Times are tough in the universe of South Florida sports: the Dolphins arecurrently in last place, the Marlins just finished their season in last place, the Panthers are in the midst of the longest streak of not making the playoffs in NHL history (10 years, but we are optimistic about the upcoming season), and the Hurricanes…well, their problems are well documented; no need to get into them here. Plus everyone involved with the NBA, from the commissioner to the owners to the players union, is conspiring to cancel the Heat’s entire season just because they don’t like Lebron.
But there is one local franchise that you can support without condition: our local minor league soccer team, the Ft. Lauderdale Strikers. The Strikers play in the first round of the NASL playoffs at Lockhart Stadium, Saturday at 7:30 p.m. against a team of jerks from Edmonton. If the Strikers win Saturday’s game, they will advance to the second round and will have a home and home series with either Carolina or Puerto Rico.
Besides the fact that the Strikers is the only of the aforementioned sports teams that plays in this great city of ours, other reasons to come to Saturday’s game are that tickets are cheap (GA for $10), there’s a food truck rally at the tailgate before the game, there are limited occasions where it’s cool to wear red and yellow together, and when you are drinking and singing there is nothing quite as funny as a sad Edmontonian.
The Strikers played great soccer in the second half of the season and are surely favored in Saturday’s games, and must be one of the favorites to win the league championship. I have not seen the Vegas odds yet, but our team looks good.
So come to Lockhart on Saturday, stand next to your Lauderdale brothers and sisters, and help these young men defend the Fort.
Stream this song, made by some Striker die hards.
[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/24191884″]
