AND NOW IT BEGINS!

AP-October 18, 2009
Last season's champions, the Llanteros, are off to a slow start this season. An anemic first half doomed the team and resulted in a 2-3 loss against the Golden Boys. Despite the loss, the second half gave fans cause for optimism. After eight consecutive wins, the loss was overdue but coming in the beginning of the season gives the team time to regroup and still make a run at a playoff berth.
With a starting lineup composed of many new players, the first half was difficult for the team. The players haven't played together in a while, if ever, and the tempo of the game surprised some of the new players. The veterans lacked the aggressive play fans have grown to expect. It's been a long break since the championship party and it showed. But, that was the first half and that's only half the story.
The second half was very a different story altogether. The Llanteros came together to play quality football. The veterans knocked some of the rust off and the new players were definitely getting a feel for the game. The Llanteros lost the game in the first half but the second half showed they were definitely a match for the Golden Boys and if given more time the result may have been different.
In a postgame interview, a member of the Llanteros staff said “This is a disappointment for sure but we have time to recover. We have a lot of very good players coming in this year and we expect the team to ultimately be even better than last year. We were unprepared this week but I look forward to playing these guys again at the end of the season. I have to give the Golden Boys a lot of credit here. Most teams in this league would have lost that game but the Golden Boys showed up ready to win. They played smarter and more aggressive than we did.”
Other teams in the league are undoubtedly looking at the results of this game smugly thinking the Llanteros are through. They should remember this team started last season with a 0-2 record and played much worse during those games than they did this week. The team is coming together quickly and they have already started an aggressive training cycle. This was possibly the worst the Llanteros will play all season and that is very bad news for the rest of the league, including the Golden Boys.