Sidelines

The Seattle Sounders FC Academy teams are littered with players from Federal Way. In fact, the under-16 and under 18 teams have at least one player from each of Federal Way’s four high schools on its roster. Beamer players include Ike Crook, Cody Crook and Austin Sweeney, Decatur is represented by Dom Dismuke and Connor Adkisson, Thomas Jefferson has Jim Oganga, McKay Owsley and Isidro Prado-Huerta and Federal Way’s Odason Pelogi is on the U-18 team.

Here is an update on last weekend’s action by the Sounders FC Academy teams, including some impressive performances by Federal Way players. For more information, see SoundersFC.com:

TUKWILA, WA—Sounders FC Academy teams made strong returns to league play by sweeping Bay Area counterparts DeAnza Force and Santa Cruz Breakers over the weekend at Starfire Sports Complex. Dom Dismuke, Jordan Schweitzer (two goals apiece), and Ike Crook (two assists) led the way for the U18’s, while Duncan McCormick (two goals), Denis Kalamar (two goals), and Isrido Prado-Huerta (goal, two assists) provided the firepower for the U16’s as the cold, wet Pacific Northwest chills dropped the temperature as low as the high-20’s.

In Saturday’s double-header with DeAnza Force, the U18’s fell behind 1-0 in the 28th minute as a deflected shot went in for the visitors. However, the Sounders responded quickly and effectively when Jim Oganga dropped a bomb from 25 yards out in the 42nd minute. Just three minutes later, Crook found Dismuke for the winner and the U18’s emerged with a 2-1 win in a physical matchup.

In the later game, the U16’s got on the board early when McCormick scored in the 10th minute on a pass from Miguel Medina. Seattle then got two much-needed goals in the second half from Kalamar and Michael Steele before DeAnza found their stride. A slew of lineup changes resulted in two late goals for the visitors, but the Rave Green held on to the lead and won 3-2.

On Sunday, Santa Cruz proved to be no match for the Sounders squads.

The U18’s led off with a commanding 5-0 win, headlined by a Schweitzer brace. Seattle saw early goals from Miles Rodriguez and Michael Gallagher before Schweitzer scored in the 45th and 75th. Dismuke made it 5-0 late when Odason Pelogi fed him with a nice ball across the goal. Credit the shutout to keepers Keenan Townsend and McKay Owsley. Owsley, who was recently added to the roster, came in and played the final 20 minutes.

The second game of the Santa Cruz double-header saw another strong Sounders outing as the U16’s won 5-2. Santa Cruz went up 1-0 in the 20th minute before Prado-Huerta hammered in an equalizer five minutes later on a Henry Wingo pass. Jason McGlothern put Seattle up 2-1 before halftime in the 39th when he nicely placed a free kick into the right side-netting. The second half was all Sounders. They got going when Prado-Huerta found David Olsen in the 65th to go up 3-1. A defensive miscue allowed the Breakers to cut the lead to 3-2, but late goals from McCormick and Kalamar sealed the deal for Seattle.

Over the weekend, the two Sounders FC Academy teams combined to go 4-0, outscore their opponents 15-5, see 11 different goal scorers (five for the U18’s, six for the U16’s), and have 19 total players record points (nine for the U18’s, ten for the U16’s).

The sweep continues a streak of strong play for the Rave Green. In a friendly matchup against the Victoria Highlanders on November 12, the U18’s came back from a 2-0 deficit in the second half to win 3-2 behind a brace from Dismuke and a game-winner in the 71st minute by Schweitzer. The U16’s cruised to a 6-0 win, led by a Medina brace and two assists from Kalamar.

Both squads are on a great run in league play—the U18’s are unbeaten in their last seven matches and the U16’s have won three straight. Both teams sit atop their respective Northwest Division in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy League. They next travel to Sarasota, Florida for the USSDA Winter Showcase from December 1-5.

Pre-Academy Update

After defeating Calgary Foothills 8-1 on November 11, the Sounders FC Pre-Academy dropped two straight matches, first a 4-1 loss to Idaho Thunder and then a 2-0 defeat Westsound FC. Both losses were to older opponents as the young Sounders look to continue their development. Credit Jamison Corbin with the goal in the Thunder matchup.

Thomas Jefferson High School graduate Lamar Neagle had a breakout rookie season with the Sounders FC. Neagle, a winger, finished third on the Sounders with seven goals,  including a hat trick.

Neagle was one of 11 players protected by the Sounders’ front office in preparation for the Major League Soccer Expansion Draft, which will be held Nov. 23 for the Montreal Impact.

Here’s a press release from Sounders FC regarding the Expansion Draft:

Montreal to Select from Unprotected Players on Wednesday, November 23.

RENTON, WASH. – Seattle Sounders FC has submitted the list of protected players for the 2011 Major League Soccer Expansion Draft, to be held on Wednesday, November 23 at 12 p.m. PT. The League’s 19th team, the Montreal Impact, will begin to take shape following the 10-round draft. The event will be streamed live on MLSsoccer.com.

“Given the fact we’ve lost three players to expansion drafts the past two seasons we are bracing ourselves for the possibility of losing someone,” said Sounders FC general manager Adrian Hanauer. “Despite those losses we have developed a deep squad and grown stronger. We couldn’t protect everyone, so some of those who contributed significantly to our success are bound to be exposed. It will be interesting to see how Montreal approaches this.”

Each current MLS club has had the opportunity to protect 11 players from their 2011 roster. Generation adidas players (who did not graduate at the end of the 2011 season) and Homegrown players are automatically protected and do not count against a team’s 11 protected roster spots. Designated Players do not have to be protected unless the player has a no trade clause in his contract. MLS Clubs may lose no more than one player from their 2011 roster during the Expansion Draft.

A complete list of the Expansion Draft Rules can be found by CLICKING HERE.

At the conclusion of the Expansion Draft teams may resume trading.

Protected
Alonso, Osvaldo
Evans, Brad
Fernandez, Alvaro
Friberg, Erik
Hurtado, Jhon Kennedy
Montero, Fredy
Neagle, Lamar
Ochoa, Sammy
Parke, Jeff
Rosales, Mauro
Zakuani, Steve
*Michael Tetteh (automatically protected as Generation adidas player)

Non-Protected
Boss, Terry
Carrasco, Servando
Estrada, David
Ford, Josh
Fucito, Mike
Gonzalez, Leo
Graham, Taylor
Ianni, Patrick
Jaqua, Nate
Levesque, Roger
Meredith, Bryan
Montano, Miguel
Noonan, Pat
Riley, James
Sanyang, Amadou
Scott, Zach
Seamon, Michael
Wahl, Tyson
White, O’Brian

Although Edgewood is not technically in our coverage area, I thought I would share this information:
TAMPA, FL (November 10, 2011) – Suzanne Smith of Edgewood, Wash., won the Women’s Division of the 2011 U.S. Amateur Championship held last weekend at Strokers in Tampa, Fla.  Produced by the American Poolplayers Association (APA), the U.S. Amateur Championship is the most prestigious amateur billiards tournament in the world.

Smith joined a field of the nation’s top amateur women’s players Nov. 5 – 6 to compete for the coveted title. She was one of only 32 players who qualified for the Championship Rounds after placing in one of 21 Preliminary Rounds held in September in which nearly 2,200 nationwide players competed.

Smith now moves on to compete at the pro level in the 2012 WPBA U.S. Open Championship.  She also receives an automatic bid to return and defend her title next year.

The double elimination tournament offered the top amateur players the opportunity to showcase their skills through a combination of 8-Ball and 9-Ball matches in a race-to-5 format.

The APA, based in Lake Saint Louis, Mo., sanctions the world’s largest amateur pool league, known as the APA Pool League throughout the United States, and as the Canadian Pool League in Canada.  Nearly 270,000 members compete in weekly 8-Ball and 9-Ball League play.  The APA is generally recognized as the Governing Body of Amateur Pool, having established the official rules, championships, formats and handicap systems for the sport of amateur billiards.

The APA produces three major tournaments each year – the APA National Team Championships, the APA National Singles Championships and the U.S. Amateur Championship – that, together, pay out more than $1.5 Million in cash and prizes annually! In 2010, the APA National Team Championships were recognized by Guinness World Records as the “world’s largest pool tournament.”

The APA and its championships are sponsored by Aramith, Action Cues and PoolDawg.

For more information about the U.S. Amateur Championship, please visit http://www.usamateurchampionship.com.

In a very tragic story, Seattle Mariners and Tacoma Rainiers outfielder Greg Halman was stabbed to death early Monday and his brother was arrested as a suspect, Dutch police said.

Rotterdam Police spokeswoman Patricia Wessels said police were called to a home in the port city in the early hours of the morning and found the 24-year-old Dutch player bleeding from a stab wound.

The officers and ambulance paramedics were unable to resuscitate Halman.

Wessels said the officers arrested Halman’s 22-year-old brother. She declined to give his name, in line with Dutch privacy rules. She said the brother was being questioned by police.

“He is under arrest and right now he is being questioned,” Wessels told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. “It will take some time to figure out what exactly happened.”

No charges have been filed in the case.

Halman signed with the Mariners as a 17-year-old in 2004. The speedy 6-foot-4, 200-pounder spent seven seasons in the organization.

The Dutch-born Halman was called up from Class AAA Tacoma in May this year and hit a home run in his first at bat, but was optioned back in August. He appeared in 44 games over the past two seasons for Seattle. He hit .207 with two homers and six runs batted in.

Here is the official statement from the Tacoma Rainiers:

TACOMA, Wash. - Tacoma Rainiers Team President Aaron Artman released the following statement concerning the tragic passing of outfielder Greg Halman:

“Greg was a huge part of the Rainiers during his time here in Tacoma, and played a pivotal role – on the field – in our run to the 2010 Pacific Coast League Championship. But far more important than what he did on the field, was his personality off the field.

He had a huge smile on his face, every day, and his enthusiasm was infectious.  He just had a way about him that made our front office staff and fans see a guy who clearly loved what he was doing.

He was often first to raise his hand when the Tacoma community needed him, and in particular, spent a good deal of time visiting hospitalized children, which speaks to his character.

We miss Greg, already, and our prayers go out to his family, friends, teammates and the Mariners organization.”

Federal Way’s Benson Henderson by unanimous decision. Next up for the Decatur graduate is a shot at the UFC Lightweight championship belt. UFC President Dana White has already announced that the winner of the Henderson-Clay Guida fight will take on current champion Frankie Edgar in Japan on Feb. 26.

Following the unanimous decision over Guida, Henderson told UFC commentator Joe Rogan inside the Octagon.

“Frankie Edgar we got a date. Let’s do it baby.”

If you aren’t on Foxsports.com, get there now. The Benson Henderson-Clay Guida fight is about to go down.

How long did it take for Benson Henderson to get the full-size angel wings tattooed onto his back? According to him, it took around 18 hours.

 Henderson stated that the tattoo “has a lot of meaning to me on many different levels.”

Here is a shot of Henderson’s angel wings.

A couple weeks ago, Benson Henderson’s phone blew up after a press conference by UFC President Dana White. During the conference, White announced that the only fight that was going to be broadcast on the UFC’s first-ever network television broadcast would be the heavyweight championship fight between Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos and not his highly-anticipated fight with Clay Guida.

Initially, Henderson admits that he was a little upset at not being a part of the historic network TV broadcast. The UFC is anticipating well over 20 million viewers will watch the Velasquez-dos Santos fight. But Henderson got over it pretty quickly.

“I didn’t hear about it, but my phone kind of blew up because of messages, tweets, and some of my friends all texted me, asking me what I thought about that, Fox only airing Cain and Dos Santos, doesn’t matter even if it goes 10 seconds,” Henderson said.

“When I first heard about it, I will admit I was a little peeved, a little bit upset to be honest. Not that my opinion matters at all if I am upset or not, but when I first found out about it I was a little bit upset, kind of sad,” he later told MMA Weekly.

“You want to be on TV, I want to be on TV, I want to be a part of 20 million viewers, new fans. I’d love to have that opportunity, that chance. That’s not the case, but after I thought about it a little bit more, it doesn’t really matter.”

The Henderson-Guida battle, along with the other nine fights on the undercard, will stream live on Facebook and FOX.com.

“It is what it is. I know I’m not always going to get what I want. I just want to take care of business.”

If you think that the weather would be nice in Southern California, you would be wrong. I feel like I’m home in Federal Way.

It is currently pouring down rain and around 60 degrees in Anaheim. Umbrellas are out in full force around the Honda Center.

Look out Troy Polomalu and Joe Mauer, you’ve got some competition.

When Benson Henderson and Clay Guida get into the Octagon later tonight at the UFC on FOX event inside the Honda Center, it might be the most hair to ever battle in a mixed martial arts event. Henderson, who graduated from Decatur in 2001, features a pefectly coifed mane of hair that he ties back before every fight. 

But Guida, a brawler from the Chicago area, is also known for having long locks. The winner of the fight could be in line to join Polomalu and Mauer as endorsers of some type of shampoo.