USA vs. Scotland soccer

[RockStar]

The Tea Men.  That name was about as inappropriate for the area as the Jazz is for Utah.

Now, if they had been called the Jacksonville SWEET Tea Men....

I believe they are called that because originally they were in New Orleans. For example, LA isn't exactly lake country....

[fsquid]

The game was not broadcast on ESPN

It most certainly was here in the UK.

I'm surprised, they already showed League One football earlier that day.

[Tacachale]

They were originally in the Boston area and were owned by Lipton; they were called the New England Tea Men. When Lipton moved them to Jacksonville they kept the name, and it just sort of stuck.

They were actually more successful here than the numbers indicate. Lipton had lost a ton of money on them in Massachusetts and wasn't willing to give them more than a season in Jax when it was clear they weren't going to recoup. A local group bought them for a second but they just didn't have the resources to make a successful run in the NASL. The team actually hung around in lower leagues for two more years after that.

[civil42806]

Should note they won the ASL championship the year after the NASL folded.  They actually had a very talented team that year, had some great young american talent.

[marksjax]

Why wouldn't they allow in the noisemakers (vuvuzelas)? Isn't that a part of the experience?
Whoever made that decision: Epic Fail

(This wasn't a piano recital!) We can't even get the small things right! Do yer research and realize we are the hosts of an international group and make sure you know what to expect and embrace it, don't fight it.

[TPC]

Why wouldn't they allow in the noisemakers (vuvuzelas)? Isn't that a part of the experience?
Whoever made that decision: Epic Fail

(This wasn't a piano recital!) We can't even get the small things right! Do yer research and realize we are the hosts of an international group and make sure you know what to expect and embrace it, don't fight it.

Vuvuzelas are South African, what do they have to do with US or Scotland?

[blizz01]

Useless stats:
While Scotland is a nice draw & brings the fans, the last time Scotland played in the United States was in May of 1998 - Washington D.C. (World Cup tune up/Friendly.
They were 23rd in the FIFA Rankings
<40,000 in attendance

I think that matchup is key; I'd love to see the USMNT v. Bosnia-Herzegovina scheduled in JAX given the influence in town.

[marksjax]

Horn whatever you want to call it. That was missing from the experience. It was too sterile!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpXN8BvGp_o

[copperfiend]

Horn whatever you want to call it. That was missing from the experience. It was too sterile!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpXN8BvGp_o

Sterile? Hardly.

[fsquid]

wasn't sterile in the corner I was in.

[Ajax]

Why wouldn't they allow in the noisemakers (vuvuzelas)? Isn't that a part of the experience?
Whoever made that decision: Epic Fail

(This wasn't a piano recital!) We can't even get the small things right! Do yer research and realize we are the hosts of an international group and make sure you know what to expect and embrace it, don't fight it.

I respectfully disagree - I hate those vuvuzelas.  They made all of the 2010 World Cup games in South Africa sound like a swarm of angry bees was buzzing around.  From what I remember during those games, I don't think the vuvuzela is African anyway.  I would much rather hear the singing and chanting that you hear in the European games or the drums that you hear in the South and Central American games.  There would have been much more of that (especially from the Scotland fans) if their team had put up more of a fight. 

If I'd been sitting in front of a 10-year old kid blowing one of those horns in my ear for 90 minutes, I probably would have gone to jail.   

Besides, I'd bet if someone tried to carry one of those things into an Old Firm match in Glasgow, they would have it shoved into an extremely uncomfortable place.  And I don't mean the back of a Volkswagen.  (Apologies to any Kevin Smith fans out there.) 

[Ajax]

They were originally in the Boston area and were owned by Lipton; they were called the New England Tea Men. When Lipton moved them to Jacksonville they kept the name, and it just sort of stuck.

They were actually more successful here than the numbers indicate. Lipton had lost a ton of money on them in Massachusetts and wasn't willing to give them more than a season in Jax when it was clear they weren't going to recoup. A local group bought them for a second but they just didn't have the resources to make a successful run in the NASL. The team actually hung around in lower leagues for two more years after that.

On Friday's newscast, Sam Kouvaris did a short feature on the Tea Men, and he interviewed Ringo Cantillo and Nino Zec, both of whom still live here.  He also spoke with Arthur Smith - I believe he was the General Manager. 

I wonder if Kouvaris has enough old footage to put together a 30 minute documentary...

[Ajax]

The game was not broadcast on ESPN

NBC Sports (used to be Vs.) broadcast the game....and sadly used msome stock footage of downtown (still said Modis on building)

I was a little disappointed at that opening shot with Modis (or actually it just had "odis"), but the rest of the video they showed looked pretty nice.  NBC Sports actually anchored their MLS coverage from the stadium during their Houston-LA Galaxy earlier in the day, and every time they would come back from commercial they would have some live shot showing the river or the Dames Point Bridge or some other photogenic area. 

[Ajax]

On a separate note, I watched the match on ESPN and enjoyed it thoroughly. But the pipers sounded way out of tune when they played Flower of Scotland and the woman who sang the Star Spangled Banner was terrible! Did it sound that bad live?

I'm going to take your word on the bagpipes because they always sound out of tune to me.    But yeah, the lady that sang the Star Spangled Banner was horrible.  Someone said she was Roseanne Barr/Carl Lewis bad - I think that's going a bit far, but she was pretty bad. 

[Ajax]

We had a couple of people ejected from our section for setting off smoke bombs  (happens every match), how they can prove it I dont know. Security also came and confiscated our inflateable sheep.

Haha - classic!  You must have been with the American Outlaws.  That was a very nice showing by AO - I could hear you loud and clear from Section 206.  I went to the tailgate at Russ Doe's and got nice video of them marching to the stadium.  They really do a great job adding atmosphere to the games.