By J.J. VELA
SPECIAL TO THE TIMES
RICHMOND — On a hot and muggy East Texas afternoon, the Laredo Heat (5–3–4, 19 points) were not able to seal the deal and leave Houston with three much-needed points in the Mid-South Division playoff race.
A tough and resilient Houston Leones (3–7–1, 10 pts.) team tied the Heat in the 29th minute with a goal from Jay Ambrosy, just four minutes after the Heat’s Raul Quinones got the Gateway City club up 1 – 0 in the 25th minute.
With the tie in Houston, the Heat now fall into third place in the division behind the Austin Aztex (8–2–1, 25 pts.) and the El Paso Patriots (6–4–3, 21 pts.). The Mississippi Brilla (5–4–2, 17 pts.) are also gaining on the Heat as they sit in fourth place, just two points behind Laredo.
In the Premier Development League (PDL), the top two teams in each division advance into the playoffs. The Heat has been part of the PDL’s playoffs since their first year in the league in 2005, winning the league title just last year.
This three-year streak in now in danger of ending with only four league games left in the season. On the bright side of things, two of the four remaining games for the Heat will be versus Austin (Thursday, July 3 in Austin) and versus El Paso (Wednesday, July 16 in Laredo) and will give Laredo an opportunity to go out fighting and clawing for a playoff spot.
The Heat took on the Leones without the services of three of their regular starters in the lineup as Dany Galvan didn’t play due to an injury he has been nursing for about three weeks and Felix Garcia and Oliver Mulamba, both serving suspensions.
Garcia served his suspension for getting a red card last week in El Paso and Mulamba having accumulated five yellow caution cards, an automatic one game suspension.
Heat Notes: In its crucial game next week in Austin, the Heat will be playing without Raul Quinones who will serve a one game suspension for having received two yellow cards in Houston.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Heat to take on Leones
By NINO CARDENAS
LAREDO MORNING TIMES
Chances are either the Laredo Heat or Houston Leones will snap a losing streak today. A tie would benefit no one, as one club is fighting to stay in playoff contention and the other is playing for pride.The Heat (5-3-3, 18 points) experienced a setback last weekend with back-to-back losses to El Paso.
Laredo's road trip continues against Houston (3-7-0, 9 points), which has dropped its last two home games and four in a row overall, leaving the club winless in June.
The Heat will take the field either tied for second place with El Paso (5-4-2, 18) or in third, depending on the outcome of Friday's game between the Patriots and the Mid South Division-leading Austin Aztex (7-1-1, 22 points).
The Mississippi Brilla helped its cause by stringing a three-game win streak that catapulted the club up to the spot behind Laredo and El Paso with a 5-4-2 record and 17 points.
The Heat's road trip comes to a close next weekend when the club faces the Aztex in Austin before returning home for its final two games in Laredo. The season finishes July 19 with a trip to New Orleans.
"We only have five league matches left starting with this weekend trip to Houston," Heat owner Shashi Vaswani said. "Making the playoffs has become priority number one for us since we are the only ones who can control our destiny.
"As one can see, nothing will come easy for the team, coaching staff and administration if post season aspirations are to be in our plans."
Tonight's matchup with the Leones, currently in last place, is a must win game for a Laredo team that is not only looking to make the playoffs, but also to defend its championship.
Heat coach Israel Collazo had two things in mind this week during camp. First, find replacements for striker Felix Garcia and defender Oliver Mulamba, who are suspended for the game and second to acclimate his team for the 5 p.m. game versus Houston in what look to be hot and humid conditions.
With Garcia's absence Juan de Dios Ibarra is the team's main offensive weapon, he has three goals during this campaign.
After Ibarra and Isaac Morales the offensive experience takes turn downward. The Heat is counting on players like Silas Blackwell, Theo Browne, Gregory Mulamba and Stiven Ospina to pick up the slack. Each of these players has scored their first and only goal as a Heat player this month.
The loss of Mulamba in the backfield can be off set by the return of Leone Cruz.
The Heat's defense has been steady all season, but the club can ill afford another showing like the one it had in El Paso, where the Pats knocked in four goals in two games.
The recent slide for Houston has placed the club in the role of spoilers. That back against the wall mentality hasn't helped the Leones, who have been shutout three times and only scored one goal this month.
They have eight different players that have scored, but seven have only one goal, and the leader Fernando Benitez has two.
Houston will likely go with Juan Carlos Hernandez at the goalie position. He has posted a .54 goals-against average in his last four games.
LAREDO MORNING TIMES
Chances are either the Laredo Heat or Houston Leones will snap a losing streak today. A tie would benefit no one, as one club is fighting to stay in playoff contention and the other is playing for pride.The Heat (5-3-3, 18 points) experienced a setback last weekend with back-to-back losses to El Paso.
Laredo's road trip continues against Houston (3-7-0, 9 points), which has dropped its last two home games and four in a row overall, leaving the club winless in June.
The Heat will take the field either tied for second place with El Paso (5-4-2, 18) or in third, depending on the outcome of Friday's game between the Patriots and the Mid South Division-leading Austin Aztex (7-1-1, 22 points).
The Mississippi Brilla helped its cause by stringing a three-game win streak that catapulted the club up to the spot behind Laredo and El Paso with a 5-4-2 record and 17 points.
The Heat's road trip comes to a close next weekend when the club faces the Aztex in Austin before returning home for its final two games in Laredo. The season finishes July 19 with a trip to New Orleans.
"We only have five league matches left starting with this weekend trip to Houston," Heat owner Shashi Vaswani said. "Making the playoffs has become priority number one for us since we are the only ones who can control our destiny.
"As one can see, nothing will come easy for the team, coaching staff and administration if post season aspirations are to be in our plans."
Tonight's matchup with the Leones, currently in last place, is a must win game for a Laredo team that is not only looking to make the playoffs, but also to defend its championship.
Heat coach Israel Collazo had two things in mind this week during camp. First, find replacements for striker Felix Garcia and defender Oliver Mulamba, who are suspended for the game and second to acclimate his team for the 5 p.m. game versus Houston in what look to be hot and humid conditions.
With Garcia's absence Juan de Dios Ibarra is the team's main offensive weapon, he has three goals during this campaign.
After Ibarra and Isaac Morales the offensive experience takes turn downward. The Heat is counting on players like Silas Blackwell, Theo Browne, Gregory Mulamba and Stiven Ospina to pick up the slack. Each of these players has scored their first and only goal as a Heat player this month.
The loss of Mulamba in the backfield can be off set by the return of Leone Cruz.
The Heat's defense has been steady all season, but the club can ill afford another showing like the one it had in El Paso, where the Pats knocked in four goals in two games.
The recent slide for Houston has placed the club in the role of spoilers. That back against the wall mentality hasn't helped the Leones, who have been shutout three times and only scored one goal this month.
They have eight different players that have scored, but seven have only one goal, and the leader Fernando Benitez has two.
Houston will likely go with Juan Carlos Hernandez at the goalie position. He has posted a .54 goals-against average in his last four games.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
The cost of keeping dreams alive
By NINO CARDENAS
LAREDO MORNING TIMES
The lifeblood of any sports franchise comes in the form of the ticket purchaser, simply known as the fan.While the Laredo Heat's players work for free, expenses still add up across the board from stadium fees to transportation and housing.
Since the Heat's inception, Laredoan Shashi Vaswani has absorbed the financial losses in order to provide the city with his dream of converting the busiest port in the nation into a booming soccer town.
"I would be lying if I say no to giving up the dream – me and my wife do say this sometimes because it has taken a lot out of us emotionally," Vaswani said. "The financial commitment is not to be disregarded, but when you give up your time and energy, something that cannot be replaced, it takes its toll. However, we hopefully will get to a stage where things get easier and that does not look like it can come soon enough."
The process has involved sanctioning the team's youth clubs with the South Texas Youth Soccer Association in an effort to coordinate and establish a linear soccer academy to bringing in Mexican professional teams to town in exhibition matches.
For Vaswani, the Heat is both a business and a vehicle to help the sport of soccer grow into a viable option for kids around Laredo. Both phases are still churning along. and each is expected to get better as time goes by.
"The business plan is still not on track," Vaswani said. "We need to get more people involved and more people believing that we are just not another entertainment sports franchise but actually are doing something worthwhile for the community.
"Once we get the masses to recognize this, we can have their support both emotionally and financially to help bring this organization to the next level. The personal Plan is achieving success at a faster pace than anticipated. To give our youth an opportunity to excel in this sport and use it for a vehicle to get an education or a sound career is illustrated already on various fronts. Felix (Garcia), Arnoldo (Presas) and Frank Lara are examples."
All three players are and were key reasons to their respective schools capturing the District 29-5A championships, Garcia and Lara at LBJ and Presas for United.
Vaswani has fed and kept his dream alive, and in the process, he managed to put together a Premier Development League team that has had the golden touch since its inception.
The Heat advanced to the Southern Conference finals in its first year and won the Mid South Division the two following years.
After earning its first division championship in 2006, the Heat fell to the Michigan Bucks in the PDL Championships.
The next season, the Heat took that bit of knowledge and experience and faced the Michigan Bucks again, this time succeeding and bringing Laredo its first soccer championship at the amateur level.
The national exposure not only placed the Laredo Heat on the map for soccer enthusiasts, but officially made the team household name in Laredo.
Gaining as much name and brand recognition as the Laredo Bucks and fellow newcomer the Laredo Broncos, the Heat has enjoyed a steady growth in fan attendance over the years.
"Fan support has increased 30 percent and we feel that slowly but surely everybody that goes out there returns and brings in new people," Vaswani said.
The Bucks are still the undisputed king when it comes to attendance, and it's likely to stay that way, but their season comes to an end just as the Heat's begins, offering Laredoans year-round professional sports along with the Broncos.
With the fans' wallets already stretched out, both the Heat and Broncos offer affordable pricing.
Helping the Heat garner the attention of more fans was not only the quality of soccer on the field, but the sale of alcohol and a move to a more soccer-friendly stadium.
The Heat attendance escalated from an average of 542.38 fans in 2005 in their eight home game schedule to 636.25 then 736 and finally the jolt to 960.17 (two home games are remaining).
Around the Mid South Division, the Heat ia a distant third from second place El Paso with 1,289 fans per game and leader Austin at 1,357, partially because Austin and El Paso more than triple the population of Laredo.
Laredo is estimated to have over 217,000 residents, while El Paso registers over 609,000 and Austin surpasses the 709,000 mark.
With that in mind, the Heat is doing better then its bigger brethren at capturing a higher percentage of its population, but it could be better.
"I see that fan attendance has grown somewhat, but we are not satisfied with the growth," Vaswani said. "We still feel that for this size city, 2,000 fans per game is what we would be happy with. The masses of the soccer community has disappointed me the most, as vocal as they are about wanting fields, one perfect way to make a statement is attending all our games."
Laredo's highest regular season attendance. In 2005 when the Heat played the Austin Lightning in the final season game there were 1,204 fans in attendance and this year when the Heat hosted the Baton Rouge Capitals two weekends ago they matched their franchise high.
The El Paso Patriots' high mark this season was 1,599 fans in last Friday's game versus the defending champion Heat. Their second highest total, interestingly enough, came in the following game with 1,473 fans in the stands.
The Heat also drew the Mississippi's Brilla highest attended home contest in which they had 1,127 fans in the stands. The Brilla average 889.83 fans per home contest.
The Baton Rouge Capitals, which average only 381.6 fans per game, had 372 onlookers when they hosted the Heat. Their highest total came against state rival New Orleans at 542 fans.
In Dallas, the Heat's presence did nothing to help out the 358.6 fan average but did bring in twenty more supporters at 378 fans that day.
Home or away, the Heat is bringing out the fans across the Mid South division. Laredo has yet to play Austin and Houston at home, and New Orleans had no information available as to what there fan attendance has been this season.
In the end, it looks as if the Heat is fittingly burning brighter and brighter. The potential is there, but plenty of good seats are still available at the Texas A&M International Soccer Complex, keep in mind that fans can be as fickle as the flames.
LAREDO MORNING TIMES
The lifeblood of any sports franchise comes in the form of the ticket purchaser, simply known as the fan.While the Laredo Heat's players work for free, expenses still add up across the board from stadium fees to transportation and housing.
Since the Heat's inception, Laredoan Shashi Vaswani has absorbed the financial losses in order to provide the city with his dream of converting the busiest port in the nation into a booming soccer town.
"I would be lying if I say no to giving up the dream – me and my wife do say this sometimes because it has taken a lot out of us emotionally," Vaswani said. "The financial commitment is not to be disregarded, but when you give up your time and energy, something that cannot be replaced, it takes its toll. However, we hopefully will get to a stage where things get easier and that does not look like it can come soon enough."
The process has involved sanctioning the team's youth clubs with the South Texas Youth Soccer Association in an effort to coordinate and establish a linear soccer academy to bringing in Mexican professional teams to town in exhibition matches.
For Vaswani, the Heat is both a business and a vehicle to help the sport of soccer grow into a viable option for kids around Laredo. Both phases are still churning along. and each is expected to get better as time goes by.
"The business plan is still not on track," Vaswani said. "We need to get more people involved and more people believing that we are just not another entertainment sports franchise but actually are doing something worthwhile for the community.
"Once we get the masses to recognize this, we can have their support both emotionally and financially to help bring this organization to the next level. The personal Plan is achieving success at a faster pace than anticipated. To give our youth an opportunity to excel in this sport and use it for a vehicle to get an education or a sound career is illustrated already on various fronts. Felix (Garcia), Arnoldo (Presas) and Frank Lara are examples."
All three players are and were key reasons to their respective schools capturing the District 29-5A championships, Garcia and Lara at LBJ and Presas for United.
Vaswani has fed and kept his dream alive, and in the process, he managed to put together a Premier Development League team that has had the golden touch since its inception.
The Heat advanced to the Southern Conference finals in its first year and won the Mid South Division the two following years.
After earning its first division championship in 2006, the Heat fell to the Michigan Bucks in the PDL Championships.
The next season, the Heat took that bit of knowledge and experience and faced the Michigan Bucks again, this time succeeding and bringing Laredo its first soccer championship at the amateur level.
The national exposure not only placed the Laredo Heat on the map for soccer enthusiasts, but officially made the team household name in Laredo.
Gaining as much name and brand recognition as the Laredo Bucks and fellow newcomer the Laredo Broncos, the Heat has enjoyed a steady growth in fan attendance over the years.
"Fan support has increased 30 percent and we feel that slowly but surely everybody that goes out there returns and brings in new people," Vaswani said.
The Bucks are still the undisputed king when it comes to attendance, and it's likely to stay that way, but their season comes to an end just as the Heat's begins, offering Laredoans year-round professional sports along with the Broncos.
With the fans' wallets already stretched out, both the Heat and Broncos offer affordable pricing.
Helping the Heat garner the attention of more fans was not only the quality of soccer on the field, but the sale of alcohol and a move to a more soccer-friendly stadium.
The Heat attendance escalated from an average of 542.38 fans in 2005 in their eight home game schedule to 636.25 then 736 and finally the jolt to 960.17 (two home games are remaining).
Around the Mid South Division, the Heat ia a distant third from second place El Paso with 1,289 fans per game and leader Austin at 1,357, partially because Austin and El Paso more than triple the population of Laredo.
Laredo is estimated to have over 217,000 residents, while El Paso registers over 609,000 and Austin surpasses the 709,000 mark.
With that in mind, the Heat is doing better then its bigger brethren at capturing a higher percentage of its population, but it could be better.
"I see that fan attendance has grown somewhat, but we are not satisfied with the growth," Vaswani said. "We still feel that for this size city, 2,000 fans per game is what we would be happy with. The masses of the soccer community has disappointed me the most, as vocal as they are about wanting fields, one perfect way to make a statement is attending all our games."
Laredo's highest regular season attendance. In 2005 when the Heat played the Austin Lightning in the final season game there were 1,204 fans in attendance and this year when the Heat hosted the Baton Rouge Capitals two weekends ago they matched their franchise high.
The El Paso Patriots' high mark this season was 1,599 fans in last Friday's game versus the defending champion Heat. Their second highest total, interestingly enough, came in the following game with 1,473 fans in the stands.
The Heat also drew the Mississippi's Brilla highest attended home contest in which they had 1,127 fans in the stands. The Brilla average 889.83 fans per home contest.
The Baton Rouge Capitals, which average only 381.6 fans per game, had 372 onlookers when they hosted the Heat. Their highest total came against state rival New Orleans at 542 fans.
In Dallas, the Heat's presence did nothing to help out the 358.6 fan average but did bring in twenty more supporters at 378 fans that day.
Home or away, the Heat is bringing out the fans across the Mid South division. Laredo has yet to play Austin and Houston at home, and New Orleans had no information available as to what there fan attendance has been this season.
In the end, it looks as if the Heat is fittingly burning brighter and brighter. The potential is there, but plenty of good seats are still available at the Texas A&M International Soccer Complex, keep in mind that fans can be as fickle as the flames.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
New Frontiers
The Laredo Heat got a pleasant surprise Monday with the return of Leone Cruz, who was in Monterrey trying out for the Tigres. Heat coach Israel Collazo had no set time table for his defender's return and it seemed he arived in the nick of time. With Oliver Mulamba suspended for one game, Cruz's presence is key for the backfield. It also helps free up Dionisio Infante, as he'll likely man the point alongside Isaac Morales, Theo Browne or Silas Blackwell now that Felix Garcia is serving a one-game suspension due to a red card last weekend at El Paso. In Leone's absence Collazo even used midfielder Steve Su as a defender to some success at home.
An interesting note for historical and stat buffs. The Laredo Heat have lost back-to-back games only twice before, after last weeks debacle against El Paso. The double dippers came back in 2005, the Heat's initial year in the PDL, and they were at the hands of New Olreans and, not surprisingly, rival El Paso Patriots. The Patrtiots have the bragging rights historically with 7 wins in 11 tries. Laredo did sweep the Pats in 2006, but El Paso has won every other series including their own sweep in 2005.
Winning a championship though makes that tolerable and Laredo can at least get the last laugh when they play the Patriots again on July 16.
An interesting note for historical and stat buffs. The Laredo Heat have lost back-to-back games only twice before, after last weeks debacle against El Paso. The double dippers came back in 2005, the Heat's initial year in the PDL, and they were at the hands of New Olreans and, not surprisingly, rival El Paso Patriots. The Patrtiots have the bragging rights historically with 7 wins in 11 tries. Laredo did sweep the Pats in 2006, but El Paso has won every other series including their own sweep in 2005.
Winning a championship though makes that tolerable and Laredo can at least get the last laugh when they play the Patriots again on July 16.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Heat's resiliency put to the test after losses
By NINO CARDENAS
LAREDO MORNING TIMES
The season isn't going as smoothly as the Laredo Heat had hoped, but the club still finds itself very much alive in the running for a playoff spot and, with a little bit of luck, another Mid South Division title.
The Heat's current situation isn't sounding the panic alarms, but its current bump in the road came in the form of the El Paso Patriots.
The Patriots handed the Heat two 2-1 losses this weekend, making the bump one that could derail the hopes and shake the confidence of some teams.
Not so for the Laredo Heat whose head coach Israel Collazo sees this current situation as the perfect opportunity for his team to find its identity.
"This is the perfect time, the most difficult time, for us to show what we are made of," Collazo said.
There was no finger pointing going on after the weekend sweep at the hands, or feet, of the Patriots. If anything, Collazo prefers the digits to all point squarely at him.
The weekend was a case of missed opportunites and close calls, maybe even some bad ones.
A couple of inches here and there, and the team could've been contemplating catching up to the Austin Aztex and not looking to gather up the peices.
Instead, the reality of the sitatuion is that the Patrtiots got right back into the playoff mix and the Heat are looking to move on with a lesson in tow.
The Aztex (7-1-1, 22 points) have been given the divisional green light by Collazo as masters of their own destiny.
Austin sits four points atop Laredo (5-3-3, 18) with two less games in its pocket.
"I believe they have slipped out of reach," Collazo said. "They've had a great campaign at home and on the road."
Interestingly, this is the Aztex first year of existence, and experience would usually be seen as a positive when it comes to road games.
The difference between home games and away games wasn't as pronounced for Austin; it was all new to the team.
With time and with the strong fan support the Aztex have had in their first four home games is sure to change all that.
On the road, the team has gone 3-1-1 and has allowed its only goals against of the season.
ALWAYS ON MY MIND
Love-hate relationships are personafied in every sporting event across the world.
From the Broadway stage of professional sports to the little theater domain of minor league sports, these relationships exist between the coaches, players and fans and the man with the whistle.
Clarifying that he is far from using it as an excuse or a scapegoat, Collazo is getting increasingly frustrated with the discrepancy in calls, from referees seemingly favoring the home team, his side included, to the abuse of their powers.
"We depend on the decisions of the so-called authority," Collazo said. "They seem to not have the conviction and courage to make the right calls at times and when they make the wrong ones, 'in my opinion' they offer no explanation but laugh as if saying I'm in charge here.'"
Speaking out against the refs is a tricky sitaution, one that Collazo understands all too well. There is a fine line between whining and actually having a point and the PDL really wouldn't want to have its referee hiring process questioned.
The frustration boiled over against El Paso where Collazo's squad had three goals nullified because of offsides calls.
"Phantom calls or not, we'll never know. Sending tapes to the league and notifying them seems counterproductive," Collazo said.
"With all respect to El Paso they had a lot of luck," Collazo said. "From my point fo view we were infintely superior."
In the end somebody has to be held accountable, especially the people in charge of maintain the integrity of the sport.
The PDL only employs refs that are sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, and teams select available and qualified referess from the surrounding area.
VACANCY
The Heat will be without two key components on offense and defense for this weekend's game at Houston.
Striker and leading goal scorer Felix Garcia is serving a one-game suspension for his red card last weekend and defender Oliver Mulamba is also forced to sit out a game after accumulating five yellow cards.
Mulamba has developed into a key cog in the Heat's defensive machine.
The Heat welcome back Leone Cruz, whose timing couldn't've been better.
Cruz is looking to earn a spot with the Tigres of Monterrey and was with the club for three weeks. He returned to Laredo Monday and was with the team at the United Day practice fields.
Cruz missed six games with Laredo while he was out.
NATIONAL NEWS
The tickets for the USA Under-20 versus Mexico Under-20 game go on sale today.
The pre-sale general admission and VIP seating tickets will only be sold between today and Thursday at the following locations:
Palenque Grill on Loop 20, next to the La Quinta Inn and Suites. Talk Time (behind Starbucks at Del Mar Blvd. and McPherson). Gametronics (at Mall del Norte, next to Luby's). All Laredo Area Taco Palenque Locations Prices for Pre-Sale Tickets are:
General Admission (Pre-Sale): $25.00. VIP Seating (Pre-Sale): $40.00 If tickets are still available after the pre-sale, tickets will only be available at the gate on Game Day Friday at the following prices: General Admission (Game Day): $35.00. VIP Seating (Game Day): $50.00 For Group Pricing, please contact the Laredo Heat Soccer Club office at 723 – 4700.
LAREDO MORNING TIMES
The season isn't going as smoothly as the Laredo Heat had hoped, but the club still finds itself very much alive in the running for a playoff spot and, with a little bit of luck, another Mid South Division title.
The Heat's current situation isn't sounding the panic alarms, but its current bump in the road came in the form of the El Paso Patriots.
The Patriots handed the Heat two 2-1 losses this weekend, making the bump one that could derail the hopes and shake the confidence of some teams.
Not so for the Laredo Heat whose head coach Israel Collazo sees this current situation as the perfect opportunity for his team to find its identity.
"This is the perfect time, the most difficult time, for us to show what we are made of," Collazo said.
There was no finger pointing going on after the weekend sweep at the hands, or feet, of the Patriots. If anything, Collazo prefers the digits to all point squarely at him.
The weekend was a case of missed opportunites and close calls, maybe even some bad ones.
A couple of inches here and there, and the team could've been contemplating catching up to the Austin Aztex and not looking to gather up the peices.
Instead, the reality of the sitatuion is that the Patrtiots got right back into the playoff mix and the Heat are looking to move on with a lesson in tow.
The Aztex (7-1-1, 22 points) have been given the divisional green light by Collazo as masters of their own destiny.
Austin sits four points atop Laredo (5-3-3, 18) with two less games in its pocket.
"I believe they have slipped out of reach," Collazo said. "They've had a great campaign at home and on the road."
Interestingly, this is the Aztex first year of existence, and experience would usually be seen as a positive when it comes to road games.
The difference between home games and away games wasn't as pronounced for Austin; it was all new to the team.
With time and with the strong fan support the Aztex have had in their first four home games is sure to change all that.
On the road, the team has gone 3-1-1 and has allowed its only goals against of the season.
ALWAYS ON MY MIND
Love-hate relationships are personafied in every sporting event across the world.
From the Broadway stage of professional sports to the little theater domain of minor league sports, these relationships exist between the coaches, players and fans and the man with the whistle.
Clarifying that he is far from using it as an excuse or a scapegoat, Collazo is getting increasingly frustrated with the discrepancy in calls, from referees seemingly favoring the home team, his side included, to the abuse of their powers.
"We depend on the decisions of the so-called authority," Collazo said. "They seem to not have the conviction and courage to make the right calls at times and when they make the wrong ones, 'in my opinion' they offer no explanation but laugh as if saying I'm in charge here.'"
Speaking out against the refs is a tricky sitaution, one that Collazo understands all too well. There is a fine line between whining and actually having a point and the PDL really wouldn't want to have its referee hiring process questioned.
The frustration boiled over against El Paso where Collazo's squad had three goals nullified because of offsides calls.
"Phantom calls or not, we'll never know. Sending tapes to the league and notifying them seems counterproductive," Collazo said.
"With all respect to El Paso they had a lot of luck," Collazo said. "From my point fo view we were infintely superior."
In the end somebody has to be held accountable, especially the people in charge of maintain the integrity of the sport.
The PDL only employs refs that are sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, and teams select available and qualified referess from the surrounding area.
VACANCY
The Heat will be without two key components on offense and defense for this weekend's game at Houston.
Striker and leading goal scorer Felix Garcia is serving a one-game suspension for his red card last weekend and defender Oliver Mulamba is also forced to sit out a game after accumulating five yellow cards.
Mulamba has developed into a key cog in the Heat's defensive machine.
The Heat welcome back Leone Cruz, whose timing couldn't've been better.
Cruz is looking to earn a spot with the Tigres of Monterrey and was with the club for three weeks. He returned to Laredo Monday and was with the team at the United Day practice fields.
Cruz missed six games with Laredo while he was out.
NATIONAL NEWS
The tickets for the USA Under-20 versus Mexico Under-20 game go on sale today.
The pre-sale general admission and VIP seating tickets will only be sold between today and Thursday at the following locations:
Palenque Grill on Loop 20, next to the La Quinta Inn and Suites. Talk Time (behind Starbucks at Del Mar Blvd. and McPherson). Gametronics (at Mall del Norte, next to Luby's). All Laredo Area Taco Palenque Locations Prices for Pre-Sale Tickets are:
General Admission (Pre-Sale): $25.00. VIP Seating (Pre-Sale): $40.00 If tickets are still available after the pre-sale, tickets will only be available at the gate on Game Day Friday at the following prices: General Admission (Game Day): $35.00. VIP Seating (Game Day): $50.00 For Group Pricing, please contact the Laredo Heat Soccer Club office at 723 – 4700.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Heat fall in second straight game to Patriots
By NINO CARDENAS
LAREDO MORNING TIMES
Things are getting hot in the Mid South Division and, appropriately, the Laredo Heat are the source.
The Heat assured that the Mid South is going to be up for grabs until the bitter end with a loss on Saturday night.
The Heat dropped their second game against the El Paso Patriots 2-1, allowing the border rival to tie them in the standings at 18 points for a share of second place.
The effects of the losses were evident on Heat’s head coach Israel Collazo’s voice via phone as he looked for the right words to say.
“We lost, we simply lost,” Collazo said. “Honestly I just can’t talk right now. It was two critical games, but even so we are tied for second place.”
The Mississippi Brilla (4-4-2, 14) jumped over New Orleans (3-4-3, 12) and Baton Rouge (9-4-6, 13) in the standings with two victories over Dallas (2-0) on Friday and New Orleans on Sunday (2-1).
Baton Rouge and Dallas (3-6-3, 12) finished in a scoreless stalemate Saturday.
Division leader Austin Aztex (7-1-1, 22 points) and Houston Leones (3-7-0, 9) were idle over the weekend.
Making the weekend losses tougher is the loss of top scorer Felix Garcia, who was red carded late in the contest and is going to miss the Heat’s road game versus the Leones next week.
Also missing the contest is Oliver Mulamba who received his fifth yellow card of the season automatically suspending him for one game.
Garcia ran into the Patriots goalie and got up favoring his right leg and walked gingerly off the field. The good news for Laredo is that Collazo indicated that his lefty striker was ok, as was everybody else on the team.
The Patriots took advantage of dead ball situations and scored both their goals via corner kicks.
The first in the 18th minute when Adam Hooi found Antonio Barrrera inside the box. Michael Greigo then scored his third goal in as many games in the 30th minute.
The Heat had several missed opportunities none bigger then Juan De Dios Ibarra’s penalty try in the 24th minute, which Patriot goalie Robert Fite saved.
Laredo mounted a late comeback attempt and was aided by the five minutes of compensation, but ultimately came short.
Laredo’s Stiven Ospina erased the shutout with a goal in the 84th minute.
He took advantage of a Fite miscue in which he let a Steve Su lob go through his legs and off the left post. Ospina raced towards the ball and beat out a diving Fite for his first goal as a member of the Heat.
LAREDO MORNING TIMES
Things are getting hot in the Mid South Division and, appropriately, the Laredo Heat are the source.
The Heat assured that the Mid South is going to be up for grabs until the bitter end with a loss on Saturday night.
The Heat dropped their second game against the El Paso Patriots 2-1, allowing the border rival to tie them in the standings at 18 points for a share of second place.
The effects of the losses were evident on Heat’s head coach Israel Collazo’s voice via phone as he looked for the right words to say.
“We lost, we simply lost,” Collazo said. “Honestly I just can’t talk right now. It was two critical games, but even so we are tied for second place.”
The Mississippi Brilla (4-4-2, 14) jumped over New Orleans (3-4-3, 12) and Baton Rouge (9-4-6, 13) in the standings with two victories over Dallas (2-0) on Friday and New Orleans on Sunday (2-1).
Baton Rouge and Dallas (3-6-3, 12) finished in a scoreless stalemate Saturday.
Division leader Austin Aztex (7-1-1, 22 points) and Houston Leones (3-7-0, 9) were idle over the weekend.
Making the weekend losses tougher is the loss of top scorer Felix Garcia, who was red carded late in the contest and is going to miss the Heat’s road game versus the Leones next week.
Also missing the contest is Oliver Mulamba who received his fifth yellow card of the season automatically suspending him for one game.
Garcia ran into the Patriots goalie and got up favoring his right leg and walked gingerly off the field. The good news for Laredo is that Collazo indicated that his lefty striker was ok, as was everybody else on the team.
The Patriots took advantage of dead ball situations and scored both their goals via corner kicks.
The first in the 18th minute when Adam Hooi found Antonio Barrrera inside the box. Michael Greigo then scored his third goal in as many games in the 30th minute.
The Heat had several missed opportunities none bigger then Juan De Dios Ibarra’s penalty try in the 24th minute, which Patriot goalie Robert Fite saved.
Laredo mounted a late comeback attempt and was aided by the five minutes of compensation, but ultimately came short.
Laredo’s Stiven Ospina erased the shutout with a goal in the 84th minute.
He took advantage of a Fite miscue in which he let a Steve Su lob go through his legs and off the left post. Ospina raced towards the ball and beat out a diving Fite for his first goal as a member of the Heat.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Heat fall to Patriots, 2-1
LAREDO MORNING TIMES
The Laredo Heat (5-2-3, 18 points) fell to the El Paso Patriots (4-4-3, 15 points), 2-1, on Friday night at Patriots Stadium.
The two teams meet tonight in the second game of a doubleheader in El Paso.
“We were playing on their side most of the night and they played very defensive,” Heat Owner Shashi Vaswani said.
El Paso’s Jair Olivares single-handedly was responsible for the Patriots’ upset win in an intense contest that is surely to see a fitting end to its series today.
El Paso got on the scoreboard first on a goal by Olivares in the 12th minute.
Trailing 1-0 at the half, the Heat tied the game on Felix Garcia’s header on a nice cross from Steve Su in the 61st minute.
But Olivares struck again, this time on an assist by Mario Garcia, in the 66th minute to put the Patriots ahead to stay.
The Heat’s Isaac Morales received two yellow cards, one in stoppage time, and was ejected.
Silas Blackwell and Juan de dios Ibarra also received yellow cards for Laredo as tempers were testy for the Heat.
Prior to the loss, the Heat boasted a record of 3-0-1 over its last four games, having scored 12 goals during that stretch.
The Patriots and Heat will conclude their weekend series tonight at Patriots Stadium at 8:30 p.m. central time.
The Laredo Heat (5-2-3, 18 points) fell to the El Paso Patriots (4-4-3, 15 points), 2-1, on Friday night at Patriots Stadium.
The two teams meet tonight in the second game of a doubleheader in El Paso.
“We were playing on their side most of the night and they played very defensive,” Heat Owner Shashi Vaswani said.
El Paso’s Jair Olivares single-handedly was responsible for the Patriots’ upset win in an intense contest that is surely to see a fitting end to its series today.
El Paso got on the scoreboard first on a goal by Olivares in the 12th minute.
Trailing 1-0 at the half, the Heat tied the game on Felix Garcia’s header on a nice cross from Steve Su in the 61st minute.
But Olivares struck again, this time on an assist by Mario Garcia, in the 66th minute to put the Patriots ahead to stay.
The Heat’s Isaac Morales received two yellow cards, one in stoppage time, and was ejected.
Silas Blackwell and Juan de dios Ibarra also received yellow cards for Laredo as tempers were testy for the Heat.
Prior to the loss, the Heat boasted a record of 3-0-1 over its last four games, having scored 12 goals during that stretch.
The Patriots and Heat will conclude their weekend series tonight at Patriots Stadium at 8:30 p.m. central time.
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