Mailbag Monday questions are back again and better than week one. Mary Ann and James take any question you can think of and get to the bottom of the topic. For this week, we start with who makes the Independence Hall of Fame and end on hotdogs.
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From @BoRoundNRound: “Let’s say we’re making an Independence Hall of Fame at Memorial Stadium. Who are the first five players to make it in?”
This is an awesome question because outcomes differ based on personal criteria. Since it’s Mailbag Monday and we have to give an answer, we’ll go off of James’ personal opinion. If you don’t like it, you can contact him directly by mail at WakeMed Soccer Park, 101 Soccer Park Drive, Cary, NC 27511 or by phone at (919) 459-8144.
For reference, my biggest contributing factors are performance and longevity. The obvious one is the immortal Jorge Herrera. He currently has the franchise lead for goals, he’s only one behind Dane Kelly for the USL Championship regular season career record, all-time USL Championship assist leader, he got the first hat trick in franchise history and the list goes on. Legendary stuff. As former Independence midfielder David Estrada once told me, “the team should save some time by putting Jorge’s face where the Captain Jack logo is in the club crest.”
The next obvious one is Enzo Martinez. Back-to-back USL MVP finalist seasons, the franchise record for single-season goals and second in franchise goals. After that, I would say Bilal Duckett and Alex Martinez. Both of the guys were starting mainstays since day one and really helped build team culture in a new club. The last spot was a really close call. Cody Mizell, Joel Johnson, the aforementioned David Estrada, Patrick Slogic, Henry Kalungi, Lewis Hilton; all these guys had tremendous moments for the Independence. But my final spot goes to Jun Marques Davidson. Every time I talked to the technical staff about strategy, they would say so much of what the team was able to do was because of him. It was especially apparent toward the end of the 2017 season when the team struggled while he was out with injury.
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From @RedCardDM: “Did Coaches McGuinness and Sarriugarte know each other prior to their time at the Independence? If so, what’s the connection? The whole coaching team seems like a real quality group!”
In fact, they did.
Sarriugarte: "We met in a sports psychology conference in Spain quite a few years ago. We had him in as a speaker and he was very impressive. We got along well. For a long, long time, we've kept in touch. I've flown to Glasgow, he'd visit me in Spain and we built a great working, soccer relationship. We've really worked closely for the last two or three years. He told me there was a lot of potential when he took the job with the Independence and we've been enjoying it since."
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From @9Bristow: “With these crazy games can we have whoever is running the scoreboard let the time run into stoppage instead of just freeze at 90’. I cant hear or see the time added most times. My heart can only take so much if the games keep ending like this.”
It’s regulation that the clock stops at 45 and 90. For those who may not know, the official time is kept by the refs on the field and they announce an approximate amount of stoppage time in the final minutes of each half. Operationally, we have it set up so the clock runs and stops automatically. It’s a great suggestion, so we’ll look into making a graphic for the scoreboard to accompany the added time to help you see or hear how much time is remaining.
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From @jas_bai: “Is there an easier way to fold up a bouncy house than fold, lay on it, fold, lay on it, fold, lay on it…also, what did Hugh Roberts study in college? He's quite philosophical”
Wow. Another gem from jas_bai in consecutive weeks. In hindsight, we should’ve called upon our resident bouncy castle expert, Brad from the Second Yellow Podcast, but alas. Try this. Next time you have to put away your bouncy house you should vacuum all the air out, and once it’s flat, it’ll be easier to fold. Ya know, like those space saver bags from the infomercials.
Hugh studied Business Administration while at George Mason University. His favorite classes were finance and psychology.
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From @Egon084: “Can we have a fan design contest for the 3rd kit? Military kit?”
Mary Ann and I really like doing this weekly segment because it’s an opportunity to give away some of the behind the scenes stuff in the works. As some may recall, Famous Toastery extended their partnership with the Independence for 2019 and will once again be the presenting sponsor for Military Appreciation Night on May 11th. Since then we finalized working with American Legion and they helped design the kit which will be auctioned off for charity in honor the families and spouses of local servicemen and women, whose names will be incorporated into the design.
And finally…
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From @rgclt: “when is @MurryAyne bringing the world hotdog eating championships to the sportsplex? bob is ready I am serious.”
Let’s pro/cons this idea. On the one hand, there’s no better brat than one from Bob’s food truck. On the negative side, NCFC has the hotdog market pretty locked down. Frankly, we think this idea is a real wiener, but it just doesn’t have enough mustard at this point.
Mailbag Monday questions are back again and better than week one. Mary Ann and James take any question you can think of and get to the bottom of the topic. For this week, we start with who makes the Independence Hall of Fame and end on hotdogs.
-
From @BoRoundNRound: “Let’s say we’re making an Independence Hall of Fame at Memorial Stadium. Who are the first five players to make it in?”
This is an awesome question because outcomes differ based on personal criteria. Since it’s Mailbag Monday and we have to give an answer, we’ll go off of James’ personal opinion. If you don’t like it, you can contact him directly by mail at WakeMed Soccer Park, 101 Soccer Park Drive, Cary, NC 27511 or by phone at (919) 459-8144.
For reference, my biggest contributing factors are performance and longevity. The obvious one is the immortal Jorge Herrera. He currently has the franchise lead for goals, he’s only one behind Dane Kelly for the USL Championship regular season career record, all-time USL Championship assist leader, he got the first hat trick in franchise history and the list goes on. Legendary stuff. As former Independence midfielder David Estrada once told me, “the team should save some time by putting Jorge’s face where the Captain Jack logo is in the club crest.”
The next obvious one is Enzo Martinez. Back-to-back USL MVP finalist seasons, the franchise record for single-season goals and second in franchise goals. After that, I would say Bilal Duckett and Alex Martinez. Both of the guys were starting mainstays since day one and really helped build team culture in a new club. The last spot was a really close call. Cody Mizell, Joel Johnson, the aforementioned David Estrada, Patrick Slogic, Henry Kalungi, Lewis Hilton; all these guys had tremendous moments for the Independence. But my final spot goes to Jun Marques Davidson. Every time I talked to the technical staff about strategy, they would say so much of what the team was able to do was because of him. It was especially apparent toward the end of the 2017 season when the team struggled while he was out with injury.
-
From @RedCardDM: “Did Coaches McGuinness and Sarriugarte know each other prior to their time at the Independence? If so, what’s the connection? The whole coaching team seems like a real quality group!”
In fact, they did.
Sarriugarte: “We met in a sports psychology conference in Spain quite a few years ago. We had him in as a speaker and he was very impressive. We got along well. For a long, long time, we’ve kept in touch. I’ve flown to Glasgow, he’d visit me in Spain and we built a great working, soccer relationship. We’ve really worked closely for the last two or three years. He told me there was a lot of potential when he took the job with the Independence and we’ve been enjoying it since.”
-
From @9Bristow: “With these crazy games can we have whoever is running the scoreboard let the time run into stoppage instead of just freeze at 90’. I cant hear or see the time added most times. My heart can only take so much if the games keep ending like this.”
It’s regulation that the clock stops at 45 and 90. For those who may not know, the official time is kept by the refs on the field and they announce an approximate amount of stoppage time in the final minutes of each half. Operationally, we have it set up so the clock runs and stops automatically. It’s a great suggestion, so we’ll look into making a graphic for the scoreboard to accompany the added time to help you see or hear how much time is remaining.
-
From @jas_bai: “Is there an easier way to fold up a bouncy house than fold, lay on it, fold, lay on it, fold, lay on it…also, what did Hugh Roberts study in college? He’s quite philosophical”
Wow. Another gem from jas_bai in consecutive weeks. In hindsight, we should’ve called upon our resident bouncy castle expert, Brad from the Second Yellow Podcast, but alas. Try this. Next time you have to put away your bouncy house you should vacuum all the air out, and once it’s flat, it’ll be easier to fold. Ya know, like those space saver bags from the infomercials.
Hugh studied Business Administration while at George Mason University. His favorite classes were finance and psychology.
-
From @Egon084: “Can we have a fan design contest for the 3rd kit? Military kit?”
Mary Ann and I really like doing this weekly segment because it’s an opportunity to give away some of the behind the scenes stuff in the works. As some may recall, Famous Toastery extended their partnership with the Independence for 2019 and will once again be the presenting sponsor for Military Appreciation Night on May 11th. Since then we finalized working with American Legion and they helped design the kit which will be auctioned off for charity in honor the families and spouses of local servicemen and women, whose names will be incorporated into the design.
And finally…
-
From @rgclt: “when is @MurryAyne bringing the world hotdog eating championships to the sportsplex? bob is ready I am serious.”
Let’s pro/cons this idea. On the one hand, there’s no better brat than one from Bob’s food truck. On the negative side, NCFC has the hotdog market pretty locked down. Frankly, we think this idea is a real wiener, but it just doesn’t have enough mustard at this point.
