tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75961773260259134692024-03-13T01:48:48.260-07:00Planet of the Backs News & views on Atlanta Silverbacks FC...written by supporters.Taylor Peytonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10074633620835376066noreply@blogger.comBlogger62125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7596177326025913469.post-73619259987159814182019-01-08T11:52:00.000-08:002019-01-08T11:52:04.195-08:00Atlanta Silverbacks Rebrand As Atlanta SC: What We Know So FarOn January 4, the NPSL announced that the Atlanta Silverbacks had rebranded as Atlanta SC. After years of conflict with Boris Jerkunica, the owner of Silverbacks Park, Phoday Dolleh decided that rebranding and playing games elsewhere was the best option for the club going forward.<br />
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While the club is expected the retain Head Coach Roberto Neves, and the majority of last season's roster; the name, the logo, and the colors have all changed. The new logo, featuring a peach, and a soccer ball, has received mixed reviews at best on Social Media but Phoday said he decided to go with the peach because it is "a symbol of Georgia."<br />
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The Non-League America Twitter account tweeted a couple of extra details about why the rebrand came about and what it means for the club going forward. The series of tweets said the Silverbacks had the highest costs in the NPSL between licensing the name and playing at Silverbacks Park, and Boris wouldn't allow them to use the name at any other stadium. The thread also included confirmation that the Silverbacks as a team name is now dormant and that the title will only be applied to the park.<br />
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Many people suspected that a rebrand would happen eventually due to Boris' unwillingness to work with the team, but the news still came as a shock to Silverbacks fans. Westside 109 Tweeted after news broke that they were "still internally processing the big news" but were also "glad there's a team this year."<br />
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The venue the team will play in next year is still to be determined, but there has been speculation that it will most likely be somewhere in Alpharetta.<br />
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<br />Taylor Peytonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10074633620835376066noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7596177326025913469.post-91684385554700594082018-08-25T08:52:00.000-07:002018-08-25T08:52:32.559-07:00Video: Keka Scores Fantastic Goal in NCAA D1 DebutAfter winning Player of the Year at the Junior College level, Mohammed "Keka" Kemara transferred to UCLA and played in his first game last night against Coastal Carolina, which ironically, is the school that fellow Silverback DZ Harmon now attends.<br />
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The UCLA Bruins went on to get the best of the Chanticleers winning 4-0 with one of the goals being scored by Keka when he amazingly chipped the keeper.<br />
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
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👀 at this goal from Mohammed Kamara!<br /><br />Is this <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SCTop10?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SCTop10</a> worthy? We think so! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GoBruins?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GoBruins</a> <a href="https://t.co/sulIi3WDDp">pic.twitter.com/sulIi3WDDp</a></div>
— UCLA Men's Soccer (@UCLAMSoccer) <a href="https://twitter.com/UCLAMSoccer/status/1033191269810331648?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 25, 2018</a></blockquote>
Silverbacks General Manager Phoday Dolleh shared the video on his Twitter account, while also adding "they said D1 will be too hard for (Keka), I said he is special. Watch my word America."<br />
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Keka joins a UCLA team that suffered a down year in 2017 with a record of 7-10-1, missing the NCAA Tournament in which they usually qualify for, and win one or two games in a typical season. The Pac 12 is a very competitive conference for Soccer with Stanford being a national powerhouse that has won the last three consecutive National Championships, as well as California, and Washington who regularly make the NCAA tournament. Keka will have his work cut out for him in a tough soccer conference but if this first game is any indication on how his season will go, his team will be very competitive, and he will have plenty of chances to impress professional scouts.Taylor Peytonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10074633620835376066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7596177326025913469.post-27153790394621141782018-08-24T08:46:00.000-07:002018-08-24T08:46:55.716-07:00Tales From The Road: Say It Ain't So, I Will Not Go (Greenville)In this second edition of "Tales From The Road" I'll recall the best I can, my trip to Greenville, South Carolina, to see the Silverbacks take on Greenville FC. As a city, I have a huge soft spot for Greenville, and it's a place I could see myself moving to after College if I don't end up staying in Atlanta. The extent of my love for Greenville is to the point where my friends are concerned. Personally, I think they overreact because it's not like I can't just drive the 2.5 hours on Saturdays to watch the Silverbacks with them if it does indeed happen. The moral of this story is that there might be a little bit of bias in this post, but I don't see it as a negative one.<br />
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Our story begins at roughly 1pm in Dunwoody, as the same road trip partner from my trip to Asheville is stuck at his side job, I find myself hungry and in need something to do while I wait for him to get off. I decided to eat at the Burger King around the corner from his Complex. Keep in mind I hadn't eaten at Burger King I have no idea how long so I wasn't sure what to expect. Nothing could have prepared me for what might be the best deal I've ever seen: 10 Chicken Nuggets for $2. Sure Burger King's Chicken Nuggets ( and the rest of their food in general) isn't the best but it was still a fantastic deal, and it meant that I would have more Beer Money in Greenville.<br />
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We had an extra friend join us for the car ride to Greenville, and somehow, I ended up sitting in the back seat, but once again I was in charge of the playlist, so not all was lost. Unfortunately, my playlist making skills would later be replaced by my trusty pilot getting a Sirius XM subscription, but it was fun while it lasted.<br />
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We arrived in Greenville at the Campus of Furman University at roughly 4:30 in the afternoon if I recall correctly. Furman is a litttle bit further north of Downtown Greenville so there was no shopping or eating to be done, but that didn't matter we found a good tailgating spot near Furman's Football stadium, isolated away from the rest of the event-goers, and then proceeded to have our beers and kick the ball around under the shade of a tree.<br />
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This was how the majority of our pregame was spent, and then it came time to go into the stadium. There were two elderly ladies taking tickets at the game, and when it became my turn to go in, Uptown Funk was playing over the PA system and they were jamming away while taking tickets, which I thought was pretty cool. I decided to walk around the stadium and I saw two things I wasn't expecting: A King Of Pops vendor, and someone wearing the jersey of my favorite Bundesliga team, Schalke.<br />
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After I got my popsicle and awkwardly complimented a stranger on his Schalke jersey, I went back to join my friends and see what other Silverbacks fans had spotted us and were prepared to join us.<br />
If memory serves me right, there were close to 10 Silverbacks fans that made the trip. One of which attended East Carolina University in Greenville, NORTH Carolina, a place which he has very fond memories of, more so than the South Carolina version at least. I must say I got a real big kick out of him screaming "THIS IS NOT THE REAL GREENVILLE " at the top of his lungs on one or two occasions during the game.<br />
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Security at this game was pretty relaxed, to the point where they let some fans stand on the ledges of the walls separating the stands and the playing field. I didn't have much faith in me being able to keep my balance so I tried to stay off of it, but those with better balance seemed to be having the times of their lives.<br />
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The game itself ended as a 1-1 draw. The Silverbacks failed to convert an early Penalty kick opportunity but would manage to put one in just a few minutes later. Greenville would then equalize, and the game would end as a draw, but not without a few fireworks. Late in the game, there was a skirmish on the side of the field furthest from where I was standing that nearly emptied the benches. In the end, Ebrima Njie was shown a red card, and to this day I'm not entirely sure what really happened. Someone asked Njie after the game what happened with the red card and he only shook his head and laughed.<br />
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So after the game, there was still one more thing to do, find a bar to watched Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals, in which my Washington Capitals were playing in. The closest place was The Pumphouse Grill. It also happened to be karaoke night at The Pumphouse, with most of the patrons opting to cover Country songs, and I figured "hey I'm just here to get some food and watch Hockey with my friends. I can tune this out." The Capitals were well in control of the game and the Buffalo Chicken Sub I ordered was very satisfying, but eventually, it got to the point where I was dying for variety in music, so I decided to take matters into my own hands.<br />
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I decided to channel my inner-Tom Delonge. When I say that I don't mean I tried to chase aliens and UFOs, I'm saying I chose to sing All The Small Things by Blink-182, As I'm singing the chorus of the song I happen to look over at my road trip partners who are sitting at our table reasonably close to the stage, both taking videos of me and cheering me on. It was at that moment I realized just how great of a trip this was. Yes our team had tied a game they probably should have won, and the heat was absolutely terrible that day. But here we were in a bar where we undoubtedly stuck out like sore thumbs having the time of our lives.<br />
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After the Capitals won the Hockey game, we decided to head home, but not without a stop at 7-11 so I could get my Slurpee fix. I would like to end the story there, but I feel like I have to point the very next day that I ended up having a Pool Party with a few friends, and I said that I wouldn't mind moving to Greenville after college and one friend's response was "Taylor! We were literally just in Greenville yesterday. Should I have just left you there?" To which I paused for a second, and then replied with "yes."<br />
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So there you have it. Now you know how much I love Greenville, how enthusiastic I am about Karaoke, and how good I am at making the most of a disappointing result. Stay tuned for my next post where I will talk about my trip to Nashville. I don't want to give too much away because then you wouldn't read it, but it was definitely the best trip of the summer.Taylor Peytonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10074633620835376066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7596177326025913469.post-81180566983831800482018-08-08T12:28:00.000-07:002018-08-08T12:28:01.772-07:00Tales From The Road: The Magical Mountain Tour (Asheville Away)As another Silverbacks season has come and gone, I feel like it's important to reflect on all of the good times that were had while the season was going on, and boy did I have some good times. Whether it be at Silverbacks Park, Tara Stadium in Jonesboro, Blessed Trinity High School in Roswell, Asheville, Greenville, Nashville (too many "villes"), and at the end Chattanooga; it was so much more than just driving to the game, watching the game, and driving home from the game. I like to think I have enough stories from this season to last me a lifetime, especially from the road trips. I feel like I could make a whole series of posts about my road trips, which is EXACTLY what I'm doing. Hopefully, it'll help make up for how many chances I missed to write articles because I was neck deep in homework after all of my weekends away.<br />
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Seeing as how I missed the trip to Knoxville to see the Silverbacks play Emerald Force, this series will begin on a rainy Saturday in Asheville.<br />
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After one particular friend I agreed to carpool together for this trip, it came down to the next order of business, constructing a playlist for the ride. The main thing I tried to avoid doing was making it too Pop Punk heavy because I had a reputation to uphold as someone who puts a lot of variety into road trip playlists. I did a good job of this... until about 3 hours before we were set to leave when I added roughly 20 additional Blink-182 songs, to the 3 preexisting songs on the playlist. Not that it mattered in the long run because I had so many songs on a playlist for a relatively short drive so we went a long time without hearing any of those impulse songs<br />
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With a full tank of gas in his car and my still decent playlist playing on his stereo, we were on our way. Once you get out of Georgia the typical route from Atlanta to Asheville is pretty scenic. Both years I've gone it ended being a mix of Interstates, State Routes, and Backways as well. The best part is when you get closer to Asheville and the mountains are suddenly in the distance. We made good time throughout the ride and made it before all but one of the other Silverbacks fans we met up with.<br />
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When you get to downtown Asheville you will have no trouble finding cool little gift shops, amazing dogs being walked on every sidewalk, breweries in abundance, as well as hipsters doing hipster things, but a parking spot? That's far more challenging to find in Asheville and may involve a couple of trips around the block. When you do find a spot, however, you can walk pretty much anywhere you want in the area. For my friends and I, that was a place called Burial Brewing Company. Burial was where my friends and I hung out before attending the game last year and it left a good impression on us so we decided to return. The main attraction at Burial, apart from the beer, of course, is the fact that their door handle is shaped like the Grim Reaper's scythe, which unfortunately it took me a whole year to figure that out, but better late than never.<br />
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Memorial Stadium itself is just uphill from McCormick Field where Minor League Baseball's Asheville Tourists play. It's a multi-use facility so, in addition to Soccer Goals, there are also Football Goalposts. The thing I like the best about the venue it personally is how good the view of the mountains is. What can I say? I have an infatuation with mountains.<br />
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The game itself was pretty much gut punch after gut punch because in addition to the Silverbacks losing 3-1, I found out that 3 of Asheville's players were also players from my school, Georgia State University. I hadn't had much time to look up Asheville's roster but I heard the PA announcers mention them by name and I had to do a double take. Sure enough, it was the same people I had watched pretty much every week of College Soccer season. When the reality finally sunk it, I couldn't resist the urge to jokingly yell "you're playing for the wrong team! You go to school in Atlanta" at them. I don't know if they could actually hear me say it but I did get to talk to one after the game. He said he did recognize me, but for some reason, he wanted to say my name was Robert, as opposed to Taylor. Little did I know, next time I talked to him it would be after the game at Silverbacks Park the very next week, and I had to ask him what was going through his mind when he showed Westside 109 his underwear after one of his teammates scored a goal.<br />
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One moment that probably sticks out for me more than anything else that happened on this trip was after the full-time whistle. The PA system in Asheville started playing "Come On Eileen" and one of my friends spontaneously changed the lyrics to "Come On You Backs" and we all loved it so we joined in, and it has since become a tradition that we sing it everytime we're either on our way to or from an away game.<br />
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After the game, there was the task of getting home, which was one-half walking back to the car in pouring rain and trying to say all of our goodbyes, as well as one-half driving. My carpooling buddy decided a few days in advance that he didn't want to go all the way back so he suggesting spending the night with some people he knew in South Carolina, relatively halfway between Asheville and Atlanta, which I was totally fine with.<br />
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Remember when I said my friend had a full tank of gas in the beginning? Well by this point we did need to stop so we found this gas station, and for the life of me I can't remember the gas station, but it turned out to be the best one I had ever been to. It had been a while since I had eaten so I grabbed a LOT of snacks. The kind of snacks that would cost me somewhere near $12 the gas station nearest to my house, but my some sort of miracle it only cost me half that at this magical South Carolina gas station, which is what I will forever know it as because I can't remember the name.<br />
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So that was my adventure to Asheville to watch the Silverbacks. As good of a trip as it was, it was probably the trip that was the least memorable. Perhaps I was still just getting into the swing of things, perhaps I've forgotten about one or two other things that happened (I'm sure one of my friends will tell my right away if that is indeed the case), or maybe Asheville just didn't have as much to offer as the other places I visited did.<br />
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In the next part of this new "Tales From The Road" series, I will be telling you all about my trip to Greenville. Stay tuned for more reading about the adventures of a lower division Soccer traveler.Taylor Peytonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10074633620835376066noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7596177326025913469.post-37270836736577534802018-06-05T11:02:00.002-07:002018-06-05T11:30:56.681-07:00A Dejecting Draw And A Boneheaded Boris Decision<p dir="ltr">Before we begin our regularly scheduled blog post, I would just like to take a moment to say that sometimes the hardest part of doing this blog is having to even think about what went wrong after travelling to an away game and having vast amounts of fun even if the result wasn't a win, but I suppose it comes with the territory. The Atlanta Silverbacks shared honors with Greenville FC in a game that ended 1-1 on Saturday at the campus of Furman University.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The Silverbacks had a chance to take the lead early when they were awarded a penalty, but Keka was unable to convert as his shot was saved by Greenville's Paul Tyson. The Silverbacks would later take the lead through a Sherriff Suma goal in the 34th minute, so not all was lost.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The Silverbacks were able to hold onto the lead until the 71st minute when Greenville's Quinn McNeill scored from about 20 yards out to equalize the score. The game would end that way but not without some controversy. In the 89th minute a small altercation started after what appeared to be a dispute about a Greenville playing staying down on the ground, a Silverbacks player yelling at them to get up, goalkeeper Paul Tyson shoving said Silverbacks player, and then it further escalating to the point where the Greenville bench players all stood up and nearly ran onto the field.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Take that description with a grain of salt because I was on the complete other side of the field so maybe someone who was closer to where the skirmish occurred might have seen it differently. But that's my recollection of it.</p>
<p dir="ltr">In the end, only the Silverbacks' Ebrima Njie was dismissed from the game.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Ultimately, the Silverbacks missed too many opportunities to increase their lead, and then after Greenville equalized they had a lot of the better chances in the dying minutes up until that dust-up mentioned above which more than likely killed any chance of either team scoring another goal.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Next up for the Silverbacks is another game against Georgia Revolution on Wednesday June 6, this time at Silverbacks Park. Unfortunately it was announced recently that the kickoff time from this game would be changed from 7 pm to 5 pm, much to the annoyance of many Silverbacks fans.</p>
<p dir="ltr">According to a source, a scheduling conflict between Boris and the team first arose a few weeks prior. The initial proposed solution was to change the date of the game to July 8 so they could appease Boris and still play at 7pm. Unfortunately the date changed also needed to be approved by the Revolution ,and the NPSL themselves. One of which appeared to not approve of this change.</p>
<p dir="ltr">A popular talking point in situations that involve kickoff times being changed because Boris refuses to help the team, is the fact that there are many other possible venues that the Silverbacks could move their game to in such events. It is possible that Phoday was in discussion with other sites, but nothing came to fruition so playing the game at 5 pm was the only option that remained, despite the disappointment of everyone except Boris.</p>
<p dir="ltr">As far as the Revs themselves go, they were in New Orleans this past weekend where they were handed a 3-1 loss at the hands of the Jesters, with Isaac Promise scoring their lone goal. The Revolution continue to fall further down the standings. In first place just a week ago, they are now in 6th place only ahead of Greenville, and Emerald Force.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The Silverbacks currently sit 5th in the standings, which makes them safe in the playoff race, but it could jeopardize their chances of hosting a playoff game. With this in mind, it seems <u>b</u>ragging rights aren't the only thing at stake. If you can find a way to make it Silverbacks Park despite the inconvenient kickoff time, it would be worth your time because this game is bound to be interesting.</p>
Taylor Peytonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10074633620835376066noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7596177326025913469.post-77306520009537636802018-06-01T09:53:00.000-07:002018-06-01T09:53:00.479-07:00Silverbacks Look Strong Against "Rejuvenated" Revs On a humid Wednesday night in McDonough, Georgia, Silverbacks fans from all sides of Metro Atlanta were treated to a dominant 5-0 win by their team over local rivals Georgia Revolution.<br />
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Henry County High School is the third home for the Revolution in as many seasons. Regardless of where the games are played they have still been unable to beat the Silverbacks. This season's squad looked stronger on paper, and has already improved from last season by winning a game, yet they were unable to have any success against the Silverbacks that night.<br />
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With Theo Blachon in net, and a starting backline of Manuel Moreno, Abdul Bangura, Mo Issahaku, and Ryan Marcano the Silverbacks defense thwarted every Revs attack, the few times they managed to get past the holding midfield pair of Lansana and Oliveira, that is.<br />
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The Silverbacks struck first very early in the match when a long ball was controlled very well by Keka, who passed to Joao, who passed to Suma, who passed back to Joao who provided a clinical finish in only the 6th minute.<br />
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It wouldn't be the only goal that Silverbacks captain Sherriff Suma would record an assist for as he would later deliver a free kick that met the head of Keka only 5 minutes later. Keka's header went very high and descended slowly but still managed to drop at the right time and sneak into the net.<br />
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Keka would return the favor in the 31st minute after getting by a Revolution defender and passing the ball to Sherriff Suma who would go on to score the Silverbacks' third goal on the night. Suma's shot ending up hitting a Georgia Revolution defender but he wasn't in a position to clear the shot off the line so it still ended up in the back of the net. Regardless, it looked like he was standing completely over the line so it was always going to be a goal, and it was always going to be credited to Suma.<br />
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The Silverbacks fourth, and arguably most satisfying goal of the night came in the 66th minute when a long ball from Joao was controlled by Keka who took on the lone defender in pursuit of him, made him look foolish by making him fall, going around him, then doing something similar to the keeper, and then walking the ball into the net.<br />
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The Silverbacks fifth and final goal was scored by Nyambi Jabang in the 76th minute after he received the ball in his own half and beat three Revolution defenders. A few minutes prior, Jabang was set to take a free kick but slipped while running up to hit it, so one could say that him scoring a goal was a very satisfying moment for not just him, but the fans that also felt a little bit of sympathy for him.<br />
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It was a great performance for the members of the Atlanta Ultras and Westside 109 that made the journey to the Southside, as well as other Silverbacks fans that were in attendance. This performance was a great momentum builder going into Saturday when the Silverbacks travel to Greenville for their first meeting against Greenville FC, a trip that many Silverback fans are likely to make.<br />
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After the tough 1-0 loss to Asheville last weekend, Phoday was disappointed but still confident that the team was capable of turning it around. "Sometimes the reality check comes early in the season. We just have to shake it off and get back to work. We'll be fine." It's possible that the dominating performances over the Revolution, and even the Emerald Force are what we can expect from the Silverbacks throughout the remainder of the season. Maybe Asheville just had their number in those two games. It's possible the Silverbacks will meet them again come playoff time so that might be a problem in itself, but that's a long way away so for now it's best to continue to hope for the best, and enjoy it when the best of this team does present itself like it did Wednesday night.<br />
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The Silverbacks' next game is Saturday June 2nd on the road against Greenville FC, the first meting between the two team. Some of the notable players on their roster include Jose Cubillan who played against the Silverbacks in the US Open Cup with SC United Bantams last year, former Silverbacks player Willie Hunt, and Paul Tyson who currently attends Georgia State. Their last game was a 1-1 draw against the Georgia Revolution at home in which their only goal was an own goal by a Revolution player. Prior to that they suffered a heavy 5-2 defeat at the hands of Emerald Force at home. Kickoff for saturday's game is set for 7 pm at Eugene Stone Soccer Stadium on the campus of Furman University.Taylor Peytonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10074633620835376066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7596177326025913469.post-11944481622229363062018-05-25T13:33:00.000-07:002018-05-25T13:33:14.601-07:00'backs Look To Strike Back Against AshevilleThe Silverbacks will look to avenge 3-1 road loss they suffered at the hands of Asheville City on May 26 when they host the same Asheville team in their home opener. The Silverbacks have not played since the aforementioned May 19 loss while Asheville played Chattanooga FC to a 1-1 draw on Wednesday, May 23.<br />
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Asheville struck first in the game that took place last saturday when a penalty kick was converted by Bruno Andrade in the 7th minute. The Silverbacks would answer 14 minutes later with former FC Cincinnati player Aaron Walker converting a penalty kick for his first Silverbacks goal.<br />
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The two teams went into halftime level but Asheville would retake the lead on a goal by Thomas Deeley in the 54th minute when his run went completely unnoticed by the Silverbacks defenders. The lead was later doubled by Hannes Burmeister in the 64th minute after assisting Deeley's earlier goal. A whiffed clearance attempt by a Silverbacks defender left the door wide open for Burmeister who converted his chance with ease. Burmeister is one of three players on Asheville City's roster that currently attends Georgia State University. The other two are Frank Rosenwald and Lukas Joyner. Substitutions played a big part in the game as the aforementioned duo of Deeley and Burmeister did not start the game, entering in the 46th and 53rd minutes respectively.<br />
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In order to get a better result, the Silverbacks will have to make sure these defensive mistakes are not repeated, and the attack must not be as stagnant as it was. The season is still in its early days but another loss to Asheville could be a setback in Atlanta's race for the regular season Southeast Conference Title. Kickoff is set for 7pm at Silverbacks Park on Saturday, May 26.<br />
<br />Taylor Peytonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10074633620835376066noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7596177326025913469.post-44437099975649459832018-05-15T09:23:00.000-07:002018-05-15T12:22:46.720-07:00Learning The Ways Of The (Emerald) Force<p dir="ltr">The Silverbacks' NPSL Season opener will be this Wednesday, May 16, in Knoxville against Emerald Force SC. </p>
<p dir="ltr">The majority of players on the Force's roster are from Knoxville, as well as surrounding towns, but there are a few exceptions. Some players hail from places like Nashville, Wycombe, and even Duluth. A Couple of players to watch are Lucas Altman, who was Wofford's top scorer last year. Connor Jacobs who scored 3 goals and recorded 6 assists last season for John Hopkins. Alexander Garuba who played his High School Soccer at Duluth High, and was All-County his senior year. A few returners from last year's team include Ashley Kelynack and Kalulu Bamba.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The Silverbacks beat the Force twice in as many meetings last season. The first meeting was a 2-0 win at Silverbacks Park. It was in this game that DZ Harmon scored his first goal with the Silverbacks, and Avery Shepherd made an immediate impact by scoring the second goal only 12 minutes after coming on as a sub. The game wasn't without controversy though, as Mitch Garcia posted a picture of his face bloodied up after that game with a caption stating his annoyance towards Knoxville players continuously elbowing him while going for headers.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The second meeting in Knoxville was a 4-2 win for the Silverbacks. That game is probably best remembered as Keka's breakout game in the red and black. He scored two goals against the Force and continued to wreak havoc on every team he faced after that. The other goals were scored by Joao Johanning Mora and Abraham Lansana.</p>
<p dir="ltr">If all goes to plan, the match will be stream by the Force's supporter group, Scruffy City Syndicate will be streaming the match live. A fan's best bet is to keep a sharp eye on their social media, as well as Silverbacks social media for the link. After Wednesday's match, the Silverbacks will travel to Asheville on Saturday for their second game, and then prepare for their home opener on May 26, also against Asheville.<br></p>
Taylor Peytonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10074633620835376066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7596177326025913469.post-38747507534771726472018-05-10T10:45:00.000-07:002018-05-10T10:45:36.563-07:00Silverbacks vs Life University Preview The last preseason test for the Silverbacks comes in the form of the Life University Running Eagles, on Friday, May 11, in Marietta. The Silverbacks are coming off of a 1-1 draw against a very formidable Jacksonville Armada team, and a 6-0 win over AFC Mobile before that.<br />
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Life Unversity Men's Soccer is still a relatively young program that began play in 2016. Featuring Silverbacks forward Thierry Jules, Life's 2017 team went 9-9 in the regular season, with a first-round victory in the Mid-South Conference tournament over the University Of The Cumberlands before falling to Lindsey Wilson in the following round. Thierry Jules lead the team with 10 goals and 4 assists and was followed closely by Wessley Soronellas (9 goals 2 assists), and Marek Beno (6 goals 2 assists). </div>
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The Running Eagles are lead by Alex Pama who is notable for his success as an executive with SC Cambuur in The Netherlands. Pama was the CEO at Cambuur during a fascinating time in the club's history with record attendance, record jersey sales, and near promotion in 2009 and 2010. Cambuur did eventually get promoted to the first tier of Dutch Soccer in 2013, shortly after Pama had left, but he no doubt played a significant role in helping them get there. </div>
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Kentaro "Taka" Takada, a member of the 2017 Silverbacks team, also served as a Volunteer Assistant on the Running Eagles coaching staff. Taka recent announced on Twitter that he won't be playing for the Silverbacks this season, so maybe coaching is the next phase for him.<br />
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With the season opener on the road against Emerald Force (Formally Knoxville Force) fast approaching, it's crucial for the Silverbacks to continue the positive the positive momentum they've been building this preseason. Kickoff is set for Friday, 7 pm at Lupo Field in Marrietta.<br />
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Taylor Peytonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10074633620835376066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7596177326025913469.post-59901044044769671542018-04-19T16:12:00.000-07:002018-04-19T16:12:15.525-07:00Silverbacks vs Armada Preview - By Taylor PeytonComing off a 6-0 thrashing of AFC Mobile, the Silverbacks will be looking to continue gaining momentum heading into their May 16th season opener against the newly re-branded Emerald Force in Knoxville. The Jacksonville Armada is the Silverbacks' opponent this Saturday, in the first matchup between these two sides since 2015. Ironically my first away game was in Jacksonville, but that's a story for another day.<br />
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If you've attended any of the preseason games, or have been following through social media, you know by now what the core of this Silverbacks team is starting to look like. Fan favorites from recent years like Alex Harlley, Joao Johanning Mora, Abdul Bangura, Avery Shephard, and even Bryce Billington, to name a few, are back in the red and black and still very much at the top of their games. Then you have newer faces like Aaron Walker, Kebba Demba, Ryan Marcano, and new captain Sherriff Suma making great first impressions on the Silverbacks faithful. Then there's of course, the entertaining style of play that has been installed by new head coach Roberto Neves, that you have to see to believe.<br />
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The Silverbacks are looking promising for this upcoming season. That's a fair assessment. But What about the Armada? What do they have in store after announcing they'll play in the NPSL for 2018 while waiting out the ever-uncertain situation with the NASL? Some notable names on the roster include Drew Beckie, Yuma, J.C. Banks, Conor Doyle, as well as a trio of players who were part of that 2015 squad that played against the Silverbacks in the NASL; Mechack Jerome, Derek Gebhard, and Alhassane Keita.<br />
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The Armada's season starts much earlier than the Silverbacks', April 28th against Miami FC, to be exact, so there's a good chance the Silverbacks will see something very close to a provisional Jacksonville starting 11 on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 5 pm, but the friendly against Mobile was delayed a few minutes because the referees arrived late so you never know for sure. It should still be a good day at Silverbacks Park so clear your schedule to watch this relatively high-profile friendly, and cheer on the 'backs to #SinkTheArmada.<br />
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<br />Taylor Peytonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10074633620835376066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7596177326025913469.post-32869762506994665792018-01-16T17:16:00.001-08:002018-01-16T18:54:20.483-08:00Supporter Culture Pioneers - An Epic Interview with Westside 109 Founder Kurt Braunsroth<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800000000000001; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: italic; white-space: pre-wrap;">For the uninitiated, Westside 109 is the oldest currently operating supporters group for Atlanta Silverbacks FC. Kurt Braunsroth founded the group in the mid-90s. Buckle up. This is an extensive interview about the wild and wacky first couple decades of supporter culture in Atlanta.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheKtLlWUH4_I_vlE3B6B5ae2gW3DhvHqR210sbU4qNbmorWQlqSfJpz2LglsOaq8lxF6zA-vqz5F4_i2KaluDlIdhz8HKl0wmj7hEZI5re9QHGMq-rIm_CvvjMMWEyHxFkHBB4nzuWuUw/s1600/26942447_175727743182772_849730693_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1240" data-original-width="1240" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheKtLlWUH4_I_vlE3B6B5ae2gW3DhvHqR210sbU4qNbmorWQlqSfJpz2LglsOaq8lxF6zA-vqz5F4_i2KaluDlIdhz8HKl0wmj7hEZI5re9QHGMq-rIm_CvvjMMWEyHxFkHBB4nzuWuUw/s320/26942447_175727743182772_849730693_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Planet of the Backs: Let’s start at the beginning. Were you involved with the Silverbacks ancestor club, the Atlanta Ruckus?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kurt Braunsroth: I started in 1996. I missed the '95 season, although I monitored them and watched a little bit. I won't say on TV, but I kept up with them. Watching them and the success they had, I said, "You know what. I need to be there next year". So '96 was my first year.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">POB: Wasn’t there an early supporters group called the Ruckers?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">KB: Yes. Yes, they were there in '95. At least I heard that. By the time I got there in '96, they had given up and had left. And I ended up showing up about the time they left with a drum, and there you go. I mean, then they ended up showing up years later as Eastside 309.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">POB: Didn't you guys originally call yourselves the Blue Army or something like that?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">KB: Right. I was trying to obviously get more people beside myself. And I was putting out through the Internet and anyway else... fliers and whatever, calling myself the Blue Army, but really it was me. '96-'97, somewhere in there Blaise shows up. '98'-'99? I think it was somewhere in there...</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">POB: You were the first guy.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">KB: I am the first guy. I think I still have it... there's an article in the Atlanta Journal Constitution from 1996 that speaks of 'The Lone Drummer.' I've still got a copy of it. 'The Lone Drummer,' yeah. And it's a write up on a game where we lost like... I'm trying to remember, but it was like 5-0 or 6-0. I remember the game because there was one of our players who had a compound fracture. [Laughs] On a flying tackle, a bad flying tackle. That gave him a compound fracture. It was an awful game. And then it poured rain. That was my first game. [Laughs]</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">POB: You and your drum were the supporter section.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">KB: Yeah. Wendy Parker wrote that article. I can't remember exactly how bad we lost. We lost very bad. I had seen the USA vs. Trinidad & Tobago in Richmond - it was a world cup qualifier. After that, I just said, "I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna start drumming for these local Ruckus games" because I'd drummed in high school. I knew a little bit about it. I bought a drum, and I just started showing up and said, "I'm gonna keep going to games and keep drumming because there's not people making noise. There's not." And so I've got my drum to... as a kind of a forced multiplier if you want to use a military jargon. You know? Just make noise. I'm just gonna keep going until the team is gone. There you go. And so here it is, God, how many years later? 96 to now. And uh, yeah, I'll still go to games. I'll still drum. You know, I'm gonna keep that promise.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">POB: Who was the first person to join you in the Blue Army?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">KB: Oh god. Well, the 1st person to really show up was my wife. Um, she's a wonderful musician and uh yeah we started dating in... I could remember the day. Up 'til then, it was several years so... 96, 97, 98, 99, 2000.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">POB: It was just you all those years?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">KB: Pretty much just me, yeah. Pretty much... every now and then somebody would show up um and we would work together. There were these three Mexican kids, and I don't remember their names. Wonderful fans. They came several years in a row. They would bring a car battery and a siren and a horn, and they would hook it up to the car battery. We would honk the horn to the rhythm I was beating, or they would hit the siren. They were great, great guys. There was a guy named Hunter Sheridan. And Jason Longshore, who is known these days for his work with the charity Soccer In The Streets. We would heckle, but it was pretty much just me and maybe occasionally somebody else for those first several years.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">POB: There’s a photo circulating on social media of a few fans with a big, handmade banner of the Ruckus crest.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">KB: There was a banner. It was two queen-sized bed sheets, and they were like grey. I had my mom sew them together, and then I took an overhead projector, and I took the logo of the time projected on it, traced it and painted it. It took...I think it was the 2nd or 3rd try because I kept using the wrong paint and it would chip off and eventually I found a paint that would stick. I finally got it to work, and it was like, "OK, I've done it. I've got this done".</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">POB: After your wife, who was the next person to show up and stick around for the long term?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">KB: Since the club was in the United Soccer League at the time, I was always on the USL discussion boards back in those days. Then one day, I get this post from a guy he calls himself Blaise. And I'm like, yeah come on to games. Come on. And he's the next one to have the balls to really be like "I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna show up". And he showed up, and we would hang out and drink beer. I would drum, and he would just hang out with me and sing a little bit. Yeah, he's the guy. He's a really good guy, a really brave guy. You know, 'cause it's funny, you got... I sensed there were other people that wanted to jump in, but they didn't want to be the first one to join me and my wife. And Blaise was the one that had the balls to go, "I'm gonna be the first one." So yeah, hats off to Blaise.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">POB: So, now, the early days as the Silverbacks... where was the club playing?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">KB: OK, so early days it's Adams Stadium, which is a high school field over there on Clairmont, I think? Where the Ruckus used to play. And then they ended up going over to Roswell High School, I think it was, way up on the North side...which is a dilapidated, abandoned high school field. That was when Vincent Lu was the owner. They did that, I wanna say, two seasons? '97 and '98, which were pretty awful.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">POB: Was that when they were called A-League Atlanta or something like that?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">KB: Yes. Well, first they were the A-League and then what happened was Vincent Lu was like, I'm done with this. I mean, right in the middle of the season, he's like I'm done, I'm walking away, I'm not paying for anything. So the league took over and started paying... yeah, 'cause they can't have a team fold in the middle of the season. Um, and it looked really bad, and I was like OK this is the end of the team. But then we got new owners that took over in the middle of the '98 season. They ended up renaming the club...which leads back to my tifo story. So they show up to a game, and I remember walking up to them and saying, “This is great, you're gonna buy the team!” Well, they were just considering it at that point. I come with the deal. I'm like an added dividend. [Laughs] I'm showing them the tifo. "I made this. And I come free with the team", you know. 'Cause I wanna save the team. And yeah, and they're looking at it. Awesome guys. They're like, “Yeah, you know we're gonna have to change the name and the logo.” And I'm like, "Yeah, OK." You know, after all the hours it took to make that logo banner - 200 hours. I estimated it at...that's probably about alright. And I'm like, "OK, do whatever you gotta do. I'll just make a new one. I know what to do now, I know how to do it. I won't be 200 hours the next time" So yeah. So...that went down. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">POB: So the Silverbacks name is born at this point?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">KB: With black and blue as the team colors. And then Boris took over from those interim owners. He kept the Silverbacks name, but we went from blue colors to red colors when Boris took over. 'Cause apparently Boris likes Manchester United. Our first kit under his ownership was like a Manchester United knockoff. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">POB: When they changed the colors to red, you couldn't be called the blue army anymore right?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">KB: Exactly and on top of that... heh, here's another little story. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-style: italic; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Before</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> they changed the colors I worked a 2nd job 'cause I wanted scarves. Again, I'm doing anything, everything I can to make people interested in this team. And so I thought, "Scarves! We could have scarves!" This was way back in those days when nobody liked soccer. So here's this obscure website that basically promises to give you soccer scarves, OK? You send them the design, and they'll make some for you. So I was like, "Yeah! That... I'm gonna do that". So I work a 2nd job. I negotiate with them. 'Cause they wanted a lot more and I said, "Look. Here's what it looks like I'mma give ya", you know? And I want to say it was right around $1000 which was a lot of money, back then...especially back then.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">POB: And these were scarves for the club?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">KB: Yeah. And I've got a few left - they're blue, white, and black. It's a knockoff from Celtic. I saw this Celtic design of a scarf and I went, "That's what I want". But, in our colors, so it was black and white checkerboard with blue on the ends and the old blue and black Silverbacks logo, OK? Which, I never asked the team permission. But again, back in those days nobody cared, you know? I created the design myself on my home computer, even though I'm not a design artist. I mean, I put a lot of work into this. Ordered a crapload of 'em, like a couple thousand of 'em. Like, I wanna say 1500-2000 of those scarves. And I paid for them myself using my extra job money. We tried to raise money selling them, but it didn't work. So we ended up giving a lot of them away. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">POB: Collector's item.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">KB: Totally rare. But I've got a handful of 'em up in my closet still. So, we put out those blue scarves, and then of course, classic Silverbacks type of moment: "Hey, we're gonna go to red!" [Laughs] But to give people an idea, I mean, I've been through some serious shit with the Silverbacks. I do this on my own time, I work an incredible amount of extra hours. I raise money for these scarves to promote the team, and then they change the color.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">POB: If you weren't in Silverbacks Park yet, you weren't in section 109 yet. And if the club color wasn't blue anymore, was there an interim name after the Blue Army?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">KB: By then there was more than just me. And we talked about it and I don't think we ever came up with a name. We just...were like the guys who banged drums in the stand. We didn't come up with a name again until we went to Silverbacks Park and we said, "We really gotta come up with a name. What are we gonna call ourselves?” And we all put our heads together and nobody could come up with anything good...and then we said we should just name ourselves after the section that we sit in, which was Westside 109. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">POB: Anything else about those days before Silverbacks Park opened?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">KB: We played for awhile in the Roswell suburban area. It was a dilapidated stadium that Vincent Lu had control of. We didn't put any money into fixing it up. I mean, it's an old, messed up high school stadium. We did that for two seasons. Oh my god, those days...I tell people, "Whatever you see from the Silverbacks now...and you whine about it. It’s </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-style: italic; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">nothing</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> compared to the '97-'98 era". Literally, the entire game day operations were Vincent Lu and his immediate family, OK? I'm not kidding. Tickets, everything. He's buying pizzas himself, ordering pizzas, and handing slices to the fans. "Thanks for coming". [Laughs] I mean, you wanna talk about rinky-dink. That is as rinky-dink as it gets. You know...it's funny though. I look back at those days now and I'm proud of that. A lot of people would be like, "Oh, that’s so screwed up. I'm ashamed of that". No, no. Not me. I'm proud of it because I hunkered down and I hung with it. And anybody who was with me in those days, I salute 'em, because you're a real fan. You know those guys who show up to Atlanta United today, it's like it's all... finished and tied up with a brilliant red bow around it and you just pay some money. I can't after all I've been through, and you're gonna hear more, but... after all I've been through, do you think I'm gonna just jump ship? And just he like, "Ohh, they've got money.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">POB: So when did the core group that became Westside 109 start to build up?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">KB: Definitely when we played at DeKalb Memorial Stadium. That's when Blaise showed up. That's when my wife showed up. My wife first, then Blaise. Then Kevin Stephens was the next one, if I remember right. Good guy. Yeah, he's still around.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">POB: Alright, and then it just kind grew from there into a real kind of supporter section?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">KB: Once you had that critical mass. You get those couple of people and then there's other ones that go, like, “Oh. It's not just one guy anymore.” You know, it's like, “There’s a guy and a cute girl and this guy other guy and another guy!” It's weird. You could see it happening. I'd be drumming and there’d be people sitting close, but they wouldn't come over. They’d be, like, really close and they'd be watching and you could see them looking! And they’re just like, “Oh, no-no. I can't do it”. And then my wife showed up and it was like, you know… I mean, let's face it – when you get a cute girl sitting with you it's like, “OK he can't be… he can't be that weird. He’s got a cute girlfriend,” you know? Blaise shows up and then Kevin shows. And then now you've got four people and it was easier, much easier, after that. And the teams also. Boris shows up and he’s running the team and there's more money being spent. So people are starting to show up and it's much easier to jump in. It was almost like… I don’t know, a secret society. I mean, there’s these guys – because soccer is not cool back then – and you got these people that show up and go, “This is really fun and what you guys are doing in the stands is really fun.” And they start to kind of show up. And we end up with tailgates and we're planning food and… I mean it's... it just all comes together. Really, it's the people with vision, you know? The people who have more brains. They're not just there to, like, spend some money and consume a product. They get what's happening and they're… they're contributing and we're all creating a friendship and a network. You know, it's sad I can't remember the names of everybody, but that was a good crew. Because every single person there got it and was contributing and we ended up having a really good crew. And we were communicating through the discussion – the USL discussion boards – or email or whatever and we would organize. Again, advance tailgates, whatever, and put on a show. You know, today it's all taken for granted. The whole idea: tifo, tailgates, etc. We’re creating all of that from scratch. Even those who didn’t want to jump in with us…they're looking at us and approving. I remember people coming over who were just, you know, the mom and dad crowd – the soccer mom crowd – and coming over and saying, ”Thanks for being here. You guys added to the atmosphere.” And that was big to me. Even though they're not, you know, the diehard fans. But I like to think those were the days where the guys who were in with me were creating that niche for the fans of today. Because back then, it was all soccer mom. That's the future of soccer, you know and and…”We don't want the hooligan crowd,” you know? But we disarmed all that. You want us there, we're adding the atmosphere that you and your kids want. It took years of showing up in rain and whatever else, and just doing it. And… and to the point where, you know, they suddenly said, you know, “It's cool to bring drums.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">OK. Little side story. There was an M.L.S…what do you want to call it? Exhibition game. In Chattanooga. I can't remember what year it was, but Alexi Lalas was playing. I remember that. And… and they had, like, four different M.L.S. teams playing a pair of games in Chattanooga. It's a little, crappy stadium in Chattanooga. And, of course, I got wind of it and I went up there. I emailed the lady who was in charge of the overall operations, because I knew she was the one paying the security folks, right? And I'm saying, you know, “I'm a fan and I'll give you credentials. And you can do background checks on me. But, by God I want to come up there and play drums, you know, at your game.” And she gives me, “Yeah, yeah. That’d be great.” You know, she emails back. And I end up going up there and I have two drums by this time. I have a big bass, which I still have. It’s an awesome drum. And an old tom that was the one I started with. And so I’m a little unsure, you know. Going in, you know? I show up and I walk into the stadium. And I got my tom because, I’m like, “If they're going to confiscate the drum, I want … that’s the throw away.” So I’m drumming and uh, and sure enough the police show up. “Hey. You can't be doing this,” you know. “We're shutting you down.” And I was like, “Really?”.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">POB: Wow, just for drumming?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">KB: That’s what I'm trying to tell you is, these are the days where we're the pioneers. We're the ones making it OK, proving that it's OK to drum and sing and do tifo and make noise at games. Don't just sit there with your kids and go, “Isn’t that nice?” and golf clap. OK? And I give full credit to the Silverbacks for this, OK?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">POB: They allowed you guys to develop the culture.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">KB: Exactly, exactly. And so, you know, people don't give the Silverbacks enough credit, you know? “The Silverbacks failed to do this, they screwed this up.” Yeah, they did. They screwed up a lot. Let me tell you what, they're the pioneers and I give them full credit for that.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So anyway, so I'm sitting there looking this police officer in the eye. I mention the name of the lady I emailed, “…she is the one paying you. I know the P.D. is not sending you here. You're working here on this lady’s dime. She's the event organizer. I know what's going on. I tell you what,” I said. “Why don't you just take me to her and if she tells me to shut it down, I’ll put the drum away and sit quietly. But if she says it's OK to drum, then you gotta let me drum.” I know he doesn’t care, he just wants to avoid trouble, too. He just wants his extra money. So, he goes, “Yeah let’s do that.” So we walk over there. Sure enough, we find her and she goes, “Oh yeah. You're that nice guy who drums.” So the guy, the officer goes, “Cool.” And I go, “Hey, It is OK if I go to my car and get my bigger drum and come back?” And they were like, “Yeah, yeah. It’s totally OK.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I go to the car, dropped the little tom, I pick up the big bass and I bring it back. You know. And I strapped it on where I can play it Samba style and I… I've learned some tricks by then. And I walk back into the stadium. Here's the thing. Here's the payoff. Everybody in the stands starts cheering for me, a bunch of people. Like, dozens if not 100 or more, clap for </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-style: italic; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">me</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. That’s the first time I ever had that happen. And I was like, “What?” And they go, “We thought you'd been arrested. But you’re back here with a bigger drum!” It was the green light for all those people who wanted to make noise and have fun at a game. And my attitude was, “Yeah, come on. Let’s party!” And we started drumming, you know. And… and that was a moment for me, OK? It also happened at a U.S. national team game. Not long after that I was down in Jacksonville and, again, I was the lone drummer. I was the only one. And you start drumming and people start realizing it’s OK to make noise. It's OK to have fun. And, I got to say that whatever happens to the Silverbacks, no one can take that away from me. I knew I was making a difference. In games like that, I knew I was making a difference. And then, of course, when you show up back at the Silverbacks, there were people who knew me who were like, “Oh, you're the guy from Chattanooga!” “Yeah that was me,” you know? I give big credit to the Silverbacks for allowing the culture to develop.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The owners of the Silverbacks were losing crap loads of money, you know? Paving the way so people like Arthur Blank can cash in today. I'm sorry I’m a bit cynical. A little bitterness there, you know? John Latham and Robert Glustrom. Guys like that. Vincent Lu, even. He didn’t do a great job, but he kept the team going. He kept soccer going on here, you know. Guys like that. Or Johnny Imerman. I salute all those guys, you know. They're the ones that really...when it was dangerous and difficult and ugly, they were the ones who stepped up.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">POB: Tell us more about the early days after Boris Jerkunica became an owner.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">KB: The original season that Boris took over, they had local radio DJ Southside Steve doing color commentary and they had a hot tub with girls in bikinis. They had other girls selling beer, you know, in the walkways or whatever. They tried all kinds of angles, you know? It's weird, looking back in those days. It's like they kept trying for all these gimmicks that worked for the N.F.L. and the N.B.A. And, to digress a little bit, the rules of the actual game of soccer were even Americanized. You had these weird point systems. It was like 5 points for a win and you never had ties. And the fans were pushing for a more traditional approach, “Just go with 3 points for a win, one point for a tie.” You know? No points for a loss and goal differential. Just stick with the basics. It works, it works. And it took a long time. They eventually got away from the weird team names like Clash and the weird colors. All that crazy stuff and basically, you know…soccer in general in the U.S. is more similar to the world game because it works. It works. No, but it took us a long time.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">POB: Not similar enough, but it’s getting better.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">KB: Yeah. It's a lot closer than it used to be. Trust me. I do want to throw this out: Southern Derby Cup. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">POB: One of the first supporter cups in American soccer culture. How did that get started?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">KB: I'm on the U.S.L. discussion boards basically standing up for the honor of Atlanta Silverbacks. And there were some folks from Charleston Battery we're all smack talking and they basically said, “You know, we should have our own cup.” So it was a couple of Charleston Battery fans who came up with the idea. And they said, "What would it be like if we just did three points for a win one point for a tie? We count the home and away games that are already in the season schedule. And we use goal differential as the tiebreaker and to make it interesting we will create our own cup trophy.” So here I am writing and sending a check to some people in Charleston I've never met. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">POB: This is before the Cascadia cup and all that?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">KB: I believe this is even prior to the Cascadia Cup. This may have been the first fan-based cup in the U.S. This was completely organic and it was like, “Let's just do this.” So, I sent him some money and sure enough they're legit. They go and buy this beautiful, I mean it is a beautiful trophy. And we basically just we kept track of the points and passed it along to whoever won. You had to ship the cup to them. And you know they would award it to their team. Charleston didn’t win it for like the first three, four, five years. Even though it was their idea, they did not win. Everybody else won it. That competition was the only one that the Silverbacks have ever won except for that Spring championship in the N.A.S.L. When we first won, it was one of my best moments. A North Carolina team won the first year and nobody told them to do this, but they engraved their name on the cup. And so I was like ,“OK, well we're going to engrave our name on the cup!” So, it kinda ends up being like the Stanley Cup in hockey. Where you engrave the name of your team and the year you won. This was all just kind of organic; it just kind of happened. The Silverbacks won it three times. Whenever we won, I would polish it up and get it engraved. The club would let us go out at half time on a game day an announce something like, “On behalf of the governing committee of the Southern Derby Cup, we declare the Atlanta Silverbacks Champion of the Southern Derby!”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We even got interviewed by the Fox Soccer Channel about it. We were all hanging out at a tailgate in Charleston and Fox Soccer shows up and turns on the cameras and goes, “You wanna do an interview?” We ended up winning that game. It was awesome. It was one of the best nights of my life. Because we always lost to Charleston and we won in Charleston that night, it was on Fox Soccer Channel. And Fox Soccer showed the Cup - they featured it, they made a big deal out of it. And I was just thinking ,“God that was a risk taken that paid off big time.” And again, you know furthered the cause of the true fans, you know? Of the guys who love this game. As fans, we're not here because our kids like to play soccer. We're here because we like this game.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">POB: And that cup is still being contested right? In the U.S.L?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">KB: Yeah it's in the U.S.L. Obviously, we dropped out. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">POB: Any other stories from the era before the club moved into to Silverbacks Park?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">KB: OK, yeah. Here's a good one. I embrace and am proud of the fact that the Silverbacks were often like the Bad News Bears. You know, the little team that isn’t perfect. But the true fans - you end up going, “Ah, what the hell,” you know? And you embrace it. Back in those days, in the early days, we would all act as media. So, we would be fans, but we would also act as impartial media and report on the club for soccer fans in general. So, I’m doing interviews and stuff and I go…“You know I noticed, on our roster for the upcoming season…” I want to say this is like ’99 or 2000. “We don't…we don’t have a goalkeeper on our roster.” And they were like, “Yeah, we’re getting one.” “Great.” “OK. Let me know when he gets here.” </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So the days go by and finally, it's opening day. I mean, the first game of the season and they still haven't announced who the goalkeeper is. And the opening game is in Greenville, South Carolina - it's the Greenville Shamrocks or something. So I travel… go over to the Greenville game. I wanted to see the goalkeeper and I want to see the opening game of my team. Back in those days - there is no security, you know? They're doing warm-ups before the game. I just walk out there onto the field. I'm also press. I am, you know! That's my job: to provide press service to the other fans, because the regular press services aren’t going to do it. So, we've got to do this. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So, I walk out in the field. There's a guy in the goalkeepers uniform...warming up. And I walk over to him and I go, “How you doing? I’m Kurt Braunsroth. I’m the drummer. I’d like to conduct an interview.” And he’s like, “Yeah sure no problem.” I say, “So, tell me about yourself. Where’d you play before?” He gets that kind of awkward look and goes, “I'm a baseball player.” He’s a baseball player. He goes, “They signed me for a couple of games until they get a real goalkeeper.” What? Oh, my God. Are you kidding me? But, you know what? He played a good game. You know, some of the stuff that happened back then….maybe this is a little over the top, but it reminds me of the early days of America. You're talking about Jamestown and Plymouth and you know. People were unprepared. They didn’t have no clue what of they're getting themselves into, but they're determined, you know? I look at those moments like that. I don't look at it like, “Oh, that… they're just so stupid. I can't wait till something better comes along.” No. That's how something better does come along, because somebody has to dive in and take the chance and take the lumps, you know? And yeah, I mean, that's why... again, I can't stop. I can't go to Atlanta United and abandon the Silverbacks, not after all they've been through. The guys who… you know Iggy Moleka and all them. No, I can't. They were there when it was... when it was like Plymouth and Jamestown. And they were the ones who hung in there.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">POB: Wasn’t there a game where the ball got kicked over the soccer goal, bounced off a football field goal post and came back and they kept playing?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">KB: Yeah. If we won that game, we would have gone to the playoffs. Beforehand, our coach was basically given an ultimatum – win and make the playoffs, you'll have a contract next year. Lose and we're not going to renew your contract. But you can imagine, there's some serious crap on the line here right now. The players know and, let's face it, you and I both know soccer. Now when the coach goes, it means a bunch of players are going to go. So, everybody knows this is it. OK, so they're playing the game. And this is a testament, again, to how bad the refereeing was back in those days. It's late in the game, score’s tied, but it looks like we're going to pull this out. We actually have the upper hand, you know? We're getting more chances than they are. You get the sense that we're going to pull this off, right? Charleston takes a shot. It misses the goal completely, but there's the gridiron football uprights directly behind the goal. The ball falls behind the in line, hits the gridiron goal, and bounces back onto the field of play. The Silverbacks stop playing, the Charleston Battery stop playing, the linesmen stop what they're doing. All the fans stop cheering because we all saw the ball go out of bounds. Everybody goes, “Eh, ball went out of bounds.” Everybody except the center judge. And the center judge looks around and goes like, “What are you guys doing?” He makes the signal for play. Well, the ball just happened to be at the feet of a Charleston player.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">POB: Oh man!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">KB: And he just pokes it right on in. Just a toe poke, because he's just a couple yards out. And the referee points to the center spot and blows the whistle and everybody's like, “Oh, my God. No!!!.” But, yeah. That's what happened. You can sit there and poo-poo on the Silverbacks, but honestly the obstacles in their path… again, think Jamestown, Plymouth, harsh environments like that. You know, it’s like The Monty Python, Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The guy who's talking about building a castle in the swamp. I've actually compared the Silverbacks to that in the past. “I built a castle in a swamp, and it sank. I built another one, and it sank.” I mean...those were those days.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">POB: Let’s move on to the Silverbacks Park era.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">KB: Silverback Park was a dream come true for me, because I had been talking to the owners… You know, you do what I do for long enough, the owners know you. Boris was like, “Yeah, we're going to... maybe you're going to get a stadium someday.” And one day they finally said, “Yeah, you’re actually going to get a stadium.” I was like, “This is it. We're going to have an actual soccer stadium.” I mean, back when we were at Adams Stadium, the slope on field the was so pronounced that the ball, even sitting still, would start rolling towards the sideline.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">POB: Are you serious?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">KB: Yeah. So going to a brand new stadium was, like, “Finally!” you know? A professional environment, in the proper width, and it was flat. And, you know, the goals will not be the little temporary goals. We won’t have the gridiron and the football lines on it. I mean, that was a big deal. You know, back in those days even M.L.S. teams quite often played on these crappy, narrow fields with gridiron lines. And so, to have a real soccer stadium was a big deal. And it was like, “Oh, my God. We've done it.” Here's a little factoid. There's no seats in section 109 in the very first row. Every other section? There’s seats there. But in 109, there's no seats in the very front row and that's because of us. We specifically asked them to leave room for the drums.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">POB: Did the club get a boost in publicity with the new stadium?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">KB: Of course. But... you know it's classic Silverbacks. Tons of people show up like, “It’s a soccer stadium, for god’s sake. I want to see this!” Right? They didn't spend the money for enough bathrooms.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">POB: That's still a problem. Even today.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">KB: Proper width. Flat. Real goals. Nice stands. You assume bathrooms. Yeah, I'd invite people to visit the Charleston Battery stadium. That’s even more along the lines of what I was hoping for. They've got a sports bar in the stadium, which was unheard of back in the 90’s or early 2000’s. And a museum for club memorabilia. This was better than, I think, just about all the M.L.S. teams. It was like a pilgrimage you know, to go to Charleston. And you'd sit there and go like, “God. Why can't we have this?” And yeah, but here we were, getting our own stadium. And we show up all fat, dumb, and happy and... You know, I mean... “Where’s the bathrooms?” So, of course that ended up being a sticking point with a lot of the, you know, not so enthusiastic fans. But that was still a big moment. Getting that stadium was huge. That was emotional for me - touching the seat going, “This is my seat. I am in a soccer stadium,” you know.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">POB: Is that when somebody from the club would just drop by and give you guys a 12-pack of beer?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">KB: Oh, it was more than 12-packs. We would start singing, (to the tune of "Ole Ole Ole")“Free beer, free beer, free beer, free beer. Free beer. Free beer.” And the owners...I want to say John Lathum, mostly…. would show up and drop off a couple cases. I’d say about two cases, usually. And he’d just say, “Here!” We’d go like, “YEAH!” and we'd start popping beers out of the box and just handing them out. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As a group, were really getting traction at this point. I want to say we had 50-60 regulars showing up by that 2007 season, which was unheard of back then. You know, for a U.S.L. team? 50-60 regulars and they were organized. That was always a moment for me. Because I’d be so busy jumping I couldn't keep up... and my wife would go, “You do realize you got most of the stadium behind you now?” And I’d go, “What?” She goes, “Yeah, that chant you were doing? People across the stadium and sections down were singing with you.” It wasn’t just 50 or 60 of us, it was like 1000 of us singing all at one time, you know. For a brief while.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This goes back to my original theme: we're the guys who are showing people that it's OK and even fun to make noise, bang drums sing, etc. Don't just sit there with your kids and go, “Isn’t that nice,” and golf clap. Groups like ours helped make it OK for all these supporter groups today. I think they kind of take it for granted. I don't want to…I love them. I respect them deeply, but...groups like ours made it all possible, acceptable. The way the owners went from…because they use to kinda tell us, “Hey. Keep it down. We don't want to upset the moms,” and stuff like that. When the police would be looking at you. And we helped get it to where it was like, “Hey, we want you to come out. Please come out. Please bring your drums. please …”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">POB: “And here’s a few cases of free beer.” [Laughs]</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">KB: “And here’s free beer.” Exactly. We want you here. You are an integral part of the game and... and yeah, I'm proud of that part. I'm extremely proud of that and again, that's the </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-style: italic; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Silverbacks</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. For whatever they've done wrong, they were the pioneers in the Atlanta area of that kind of fan culture. And again, you know I respect Atlanta United, they're a fine team and all. But I feel like they just kind of swooped in after all the hard work and risk had been taken.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">POB: So from 2004 to 2007 the culture is really growing. There's 50 or 60 regulars in the stadium behind you. And in 2007 the club contends for a championship for the first time in Ruckus/Silverbacks history since 1995, right?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">KB: Yeah, yeah. And we end up going to Seattle for that game. Before we get to that. I gotta share this. There was a semifinal against Portland and I want to say this was that last season. I want to say...I’m pretty sure this is right. That’d be the 2007 season. And I, you know, I-I've got a limited budget. I'm still working and I've got only so much time. And so we don't go to the semifinal, we're going to watch it on T.V. But it's on T.V., which again is unheard of back in the very early days. Remember I told you we were kind of part time press reporters? We were all, like, publishing in real time on U.S.L. discussion boards. And, literally, fans like me are sitting at home on the discussion boards hitting the refresh button. And there's this guy I've never met before who is advocating, who is going to post scores, and, you know, action as it happens. So this is game actually on T.V. which is like, “It’s gonna be on T.V.! It’s amazing! We’re gonna watch our team play an away game in real time.” And in those days, it's very hard to win on the road in the playoffs. But promised myself that if they win this game I'm going to go to Seattle. I'm going to go to the championship. ‘Cause, again, I’m used to the Silverbacks not even making the playoffs, you know? Remember...remember the goal, that crap ass goal that Charleston scored on us and eliminated us from the playoffs? That's the kind of season I'm remembering, that it's all too common. So I’m like, we're actually doing good. I mean we've got a good team this year! You know that table soccer game Subbuteo? I actually sat down and created that year’s team in miniature form on those plastic players? They have the right numbers, and even their hair and faces. And they’re only, like, an inch tall. So that's that team there. That team is epic to me. They're like Greek gods to me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So they're playing in Portland. We’re sitting at Twain's, which is a sports bar in Decatur, Georgia. I'm looking back and thinking of the days where it was me and maybe a handful of little twelve-year-old kids coming over and want to cheer with me and bang a drum or something. And now here I am, at Twain’s. It's a semifinal game. I actually counted ‘em - there were like 92 people in Twain's watching with me and I was like, “Oh my god.” There were 92 people watching a U.S.L. semifinal and it's like... this… again, this is back when soccer’s still not cool, you know? And we put out the word - Westside 109’s going to be at Twain's. We’re going to have a watch party. People didn’t have watch parties back in those days, at least not for soccer. And so we're doing a watch party and it's a tense, tight game. It’s one of those games that go back and forth and… people almost score repeatedly. You're like, your heart's in your throat: “Oh no! We didn’t score!” “Oh! We almost scored. OK! We’re still in it!” You know? And then late in the game, late in the game, I wanna say like seventy-something or eightieth-something minute, Elena scores on a very good goal. And Twain's </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-style: italic; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">BLOWS UP</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. I’m misting up right now thinking about it. It’s a brilliant moment. I'm watching 92 people screaming at the top of their lungs for the Atlanta Silverbacks and you’ve got all these other people in Twain's…playing pool and throwing darts and whatever else. And they're like “What the hell is going on?” And you're like, “It's the Atlanta Silverbacks.” “Silverbacks! Silverbacks!” You know, we’re all blowing up. And yeah, that was a great moment, for not just the Silverbacks but, again, for professional soccer in this area in general. Special moment for me.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">POB: What was the road trip like to Seattle?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">KB: Well it was me, Kevin ,who I mentioned earlier, and some girl. I never met her before or since. We’re on the U.S.L. discussion board and she goes, “I wanna go, too.” I don’t know who she is and she doesn't know who we are. I mean, there's this random girl. I was like, “Well, we're going to get a hotel room.” Now, think about this. Some random, young, twenty-something girl. “Come share your hotel room with these guys you maybe have met at a soccer game.” Maybe. You don’t even know our name. And she’s like, “Yeah.” And we all went. Everything went fine. I mean, everybody was gentlemanly and nice. But it was the three of us. We go to the Seattle game and we're the only three Atlanta fans there. We said, “We just want to sit on the end near the goal”. And I brought a drum.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We were treated very nicely, you know, by the Seattle folks. But you know, they expected to win, and they did. But it was a very close game. I remember one time we had a shot on goal that just trickled outside, and that was before Seattle scored. And if that had gone in, I mean, that could've changed everything. We could've won, you know.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">POB: Do you remember anything about the Ruckus contending for a championship in 1995?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">KB: Yeah, it was also against Seattle and I’m watching it on T.V. and... are you ready for this? The ball went out of bounds and into the trees by the stadium. It’s a championship game. They didn't have another ball. They had to stop playing, go in the woods, and look for it. [Laughs] So, again, you can sit there and make fun of the Silverbacks by talking about how rinky-dink they are, but all soccer was rinky-dink back in those days. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">POB: So things were building organically in a really healthy way up through 2007, and then the shutdown happened. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">KB: Well, kinda came as a surprise to us. We thought, “Hey, we made to the final. Next year’s going to be great!” You know? “We're going to have tons of people and we've had so much fun!” You know, I mentioned the moment at Twain’s. “I can only imagine what 2008 is going to be like!”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">POB: A brand new stadium, too.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">KB: Yeah, exactly. And then they just said, “Yeah, we’re gonna be ceasing operations.” And we’re like, “Where’s that coming from? But, you know I look back at it now and I think about it. That’s right before the housing bubble pops, you know?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">POB: Yeah. Boris said he wanted to assess the economic landscape or something like that.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">KB:.Yeah, and I think he basically was restructuring before the housing bubble went poof, you know? And that was part of it. Again... I can sit there and go, “How dare you?” But honestly, guys like Boris and John Lathum and Robert Glustrom and, again, Vincent Lu...all of them. Johnny Imerman. You know what? I can't get mad at them. They were writing big checks. They had no reasonable expectations of turning a profit. Again, it's the Jamestown and Plymouth thing. I try to give the benefit of the doubt and look at things from a positive point of view as opposed to jumping on the first negative explanation for the events. Again, I've been around long enough to go, “You know, these guys are not stupid and there are circumstances that I do not understand that they're not even gonna share with me.” I mean, I'm sure they're making mistakes, but again this was totally uncharted ground. And guys get out there and have to make hard decisions really fast. And yeah, mistakes are made, you know? But somebody's gotta do it. You know. I just thank them for the fact that we still have a team.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">POB: Was it announced as, “The team’s over,” or was it, “We’re going to take some time off?”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">KB: It was just a suspension of operations, but everybody said, “They're not coming back.” But then they did, you know?! Nobody was expecting that they’d actually come back. And we restarted, but it was a big blow to the momentum, obviously. My dream was to fill 109 with real strong people. And I think if we’d kept up in 2008-2009, by 2010 we’d have had it. We’d have had that whole section filled with organized people. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">POB: That 2010 world cup was a real, kind of, turning point in American soccer culture.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">KB: Yep. Now you’re dead on. All this time I’m supporting the national team, too. By the way, my honeymoon was the original Dos a Cero in Columbus. ‘The Cold War’ in Columbus where Josh Wolff and Clint Mathis scored the two goals, right. Who came in as subs. Yeah, that was my honeymoon.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Anyways, so 2010. Up ‘til then, you know, you spent a lot of time trying to explain soccer to people. Even when the World Cup would come around and I would be trying to talk to people at work about it, they’d just kind of laugh. “Whatever, it’s soccer. It's silly.” So at work I go to the break room to try and catch part of a 2010 World Cup game. And this was the first time I noticed it wasn’t just me watching. There were other people at work, just kinda timing their lunch so they could watch the game. And there’s noise ‘cause they’re all reacting. So my boss comes to me and says, “Alright, you’re disrupting the work environment. I know it’s you Braunsroth. You’re the soccer fan!” And it’s like, “You think I made all that noise by myself?” And she’s like, “There will be no more noise from you!” And I’m like, “OK.” So I promise her, “OK. I’m not going to make anymore noise. You have my word.” And I’m an honorable guy. So along comes that game against Algeria that we had to win. We had to win to break out of the group stage and Landon Donovan, remember, scored that late goal. So they’re live streaming that, right? I got some friends with the IT folks. I figured out a way to monitor the game. But I'm keeping my word to my boss. I'm quiet, I’m doing my job. And then Landon scores that goal, THE goal. And everybody blows up. Remember that YouTube video that shows watch parties blowing up across the country? It was the first time where you could see the whole country coming together behind the team. It’s late in the game and you can't believe it. I kept my word about staying quiet, but I was so excited I literally fell out of my chair. And I'm laying on the ground on my side and, from break room, I hear this, “YEAAHH!”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">POB: Oh, they were all in there watching it.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">KB: A bunch of guys [Laughs]. And I’m going, “That is totally not me! I never said a word!” I mean, I’m hitting the ground, my arms are moving and my legs are moving, but not a sound comes out of me. And I saw my boss, I could hear her stomping up the hallway and screaming at the guys in the breakroom. [Laughs] And I was like, “Wasn’t me. Wasn’t me.” Then later I’m walking home from my job and I’m watching a homeless guy running up and down the street going, “Landon Donovan! Landon Donovan!” That was the moment. That was the moment I go, “All that work and risk taking we’ve put in all these years... from ‘96 ‘til now, the 14 years, you know? Going to all those games and spending all that money and banging those drums and just hoping that people would start to love this game.” That was the moment when I said to myself, “Pro soccer is here to stay.” That was the moment. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">POB: That really was. It was a turning point and the Silverbacks were not there for it, in typical Silverback fashion. Any stories from the N.A.S.L. era?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">KB: Obviously the 2013 Spring Championship we won. That was another great moment. That was a very memorable team. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">POB: Where you guys at a watch party for that game?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">KB: We were, at my house. Keep in mind that every single season, except for the 2007 season, pretty much ended in a major disappointment. So we were used to disappointment, you know. And we’re watching that game because...it’s like, “If they ever do pull something out, by God I want to be there.” I'm not going to go through all this and then there's a game where something awesome happens and I miss it. And I love ‘em, obviously. So we were doing a watch party at my house and they're amazing. We're taking it to Minnesota. I mean, amazing plays. That was quite possibly one of one of the best, if not the best, performance I've ever seen from any Silverbacks team or Ruckus or whatever. Defense, offense, everything is just perfect, you know. The goalkeeping - Joe Nasco, right? And he's making amazing saves and and it's just inspiring to me. When they won that game, that was a special moment. We ended up going down to Atlanta airport to greet the team on their return. I’ll never forget Joe Nasco and the rest of the team coming up the tunnel, and they were not expecting this. You could tell they were totally not expecting this. And here were people greeting Atlanta Silverbacks FC coming up that tunnel. And I'm shaking Joe Nasco’s hand and telling him how inspiring his performance was. That was very moving to him, you could tell. That's one of the factors of lower division soccer that I gotta say is attractive. The players appreciate you, they know you. And you make a difference. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Here’s another story along those lines, but from the opposite perspective. This is back in the…Ruckus days? It was either Ruckus or A-League Atlanta. It was real early. It was me and one other guy, his name was Hunter Sheraton. I remember his name and just two of us were in the Blue Army section that day. On the field for the opposition was Geoff Aunger, a Canadian International. Used to play for Tampa Bay Mutiny in M.L.S. He was a tough defender and ended up injuring Josh Wolff on a on a rough play and got cut. He'd already had a bunch of yellow cards and stuff. And he got picked up by the Seattle Sounders in U.S.L. They’re playing Atlanta that day. We were bad. Oh, god we were bad back then. And so here they are, they're coming out here, you know they're awesome. Seattle - they're always awesome. And we're not losing. We hang in there and we hang in there. But they've got Geoff Aunger. He's dominating even offensively. Then we start to get into his head. Me and one other guy. We’re banging that little drum and every time Geoff Aunger</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-style: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">is on the ball, we start chanting, “Aunger, you’re a hack! Aunger, you’re a hack! Aunger, you’re a hack!” His touch is getting heavier and heavier. He’s slow to react defensively, increasingly. I mean, he’s... it's getting to him and we hang in there. We hang in there. They should have beat us, like, 5-0. They end up beating us 1-0 and it was late in the game when they got their goal. And here's the thing, we’re there on the opposite end of the field when they score. Geoff Aunger, the Canadian International, runs sixty yards. The length of the field, and stands on the sideline directly in front of us and points at us, like, “There! Showed you!” He wasn’t even involved in the goal. We just laughed. “We totally got in your head, dude.” I mean, two of us. Two guys. We messed up your star player, Seattle. You know? We made a difference. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And then much later there were the women’s games. We also supported the Silverbacks women’s team. And both the men and women players would come to our tailgates. Mac Kandji, possibly one of the best players in the Silverbacks. He ended up landing in Colorado and was brought in as a sub in overtime and scores the winning goal in the 2010 M.L.S. Cup. And blows out his knee in the process. But, everybody’s cheering him and all. He would come by our tailgates. There were these condos over by Silverback Park. The Silverbacks would put the players up in there. You would see players emerging from the woods and they would stop by our tailgate and thank us.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Oh yeah, here's one. How can I forget this one? One of those moments. There was a back up goalkeeper. And he knew he wasn’t going to play. And we had a little habit where we’d always offer the players free beer. “Hey, want a beer?” [Laughs] And of course, they’d always say, “No. I’m a professional athlete!” So this one guy goes, “Ah, I’m not playing. Yeah, give me a beer.” [Laughs] </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">POB: That’s hilarious.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">KB: Oh, there was another guy. Chain smoked during games. OK? </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">POB: During games? While he was playing? He smoked on the field?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">KB: Yeah, he would smoke during the games, if I remember right. But he was an awesome player. If he has taken better care of himself he would have easily made M.L.S., but he ended up with Rochester. We had some good players. I mean, we had some good players. And you’d get to see these guys as human beings. We had special cheers for each one of them. And their family members would come and sit with us and cheer with us and stand with us. And again, it was always about that pioneering thing, where we were showing people it's cool to make noise. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There were many times when people came over say, “Thank you. You make these games better.” And, to me, that is synonymous with with the Silverbacks. Because I feel like I'm an integral part of the Silverbacks. Yeah, I wish the Silverbacks could be thanked like that.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You know, those owners I mentioned earlier really deserve credit. Anything that Atlanta United is doing now, I think, really would not have happened - could not have happened without guys like those guys doing what they did.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">POB: More importantly than Atlanta United, they deserve credit for keeping the Backs around until today.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">KB: That 2010 World Cup moment we talked about? That 2010 World Cup moment we talked about could not have happened without lower division owners and fans paving the way. Yes, M.L.S. is a big part of it, but they're not the only part. There's so much more happening. </span></div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-d499b8d2-01aa-32ec-bcd0-1db9da0e300e"><br /></span>Taylor Peytonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10074633620835376066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7596177326025913469.post-86101154840078397312017-12-11T16:12:00.000-08:002017-12-11T16:12:39.814-08:00ASFC Trust Offered A Spot On Silverbacks Board - By Taylor PeytonAtlanta Silverbacks FC and The Atlanta Silverbacks Trust recently announced via a joint statement that partial fan ownership could be coming to the club soon. “The Atlanta Silverbacks Football Club and the Atlanta Silverbacks Trust have joined forces to offer an opportunity for partial fan-ownership of the Silverbacks. With this purchase, the Trust would own a 25% stake in the club and have a full voting representative on the Board of Directors of the club, giving the Trust a say in how the club is operated and developed” the opening paragraph of the statement read.<br />
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The statement also cited pre-existing examples of fan ownership in soccer both abroad and domestic. It mentioned the partial fan ownership requirement in Germany, as well as the fact that Barcelona and Real Madrid are entirely fan owned. In America, San Francisco City FC and Minneapolis City SC seem to be the most prevalent examples of fan ownership in American Soccer.<br />
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You can read the statement in full <a href="https://www.atlantasilverbacksfc.com/joint-statement-from-atlanta-silverbacks-fc-and-the-atlanta-silverbacks-trust/">here</a>.<br />
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The response to this announcement has been very positive from Backs fans, ex-players, and several other members of "Soccer Twitter" that don't even necessarily identify themselves as Silverbacks fans. Former Silverbacks Joe Nasco, Matt Horth, and Jimmy Maurer were among the former players to voice their support for the movement. Jimmy Maurer has played for the New York Cosmos since leaving the Silverbacks in 2013 and is still active today, while Joe Nasco and Matt Horth have retired from playing and are currently coaching at their Alma Maters; Birmingham Southern College and Gordon College, respectively. Matt Horth, being the legend that he is, even went so far as to JOIN the Trust!<br />
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Congrats to the team and the fans on this one! Huge news and very excited to see the future of the club going forward! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/bestfansever?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#bestfansever</a> <a href="https://t.co/XzUmV6920U">https://t.co/XzUmV6920U</a></div>
— Joe Nasco (@joenascogk18) <a href="https://twitter.com/joenascogk18/status/936481299291889665?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 1, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Really cool to see the moves made by my former club <a href="https://twitter.com/ATLSilverbacks?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ATLSilverbacks</a>! Great decision and will happily join the effort! <a href="https://twitter.com/ASFCTrust?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ASFCTrust</a> <a href="https://t.co/NHeJuRdON7">https://t.co/NHeJuRdON7</a></div>
— Matt Horth (@mhorth18) <a href="https://twitter.com/mhorth18/status/936394983787069440?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 1, 2017</a></blockquote>
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👏👏👏 Congratulations on this new partnership. Very cool to see and wishing the best of success with it. <a href="https://t.co/U0S97BmIfv">https://t.co/U0S97BmIfv</a></div>
— Jimmy (@JimsMaurer) <a href="https://twitter.com/JimsMaurer/status/936251369228468224?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 30, 2017</a></blockquote>
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The ASFC Trust have several different membership options available. An Individual Membership costs $100 and gets you 1 season ticket and one vote in all Trust decisions, a Family Membership costs $250 and gets you 4 season tickets and one vote in all trust decisions. Don't live close enough to Atlanta to justify buying a package that involves the price of season tickets? The Trust has something for you too. An Out of Town Membership costs $50 and still comes with a vote in all Trust decisions. If membership doesn't interest you, then there's also an option to donate any amount you wish to the Trust.<br />
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A goal has been set for the Trust to raise $100,000 to buy a 25% stake. If achieved, this would be a permanent stake. (They will NOT have to come up with $100,000 every year to keep their stake in the club). If the money is successfully raised, all other dues and donation money that follow will also go towards operating costs for the Silverbacks. If the $100k is not successfully raised, the funds that were raised will still go towards operating costs for the Silverbacks. That is the purpose of the Trust, after all. Should the Silverbacks ever fold (the Trust do not plan on that happening as their goal is to strengthen the team for generations to come), the trust would vote on whether or not to start a 100% fan owned club that would most likely start off in the Atlanta District Amateur Soccer League.<br />
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I myself have been included in Trust planning discussions since the Spring of 2016 when I started this blog, so I know how serious the group of people in the Trust are about doing whatever they can to help the Silverbacks thrive in this very crowded Soccer market. It is definitely worth getting involved with this cause.
Taylor Peytonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10074633620835376066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7596177326025913469.post-52391855056009769402017-07-23T13:38:00.002-07:002017-07-23T13:59:14.036-07:00Fans Want Atlanta 2018 Group to "Buy The Backs" - By Taylor Peyton Silverbacks fans have recently been blowing up Atlanta 2018's mentions on twitter trying to convince them to buy the Silverbacks name. For those that don't know "Atlanta 2018" is a group that is attempting to bring an NWSL team, as well as a professional men's team to a brand new sports complex across the street from Stonecrest Mall in Dekalb County. The league and name of the men's team has yet to be announced, but many have speculated it will either be the NASL, or the new NISA. As far as the name goes, many have speculated it'll be a Chiefs reboot, but twitter users have been trying to convince them to buy the Silverbacks name from Boris by tweeting proof of pre-existing fan dedication, linking old stories about past Silverbacks success stories, providing a few pop culture references and memes here and there for comic relief, and one user even referenced Harambe with the hashtag #BuyTheBacks. Here are some examples of the tweets:<br />
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Local sports media may not give us our due...but nevertheless, we haunt the city.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BuyTheBacks?src=hash">#BuyTheBacks</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/atlanta_2018">@atlanta_2018</a>. <a href="https://t.co/nt97Ocv6Ds">pic.twitter.com/nt97Ocv6Ds</a></div>
— ATLSilverbacks Trust (@ASFCTrust) <a href="https://twitter.com/ASFCTrust/status/888169486175567872">July 20, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Hey, <a href="https://twitter.com/atlanta_2018">@atlanta_2018</a>, why start from scratch when you could <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BuyTheBacks?src=hash">#BuyTheBacks</a> and get dedicated support from Georgia to Florida to the UK?</div>
— SilverbacksFL (@SilverbacksFLA) <a href="https://twitter.com/SilverbacksFLA/status/886239226144186368">July 15, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Backs decals EVERYWHERE. Just add pro marketing support, ownership fans are excited about, and we're on our way!<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BuyTheBacks?src=hash">#BuyTheBacks</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/atlanta_2018">@atlanta_2018</a>. <a href="https://t.co/heOaAry9xH">pic.twitter.com/heOaAry9xH</a></div>
— ATLSilverbacks Trust (@ASFCTrust) <a href="https://twitter.com/ASFCTrust/status/886578628158468096">July 16, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<a href="https://twitter.com/atlanta_2018">@atlanta_2018</a> you WILL <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BuyTheBacks?src=hash">#BuyTheBacks</a> <a href="https://t.co/HxxSQjexNX">pic.twitter.com/HxxSQjexNX</a></div>
— Taylor Peyton (@imtaylorpeyton) <a href="https://twitter.com/imtaylorpeyton/status/887116000885436423">July 18, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<a href="https://twitter.com/atlanta_2018">@atlanta_2018</a> if our words won't convince you to <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BuyTheBacks?src=hash">#BuyTheBacks</a>, maybe dank memes will! <a href="https://t.co/o2DbLVjkiZ">pic.twitter.com/o2DbLVjkiZ</a></div>
— Taylor Peyton (@imtaylorpeyton) <a href="https://twitter.com/imtaylorpeyton/status/887117679680774145">July 18, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Not saying <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BuyTheBacks?src=hash">#BuyTheBacks</a> is likely to happen but it sure would add an edge to any Open Cup match btwn <a href="https://twitter.com/atlanta_2018">@atlanta_2018</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/fccincinnati">@fccincinnati</a> <a href="https://t.co/Ymu2Ff1syB">pic.twitter.com/Ymu2Ff1syB</a></div>
— Chris Kivlehan (@kivlehan) <a href="https://twitter.com/kivlehan/status/887130303868928000">July 18, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Backs players NEVER SAY DIE<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BuyTheBacks?src=hash">#BuyTheBacks</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/atlanta_2018">@atlanta_2018</a>.<a href="https://t.co/EmaOLH8RKc">https://t.co/EmaOLH8RKc</a></div>
— ATLSilverbacks Trust (@ASFCTrust) <a href="https://twitter.com/ASFCTrust/status/887706691298611200">July 19, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BuyTheBacks?src=hash">#BuyTheBacks</a> and we'll have you covered like Malcolm with Birnam Wood on his way to Dunsinane. <a href="https://t.co/rW8ghzLGq4">pic.twitter.com/rW8ghzLGq4</a></div>
— Ben Whitehead (@BenOnSports) <a href="https://twitter.com/BenOnSports/status/888260525804539911">July 21, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Some other notable figures with ties to Atlanta have also gotten in on the movement, including Michael King from 11 Alive (Atlanta's local NBC affiliate), and former Silverbacks Technical Director and Head Coach Eric Wynalda<br />
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Remember the fun in 1998? <br />
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The 20th Anniversary is coming in 2018 --<br />
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Help kickstart the NEW ERA for <a href="https://twitter.com/atlanta_2018">@Atlanta_2018</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BuyTheBacks?src=hash">#BuyTheBacks</a>! <a href="https://t.co/b4AGhMVXdA">pic.twitter.com/b4AGhMVXdA</a></div>
— Michael King (@mhking) <a href="https://twitter.com/mhking/status/887321617491251200">July 18, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Anything for my backs <a href="https://t.co/mxFEZDQlL9">https://t.co/mxFEZDQlL9</a></div>
— Eric Wynalda (@EricWynalda) <a href="https://twitter.com/EricWynalda/status/886677250698993664">July 16, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>Taylor Peytonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10074633620835376066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7596177326025913469.post-15325728913173459302017-07-21T09:16:00.001-07:002017-07-21T09:16:08.157-07:00A Friendly That Won't Fry The Fans - By Taylor Peyton<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After the Silverbacks were eliminated from the NPSL playoffs by the New Orleans Jesters, the fans have been left to think what could have been. Expectations were high this year in both the US Open Cup and the NPSL, but the Silverbacks ended up falling short, and it is understandable if it leaves a bad taste in one’s mouth. The small consolation for the fans was that there were still friendlies against Lowcountry United at home, and another one against Savannah Clovers on the road. However, that situation has changed, and now the friendlies have a much different outlook. The game against Lowcountry is still going to be played on August 26th at Silverbacks Park, but the away game against Savannah Clovers that was scheduled to be played on August 19th is currently in limbo after the Silverbacks Twitter account announced that it was being rescheduled. Replacing it, is a friendly against the United States Men’s National Under-17 team that is scheduled to kick off at 11 am on Saturday, July 29th, at Silverbacks Park.</span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-07588cc9-65ed-6a75-ac84-42fdaaf20445" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There is still a chance of the game against Savannah being played, but the rescheduling is unfortunate for a particular blogger (who will remain anonymous) that was planning to head down there with a bunch of his other Silverback-supporting friends , and spend the weekend in Savannah in addition to watching the team play. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Friendly against the under-17 US National team was announced at 12:30 pm on Thursday, July 20, just 9 days before it was scheduled to take place. The kickoff time was announced as 11 am, the earliest the Silverbacks have had to kick off since preseason. The advantage to having a kickoff at 11 am is that it won’t be painfully hot like it would be at 5 pm, and the disadvantages of it are… pretty much everything else. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For the under-17 players, this friendly is part of their preparations for their World Cup that is set to take place in October of this year, in India. A few notable names in the squad include Josh Sargent who played in the under-20 World Cup earlier this summer and will be joining Werder Bremen when he turns 18. Nicolas Garcia-Morillo who is property of Atletico Madrid. Chris Durkin who made his debut for DC United last year at age 16. Jean-Julien Foe Nuphaus of Hoffenheim, and Jaylin Lindsey who became the first American born in the 2000s to make his professional debut when he first appeared for Swope Park Rangers of the USL in early 2016. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A question on the minds of some people is what kind of lineup will the Silverbacks put out against the under-17 team. Will it be the usual suspects, or will it mostly young players whose chances were limited this year? Time will tell, but it’ll be interesting to see what kind of lineup Phoday comes up with to approach this game</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As far as seeing the under-17 team goes, it’s kind of hit and miss because, for every group of young players, only a few make it big. It’ll be cool to say that you saw the players who did make it big when they were only 16-17 years old, but there will also be the players that fall off to the point where you forget that they exist and you have to check their Wikipedia page to see if they’re still playing, and where they are playing if so. I remember thinking it was a big deal when I saw Ben Spencer play for Indy Eleven against the Silverbacks back in early 2014 while on loan from Molde in Norway, because of his success with youth national teams before then. Fast forward to 2017, he is no longer playing in Europe and is currently far down the pecking order at Toronto FC.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So if you can wake up early enough, head to Silverbacks Park next Saturday morning and take in this somewhat odd, but still intriguing friendly. It’s undetermined if there will be a parking fee or not, but maybe if you catch the parking attendant before he or she has had their coffee, maybe you can sneak past them. </span></div>
Taylor Peytonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10074633620835376066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7596177326025913469.post-70880128461226148202017-07-07T13:20:00.001-07:002017-07-07T13:20:13.103-07:00Surely We Won't Lose To The Revs... Right? - By Taylor Peyton<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Silverbacks form as of late has been worrying. Their last win was on June 8, and they have only earned 2 points in their last 4 games. The two draws both took place on the road against Asheville, and Birmingham respectively. In both losses at home against Asheville and New Orleans, the Silverbacks had a 1-0 lead and ended up losing the game 2-1. </span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-75ccbf95-1eb3-83c0-b1ce-c4c901c44e44" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The encouraging thing for the Silverbacks is that the Georgia Revolution still have not won a game this season. Their worst loss came this past Tuesday when they were annihilated 7-0 by Chattanooga at Finley Stadium. They have lost 5 straight games, and their last point came from a 2-2 draw against Asheville on June 10.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To add insult to injury, it looks their starting goalkeeper, former Silverback Bryce Billington, will not be playing in the game on Saturday. He made a post on Instagram thanking the Revs, and saying his next stop was London on Saturday. Before joining the Silverbacks, Bryce spent some time in Aberdeen, so it’s not far-fetched to think that he might be going to London for a trial with an English club. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Last time the Revs and Silverbacks faced off, the Silverbacks were victorious by a score of 1-0, after only having played against Carolina United about 23 hours beforehand. Avery Shepherd scored the game’s lone goal with a diving header, and Thomas Hunter made several great saves to preserve his clean sheet. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The history of the Silverbacks vs. Revolution rivalry is a bit complicated. Mainly because of the differentiation with the old NASL first time, and the old Reserves team that is now the First team. But if you want to go back to the last time the Revolution beat the Silverbacks, it was on June 20, 2015 when they beat the Reserves 3-2 in Conyers. The weird thing about that game was that it was 0-0 at halftime, but then 5 goals were scored in the second half.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The scenarios are very simple for both teams. The Silverbacks are already in the playoffs, and a win over the Revolution would guarantee a home game on Tuesday against Asheville, and the Revolution would finish the season winless for the first time in their history. A win for the Revolution however, would lead to them avoiding that embarrassing record, and it would open up the possibility of the Silverbacks having to travel to Asheville on Tuesday, in addition to having to travel to New Orleans in Friday if they win their first playoff game. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Silverbacks are favorites in this game regardless, but these last 4 games have been tough to watch, and the disappointment from the players has been evident. This is their chance to have a statement win heading into the playoffs. A win's a win no matter what, but a lopsided victory in favor of the Silverbacks would do wonders for morale heading into the playoffs. That being said, the Silverbacks ended the 2016 regular season with two draws against Myrtle Beach Mutiny and Carolina Discoveries, only to humiliate the Carolina Railhawks 4-0 at Georgia Gwinnett College in their first playoff game (one year ago today, to be exact). So maybe it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if it was only a 1-0 or 2-1 win. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Is it rational to feel nervous about a game against a winless team when the team you support has also been going through a rough period as of late? Of course. A large part of me feels optimistic because I’ve seen the Silverbacks play at their best, and I know what they’re capable of, but these last few games have got me feeling down so I am somewhat worried that the Revs might somehow find a way to win. The reason the games are played on the pitch instead of on paper is that nobody knows what’s really going to happen. The only way to see it all unfold is come to Silverbacks Park on Saturday, July 8. </span></div>
Taylor Peytonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10074633620835376066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7596177326025913469.post-38859366520866904482017-07-07T09:43:00.000-07:002017-07-07T09:43:24.998-07:00Introducing: Planet Of The Backs TV!<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When I came up with the idea to start a blog about the Silverbacks last year, my goal was to provide Silverbacks-related content for to those who wanted it. I knew there wasn’t going to be any coverage from the AJC or any other newspaper since they were going down to the NPSL, so I took it upon myself to try to be a provider in regards to such content. I kind of underestimated just how many people fit into the demographic though. Planet Of The Backs is closing in on 8,000 page views in total, which might not seem like too much to some, but it’s gained more recognition than anything I have ever done before, so it blows my mind.</span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-364bf8f3-1ddb-f2d6-e7cf-263d200a9854" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Have I succeeded in accomplishing my goal? I think I have. Maybe the impact that the blog has made this year isn’t as big as the impact it made last year. I admit that is because of my own doing, but I still have a great desire to give diehard Silverbacks fans something to look at when it’s not match day, but they really need their fix. Which is why in addition to getting the blog back on track, I have decided to extend Planet Of The Backs to video format, by creating Planet Of The Backs TV.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Make no mistake, this is not a transition from written content, to video content. Such a change seems to have become a trend lately, and as someone who wants to make a career out of writing in some way, shape, or form, it is a bit troubling. It is possible for the two to coexist, however. Personally, I think it’s a requirement for the effort to be put into both of them, for the best content to be created.</span></div>
<br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Here is the link for the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGUNG53hUHwCfWOad7Oz3kQ" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;">Youtube channel</a>. M</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ake sure to subscribe, so you don’t miss the great videos that I have planned following the game against the Georgia Revolution! Thank you all in advance for your support, it is because of this that Planet Of The Backs is being expanded in such a way. I sincerely hope you enjoy it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sincerely,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Taylor Peyton</span>Taylor Peytonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10074633620835376066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7596177326025913469.post-6359247083944632017-07-03T20:27:00.001-07:002017-07-03T20:27:53.864-07:00Canada's Contributions To The Silverbacks - By Taylor Peyton<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As we prepare to celebrate our country’s independence with fireworks, food, and beer, our neighbors to the north are probably just now recovering from their Canada Day hangovers. Canada became an independent country on July 1st, 1867. In Canada’s 150-year-old history, they’ve offered many great things to the whole world, not just Hockey and Maple Syrup. Don’t believe me? Just have a look at some of the great Canadian Players that have played for the Silverbacks over the years</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Let me just say right away, the research behind this article was pretty challenging because there simply haven’t been that many Canadians that have played for the Silverbacks. I spent this past weekend asking around, and the responses I got from the likes of Westside 109 members, Justin Hanover, and former Front Office members were pretty mixed. Some 109 members were able to provide me with the names of Women’s players, and Justin informed me that Douglas Diwa was Canadian. Me having already become a fan by the time Kyle Porter joined the Silverbacks, I didn’t really need an explanation on that one. But what you see is the results of my research. If you’re a Canadian, who played for the Ruckus/Silverbacks but aren’t mentioned; first of all, my sincerest apologies. Second of all, maybe an interview with a “forgotten Canadian Silverback” can be a good piece for Canada’s 151st birthday next year… just a thought.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sharolta Nonen</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Vancouver’s Sharolta Nonen was no stranger to Atlanta before joining the Silverbacks. After finishing her College Career with the Nebraska Cornhuskers, she played for the Atlanta Beat from 2001-03. By the time she had returned to Atlanta in 2005 to play for the Silverbacks, she had already played in her second World Cup. She scored 1 goal in 22 appearances with the Silverbacks and was just recently named the head coach of FIU’s Women’s Soccer team. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Christine Latham</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In Between scoring three goals at the 2003 World Cup, and later working for Fox Sports at the end of her playing career, Christine Latham was a prolific goalscorer for the Silverbacks. Over a 4 year span from 2005-08, she scored 23 goals in 49 appearances. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Candace Chapman</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As opposed to Latham and Nonen, who were already stars before joining the Silverbacks, Chapman played for the Silverbacks as her career was just getting started. After graduating from Notre Dame, she joined the Silverbacks in 2005 and made 10 appearances. Since then she has played in two World Cups in 2007 and 2011 and has was won two Bronze Medals at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics Games. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Alvin Hudson</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Alvin Hudson was a bit of an A-League / USL journeyman. A Chicago Fire prospect who didn’t break through in MLS, Hudson had stints Milwaukee, Minnesota, and Vancouver before landing in Atlanta. Hudson only played one season with the Silverbacks in 2007 in which they made it to the championship game and fell to Seattle. He made 7 appearances for the Silverbacks.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kyle Porter</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Porter was one of many exciting signings before the 2015 Silverbacks. He had made his name playing for FC Edmonton in the NASL, and then DC United where he won the US Open Cup in 2013 over Real Salt Lake, who had knocked the Silverbacks earlier in the tournament. It’s safe to say that justice was done in the end. Well, it wasn’t so much justice as it was the thing that I wanted to happen, but it’s basically the same thing. Porter played in almost every game for the Silverbacks in the 2015 campaign and managed to score two goals. He mainly played on the wing but did have to play a few games as a striker. Since leaving the Silverbacks at the end of the 2015 season, he has had stints with Ottawa in 2016, and now the Tampa Bay Rowdies. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Douglas Diwa</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">An unsung hero on the 2016 Atlanta Silverbacks squad that won the NPSL South Atlantic championship, Diwa was considered to be the best player in Quebec at U-16 and U-17 levels. For the Silverbacks he was an explosive winger with excellent dribbling skills that would terrorize defenders. This season he trained with the Silverbacks with a little bit, but he hasn’t been seen in a few weeks. My understanding is that it’s possible that the 22-year-old is turning his focus towards his education. If this is the case, I’m sure Silverbacks fans will wish him the best. But if it;s not the case, hopefully, he’ll be back at the Park playing again soon! </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Melissa Tancredi</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I know I messed up the chronological order by putting Tancredi last on this list, but I felt it was appropriate because due to her Bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics, Tancredi is the most recent Silverbacks-alum to achieve a significant honor. Like Chapman, Tancredi joined the Silverbacks in 2005 after graduating from Notre Dame. She played two seasons in Atlanta before heading on a journey that would take her to places such as New York, St. Louis, Sweden, and Chicago, before she retired in 2017 with two Olympic Bronze medals, (2012 and 2016) and 22 goals in 107 appearances for Canada to her name. </span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-db5c9d87-0ba0-bcb8-6f44-6b6d5ec9d542"></span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I hope you all enjoyed this brief history of Canada’s connection to the Silverbacks. It was a fun piece to write, as I always enjoy doing research about the history of the team, and it was also a chance to temporarily forget about the rough patch that the current team is currently going through. I’m sorry about my lack of activity, but other things have been taking up my time, but Jordan Coker has been doing an excellent job of writing Previews and Reviews of matches on the official website, so shoutout to him for picking up my slack. I promise there won’t be another dry spell on the blog from now on, and that includes the offseason. Thanks to everyone who was patient with me. One more thing, the Silverbacks last regular season game is Saturday, July 8 against the Georgia Revolution. The fireworks might not be in the sky, but it’s very possible there will be fireworks on the pitch. Enjoy your 4th of July, and make sure you come to Silverbacks Park on Saturday! </span></div>
Taylor Peytonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10074633620835376066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7596177326025913469.post-90922652830884022152017-05-29T14:18:00.000-07:002017-05-29T14:18:31.307-07:00Silverbacks Stick A Fork In The Force - By Taylor Peyton<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Silverbacks defeated the Knoxville Force 2-0 on the Saturday leading up to Memorial Day. DZ Harmon broke the deadlock 41st minute, and Avery Shephard scored just before the halftime whistle.
The game was initially a defensive struggle. The Silverbacks had the better chances early, but whether it was a save by the keeper or a clearance off the line, they were thwarted time and time again, until DZ Harmon made it 1-0, that is. A year after graduating from South Gwinnett High School, Harmon now has his first goal for the Silverbacks.
The Silverbacks weren’t done yet, as Avery Shepherd made it 2-0 just before halftime, with Martin Cortes providing the assist. What made this goal even more interesting, was that Avery had only been on the pitch for about 12 minutes before scoring the goal. After being left out of the starting lineup, he came on as a sub for Ferrety Sousa in the 33rd minute. His goal on Saturday was his 3rd of the year and was also the third consecutive game in which he’s scored. It’s an impressive streak for the recent Clayton State University graduate who is in his second season with the Silverbacks.
Another stellar second half performance from the backline and keeper Thomas Hunter, the Silverbacks kept their third clean sheet of the season. Hunter made several impressive saves and perhaps the biggest moment of the second half was the Silverbacks foiling a 2-on-1 chance for Knoxville in the 87th minute.
The Silverbacks were well in control after those two goals late in the first half, but it was still a very tough, physical game. The day after the win, captain Mitch Garcia posted a photo of his face looking rough on Instagram (@mitchinski) with the caption saying “When People only use their elbows to go up for headers. #KnoxvillePlayersNeedToLearn #2-0SilverbacksVictory”
This reaction by Mitch made it seem like it went on throughout the game, but there was a particular incident where he took an elbow and had to go off momentarily to get treated. The Knoxville player that elbowed him did not get a yellow card, big surprise there! The Silverbacks next play Knoxville Thursday, June 8th, and if other Silverbacks players were also victims of elbows or near elbows, tensions might run high in that match.
The Silverbacks are now 4 points ahead of Knoxville, but a 3-2 victory by Asheville over Carolina means they only have a 1 point lead in the race for the Eastern Division of the Southeast Conference.
The Silverbacks will travel to Charlotte next weekend to take on Carolina United. As of May 29th, Carolina United are still looking for that ever-elusive first win in 2017. They were on their way when they had a 2-1 lead of the Georgia Revolution in Hampton, but former Silverback Borfor Carr scored in the dying moments to make it 2-2.
Ironically, Carolina will be on the road taking on the Knoxville Force on Tuesday, May 30th, before heading back to The Queen City in preparation for their match against the Silverbacks. Unfortunately, the Silverbacks’ next home game isn’t until June 24th, so keep your eyes peeled for streams of the three away games the Silverbacks will be playing between now and then. If there are none to be found, there’s always Twitter updates. Regardless, there will be in-depth summaries of every game on Planet Of The Backs, so keep an eye out. </span></span></div>
Taylor Peytonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10074633620835376066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7596177326025913469.post-15974579056850040282017-05-26T14:06:00.001-07:002017-05-26T14:06:58.852-07:00Struggling Silverbacks Look To Knock Down Knoxville - By Taylor Peyton<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It hasn’t been the best string of results for the Silverbacks. They were knocked out of the US Open Cup by Charleston on May 17 and then took a 2-1 loss on the road against New Orleans a few days later on May 21. The Silverbacks also lost a friendly against Peachtree City MOBA, but a lot of the regulars weren’t playing, and it was just a friendly so not too much stock can be put into that. The primary focus is for this Saturday’s NPSL matchup against Knoxville Force at Silverbacks Park. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Force are coming off a 3-2 win over Asheville City on Thursday, May 25. It was their first win of the season after two draws against Carolina United, and Asheville City. They currently stand second in the NPSL Southeast Eastern Division, behind the Silverbacks. Ashley Kelynack is Knoxville’s top scorer with two. Both of his goals were scored against Asheville. One in Thursday’s win, and one in the draw that took place on May 19.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The weather in New Orleans was less than favorable last Saturday. It rained throughout the night and second half was delayed by lightning. The Silverbacks struck first with another goal from Avery Shephard in the 19th minute. Shephard became the Silverbacks leading scorer in the NPSL after that goal. Unfortunately, it was not enough as goals from David Evans and Nathan Heath led the Jesters to a 2-1 win over the Silverbacks. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Following the loss in New Orleans, the Silverbacks were in Peachtree City on Wednesday, for a friendly against Peachtree City MOBA. With the parking lot full of Golf Carts (I mean, I wasn’t there so I can’t confirm this, but I used to live in Fayetteville, so I know how those people are with their Golf Carts), the Silverbacks and MOBA both sent out lineups with very few of their usual starters. Kemar Brown, Ebrima Njie, and Fabio Fernandes suited up for the Silverbacks, but the rest were players not usually seen on the pitch. One of those players was Yacinte Hermann, who scored the Silverbacks lone goal that made it 1-1 at the time. MOBA’s Daniel Shaw scored back to back goals in the 62nd and 63rd minutes to make it a final score 3-1.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s not exactly a huge deal that the Silverbacks lost the friendly against MOBA, but the two back to back losses in competitive games against Charleston and New Orleans are a little bit concerning, especially given the fact that most Silverbacks fans were expecting the team to rebound in New Orleans after being defeated by the Battery. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This game against Knoxville is a must win for the Silverbacks because not only would a loss allow Knoxville to overtake them in the standings, but could also possibly open the door for Asheville to leapfrog them too. The NPSL season is very short, and with Knoxville and Asheville knocking on their door, the Silverbacks have realistically used up all of their allowed slip ups this season if they want to not only win their division but also earn the right to home-field advantage when the playoffs start. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As it currently stands, The Silverbacks are the favorites to win the Eastern Division, Knoxville and Asheville are respectable contenders, but the Revs and Carolina United, however, are on their way to becoming evidence that the NPSL needs relegation. </span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-f444ba35-468a-0e05-c4fe-ea3b315f292d"></span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">First place is on the line. Does anything else need to be said? Kickoff is 5 pm at Silverbacks Park. Hopefully, Memorial Day Weekend traffic won’t make your commute too troublesome, but if a 20-minute slowdown on 285 is the price to pay for a Saturday at the Park, so be it! </span></div>
Taylor Peytonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10074633620835376066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7596177326025913469.post-36045075334036948042017-05-17T05:06:00.000-07:002017-05-17T05:06:10.194-07:00A Very Abridged History of the Atlanta Silverbacks in the US Open Cup - By Steven Bayley<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Atlanta Silverbacks have had a long, and occasionally illustrious history in the US Open Cup. The Silverbacks first Open Cup match really depends on where you draw the line. Most Silverbacks supporters recognize the continuity of the clubs history under all names associated with the Silverbacks, and for the first team, that means the Atlanta Ruckus. On June 14</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 7.199999999999999pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: super; white-space: pre-wrap;">th</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, 1995, 22 years ago next month, the Atlanta Ruckus beat the Tampa Bay Cyclones 4:2. </span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-2eb9d79d-1649-81e4-8dfd-76f1127aa4db" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">More specifically, the rivalry between the Atlanta Silverbacks and Charleston Battery, as contested through the USL regular season and the Southern Derby Cup, has been well documented elsewhere, and although the two teams share a long history, as far as the Silverbacks first team, they have never met in the US Open Cup. But if we’re going to include (and rightly so) the Ruckus in the Silverbacks history, then we must also include another Silverbacks ancestor club, Atlanta FC. The current incarnation of the Silverbacks first team evolved directly out of the old Silverbacks Reserves, the NPSL team that served the NASL team with an expanded player pool and planted the seeds for local rivalries with current NPSL clubs like the Georgia Revolution, Chattanooga FC, Knoxville Force, and the New Orleans Jesters, even if Silverbacks fan support didn’t always follow the Reserves to the same extent that they did the first team in the NASL. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the case of Chattanooga and Georgia Revolution, the NASL Atlanta Silverbacks played each twice in the US Open Cup, going a combined 4 and 0 against the two clubs. Most recently, on May 27</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 7.199999999999999pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: super; white-space: pre-wrap;">th</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 2015 The Silverbacks traveled to Finley Stadium in Chattanooga where it took an 89</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 7.199999999999999pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: super; white-space: pre-wrap;">th</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> minute Shaka Bangura penalty equalizer for the Silverbacks to stave off elimination and a Jaime Chavez winner in the 30 minute overtime session to seal the game. This match was much closer than the previous years Open Cup meeting, also in Chattanooga. On May 28</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 7.199999999999999pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: super; white-space: pre-wrap;">th</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 2014 the Silverbacks kicked off their historic US Open Cup run to the Quarterfinals with a 5 nothing beatdown of Chattanooga FC before coming home to Atlanta to knock off Real Salt Lake, going out to Colorado to see out a 2-1 win over the Colorado Rapids with 8 men after the infamous Jaime Chavez stomping incident, and eventually falling at home 1:3 to the Chicago Fire. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Previous two years, 2012 and 2013, saw the Silverbacks open their US Open Cup participation with trips to neighboring East side Atlanta suburb Conyers, GA to take on the Georgia Revolution. The Silverbacks won the May 22, 2012 encounter 1:0, a game in which Raphael Cox scored the winner for the Silverbacks. Poku, in the game which put him on the Silverbacks radar and gave him his shot in the pros, played for the Georgia Revolution against the Silverbacks and had a Penalty saved by Joe Nasco. This game is also critical to note because it set up the infamous selling of hosting rights by the Silverbacks to Seattle, a move which demoralized the clubs fan base, resulted in a 5:1 Seattle beating of the Backs at Starfire in the next round, and some would contend ignited a fallout from which the Silverbacks have never fully recovered as a club. A footnote to this story is that after Boris sold the hosting rights away, the fans were promised some kind of feature special event friendly as recompense, and 5 years later that event has yet to take place. The May 21</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 7.199999999999999pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: super; white-space: pre-wrap;">st</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 2013 meeting was just as competitive, with Poku again featuring for the Georgia Revolution and The Silverbacks holding on to a 3-2 lead in the second half to see the game out thanks to two goals from Ruben Luna and one from Pablo Cruz. That match set up the hard fought 3:2 loss away to Real Salt Lake on May 28</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 7.199999999999999pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: super; white-space: pre-wrap;">th</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 2013, which in turn set the stage for the Silverbacks belief that they could knock off the MLS side, and as we know they got the opportunity to do just that the following year. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So how does all of that relate to the Silverbacks Open Cup history with the Charleston Battery you ask? Hey, thanks for getting us back on topic. So if the Silverbacks Reserves preceded the Silverbacks as we know them know, Atlanta FC was an independent local club that competed in both the NPSL and USASA sanctioned leagues in the mid-late 2000’s. Eventually, prior to the 2011 season, coinciding with the re-start of the NASL Silverbacks, the local independent club Atlanta FC rebranded to become the Atlanta Silverbacks Reserves, but 2 years before that, on June 9</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 7.199999999999999pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: super; white-space: pre-wrap;">th</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 2009 that same Atlanta FC club, competing for their first and only time as Atlanta FC in the US Open Cup after qualifying through the USASA open track, lost 2:0 to the Charleston Battery at Blackbaud Stadium in Charleston, in a match that may have been a foreshadowing of their future club’s culture, and saw 3 Atlanta players ejected from the game, forcing Atlanta to finish with 8 men. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In total, the Atlanta Silverbacks and ancestor clubs have played 27 US Open Cup matches, with tomorrows 3:30 showdown with Charleston being the clubs 28</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 7.199999999999999pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: super; white-space: pre-wrap;">th</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> all time appearance in the United States only truly open football competition. Overall, the Ruckus/Silverbacks are 12-12-2 in the US Open Cup all time, and 12-13-2 if you include the Atlanta FC vs. Charleston Battery match in the Silverbacks historical tally. Strictly competing as the Atlanta Silverbacks, the club is 11-11-2 in the competition, dating back to the its first Open Cup appearance as the Silverbacks, a 2:0 win for the Silverbacks on June 26</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 7.199999999999999pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: super; white-space: pre-wrap;">th</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 2002 over the Memphis Express, after a 7 year hiatus for the Ruckus/Silverbacks between 1995 and 2002 due to consistent historical ineptitude and the old US Open Cup format which was much smaller and required qualification even for professional teams all the way through to the MLS level. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">While controversy and difficulties have always seemed to surround the club in all its forms, its persistence in the face of adversity puts it in a small group of clubs in the United States with a truly independent fighting spirit, which has both endeared itself to some fans as well as alienated others over the years. While the outcome of tomorrows historic 3:30 PM on a Wednesday US Open Cup match against the Charleston Battery remains to be seen, one thing is for sure. A new chapter in Silverbacks Open Cup history will be written tomorrow, and for those that have stuck with the club through thick and thin, anticipation levels are at an all time high. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Steve Bayley </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Atlanta Silverbacks supporter, Non League America founder</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">May 16, 2017</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Table of All Time Atlanta Silverbacks US Open Cup participation</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="margin-left: -1.0999999999999996pt;">
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none;"><colgroup><col width="87"></col><col width="268"></col><col width="175"></col></colgroup><tbody>
<tr style="height: 15pt;"><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">6/14/95</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Atlanta Ruckus 4</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tampa Bay Cyclones 2</span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 15pt;"><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">7/12/95</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Richmond Kickers 2</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Atlanta Ruckus 1</span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 15pt;"><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">6/26/02</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Atlanta Silverbacks 2</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Memphis Express 0</span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 15pt;"><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">7/17/02</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dallas Burn 2</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Atlanta Silverbacks 1</span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 15pt;"><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">7/16/03</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Wilmington Hammerheads 2</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Atlanta Silverbacks 1</span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 15pt;"><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">6/30/04</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Atlanta Silverbacks 3</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Carolina Dynamo 2</span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 15pt;"><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">7/20/04</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kansas City Wizards 4</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Atlanta Silverbacks 1</span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 15pt;"><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">7/13/05</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Des Moines Menace 5</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Atlanta Silverbacks 1</span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 15pt;"><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">7/12/06</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Wilmington Hammerheads 2</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Atlanta Silverbacks 1</span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 15pt;"><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">6/12/07</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Atlanta Silverbacks 10</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Azzurri 0</span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 15pt;"><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">6/26/07</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Atlanta Silverbacks 1</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Charlotte Eagles 0</span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 15pt;"><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">7/9/07</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">FC Dallas 1 (4:3) PK</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Atlanta Silverbacks 1</span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 15pt;"><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">6/10/08</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Atlanta Silverbacks (USL-1) 2 (5:4 PK win)</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Austin Aztex U23 (PDL) 2</span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 15pt;"><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">6/24/08</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Miami FC (USL-1) 1</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Atlanta Silverbacks 0</span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 15pt;"><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">6/9/09</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Charleston Battery 2</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Atlanta FC 0</span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 15pt;"><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5/22/12</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Atlanta Silverbacks 1</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Georgia Revolution 0</span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 15pt;"><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5/29/12</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Seattle Sounders 5</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Atlanta Silverbacks 1</span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 15pt;"><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5/21/13</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Atlanta Silverbacks 3</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Georgia Revolution 2</span></div>
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<tr style="height: 15pt;"><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5/28/13</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Real Salt Lake 3</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Atlanta Silverbacks 2</span></div>
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<tr style="height: 15pt;"><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5/28/14</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Atlanta Silverbacks 5</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Chattanooga FC 0</span></div>
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<tr style="height: 15pt;"><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">6/14/14</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Atlanta Silverbacks 2</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Real Salt Lake 1</span></div>
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<tr style="height: 15pt;"><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">6/24/14</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Atlanta Silverbacks 2</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Colorado Rapids 1</span></div>
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<tr style="height: 15pt;"><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">7/9/14</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Chicago Fire 3</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Atlanta Silverbacks 1</span></div>
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<tr style="height: 15pt;"><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5/27/15</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Atlanta Silverbacks 2 (AET)</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Chattanooga FC 1</span></div>
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<tr style="height: 15pt;"><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">6/16/15</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New York Red Bulls 3</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Atlanta Silverbacks 0</span></div>
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<tr style="height: 15pt;"><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5/11/16</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Reading United AC 2</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Atlanta Silverbacks 0</span></div>
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<tr style="height: 15pt;"><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5/10/17</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Atlanta Silverbacks 4</span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: white; padding: 0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SC United Bantams 1</span></div>
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Taylor Peytonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10074633620835376066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7596177326025913469.post-8724792657635693802017-05-16T12:30:00.000-07:002017-05-16T12:30:02.343-07:00Can The Silverbacks "Kill The Battery?" - By Taylor Peyton<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The title of this post might fly over the heads of readers that don’t listen to Metallica, but I’m sure those that do will appreciate it. Anyways, let’s get down to business because this is a monumental matchup. For Silverbacks fans who have been following the team since it’s humble beginnings, it’s a chance to relive some of their favorite memories of supporting the Silverbacks. For Silverbacks fans that were late to the party and have yet to experience a real Silverbacks vs Battery game, it’s a chance to finally be able to cross if off of their Bucket List, and also the fact that the Battery is Atlanta United’s farm team does add a little bit of fuel to the rivalry.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">To a lot of people, the rivalries that the Silverbacks developed in the NASL with the likes of the New York Cosmos, Tampa Bay Rowdies, Minnesota United, and Ft. Lauderdale Strikers never quite reach the level of the rivalry between the Silverbacks and Battery.</span></span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-48df4a9f-1290-2441-a875-8b125cc6209e" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Rivalry started with the formation of the Southern Derby Cup in 2000. It was created by fans of the teams involved to open the door for rivalries, and encourage other fans to travel to the games. The original members were the Battery, the Silverbacks, and Raleigh Capital Express. Ironically, it was Raleigh who won the inaugural Southern Derby cup, only to fold shortly after. </span></div>
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<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Silverbacks did manage to win a Southern Derby Cup before the Battery did by winning the 2002 edition of it. The Battery came back to win it in 2003, but the Silverbacks went on a tear winning it three years in a row from 2004-2006. The Silverbacks dominance in the Southern Derby Cup was brought to an end when the Carolina Railhawks won in 2007, which was also their first season in existence. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2008 was the final time the Silverbacks would participate in the Southern Derby Cup, following the season was a 2 year hiatus that ended with the Silverbacks joining the NASL in 2011. The Southern Derby Cup went on without the Silverbacks. Nowadays it is being contended for by Charleston and the Charlotte Independence. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Silverbacks and Battery did have a preseason friendly at Silverbacks Park in 2012, a 1-0 win for the Silverbacks where Lucas Paulini scored the lone goal, but it goes without saying that a preseason Friendly and the US Open Cup are two different beasts.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Winning on Wednesday is going to be a difficult task for the Silverbacks, as the Battery are currently at the top of the USL Eastern Conference with a 6-1-1 record and 19 points. Their top scorer is Romario Williams who is tied for top goalscorer of the USL with 6 goals. Another key player the Battery have is Justin Portillo, who stands alone as the top assist provider in the USL with 5. </span></div>
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<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Portillo even had an assist this past saturday after his free kick met the head of Forrest Lasso in the 62 minute of their 1-0 win over Saint Louis FC. Over the course of 8 games, the Battery have scored 17 goals and only conceded 7. Goalkeeper Odisnel Cooper has 3 clean sheets.</span></div>
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<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The question is, how strong of a team will the Battery field on Wednesday? Not only do they have the game against the Silverbacks, but they also have to travel to Harrisburg on Saturday, and then Bethlehem on the Thursday of the week after. It’s a very busy stretch for the Battery so perhaps what we see on Wednesday will not be a full strength team.</span></div>
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<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One player who is definitely a safe bet to be starting for the Silverbacks is Joao Johanning. After serving his suspension on Friday, and not being active on Saturday, he is fully rested and should be ready to go. Joao has been drawing a lot of rough fouls early in the season, maybe the challenges coming from the professionals that play for the Battery won’t be as desperate as those coming from his NPSL opponents, but there’s still a chance he can draw fouls and create chances for the Silverbacks off of set Pieces. </span></div>
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<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Deon McCaulay did not play on Friday or Saturday with Avery Shepherd pulling double duty up top for the Silverbacks, so he is another player that will more than likely get a start on Wednesday. He scored two goals against SC United Bantams in the 1st round this year, as well a goal against the Chicago Fire in the 2014 Quarterfinals of the US Open Cup, so he know how to get it done in this tournament. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 at Silverbacks Park, once again. The Silverbacks have made it clear on Twitter that it’s not ideal for them, and then earlier today sent an email giving the fans an explanation to the situation, and also posted the contents of said email on Twitter and Facebook. In the statement, they explained that changing the venue came with a risk of losing the right to host the game, and the club were asked to pay $12,500 in return for a later time slot. Understandably, they decided not to pursue either option. In addition to an apology for those that aren’t able to go, free admission for another future Silverbacks game was offered to those who will be attending Wednesday night’s game.</span></div>
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<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The whole thing was a very nice gesture from the Silverbacks, there’s no question about that. The thing is, it shouldn’t have come to this. I give the front office staff all of the credit in the world for their attempts to salvage the situation, and then for their honesty and transparency once it became apparent that nothing could be done.</span></div>
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<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Once again Boris Jerkunica's stubbornness has affected the Silverbacks in a negative way. All I can say is a G-Rated version of what I've been saying pretty much the whole time I've been a Silverbacks fan, and that is "Shame on Boris!" The fans and players deserve better, and frankly, I think everyone in the front office deserves a Nobel Peace Prize for putting up with Boris.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZGgtW1COcxt0hsNA1d2_3QH_4OGvqSa1KrGm6j8Wuf0tqqPIcy_PWQvdNr0v1orLFRJpfYfFZv3cLjb7mvs8wiCwBeHTBc7a4-di1GaHQp9IX3n-CYMVZK4aGywZTq7X6U0uujZ_NT-0/s1600/13606881_10154325729684419_6891037250577341955_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="618" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZGgtW1COcxt0hsNA1d2_3QH_4OGvqSa1KrGm6j8Wuf0tqqPIcy_PWQvdNr0v1orLFRJpfYfFZv3cLjb7mvs8wiCwBeHTBc7a4-di1GaHQp9IX3n-CYMVZK4aGywZTq7X6U0uujZ_NT-0/s640/13606881_10154325729684419_6891037250577341955_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What everyone wishes would happen to Boris.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As a result of the aformentioned situation, not only will the Silverbacks have to face a tough Charleston Battery team, but they will have to deal with what is predicted to be intense heat on a Wednesday afternoon. It’ll be difficult, but these kind of games are what this Silverbacks team was built for. This competition is what this Silverbacks team was built for. There is no doubt that they are up to the task. If there’s any chance you can make it to Silverbacks Park, set up your tailgate early as possible, and be ready to support the Backs when the game kicks off. If not, there is supposed to be a stream so you will not be left in the dark. Either way, you don’t want to miss this game. But if you do, Planet Of The Backs will have you covered with a review of this renewed rivalry</span></div>
Taylor Peytonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10074633620835376066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7596177326025913469.post-42974289648017654242017-05-14T16:58:00.000-07:002017-05-14T16:58:14.740-07:00Silverbacks Take New Names, Conquer New Places - By Taylor Peyton<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Silverbacks continue to build momentum after wins on back to back nights against Carolina </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><strike>Discoveries</strike></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> United, and Georgia Revolution. Goals from Ebrima Njie, Mohammed Issahaku, and Alex Harlley guided the Silverbacks to a 3-0 win over Carolina United at Silverbacks Park on Friday. The very next day, Avery Shephard scored the lone goal in a 1-0 win over Georgia Revolution in Hampton.</span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-be881c1e-0918-b7e7-31b9-e99efdee21fb" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With threatening weather in the area, Friday’s kickoff was delayed until 8 pm, but the worst of it managed to miss Silverbacks Park. The Silverbacks rained on Carolina United’s parade by beating them 3-0, but apart from a few showers before kickoff, the weather was fine. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheLVrCmWwJD97mFQFnpmFc1MqvBgnBcvVRGb3jUrfB2FxFF6uwL7WrusO9KLAJa4FEVGg9ksD8Pfupl3_pNUhPVjxe9dGhFUtE49xFWjUa6rgZQjAJiOnTfmGa-EPDlf2fdqmTUYEmQ5s/s1600/18422269_1318272334934573_941467115096183464_o.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheLVrCmWwJD97mFQFnpmFc1MqvBgnBcvVRGb3jUrfB2FxFF6uwL7WrusO9KLAJa4FEVGg9ksD8Pfupl3_pNUhPVjxe9dGhFUtE49xFWjUa6rgZQjAJiOnTfmGa-EPDlf2fdqmTUYEmQ5s/s640/18422269_1318272334934573_941467115096183464_o.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dark skies and a bit of rain over Silverbacks Park before kickoff. <i>Image OF Dave Williamson</i></td></tr>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The game was scoreless in the first 24 minutes, but that changed when Ebrima Njie made it 1-0. Not only did Njie score the goal but he started the build up when dispossessed a Carolina player right after a throw in and passed the ball to Ferrety Sousa. Sousa then switched the play after noticing Mitch Garcia was wide open. Garcia hit the ball very powerfully into the goalkeeper’s hands. He wasn’t able to hold onto the ball, and Njie was in the right place at the right time to put it away.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEHEoKmX4PaecgQMdVkiKccKQSjqwDMyDhTN26uqXg3r0ZHKfU6XZo5b0VgUgi0mpnaTI8-cIuPQEiXlB1Ni30t3kGccOylipn6jAesUSuuLmh8z27-2FLbSLZOzlMxqqKVwRGeofF2Q8/s1600/18403817_1318275191600954_7065068736808719631_o.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEHEoKmX4PaecgQMdVkiKccKQSjqwDMyDhTN26uqXg3r0ZHKfU6XZo5b0VgUgi0mpnaTI8-cIuPQEiXlB1Ni30t3kGccOylipn6jAesUSuuLmh8z27-2FLbSLZOzlMxqqKVwRGeofF2Q8/s640/18403817_1318275191600954_7065068736808719631_o.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Njie celebrates his goal against Carolina United. <i>Image by Dave Williamson</i></td></tr>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Next Silverbacks goal came in the 70th minute when a Mitch Garcia free kick from 32 yards hit the post and was then tapped in seconds after. DZ Harmon attempted to put it in initially, but intervention from a defender and a quick recovery by the goalkeeper was enough to thwart him, but there was no one to stop Mo Issahaku as he tapped in the still bouncing ball</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The third and final goal came in the 90th minute when Alex Harlley buried it into the top left corner of the net from just outside the 18-yard box. The goal was assisted by Taka who noticed Harlley had created some space by using his pace, so he passed the ball to Harlley who finished the chance emphatically.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At the other end of the pitch, the Silverbacks defenders, as well as Thomas Hunter were absolutely stellar as they earned themselves a clean sheet. Thomas Hunter said afterward that the defense made him look good and he didn’t really have to make any big saves. Thomas Hunter, a fantastic keeper in his own right, had a point about the defense that night. The back three of Njie, Abdul Bangura, and Adnan Bangura were all impenetrable, and the midfield pairing of Lansana and Sousa did a great job of getting back on defense and preventing counter attacking opportunities for the visitors. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Silverbacks were right back at it the next day, taking on the Georgia Revolution for the first time at North Mt Carmel Park in Hampton. The Starting XI that hit the pitch looked very similar to the one that had just played 90 minutes the night before, but the supposedly “tired” Silverbacks managed to strike first in the 7th minute when Avery Shephard scored his first goal of the season.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiClVytSYrnDz8SRNX6CJtPznjFFgG-rI8VmpzAnNA2uCifFYgsyZep_9k0ezjLsNJu42W4Gyv_s3LZxt9XKliN9SE1gmZN4XOMN1c3B4V1lqiZHNXQS_dbaKhuNPrIH0ZIVV3-1-e0A_s/s1600/18449655_1319231514838655_7700991672187920763_o.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiClVytSYrnDz8SRNX6CJtPznjFFgG-rI8VmpzAnNA2uCifFYgsyZep_9k0ezjLsNJu42W4Gyv_s3LZxt9XKliN9SE1gmZN4XOMN1c3B4V1lqiZHNXQS_dbaKhuNPrIH0ZIVV3-1-e0A_s/s640/18449655_1319231514838655_7700991672187920763_o.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Avery Shephard scored the lone goal against Georgia Revolution. <i>Image by Dave Williamson</i></td></tr>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Silverbacks went into halftime with the lead, but unfortunately, it hadn't been all smooth sailing because Abdul Bangura was sent off in the 41st minute for a high challenge on a Revs player. He will be suspended for next Saturday’s game against New Orleans, but he will be able to play against Charleston on Wednesday. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With a key defender sent off, Head Coach Phoday Dolleh had no choice but to bring another one onto the field for the second half. That defender was Kemar Brown, who he entered the game along with DZ Harmon. They replaced Taka and Ferrety Sousa, respectively. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Following the red card towards the end of the first half, the match started to get chippy. There were a large number of hard challenges that led to a variety of things including a Revs player being down for an extended period of time, a red card for the Revs’ Adam McCabe, yellow cards for Alex Harlley and Rene Enang of the Silverbacks, and Kemar Brown having to be helped off the field before a set piece. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It wasn’t pretty in the end, but the Silverbacks managed to hold on to their narrow lead to pick up their third consecutive win in all competitions. It was a great accomplishment considering they had already played the night before and then had to play in a very chippy game with 10 men for the majority of it. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After the conclusion of the game, the Silverbacks Twitter account tweeted that Thomas Hunter was a “literal wall of red bricks,” and in all honesty that was a pretty fair description. Thomas Hunter made a lot of the saves that he supposedly didn’t have to make on Friday because “the defense made him look good.” Not saying that the defense did a bad job by any means, but considering how many saves he made, I think he earned his fair share of the credit on Saturday night. After having his clean sheet ruined on Wednesday by an unfair penalty decision, Hunter managed to grab two of them in as many days. Let that be a lesson to you kids out there, good things DO happen to good people. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnIon1n9sCNzrRDXtGmmehVpHj2aIkeGMZ0AAiJJVKNwLxSulBgX3OgY5hKFsS6Z11nEbM_r_4m6tKB3SgSDPWtiYb7mKf95-1tutFz4UB45ZpPLrxYlkcyyfPQBxl0B1t1n16P_D3wp0/s1600/18489841_1319231951505278_1070483552229337245_o.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="482" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnIon1n9sCNzrRDXtGmmehVpHj2aIkeGMZ0AAiJJVKNwLxSulBgX3OgY5hKFsS6Z11nEbM_r_4m6tKB3SgSDPWtiYb7mKf95-1tutFz4UB45ZpPLrxYlkcyyfPQBxl0B1t1n16P_D3wp0/s640/18489841_1319231951505278_1070483552229337245_o.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It was a big weekend for Thomas Hunter. <i>Image by Dave Williamson</i></td></tr>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Silverbacks next game is against Charleston Battery at Silverbacks Park in the second round of the US Open Cup. Unfortunately, the game is scheduled to kick off at 3:30, but I’m already over 850 words, so I’ll wait until the preview for that game before I delve deeper into that controversial topic, as well as other topics about Wednesday’s clash against the hated Charleston Battery. </span></div>
Taylor Peytonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10074633620835376066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7596177326025913469.post-37548299056344555662017-05-11T14:46:00.000-07:002017-05-11T14:46:23.722-07:00Beaten Bantams, Rebrands, and Renewed Rivalries - By Taylor Peyton<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Silverbacks advanced to the second round of the U.S. Open Cup after a dominating 4-1 win over SC United Bantams. A goal from Abraham Lansana, two goals from Deon McCaulay, and a goal straight from kickoff by Alex Harlley were enough for the Silverbacks to earn the right to host Charleston Battery next weekend. </span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-c4216d68-f961-7c06-84fc-47c8c866f2be" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The game was originally scheduled to kickoff to kickoff at 3:30 pm but was delayed until 5 due to “US Soccer Clearance Issues” that ultimately kept Taka and Abdul Bangura from playing. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Silverbacks got their first goal in the 4th minute when Abraham Lansana scored from out wide on the right side of the box. At first, it looked like a cross, but as the ball flew over the keeper and into the left side of the net, with no Silverbacks player within close enough proximity, it became apparent that it was definitely a shot</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Deon McCaulay then added two goals in the 20th and 58th minutes. His first goal composed of a corner delivered by Mitch Garcia finding a Silverbacks player, then the ball being shot into the box where it took a deflection that found Deon’s feet. He made no mistake and made it 2-0. The build-up to the third goal was like poetry in motion that started when Mitch Garcia flicked it over a defender and ran around him to get the ball to Harlley, who then passed it to Deon who finished it to make it 3-0</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Meanwhile, Thomas Hunter was given the start in goal, and for most of the game, he didn't put one foot wrong. He had a clean sheet going until a Bantams player went down in the box and was awarded a penalty despite the Silverbacks defender seemingly getting all ball. Leandro Brown then sent Hunter the wrong way to make it 3-1. There wasn't much of anything he could do about it, but he still played a fantastic game. Maybe if the ref in his next start is a bit more competent, he will get his clean sheet. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtqXtruveGNmiWzkvLeFq1vXdYP8yD5Fl5bg0t2x5VZKGBPy7t6xcBIZ83MH1y9ugyZGhR8BwRKFq0aDWCLareiAmmrJunc9iFyrAlLDqZvRZsW0_MSHrf0WaoX0lT19zCTvPHMHgeDQU/s1600/18358837_1316549185106888_3198399544450243700_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtqXtruveGNmiWzkvLeFq1vXdYP8yD5Fl5bg0t2x5VZKGBPy7t6xcBIZ83MH1y9ugyZGhR8BwRKFq0aDWCLareiAmmrJunc9iFyrAlLDqZvRZsW0_MSHrf0WaoX0lT19zCTvPHMHgeDQU/s640/18358837_1316549185106888_3198399544450243700_o.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thomas Hunter started in goal for the Silverbacks. Image by Dave Williamson</td></tr>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What happened next blew the minds of everyone who witnessed it, and also everyone who saw it on the internet hours later. Alex Harlley noticed that the Bantams keeper was off his line, so right from kick off he the launched the ball into the air, over the keeper, and into the net to make it 4-1, which was the final score.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho7QJleKZo8nhnYFPfnxkT_gBwgJiiiMJWjWwreJZ5l2Bt6EUH43EAP8wPdlu1-yn9aFDxT2gE6dQ-dv2-WQTa8V3B80Z5cYEUPCIAlVC44qd1E90AiohUnCw4FCtN5Byi8crUCtYEsB0/s1600/18451758_1316548188440321_5170153161565219746_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="393" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho7QJleKZo8nhnYFPfnxkT_gBwgJiiiMJWjWwreJZ5l2Bt6EUH43EAP8wPdlu1-yn9aFDxT2gE6dQ-dv2-WQTa8V3B80Z5cYEUPCIAlVC44qd1E90AiohUnCw4FCtN5Byi8crUCtYEsB0/s640/18451758_1316548188440321_5170153161565219746_o.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Silverbacks Players Celebrate after Harlley's wonderstrike. Even a Bantams player can't help but clap for him. Image by Dave Williamson</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Before the game against Charleston next Wednesday, the Silverbacks still have two hurdles to clear. These two hurdles are Carolina United on Friday, and Georgia Revolution on Saturday. I know what you’re thinking: “But Taylor, I have never heard of Carolina United, who the heck are they?” Well, you might remember them from last year as Carolina Discoveries, but right before the season started, they rebranded. Apparently, they thought we needed another club called “United” in America. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The name might be different, but considering that they were blown out 4-1 by Inter Nashville, a club playing the first game in their history, it seems like they’re still the same old Discoveries. Their lone goal was scored by Daniel Revivo, who played his College Soccer at Winthrop from 2005-2009. Their game against the Silverbacks will kick off at 7:30 on Friday, at Silverbacks Park. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Like Carolina United, the Georgia Revolution also lost to a team that was playing the first meaningful game in their history last Saturday. Asheville City defeated the Revs 2-1 last Saturday. Before the game against Asheville, the Revs were defeated 7-1 by Peachtree City MOBA in a friendly. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Revs roster does look slightly better on paper this year, partly due to the signings of former Silverbacks fan favorites Bryce Billington and Borfor Carr. Saturday’s game will be the first game at North Mt. Carmel Park in Hampton, Georgia. Probably the simplest way to get to North Mt. Carmel is exiting 75 on Jonesboro Road in Mcdonough and then turning left onto N Mt Carmel Road. If you underestimate how long it takes you to get to Henry County, there’s a decent shopping center on Jonesboro Road if you need time to kill. But apart from that, there’s about as much to see as there was when the Revs played in Conyers. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Silverbacks will be looking to continue building momentum with wins over Carolina United and Georgia Revolution before facing Charleston Battery next Wednesday. Phoday said after last night’s win against SC United Bantams that there were be lots of squad rotation and mentioned Thierry Jules as a player that we could see in one of the two games this weekend. Now, this is just pure speculation on my part, but it wouldn’t be surprising if we also saw Kris Reaves in the mix as well. He is another young, energetic player, and Phoday said in a tweet that he is the biggest thing since Peanut Butter & Jelly, so he definitely has a high opinion of him</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s bound to be an interesting two days for the Silverbacks. Come to Silverbacks Park after getting off work on Friday, and make the trip down to the Southside and help Silverbacks fans take over the Revs’ new home, just like they took over their old home in Conyers when the two met up. When both games have been played, Planet Of The Backs will be your home for a breakdown of both games, as well as an in-depth preview of the highly anticipated US Open Cup match between the Silverbacks and the Charleston Battery. </span></div>
Taylor Peytonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10074633620835376066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7596177326025913469.post-153627625873542002017-05-09T15:48:00.001-07:002017-05-09T15:48:27.060-07:00Silverbacks Look To Rebound Against Bantams - By Taylor Peyton<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">It wasn’t the start to the season that the Silverbacks were looking for as they were defeated 2-1 by the Birmingham Hammers. The Hammers took the lead on the first corner kick of the game when Alex Brown put the ball in the net. Joao Johanning Mora tied the game in the 67th minute, but the Hammers would retake the lead just two minutes later from an impressive free kick scored by David Valverde, which proved to be enough for the Hammers to take the three points at Silverbacks Park</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Silverbacks attack wasn’t too strong coming out of the gate. There was some decent passing between players out wide but a lack of noteworthy chances. The Hammers took advantage in the 17th minute when they were given the first corner of the game. The ball found its way to Alex Brown who made no mistake and gave the Hammers a 1-0 lead. After the Hammers’ goal, the Silverbacks tried to tie the game before halftime to no avail. Chances from the likes of Abdul and Adnan Bangura, Mitch Garcia, as well as Joao, all missed the target.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Early in the Second half, the Silverbacks thought they had tied the game after a designed set piece led to Abraham Lansana putting the ball into the net, but it was ruled offside. The chances that came shortly after that disallowed goal still did not come to fruition for the Silverbacks. It wasn’t until the 66th minute that the Silverbacks tied the game after Joao put the ball past Birmingham keeper Bradley Louis. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Just two minutes later the Hammers were awarded a free kick, which David Valverde impressively placed around the wall and out of Ameth Kante’s reach. Things went from bad to worse for the Silverbacks when the goalscorer Joao was both injured and shown red after a challenge on Bradley Louis in the 83rd minute. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Silverbacks would not be able to recover from being down by a goal with only ten men, losing the game 2-1. It was a disappointing loss, but now the focus has shifted to the first round of the US Open Cup, where the Silverbacks will be taking on SC United Bantams at Silverbacks Park, with the match kicking off at 3:30 PM.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I know a lot of you will probably need reassurance, and unfortunately, since I'm writing this I guess it’s my job to be the one to provide it. Yes, the Silverbacks are having their US Open Cup game at 3:30 pm in the afternoon, on a weekday.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> This is most likely a product of scheduling conflicts with the Park, which is something we saw last season with the playoff game against Carolina Railhawks NPSL. That game ended up being played at Georgia Gwinnett College in Lawrenceville instead of Silverbacks Park so it could start at 7 instead of 3:30. A decent sized crowd was on hand in Gwinnett County, the Silverbacks won 4-0, and fun was had by all (except the Railhawks players but nobody cares about them), so why not do the same thing this year for a game that is just as, if not more important than that game last year? It doesn’t make sense, and I do really feel for the dedicated Silverbacks fans that won’t be able to make it because they’re working like normal people, but it is what it is at this point, so we’re just going to have to live with it and hope that it doesn’t happen again in the future. Okay rant over, now back to your regularly scheduled preview</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Silverbacks opponents, SC United Bantams, have played in the South Atlantic Division of the PDL since their debut season in 2012. They are based in Greenwood, South Carolina and play their home games at Lander Soccer Complex. They finished third in their division last year, earning the right to play in the Eastern Conference Divisional Qualifiers where they lost 4-1 to Carolina Dynamo.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> This year, they’ve only just released their roster and have not provided any further information about their players. N</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">ot even their position is made clear. So it’s hard to determine just how good they are, but regardless, the Silverbacks are still going into this game as favorites. The Bantams weren’t in action this past Saturday as they don’t start PDL play until May 23rd.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The stakes are really high because if the Silverbacks win, not only do they advance, but in the second round they will host Charleston Battery, who are regarded by many as the Silverbacks’ biggest rival. For many years they competed for the Southern Derby Cup, which is said to be the first regional cup competition to be formed in America. The Silverbacks and the Battery, along with a few other various clubs based in the Carolinas, every year from 2000 up until 2008 when the Silverbacks withdrew from the USL and went on Hiatus. The competition still exists today, but perhaps it’s not the same without the Silverbacks.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As for the Silverbacks and Battery, they last played in a friendly at Silverbacks Park in 2012. The Silverbacks won 1-0 on a goal scored by Lucas Paulini. There were also dual red cards in the 67th minute, with one player from each team being sent off. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Silverbacks have two other games this week, so Wednesday would be a good time to start winning. If you can make it to Silverbacks Park at stupid o’clock ( I know that’s not what the expression means, but I’m changing the definition for this scenario) for the US Open Cup Match, that’s great! The more, the merrier. If not, hopefully, there will be a live stream you can watch if your boss isn’t looking over your shoulder. There’s always Twitter if all else fails. Regardless of what hand you are dealt with, try your best to enjoy your Wednesday, and look for a review of the game in question, as well as a seperate preview of Friday and Saturday's games on Planet Of The Backs shortly after. </span></div>
Taylor Peytonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10074633620835376066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7596177326025913469.post-67954056401640946342017-05-05T12:55:00.000-07:002017-05-05T12:55:37.471-07:00Silverbacks Look To "Hammer The Hammers" - By Taylor Peyton<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s been a long time coming, but the Silverbacks finally have a meaningful game on Saturday, May 6th as the Birmingham Hammers visit Silverbacks Park. This will be the first-ever meeting between the Silverbacks and Hammers. The Silverbacks did play the UAB Blazers in a few home and away friendlies during the NASL era when the grassroots formation of the Hammers was taking place, however.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is the Hammers’ second season in the NPSL. Their first season was not the most successful, but they did manage to beat Memphis at home and spoil Nashville FC’s last ever game by defeating them 2-1 at Vanderbilt Stadium. The players returning from last year’s team such as Bradley Louis, Jack Ball, and Marietta's Gerard Barbero will be determined to improve on last year's 6th place finish in the Southeast Conference.</span><br />
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Hammers have also added some talented new faces such as Pennsylvania's 2003 Gatorade Player Of The Year Dan DeMasters. DeMasters played his College Soccer for Villanova and has recently become a very successful High School Soccer Coach in Alabama. While Teaching Math at Oak Mountain High School in Birmingham, DeMasters had led the Eagles to Two consecutive State Championships in 2015, and 2016. Oak Mountain also won the National Championship in 2016. DeMaster’s Eagles have made it to the quarterfinals of the State playoffs this year as well. They will be taking </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Grissom High School the night before he is set to make his debut for the Hammers, if he does indeed travel with the team to Atlanta. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Silverbacks will be looking to their big name players such as Mitch Garcia, Deon McCaulay, Taka, and Joao to help guide them to three points against Birmingham, but a few lesser-known Silverbacks players have brought themselves to the forefront in the months leading up to the season, and have the potential to have an enormous impact on Saturday's game. Ebrima Njie has been involved with the Silverbacks for a few years now, including playing a big part in the Reserves team in 2015 that qualified for the 2016 US Open Cup. He didn’t play too much last year but he played a part in many of the preseason games this year, and at the moment it is safe to assume that we will see some of him this season. Santi Loaiza is a young Colombian who is looking to jumpstart his career after not being given many opportunities at his former club Once Caldas. Santi provided an assist against the Latino All-Stars, and also scored a goal of his own against the Savannah Clovers.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">This will also be </span>Phoday<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span>Dolleh’s<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> first game as the Silverbacks Head Coach. We know all about his eye for talent, and with 20 years of coaching under his belt, he is very much qualified for their job. It might take a few games to get a good reading on what direction </span>Phoday<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> leans towards with his tactics, but it’ll be fun for Silverbacks fans who are into that aspect of the game. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Saturday’s opener will be the first of the Silverbacks’ four games in seven days. SC United Bantams of the PDL will be coming on Wednesday for a first-round matchup in the US Open Cup, and then the Silverbacks will host Carolina United (formally Carolina Discoveries) at Silverbacks Park on Friday night, before taking on the Georgia Revolution in their new home in Henry County. </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Given the Silverbacks’ history in the US Open Cup, and the fact that this roster was built with the competition in mind, the importance of Wednesday’s game against SC United Bantams doesn’t need to be explained to anyone. </span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Between that game, and the three NPSL Regular season games, Seeing how the squad is rotated through all four games will be interesting, to say the least. In regards to Saturday’s game, it’s possible that some players will be rested for Wednesday’s game. It shouldn’t be anything too drastic, but it's worth keeping that game in mind if you notice any omissions of players that you think should be starting.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Like every game they play in the NPSL, the Silverbacks are expected to win on Saturday. The Hammers only played one last-minute preseason friendly, and their lack of preperation is something the Silverbacks could exploit throughout the game. Kickoff is set for 5 pm at Silverbacks Park. Have fun at the game if you can make it, stream it online if you can’t, and look for a summary of the game, as well as a preview of Wednesday’s game against SC United Bantams from Planet Of The Backs in the next few days.</span>Taylor Peytonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10074633620835376066noreply@blogger.com0