The Aztexan

First, as you hopefully know, tonight is the 2nd home game for the Aztex. It's against the DFW Tornados, fresh off their 1-0 defeat by Laredo (and when I say fresh, I mean fresh; it was last night). As already discussed, last week's game was great, and this week's couldn't come soon enough, if you ask me. So, enough said; I hope to see you there tonight!

Now, let me get to the real subject of this post: where to read about the Aztex. I just wanted to put together a rundown of some of the online places where the Aztex are being covered.

Obviously, there's the team's website: austinaztex.com. And similarly, there's the team owner's blog: The Aztex Chief. Just a few posts there so far, but they're good ones. A good example is last week's "4 out of 6", in which he describes how the organization overall probably has about the same point total this season so far as the team itself does:

We had a successful first home game on Saturday and were delighted to see a crowd of almost 1,500 enjoy the game. Most of our planning and hard work paid off but there is still much more we can do to improve our performance off the field. We have received lots of compliments and we really appreciate them and also some constructive feedback. Behind the scenes we know we have lots more we can improve on. So, off the field, while we don't have a points total to rely on to give us feedback, 4 out of 6 feels about right.

Another excellent destination for your browser or RSS news feed reader is Joshua Alcala's blog. Alcala is a starting defender with the Aztex U23s, and his feelings & experiences, as in this post from a few days ago, are a lot of fun to read.

I think the coaching staff we have, is top notch. We’ve got experience, we’ve got creative, we’ve got simplicity, all mixed together. I don’t want to keep sounding like too much of a kiss ass, because that’s not the case. I’m far from a suck up, i’ll have yall know. I am just personally happy, from the way the coaches have experimented with the line up and found something that really works.

I've also seen, thanks to Google Alerts, a few nice blog posts that mention the Aztex, even though the blogs don't specialize on just the team. For example, this post from Bean-o-rama:

The team looked good, and combined with a first-game tie against the El Paso Patriots (ppbbth) the Aztex are now at the top of the division. Most of the players looked pretty tight, and the team seemed to work well together (No. 23's got to cool off though — I thought the guy was going to start a fight, and that's not going to help him or the team).

So that's nice coverage in the blogosphere; how about more traditional print media? You couldn't ask for better attention than the team's gotten from the Austin Chronicle. Sports writer Nick Barbaro is a true Aztex hero, for all the great stuff he's written. And if you come by to check out that supporters group organizing cheers, chants & songs before the game that he mentions in that last link, I'm sure you'll be able to meet him in person.

On the other end of the spectrum is the dismal Austin American-Statesman. Not that anyone expected much from them, since the Aztex are (1) not a UT team and (2) a soccer team. I've never seen much more than an AP wire story on any soccer subject in the Statesman's pages, even with 2-time MLS champions practically next door in Houston. Speaking of Houston, at least the Houston Chronicle can include a mention of their city's PDL team, the Leones:

Leones licking wounds

The Houston Leones (1-1) suffered the first stumble of their young USL Premier Development League season, losing 2-0 to the Austin Aztex in Round Rock. They play at El Paso Patriots twice this weekend.

Seriously, the state of the Statesman is a sad one. I know the team has put a lot of effort into getting coverage from them, but to no avail. Here's a new team in town, which by all measures is off to a great start, and not a peep? Maybe now that the Ice Bats have packed it in, the Statesman will snap out of it.

Feel free to contact the Statesman's sports desk, and encourage them to pull their heads out.

Labels: media, U-23