It’s Soccer Time around the world and in Tampa, again

Posted Jun 12, 2010 by Tom McEwen

Updated Jun 12, 2010 at 01:01 AM

If you are a soccer fan, these are heady times in the world, and, in truth, in Tampa.

The World Cup is heating up in South Africa and the United States team is about to play its opener against England in a game considered even. USA boosters would like a tie so that they could move on with a point and stay in the tournament. It also would do well for soccer in America, which can use whatever help it can get.

Perry Van Der Beck’s modern-day Rowdies will play Montreal here Saturday at Steinbrenner Field fashioned for soccer.

Van Der Beck’s team is 5-2-3, competitive and surely seems to deserve the support Tampa Bay fans gave the old Rowdies of the Eddie Fermani-Gordon Jago-Rodney Marsh years. Steinbrenner Field can now seat over 10,000 for soccer and the viewing is superb for this new team of which steakman David Laxer and Saddlebrook boss Tom Dempsey owner are part owners.

The team has a shot at moving along in this solid league which hopes to gain the favor given those Rowdie teams of other years that played often before a full-house crowd at Tampa Stadium during the old North American Soccer League Pele years.

“We are giving it everything we’ve got,” said Van Der Beck. “We know we have to win. Who doesn’t?”

Frankly, it is a great time to be bringing soccer back to Tampa as well as proven support cities such as Seattle, which drew 55,000 people to an opening game there this past weekend.

The Van Der Beck team can use all the support it can get for the singing of those old good Rowdie songs that were the trademark of the great teams put on the field by owner George Strawbridge and his associates of those days when the Rowdies and the New York Cosmos were the best known teams of the old NASL.

The truth is the timing is indeed perfect for the Rowdies to be born again. Gosh, but they were good. They put on good shows, and they had the right people writing the right songs to accompany and celebrate their deeds. Now, in today’s climate, soccer has added those infernal antelope horns the crowd loves to blow and the players like and dislike with equal favor and disfavor.

Doesn’t matter; they are not going away and for the people blowing them, the more nauseating they are, the better. The horn blowing is just an invention of soccer fans. I think they are great: irritating but great, irritating but part of the game now.

“The horns are just fine,” said Van Der Beck. If Rodney Marsh were still playing, he would certainly be complaining about them or perhaps dropping his pants in dismay at center field, but getting nowhere other than rousing the fans more and keeping them in the game.

“No predictions yet,” said Van Der Beck, “but we are well-rounded, we can score and we can defend and if our goaltender keeps it up, we will be in the competition for the season. I would love nothing more than to have us win games at Steinbrenner Field and parade around after the even to the singing of ‘Oh, the Rowdies, the Rowdies,’ you are a kick in the grass.”