A tie, a draw, call it what you will, but Lou City players were not happy at the end of the Brooklyn match yesterday. Fans were relieved that it didn’t end with a loss after watching the Boys in Purple trail for most of the match. Lou City started playing comeback after giving up a goal in the 4th minute, even making use of the Blood Kit when Chris Donovan took a nasty hit. (He was fitted with a black bandage - *adds to cart* - and sent right back in.) There was almost a brawl in the second half when Lou City was down 2-1 and it looked like Brooklyn would take home the three points. Some mouthy Brookyln player ticked off Tola Showunmi and it took the calm of Aiden McFadden and Ray Serrano to create some space and end things. (That’s right, folks, I just referred to Aiden as calm. We are living in the Upside Down.) Kyle Adams had his usual consultations with the referees, not realizing that they were actually all off last night.

In the 89th minute, Serrano sent a cannon into the back of the net to tie things up. I don’t think I saw a single player smile. There was a collective sigh of relief but it was quickly followed by a somber realization that it should not have been that hard to tie things up with this mediocre team.

Everyone is speculating about the reason for the struggles this season, and so I will offer my theory. Are you ready? It’s the collars. The uniforms with the collars look cool, yes, but ask any guy you know if he’d rather wear a polo shirt or a tee shirt. A polo shirt is just a second cousin to a button-up, and if you’re wearing a button-up, there’s always a chance you’ll end up in a tie. Do you know any guy who actually enjoys wearing ties? Of course not. Therefore, I submit that whoever designed the unis to have collars needs to be drug into the middle of Melwood Avenue on rendering day and left to think about they’ve done. In a tie.

We’ll start this article off the way that we usually do, with a serious image of Aiden McFadden pondering the existence of the soccer ball. We forget that our McBatman with all his zeal and hair is a Notre Dame grad, so he’s probably calculating the surface area of the ball.

*Also during practice, we find Akale demonstrating his ability to swirl the ball around him in a more advanced version of hacky sack that hasn’t yet made it to the States.*

The warm-up jerseys were gorgeous and yet time is limited so I will only show my favorite 100 pictures.

*Aiden’s newest fan club members were onsite! More pictures of this crew are in the fan pictures below. Someone please invite these young ladies to Trash Talks!*

*A sweet moment at halftime to send well wishes to John Schweizer. The stadium was definitely much quieter and less colorful without John. Get well soon, friend!*

*If you ever wonder about the quality of pictures taken with my phone vs. those taken with my camera, ask Serrano. He is mortified at the quality of this image. Same, Ray.*

*Twice in a matter of minutes, we get a look at Aiden deep in thought. He mentally prepares for the match but then starts to wonder if he remembered to turn off his curling iron.*

*Everyone readies for the match in different ways. Dayes is wondering if he remembered to turn off his Pop-a-Shot.*

The referees make it known early that they have no interest in calling the match, and so the jersey pulling begins. Adams is always happy to challenge the refs to do their jobs. (Ed. Our friend Peter Brown watches on in the warmup kit. He also got the halftime trivia question correct and won some free plumbing services of something.)

Zach Duncan also challenges the referees to do their jobs, and a Brooklyn player reminds us that redheads should not grow beards. (To any bearded redheaded friends out there, this rule only applies to soccer players who play against Lou City and Michael Fassbender.)

*If WDRB didn’t feature this image on their 10 o’clock broadcast then that’s their loss. A beautiful header that should’ve been worth half a goal for aesthetic points and free advertising.*

*Brooklyn 92 is wishing he wore his mouth guard.*

*Forget the mouth guard, now 92 is wishing he could run as fast as Dia. He’s also hoping the Grounds Crew doesn’t notice the grass he’s kicking up.*

***World Cup Announcer Voice*** Lou City’s Chris Donovan for a gooooooooooallllllll

I was prepped and ready for a nice Celebration Gallery but it was back to business almost immediately. I captured some fist bumps before wondering why everyone was so serious.

*And the cleating begins. Too bad there were no refs calling this match. I sure hope nobody gets hurt.*

*Aaaaaaand here’s Donovan in a blood kit and head bandage after a nasty fall and possibly a cleating.*

*I have not idea what’s going on here but look at that lighting! Duncan is equally impressed.*

Speaking of impressive, it’s time for a Danny Faundez Gallery. I am also giving the wonderful Hugo Fauroux a shout-out because there is not a nicer guy in the entire city of Louisville. I had a front row seat to his encouragement of Danny and his helpfulness to the team from the sideline.