I actually play the game? Be the aluminum swan, vis-a-vis Plimpton’s Paper Lion?
Making a metro team, my Swans pointman, and Tigers coach, Brian Hoyt informed me via email, was a given; anyone who comes to play is allotted a slot. Only the 22 best, however, make the Swans, and, once there, only the best in America can join the Revolution, the USA squad, compete in the International Cup in Australia, and perhaps even be invited to try out for an AFL team. These are long shots, of course, fever dreams for a sportswriter who weighs a wiry 145 soaking wet and, since playing lacrosse in high school and being captain of his minuscule Catholic college’s track team, has dealt more often with bowls than balls and batons.
But to play—that was a given, and an extremely important one, at that. Those of us who used to be athletes, even in the loosest, lowest sense of the term, sometimes lay sleepless at night, missing not only the obvious aspects of our erstwhile lives—the camaraderie, the glow of glory, no matter how cold and faint—but the less obvious ones as well: the pain, the suffering, the challenge. For me, in particular, surrounded by the kind of adult struggles which are only exacerbated by a career with zero security and the capriciously cruel, feast-or-famine nature of an Atlantic City slots parlor, what I missed most was the concrete fight; the knowledge that I could work harder, could run, lift, practice, could struggle, hustle, bleed, and fight back. I could take control of one aspect of my life, could run it down, bring to bear against it—literally!—sinew and tooth and bone, could corporeally, concretely, empirically win. And so I answered John’s flare.
***
Let me tell you something about the Australian football: It is a mercurial thing, surprisingly amenable to being punched and punted with reasonable accuracy in a fairly short amount of time—the first thing I did, after introducing myself to John, was to ask if I could see his ball; as they are expensive and almost impossible to find stateside, this would be my best chance to touch one outside of the auspices of a team activity, and, my cursory once over complete, I handballed it—successfully!—to him, in a move which was meant to convey that footy was not completely outside of my ken, a kind of winking, hopefully not all that pathetic gesture of future solidarity—and well suited to catching and handling, even for someone with smaller hands, such as myself.
Get those fat fuckers on the ground or in the rain, however (with being wet and on the ground obviously the worst case scenario) and prepare to be made a fool of. The rotund shape lends itself to bounding, in the American football style, with maddening irregularity, and the same luxe curves which allow for easy handling while dry turn, to borrow a phrase, slippery when wet. Even more frustrating is the bounce, as, if you manage to hit the ground on the correct point of that swollen little belly, the ball will obediently bounce right back up in to your hands; miss by a millimeter, or hit some hitherto unforeseen deviant topographical feature, and it cartwheels away gleefully, most likely into the arms of the enemy.
As the clouds gathered over the city and a few other Swans straggled in for practice—including Hoyt and Minutes, who would become crucial to my natal career shortly—boots were donned and jokes exchanged. After a quick warm up jog and a static stretch circle, we began with skill-driven line drills, handballing to each other in every iteration—high, on the ground, off handed—before moving in to some close quarters kicks.
The kicking, aside from the limitations on physicality my small frame may provide, was my greatest concern coming in; I played little boy soccer, as many my age did, up until eight grade, but even then my foot skills were limited at best. You could certainly kick a lacrosse ball, if you wanted to, but it was not exactly a crucial aspect of the game, and track would be of little help, outside of perhaps some mechanical nuances. Seeing me badly launch a few wounded birds, Minutes took me aside to work on my albatross.
He instructed me to drop the ball perfectly downwards onto my kicking foot, to make impact along the lace tops; within a half-dozen tries, I had begun to nail the general idea, if only straight line, unmolested, and a few yards apart. Still, that I had begun to kick any properly at all was a great relief to me.
My spirits were further buoyed in a variation on the triangle drill, wherein three lines, tracing a great triangle clockwise in streaking patterns, would attempt to mark a kick on the fly from their counterparts. The regularity of dropped/miss-kicked balls—this is not an easy action, especially as the rain had begun to fall—led to a premium on hustle and backing up the fellow in front of you, two things independent of skill and therefore right up my alley, and when at long last I finally struck my man on the run and on the hands, the chorus of attaboy sentiments lofted me into believing, for the first time, that I could perhaps do this.
In fact, unlike other tight knit, niche enthusiasts, the Swans were as accommodating as their online solicitation sounded. No groaning or mockery met my feeble attempts, of which there were many, and every individual’s success was cheered, as it should be—as it was—as the team’s. These were men who wished to share their game, wanted it to be your game, and if such a thing sounds a given, I can assure you it is not.
The author receives advice from Swans coach Anthony Hendrie.
Similarly refreshing was the lack of swaggering, amateur machismo, which is so often heightened, in inverse proportion, to the stakes of the athletic contest being measured (this is a phenomena something like what is encountered in academia, the old saw about the sniping being so brutal because the stakes are so small). Despite being surrounded by soccer teams—always a popular rec sport, one must imagine that, with the mighty influx of passions afforded the game every four years, the rosters are engorged right now—a favored target of full contact player’s ridicule, not one word was said. A rugby team was gently disparaged when they moved into the way of our conditioning relay, but the laughingly added caveat that they were bigger than us (that’s twice, now, I’ve identified with them), and therefore allowed to impede as they saw fit, highlighted the good naturedness of it.
The conditioning, which included a lovely little drill wherein everyone drops for ten pushups, sprints up-hill—in Chicago!—to perform ten more, then rolls like thunder down the hillside for the final mad rush and drops to a final set of ten, all under two minutes, the first time, and a minute thirty, the next, the aforementioned relay race, and the running required of all of the skill drills, would have been no problem for collegiate sprinter me. For party good time sleepless sportswriter me, they were nigh insurmountable challenges. My triceps surae locked and spasmed; worse, a dim fog and something like the sound of cicadas rose in my ears and my head began to float. By the last grueling pushup and stretching circle, I had felt more dead and alive than I had in years.
***
The next three days were spent in pain; a knot developed in the bloody bundle of cords which comprise the hamstring; the conch-like curves of my calf muscle radiated pain with the slightest touch; the wrist of my predominant handballing hand, injured many years ago in a blindside collision with a Naval Academy-bound lacrosse defenseman, felt as if it were rusting.
None of the ailments had subsided by the time I descended the stairs of Addison station on Friday night, into a slowly dispersing blue crowd of apres game Cubs faithful who had witnessed a late afternoon mauling of the Nationals.
A few blocks east, Boystown, in the midst of PRIDE, resembled either the sticky, sybaritic patina of a party or a Dionysian prelude; scattered chemical toilets and revelers in various stages of undress were suspended between saturnalias, one girl, perched sobbing on the back of a firetruck on Waveland, painfully so. The night was stifling, intermittent relief provided by the winds coming off Lake Michigan, still brumal with the polar vortex’s chill.
The Swans were hosting a children’s birthday party when I arrived, small bodies and smaller balls flying about as the nippers played what appeared to be a little round robin tournament. I desperately tried to warm up, fearful that my legs would betray me, and found Maggie on the sideline, black flask of vodka in hand.
My original plan, to sit out a quarter or half, get a feel for the game, and shoot photos, was scrapped immediately. With not enough men to play a full 18v18 match, I wold be pressed into service from the opening bounce (by the way, games start with a bounce). After divvying the arrivals up into Tigers and Rhinos, I was officially made the latter and pulled on my first Aussie rules jumper, a rather chic number, if I do say so myself, in the colors of the Chicago flag, predominately powder blue with red collars, numbers, and right aligned red and white strips. I grabbed the smallest guernsey I could find, an XL, which only accentuated my lath-like appendages in comparison to my teammates.
Playing defensively in the backend, my main focus was to stick to my man and prevent him from receiving the ball, particularly on a mark. Trotting out, my first-ever opponent, a rangy fellow named Sam, welcomed me to the game. Upon learning it was my first time, he assured me that I would get the hang of it. “Everybody’s first time is a little crazy,” he said. “But if you stick with it, the difference between their first game and their second is huge.”
Whether the later part of Sam’s prophecy is true remains to be seen, but I can attest to the former. That swirl of action and muscle I mentioned a few thousand words ago is no less confusing from inside the din; being small and relatively fast, any potency I can boast in a game comes primarily from my knowledge of said game, i.e., using my understanding and speed to ensure that, even if I am not the strongest or most talented member of the team, I can be in the correct place.
Lacking this athletic awareness, a creeping hesitancy—should I stay next to man? Move towards the glut of people scrapping for the ball?—and tired legs hamstrung my effectiveness as around me raged a contest which shifted seamlessly from roiling, scrapping dog fights to graceful, aerial loping. I managed to put myself around the ball, which Swans head coach, and game umpire, Anthony Hendrie seemed pleased about, even if I did not quite know what to do with it (at his urging, I tried to maneuver myself behind my teammate with the ball for the duration, as from that position you can serve as both safe potential outlet and navigator) and I managed to inadvertently cheat only a hand full of times. The first time came on a tackle after a mark; a blatantly illegal move, and one which occurred to me halfway through as I thought to myself that it was unusual my opponent was not even attempting to get away. I almost repeated the mistake later on in front of our goalposts, letting go at the last second.
The author heading for what would be an illegal tackle.
The other fouls involved my favorite aspect of the game, handballing; when one is being tackled, a handball or kick before going down is the only course of action. My first touch, in a panic, I pitched the ball rugby style, which was mercifully uncalled and did not, it seemed to me, greatly affect the games outcome. A second instance of passing was, in my defense, not on purpose, as my arms became wrapped up in such a way as to prevent even a little rabbit punch, and the forward momentum tossed the ball lose.
My goal heading in to the contest was, first and foremost, to not get killed; a distant second was to do something, anything, that would unequivocally help my side. The moment came in the third quarter when, in a move which made me feel like Richard Sherman in the back corner of the end zone, I performed my first, of hopefully many, spoils, an over the back striking of the ball with closed fist that sent me into personal ecstatics, even as my calves seized agonizingly and I took to limping when not sprinting.
The rest of my game augured in from there, twice, refreshingly, literally—there is something pure and even good about getting nicely tackled—as a meandering onto the offensive side of the field left me even more impotent than I had been before, but the Rhinos won, 96-74, and, most importantly, I had survived.
My efforts were met, with the most part, by congratulations and support and finally a cold Modelo tinny, a suitable ending to what was the most enjoyable introductory game of my life. Even Maggie, who, exposed thighs aside, did not care much for footy even when she lived in Australia, seemed proud. The clear and present sense of accomplishment—I had wanted to play this game, I had struggled to play this game, I completed playing this game, albeit a slightly different version of it—served as an anodyne; the physical expression—to a breaking point—as catharsis.
A few days later, with the next official Swans function beneficently weeks away, my paroxysmal legs locked so badly I was reduced to walk around my apartment en pointe, a ballet of pain.
]]>ST KILDA has signed American giant Jason Holmes on a two-year international rookie contract.
In announcing the signing at the AFL Draft Combine at Etihad Stadium on Wednesday, Saints head of football Chris Pelchen said the 203-centimetre former college basketballer from Chicago had excited the club with his athletic prowess, coordination and competitiveness.
“For those who were here yesterday to see the vertical leap that Jason has, I think we were all impressed by that,” Pelchen said.
“That doesn’t mean he’s an AFL player (yet) … He’s got to learn some very basic skills and obviously understanding of the game… (but) I think he’ll adapt to the game very, very quickly.”
Holmes, 23, was identified as a potential AFL project player at the US combine in Los Angeles in April.
Click here for all the Combine news
He and fellow Americans Patrick Mitchell and Mark Cisco spent three weeks with the Sydney Swans Academy, then coached by Paul Roos. Only Mitchell was offered an international rookie contract by the club.
Holmes recorded a vertical leap of 97 centimetres – just four centimetres short of Nic Naitanui’s record.
Holmes told reporters he first came across Australian Football on cable television about six years ago.
When he heard about the US combine, he believed it was a game he was capable of playing after studying it on YouTube.
He says he picked up the skills more naturally than many other hopefuls at the combine.
“I’ve just been trying to absorb as much as I can,” he said. “It was polarising to me, watching just how important it is in this country and how many fans come watch it. It’s a huge sport and it looked really exciting.”
Asked whether he found it difficult to give up basketball, Holmes said: “At times … but my passion is to compete. I had time to think about (it) … and I wouldn’t be here if this wasn’t serious to me.”
Holmes said he was looking forward to the physicality of the game, saying his basketball career had him well equipped.
“As a ruckman it’s very similar as far as dominating other men against you, and I have no problem with getting physical and imposing my will,” he said.
Kicking was never a problem, says the left-footer, who reveals he played soccer as a youngster and also punted for a gridiron team. He also played baseball.
“So I have read the ball in the air before. It’s a different ball, different shape but it helped, it translates,” he said. “And handballing … just felt real natural to me …
“I have a lot to learn, and I’m here for that reason, but I feel I can be more of an asset to the club in my later development when I can do a little bit more … full-forward maybe. I like kicking.”
Holmes’ older brother Andre plays with NFL franchise Oakland Raiders.
“He’s excited,” Holmes said. “He wishes I shared the same interest in football, so I’m pretty excited to say I play too.”
]]>Welcome back to Chicago footy everyone. Round 1 of the 2014 season was a rematch of the 2013 metro grand final, Lincoln Square Tigers Vs the Lincoln Park Piranhas. The match started a little after 6 as the weather was delaying some of the local baseball games, but at soon as the boots were tied and the legs were stretched, the whistle blew and the game was underway. From the first ball up it was apparent that Jason “Ponyboy” Wilhelm was going to win the taps all day, but with “cannonball” Kiefy roving for the Tigers he was quick to play off the taps and keep the ball in the Tiger side of the Field. Conway kept Pony occupied all day keeping a body on him at all times and really shutting him down. The first half was all Tigers as there more veteran side was apparent over the younger and more inexperienced Piranha side. The Piranhas were lucky to hold the Tigers to only 5 goals in the first quarter, but the second half was the comeback we were all waiting to see. Tiger goal kickers first quarter were Beckham…err I mean Sainty…X2, Al “I’m still young enough to kick ass” Macglashin X2, and Eric “Cutter” Conway.
The second quarter was more in the Piranhas side of the field and the goals starting coming back their way. New players Patrick, Tom, Mack, Joris and Kevin all started to get a feel for the game, and soon enough Dougy “Fresher than Fresh” Malcolm slotted 2 goals and Alex “roids” Wallach snapped a ripper from 30 out. “Drakey” made a veteran appearance for the Tigers and showed he still has years of footy in him, and while he made the honorable call to let the younger players play while he ran the boundary. For the Tigers, Nolan “what’s with the hat” Schmelzer grabbed a pair of goals and looked smooth out there with his spin moves and jukes. Best on Ground Player of the match Sam “I swear I’m not 19″ Svoboda played incredibly well looking super sharp for still being a newer player. Mark after mark and spot on kicks got this kid the Blue Jacket at Brownstone. At the half, the scores were a little more even at 7.2 (44) to 3.3 (21)
Coming into the premiership quarter the Piranhas were stopped again and again by one very big man: Russ “the bus” Adams. With more years playing that probably the entire Piranahs team combined, it was hard to not only get the ball into the forward fifty but get it in the hands of those who could put it through the big sticks. Al “silky smooth” Martain was instrumental in keeping the ball moving forward for the Tigers. Coming out the wood works Graham “Crackers” got his name on the sheet with a major score, along with Oscar “mile high” Meyer. Pony receiving a handball from Doug off the wing kept the Piranhas alive with the only goal for the quarter for the blue and reds. Lots of hard work was to be had by Tyler “Minutes” in the pocket keeping Paul “Garden Gloves” scoreless on the day. Russ kept Rhino gun Dave “Wild Child” Deutz goalless for his cameo appearance. Sars was another key player on the Pirhanas who made the 3 hour drive in and drive home that night (huge effort) to keep the flow moving to the Pirhanas offensive sign, but the Tigers were just too strong. Hoyt played too.
The Fourth quarter was nothing short of a fizzle out. Lungs were short of breath while Big Al and Crackers bagged another goal each. In the End the Tigers were just too strong and will absolutely be a force to be reckoned with. Next week the Pirhanas get a chance to get their name back when they face the Wrigleyville Rhinos.
As always, huge thanks to all the WAGs/friends/family and kids who came out to support the footy and have a drink while watching men beat the crap out of each other. Always good having the support and the cheers/jeers when we kick goals or shank them miserable. Huge thanks for Anthony Hendrie to umpire the game. See you all next week!
Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Final |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Piranhas | 0.2.2 | 3.1.19 | 1.3.9 | 0.0.0 | 4.6.30 |
Tigers | 5.1.31 | 2.1.13 | 2.2.14 | 2.3.15 | 11.7.73 |
Goals | Piranhas: Malcolm (2), Wilhelm, Wallach Tigers: MacGlashan (3), Brennan (2), St John (2), Schmelzer N (2), Conway, Meyer |
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Best | Piranhas: Shinsako Tigers: Jimenez, Svoboda |
Best on Ground: Sam Svoboda
Oxford Landing: Pedro and Kevin Shinsako
Golden Goose: Kiefy
Come celebrate everything there is about being, knowing (or wanting to know) an Australian at the annual Australia Day party hosted by the Chicago Swans. This year we will be at the Kirkwood hotel (another of the Four Corners tavern group) with a great wristband deal ($35 draft beer, call spirits and wine from 8-11). For up to date event details, check the official Chicago Swans Facebook page.
We can’t promise the 40C weather back in Oz right now, but slip on your coat, slop on some green and gold, and slap on a Kirkwoods wristband and party Australian style Saturday 25th from 8pm onwards at Kirkwoods (2934 N Sheffield).
]]>Time to break out the Red & White suit, get the missus all dolled up and pay tribute to our award winners for 2013!
Join us for the final event of the season on Saturday 23 November at Sidebar & Grill, LaSalle & Wacker. Party starts at 7pm. Dinner served from 7:30pm. Drink package until 11pm. Party bus picks us up at 11pm to continue at the Benchmark Tavern on Wells.
$40 per person for financial members & guests
$60 per person for NON financial members & guests
]]>Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Final |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tigers | 2.2.14 | 3.1.19 | 3.2.20 | 3.2.20 | 11.7.73 |
Rhinos | 4.3.27 | 1.6.12 | 4.4.28 | 7.1.43 | 16.14.110 |
Goals | Tigers: Wallach (5), Adams (2), Schmelzer N (2), Meyer, MacGlashan Rhinos: Wilhelm (5), Malcolm (3), Edwards (3), Campion (2), Bennett (2), Saarbacker |
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Best | Tigers: None Rhinos: None |
The Chicago Swans would like to thank the over 200 fans that packed The Brownstone Tavern on Lincoln Ave in Chicago to watch the Fremantle Dockers face the Hawthorn Hawks in what turned out to be a thrilling 2013 AFL Grand Final. In the end, the Hawthorn Hawks triumphed 11.11 (77) to Fremantle 8.14 (62) in a game that was still in the balance with minutes to play.
Hosting the AFL Grand Final and officially drawing the winners of the Qantas Raffle has become an annual tradition for our football club. We would like to thank our major sponsor, The Brownstone Tavern, who do an amazing job on the biggest night of the year for the club and continue to dedicate countless hours in the kitchen perfecting their rendition of an Aussie meat pie for this event. The Chicago Swans and The Brownstone Tavern look forward to hosting the AFL Grand Final for many years to come.
The 2013 Qantas Raffle was the most successful in recent history. Thank you to everyone who supported the club and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society by purchasing raffle tickets. Over the years, The Chicago Australian Football Association has donated over $12,000 in raffle proceeds to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and “Project Relentless”. Local football clubs rely heavily on external support and we are extremely lucky to have people & sponsors both within the club and externally that believe in our future. Congratulations to the winners!
Grand Prize – Airfare to Australia for 2– Chavewan Chutipisalkul
1st Place Prize – $400 – Jaclyn Wike
2nd Place Prize – $200 – Ryan Daudelin
3rd Place Prize – Mixed Case of Oxford Landing Estate Wines – Jeff Wilcox
The Chicago Swans have finished their final regular season game with a huge win over the Minnesota Freeze. This was the perfect result for the home team who had yet to register a win in 2013 including a narrow loss to the Freeze earlier this year. The selected side also had 12 missing from the disappointing loss to Columbus 2 weeks ago. That said the 25 blokes that put on the Swans jersey were determined to give it a red hot go!
Chicago set the tone early with repeated forward entries set up by Jason Wilhelm giving the on ballers first sniff of the ball. A few close misses finally turned into goals and at quarter time the Swans had a 4 goal lead with the ball barely entering the visitors forward half. The early signs looked ominous for the Freeze with Swans’ midfielders, Porter, Young Pat playing most likely his best game for the Swans, Pedro, Sainty & Keefy dominating the center clearances and the forwards locking the ball in the forward 50 in an impressive display.
Full forward Leigh Rees showed his overhead skills was going to be a handful for the Minnesota defense, and the likes of the 2 Nolans, Doddsy, Dougy Malcolm, Dorsett, Henry Knoop all doing their bit to turn a defensive action into a scoring opportunity. Such was the domination in the first quarter the Freeze didn’t look close to scoring and failed to register a single point.
The 2nd quarter was a continuation of the first with the Chicago on-ballers taking advantage of the clever ruck taps from Revo Ruckman Ponyboy and working strongly together to clear the ball and deliver effectively into the forward line. Chicago’s defence held together by club stalwarts Hoyt & Prez Poncho, along with first gamer James Rapley & Russ holding the Freeze game breaker, Tiger to a few inneffective touches, were tried only slightly but held strong and worked well to clear the footy when the time came. Not being quite as wasteful in front of the big sticks the Swans were able to extend their lead with another couple of goals while the the Freeze still couldn’t get themselves on the scoreboard.
The Swans went into the main break with a commanding lead, 5.9 (39) to the Freeze 0.0 (0).
No score in the first half would be eating away at the Freeze and we knew they would rebound from such a one sided first half and with a little bit of luck and some classy play from a few of their guns, Zach & Tiger managed to finally score. Still, the Chicago backline kept the visitors busy and provided a great springboard for their forward thrusts. Fitzy & Nolan Schmelzer came out on the wings and played like men possessed; Fitzy really did turn back the clock on Saturday. This type of form from these two blokes makes for a difficult match up for the opposition.
Even with Minnesota kicking a couple of quick goals the Swans still won the quarter kicking 3 majors of their own to extend their lead to 45 points. it was clever play that won the premiership quarter, working in numbers, leading hard and not afraid to take the opposition on when it counted. A couple of key attacks from patiently going backwards to progress forwards was a clear indication that the Chicago boys weren’t only playing harder than their opponents but also working smarter.
The last quarter was more of the same. The midfield didn’t let up, full back Hoyt, Fitzy were almost toying with their opponents thrusting the ball repeatedly into the forward line, and kicking almost as many goals in 20 mins as they had in the previous 3 quarters. Even the midfielders were sharing the honours desperate to get their name in the paper.
Minnesota did manage to score another couple of goals but it was too little too late. The domination shown by the Chicago Swans was highlighted by an an absolutely fantastic end to end goal which the Freeze had no answer to. Young Pat El Zoghbi capped off a magic day with a goal on the siren.
In the end the Swans ran out 70 point victors 14-14 (98) to Minnesota 4-4 (28). It was great effort by Chicago who were keen to round out their season with a comprehensive 4 quarter effort leading into the final few weeks before Nationals in October.
If the boys can take this effort and keep moving forward then there is a most definite chance that they can bring back more Silverware from Austin and continue their climb to the upper ranks of the USAFL.
Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Final |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Swans | 3.6.24 | 2.3.15 | 3.2.20 | 6.3.39 | 14.14.98 |
Minnesota | 0.0.0 | 0.0.0 | 2.2.14 | 2.2.14 | 4.4.28 |
Goals | Swans: McKeegan (4), Rees (4), Porter (2), Fitzgerald (2), Wallach, El Zoghbi Minnesota: None |
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Best | Swans: McKeegan, Rees, Porter, El Zoghbi, Hermann, Hoyt B, Jimenez Minnesota: None |