News

Aug 23rd
Series tied in Arcadia

Andy Sohn and John Jass played a series of 14 games to celebrate the new equipment which arrived at Camp Arcadia last month. The two rivals tied the series seven games each. Scores were 3-1, 2-0, 3-4, 1-2, 3-1, 2-3, 3-2, 4-3, 0-3, 3-2, 2-4, 1-2, 1-2, 2-0 (Andy first).

Aug 1st
Dukla unveil new 3rd kit

FK Dukla unveiled their new 3rd kit today. It is in honour of the only Ewer to wear an England shirt, Frederick Ewer back in the 1920s. Fred played for Casuals FC, a London-based amateur team at the time. The chocolate and pink colours were obtained from a Corinthian Casuals historian.

The bases used are the new Pitchsurfer Serie A, as reviewed below.

Jul 31st
Pitchsurfer Serie A

Base Review - by Mike Ewer

Right up front I'll let you know I am a Pitchsurfer fan. I use a set of the original one-piece Pitchsurfers as my #1 team... at least until today.

I was interested in the Serie A because of the 2-piece build which allows for some weight to be thrown into the mix. The 1-piece bases are a little lightweight and unstable, but I like their flexibility in pulling shots or passes out of nowhere, by using a bit of curl or spin before the player strikes the ball.

These bases have a bit of everything. They are the perfect first base for anyone who is used to the older bases and wants to keep some of their old school skills like curling. Yet because of the ability to add weight, they are much more stable on the long glide. They are quick, even without adding any product to the base and just polishing with an Astrobase cloth.

Shooting is pretty good too, obviously it will take a while to get every shot out of it, but it will pop up a lob, shoot a riser or bury one in the bottom corner.

I think I found the perfect base. OK not everyone's I am sure. But they may well become my #1 team overnight.

Jul 30th
Arcadia welcomes MiSTFA

The Camp Arcadia Subbuteo Club welcomed a visit from MiSTFA at the weekend, and they came bearing gifts. An Astropitch, a set of Superfooty from World Table Soccer, two sets of G2s from Stefan Corda, and two sets of Soccer 3D teams gave them plenty to try out and improve their game with. The old cloth pitch and "cereal bowls" will be retired, as will some of the odd techniques the club adapted to counter the unplayability of their old equipment.

John Jass (pronounced yass) has played the game for 20 years and that showed, as by the end of the day's play he had fought a 1-1 tie with Mike Ewer and then won a shootout.

MiSTFA is planning to host this year's State Championships at Camp Arcadia towards the end of September. Watch this space for news.

Jul 13th
Van Buren lifts spring crown

In a rather sad week for the T²SL, with one member moving south and one leaving the company, it was decided to retain the Spring League standings as final for the season with no playoffs.

Doubts as to the future of the league were shot down by founder member Mike Ewer, who is now seeking new employment. "They only have three active members but that's plenty to keep going."

Jul 7th
Double win for Ewer

Mike Ewer completed a perfect day's play on Saturday with two ASA tournament wins and a 9-game shutout.

Trent Bellew's ASA debut came in his last tournaments in Michigan before heading to Texas, and he went out with a bang, beating LaPorte's Brian Bostelman 1-0 in the first game and continuing on to a 3-0-1 record to seal a second place finish.

Mike Ewer's only blemish on the day's play was a hard fought 0-0 tie with Brian Bostelman. Bostelman recorded the fastest win in the Express Cup with a 14:48 timed 3-0 win against Amanda Ewer.

After lunch, Holland won a team exhibition by beating an All-Star team 3-0.

In the Michigan Masters, Amanda Ewer got another result out of Bostelman, scoring in the dying seconds for a 1-1 tie, and earned a semi-final spot. Mike Ewer and Trent Bellew advanced from the other group.

Brian Bostelman got revenge on Trent Bellew by knocking him out of the semis 1-0, while Mike beat Amanda 1-0 in the family battle on the other table.

The Michigan Masters final saw Mike Ewer take a 1-0 first half lead in a tight game. The second half though suddenly opened up as Bostelman began to push forward. Two goals in 30 seconds pushed him into a three goal lead, and shortly before the end a fourth goal gave him an emphatic victory.

Jul 6th
Last minute OT win for Ewer

Mike Van Buren took Mike Ewer into overtime in a tense T²SL Champions League Final. The tournament was for winners of the previous seasonal leagues, and the two Mikes won their place in the final without having met each other in the round robin.

Van Buren had plenty of chances in the first half but couldn't get more than one shot on target. In the second half Ewer got more of the play and started to grind away at the MV 06 Lenteur defence. The game went into overtime scoreless. Van Buren made a mistake in the penalty area with just 30 seconds on the clock, and gifted Ewer the golden goal.

Jun 19th
July tournament date change

MiSTFA is losing another member to a move down south. Trent Bellew will take his Zapata Monoliths back to their spiritual home in Texas next month. Partly due to his departure and partly due to commitments of a number of MiSTFA members, the Express Cup and Michigan Masters tournament date is being brought forward to July 7th. More details to follow shortly. We intend to switch to a more travel-friendly schedule of 10am-6pm.

Jun 8th
Top two drawn in semi

The draw for the semi-finals of the State Cup has been made, and it has drawn the top two ranked players together. Ian Roy's Westside Röyals, if they get by Thatcher Berends' Calcio Cristallo, will have a home tie with Mike Ewer's FK Dukla Foyle.

Amanda Ewer's reward for Mandalecht's win over James Veenstra's Newcastle Angels is another home tie, this time against James' father Sloth and his Is Sørøver.

Jun 3rd
Progress made south of the border

At the first tournament held in Indianapolis as part of the LMSC, MiSTFA members Mike and Amanda Ewer had possibly their most successful tournaments to date. The tournament included nine players from five clubs and four states, and began with an all-in round robin followed by the top six playing off for the title.

Mike finished third in the first stage thanks to a 2:1 win over Jeff Drake in the final game of the round robin - the St Louis player entered that game with a 5-2-0 record and a goal difference of 17:0. That score helped tournament host Laskey into a bye to the semi-final, and forced Drake into a semi-final match-up with Jon Schultz for the second tournament in a row.

Mike needed a shootout win against Brian Bostelman after a 1-1 tie in their quarter-final, and next in line was Steve Laskey yet again. And yet again he stopped Mike from advancing, winning 2-1 and stretching the "boogie man" act to four tournaments. Jeff Drake got revenge on Mike as both players tired in the third place playoff, their eleventh game of the day, and Mike threw in the towel trailing 0:2 at half time. Mike's round robin record was 6-0-2 19:6, so he finished on 7-0-3 22:11.

Amanda scored an impressive tie against the talented Barrett Crites, a 1:1 score was her first goal in the LMSC. That had followed a 0:0 against Bryan Carter, her LMSC first point. But there was more to come. A 1:0 win over Brian Bostelman which left her just 2 points off a playoff spot and seeded to the final in the consolation round. Her round robin record was 1-2-5 2:18. In the Consolation Final she was unable to repeat her performance against Crites, losing 0:2.

A fantastic tournament which was proven by the Kevin Bacon theory of statistics. Bryan Carter's only point of the round robin was against Amanda Ewer, who beat Brian Bostelman, who tied Mike Ewer in regulation, who beat Jeff Drake who was the only player to stop champion Jon Schultz from winning a game. Schultz completed his 9-1-0 37:2 record with a 2:0 win over Steve Laskey in the final.

May 29th
Sloth creeps into semis

Mike Van Buren's MV 06 Lenteur were forced to pull out of the State Cup this weekend as the possibility of finding the time and logistics to compete for a semi-final spot were finally extinguished. Sloth's Is Sørøver even offered to reverse the fixture and travel to Holland, but that did not help matters. One game is still to be scheduled: Ian Roy's Westside Röyals at Thatcher Berends' Calcio Cristallo.

May 24th
Mikes go top in Spring League

In a double header of play this Thursday lunchtime, Mike Van Buren defeated Mark Johnson 1-0, followed by Mike Ewer's 1-0 victory over Tim Carr. That's five straight 1-0 regulation wins in the Spring League. Now MVB is off the mark, he's the only undefeated player in this tight competition.

May 17th
Dukla find goal touch

In the third game between them in four days, Mike Ewer finally scored his first goals of the week against Trent Bellew and the floodgates opened. Three-nil was the final score with two goals in the space of 76 seconds in the first half, and a final nail just 15 seconds from the end. Mike joins wife Amanda in the State Cup semi-final draw.

Earlier, Trent had beaten Amanda Ewer 3-0 in WMSL action.

May 16th
Bellew wins second set

The second game of a trilogy this week between Mike Ewer and Trent Bellew went Trent's way. Monday's delayed Champions League opener saw a 0-0 tie go in Mike's favour by a 2-0 shootout score. Wednesday though was different. Despite numerous chances, Mike again could not score and Trent stole the Spring League points with a goal three minutes from the end. It was Trent's first win in regulation against Mike.

The third game in the space of four days between these two players will take place tomorrow night at the John Peel Memorial Stadium. The rearranged State Cup Quarter-Final is on the menu along with some home-made pizza. Others are welcome to join for friendlies.

May 13th
Mandalecht in control

Mandalecht took their place in the semi-finals of the State Cup with a well-deserved but hard-fought win over Newcastle Angels.

Amanda Ewer's team scored the only goal of the game in the first half, and could have had one or two more as James Veenstra sent everyone forward to save the tie.

The other match planned for Saturday, Trent Bellew's Zapata Monoliths against Mike Ewer's FK Dukla Foyle, was postponed until midweek.

Friendly scores:
Mike Ewer 3 James Veenstra 0
Sloth 1 Amanda Ewer 0
Mike Ewer 1 Sloth 0

Overall records:
Mike Ewer 2-0, 4:0
Sloth 1-1, 1:1
Amanda Ewer 1-1, 1:1
James Veenstra 0-2, 0:4

May 8th
Return to Windsor

After such a successful tournament in Windsor in March, it was obvious a return was imminent. We confirmed today that we will be returning to Windsor in September for the Motown International. The tournament weekend will cover a similar track to the first one, except that the team event will be just an International Open rather than a Grand Prix. This is to allow a further GP/IO event to take place later in the season elsewhere in Canada, to spread the wealth, so to speak.

Watch this space for further announcements on the event. Apart from the dates and the downgrading of the team event, expect everything else to be the same as last time, so check the old site at: motowngp.subbuteo.ca. A new site will be online very shortly.

May 5th
Laskey ends final dream

Cincinatti's Steve Laskey was again the bogeyman for Mike Ewer as a chance of reaching an ASA Open final went begging in LaPorte, Indiana.

Three straight tournaments now have seen Laskey boot Ewer out of the competition. A shootout group tiebreaker and a group defeat in Windsor, and now a heartbreaking extra time loss in the quarter-finals.

The chance of a place in the final was set up by a surprise win by St Louis' Darren Koffman against his clubmate Jeff Drake. Koffman had once said "if I beat Jeff I'll run around the room with my shirt off". A 3-2 win in group play and he duly obliged. Koffman finished top of the group ahead of Drake, with Ewer limping into third place on a 1-2-1 record. Ewer is unbeaten in two games against Koffman, due up in the semis, and has played competitively with Laskey who stood in the way.

The bogeyman struck again though, and after Ewer took a 1-0 lead into the half-time break, Laskey equalised and then proceeded to hit two goals in a punishing extra time period to clinch his semi spot. He then eliminated Koffman to reach the final where Jon Schultz won 2-0. Schultz had recovered from a 1-3 loss at the hands of Jeff Drake in the team match Maple City vs St Louis, and a 0-1 half time score, to eliminate Drake 2-1 in the other semi.

Ten players were present from four states in a great showing for the first of hopefully many tournaments staged by Maple City.

Mike Ewer's results:
v Jeff Drake (SLSL) 0-1
v Matt Findley (MCSC) 0-0
v Darren Koffman (SLSL) 1-1
v Jared Saunders (MCSC) 4-0
QF v Steve Laskey (QCTSC) 1-3+

May 4th
VB wins first crown

Mike Van Buren lifted his first title, and defeated Mike Ewer for the first time in regulation, in a shock 1-0 win. Ewer went close on a few occasions but never really got his game together, relying on some tight defending to keep him in the game. But one magic moment for Van Buren won the game - a flick between two players offset at an angle that looked almost impossible - but it was executed perfectly and in the final minutes Ewer could not salvage extra time. Four seasons, four champions, a fitting way to end the first year (and a bit) of T²SL play.

May 3rd
Mike Bowl 2007

The Winter League finally grinds to a halt... Mike Ewer beat Duane Van Buren 2-1 in the semi-final of the much-delayed T²SL Winter League. He meets three-time finalist Mike Van Buren.

Apr 23rd
State Cup Draw

Quarter-Finals, to be played in May:

Mandalecht vs Newcastle Angels
@ John Peel Memorial Stadium, Holland
(Amanda Ewer vs James Veenstra)

FK Dukla Foyle vs Zapata Monoliths
@ John Peel Memorial Stadium, Holland
(Mike Ewer vs Trent Bellew)

Both the above ties to be played March 12th

Is Sørøver vs MV 06 Lenteur
@ James Park, Grand Rapids
(Sloth vs Mike Van Buren)

Calcio Cristallo vs Westside Röyals
@ Stade de Jules Rimet, Holland
(Thatcher Berends vs Ian Roy)

Apr 23rd
Bellew away

Trent Bellew started the 3-player T²SL Plate competition with a 2-0 win over Mark Johnson. A tight game was sudden blown wide open in the final minutes, as Trent scored two quick goals.

Apr 20th
State Cup starts with 8

The first State Cup will start with 8 players. The competitors are: Trent Bellew, Thatcher Berends, Amanda Ewer, Mike Ewer, Ian Roy, Sloth, Mike Van Buren, James Veenstra.

The semi-finals will be pulled away from the Express Cup event in Holland to be played in June, and the quarter-finals will start next month. The draw for the quarter-finals will be made Monday 23rd, St George's Day. The final will be played as planned at the Express Cup meet on July 14.

Apr 19th
Lenteur back into the final

MV 06 Lenteur made hard work of disposing of Tim Carr's T-Kicks in their T²SL semi-final game. A goalless stalemate was ended in a shootout which Mike Van Buren's team won 3-1. Mike is now in his third final in four seasons and has almost guaranteed his place in the new Champions League.

Apr 12th
Sparks can't stop Carr's progress

2006 Summer T²SL champion Tim Carr held off a valiant challenge from Mark Johnson to edge into the semi-finals for a date against Mike Van Buren.

A tight game with few clear cut chances ended 0-0 after overtime, and the players entered the shootout. Just nine days earlier Mark had won a shootout against Tim by a 3-2 margin, but this time it was Tim who was victorious by the same score.

Tim completes the final four of the playoff bracket, while Mark joins Trent Bellew and Tim Zeller in the Plate round.

Apr 11th
Champion crashes out

Reigning T²SL champion Trent Bellew crashed out of the Winter League playoffs today, losing in a shootout to Duane Van Buren who reaches his first semi-final.

Trent is the first reigning champion to fail to make the semi-finals the next season. It is the second time in a row that Duane Van Buren has faced the current champion in the wildcard round.

Duane opened the scoring in the first half, and kept a tight defence most of the game. Trent tied it halfway through the second period, and was beaten by the buzzer at the end of regulation with a shot lined up ready to fire. No goals in the five minute sudden death overtime, just time for Trent to line up another and run out of time again.

Duane, shooting first, scored on his fourth shot of the shootout with Trent unable to find the net.

Mar 27th
Players outclassed - event classy

Michigan's representatives were outclassed at the 2007 Motown Grand Prix but can hold their head high as the host club of a fantastic event.

Mike Ewer was the closest to breaking through to the quarter-finals, in a much tougher field than last year's event in Toronto where he achieved that goal. Twice it was Steve Laskey, now of Cincinnati, who stood in his way. In the Grand Prix the players tied 1-1, and after equal defeats to Marcus Tilgner they had to break the tie with a shootout. Mike's dismal streak of shootout performances continued, as he lost 0-2 with a kick to spare. The next day saw his worst performance of the weekend as he lost 0-2 to miss out on the quarters by a single point. Final stats: 10GP 1W-2T-7L 6F-23A. He repeated his 1-0 win over Nate Buttigieg and 0-0 tie with Germany's Michael Beifuß from last year's tournament in Toronto. Highlight of the weekend: A three-man rolling ball goal with barely 20 seconds left on the clock to beat Nate Buttigieg.

Ian Roy won more games than his rival but was leakier in defence, especially on day two. His two wins were both against Nate Buttigieg, one in the team tournament to earn Michigan a tie, and one in the Individual Grand Prix. Being drawn in the same group as the free-scoring David Russell, Jon Schultz and Christian Haas certainly affected his stats on Sunday. Final stats: 11GP 2W-0T-9L 6F-43A.

Amanda Ewer only played the Grands Prix, resting on day two to allow the IO to be played with larger groups. Final stats: 5GP 0W-1T-4L 1F-19A.

Meanwhile praise has been sent in to FISTF for the event which was much appreciated by the participants. The venue was great - although a little more artificial light to deal with the hazy spring mornings would have been better - the lunches provided by Patrick O'Ryans were fabulous value for money, and the hotel right across the street and downtown location gave the players plenty of options and flexibility.

Feb 27th
Flying J!

Shock result in the T²SL Winter League, where Mark Johnson finally scored his first goal... and how! Playing against Trent Bellew whose usual ambidextrous style was hampered by a broken left arm, MJ scored the deciding goal in the final second on a breakaway play.

Feb 26th
LMSC still a goal

Six months have passed and just one LMSC tournament has been played instead of six. But Mike Ewer is not downhearted: "It was a bit of a rush job last season, we pulled in people who weren't yet ready to host tournaments."

"This year we're going about it a little more patiently, and only putting people in the rotation who are serious about putting on events. And we are looking at some regional options, depending on what feedback we get from our initial inquiries" he explained further.

One of the suggested plans involves two triangular groups at each end of Indiana - the Holland/LaPorte/Chicago trio at one end, and Indianapolis/Dayton/Cincinatti at the other. This system would switch the tournaments north and south each month, rotating the tournaments within each group so each club hosts two tournaments and has four short road trips in a season.

Another plan, although possibly too large for the original intentions of LMSC, is to bring in Erik Haefke's new location in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and even Pittsburgh, into a similar setup to the north-south plan but this one running east-west.

We'll keep you posted as news comes in from each region.

Feb 21st
No action from MiSTFA

MiSTFA founder Mike Ewer announced tonight that "no action will be taken regarding the St Louis tournament decision until after both tournaments have been completed". The decision was made "in the best interests of the game and those participating in either event. However, there is obviously a problem here which needs fixing, so we will not just take it lying down."

Feb 21st
Brick thrown at Motown

Whether anyone from their club was planning on attending the FISTF Grand Prix weekend in Windsor was unknown, but now they pretty much have no choice: The 2007 edition of the so-called Brick Tamland Celebrity Classic, an ASA Open, will take place on March 24th, it was announced today.

"The ASA has a rule about no more than one tournament on a weekend in one region" explained Mike Ewer on hearing the news, "but that obviously doesn't count if we stage the event 200 yards from the Detroit river!"

Quote from the ASA website:
You need to first let your VP know, and check the current ASA calendar to make sure there are no other conflicting tournaments in your region for the desired date. Note, tournaments across the ASA may be held on the same date, except in the same region.

It should be noted that the Midwest VP Mitch Morice is also an active member of the St Louis club hosting this tournament.

Feb 14th
"Back to the 90s"

"Turn on VH1 Classic and crank up the Nirvana!" An unusual response from Mike Ewer about the recently announced National Team Championship rules.

"Make sure you're listening to 'Smells like teen spirit' when you read them, they take on a whole new meaning" he continued. What is he going on about, you ask? "These 'guidelines' look like they were written at a frat house on a Friday night. Which probably isn't far from the truth, to be honest", Ewer explained. "They are a knee jerk reaction to recent events with the forming of a 'super team' by Zach Walker and Mike Benkart with the intention of competing in FISTF competition. A decision which was made way too late, and with a hint of bias."

"It is obvious that the rules have been set up with the intent to stop this kind of team from forming. In fact the feeling behind the rules is that they are made to allow only three possible winners of the National Team Championship: Connecticut, Maryland or St Louis. No-one else has a large enough club to field a team without external help" continued the ASA's exile.

"Let's say I was still in the ASA, and I wanted to form a team with some good friends around the league. People who have stood by me throughout my trials and tribulations in the organisation. That would not be allowed. We'd not have a chance of winning the thing. But to form a team as friends is not allowed. Family, yes, but not friends".

"The reason the rule was made was to stop a super team. OK fine. But what if the best four players in the US were all from Maryland, Connecticut or St Louis. That's just as bad, if not worse, than the formation of this so-called super team with Chris Walker, who barely plays any more, and Jim Desmond. Outside of Zach Walker and Mike Benkart there's not a great deal of depth to the team, with absolutely no disrespect to the remainder of the line-up. It's not like they'd be dead certs to win the title."

The cloudiness of the rules - just like most of the ASA Bylaws that he has "only too often" been accused of breaking - is what leans Mike into the whole 90s haze analogy. "They may as well just say 'whatever dude, just as long as Zach can't field his team, let's just throw something down on paper and go get pizza'. No formality, heck, half of it would fail a middle school English exam."

Feb 14th
Walker signs for San Siro

Big shots San Siro Worthing, whose sponsorship by the aluminium table manufacturer created a stir last summer, announced the signing of US national champion Zach Walker this week. The transfer won't take effect until September 1st, until which time Walker is eligible to play for the club he formed, Sporting America TSC. Word has it, his team mates had not been informed of the decision to play for Worthing until it was announced by the club on their website and the topic was brought up on the ASA discussion forum.

Feb 13th
Cup entry deadline extended

The deadline for entry into the inaugural State Cup has been extended to March 31st. The reason for this is the current state of travel in Michigan possibly influencing people's thoughts on future travel plans. The state has been inundated with lake effect snowfall of late, and travel to the next city has been inadvisable for some time.

"This is a great concept which just needs the right entry pool. It can only work at a level of 16 players or higher. Below that it's almost not worth it." explained MiSTFA founder Mike Ewer. "We have 8 registrations now, we are hoping the upcoming promotions will bring a few more names to the list."

Jan 18th
Showdown in T²SL Autumn Plate final

Duane Van Buren joined Dave Fleming in the T²SL Autumn Plate "final" with a 1-0 win over Mark Johnson. As Fleming also won by the same score, the round robin competition will be decided by possible overtime and shootouts in the final game as the opponents have identical records.

Plate
Dave Fleming 1 Mark Johnson 0
Duane Van Buren 1 Mark Johnson 0
Duane Van Buren vs Dave Fleming

Jan 13th
WMSL resumes

After a long break, finally some WMSL action. Ian Roy's Westside Röyals made the trip to Holland to start off their WMSL campaign with a double-header at the John Peel Memorial Stadium.

Mandalecht were their first opponents, and the rust showed. The teams had an almost equal amount of chances but the game ended scoreless. Next up were FK Dukla Foyle. Despite the team's more active record in recent months, neither team got much together in this game, a second half goal enough to separate the teams and maintain Dukla's 100% record.

Mandalecht 0 Westside Röyals 0
FK Dukla 1 Westside Röyals 0

Jan 9th
Trent takes T² Title

In his first final, after finally beating Mike Van Buren in the playoffs, Trent Bellew added another first: After a tense 0-0 regulation and overtime, Trent found the extra accuracy needed in the shootout and won 2-1.

Final
Mike Ewer 0 Trent Bellew 0
After overtime, 1-2 on shots

Jan 8th
T²SL Autumn Finalists known

Trent Bellew reached his first final with a 1-0 win over Mike Van Buren in the T²SL Autumn League semi-final. A tight game was broken open with just two minutes left.

In the second semi-final, Mike Ewer got revenge on Tim Carr from the Summer semi which Carr won in a shootout, by winning thanks to a first half goal direct off a defensive throw-in.

Semi-finals
Mike Van Buren 0 Trent Bellew 1
Mike Ewer 1 Tim Carr 0

Jan 5th
T²SL Latest

The T²SL came out of a holiday slumber this week with the first of the Wildcard games. Tim Carr beat Duane Van Buren 1-0 to enter the semi-finals where he meets Mike Ewer. Duane is relegated to the plate competition against Mark Johnson and the other defeated wildcard.

Trent Bellew won the second wildcard game against Dave Fleming, with the only goal of the game early in the second half. Trent will meet his old foe Mike Van Buren in the semis, while Dave enters the plate competition with Duane Van Buren and Mark Johnson.

Wildcard playoffs
Tim Carr 1 Duane Van Buren 0
Trent Bellew 1 Dave Fleming 0

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