Tis The Season!

Dec 11, 2009- (The views expressed in this blog are the views of Bryan Benway,and may not be the views of the Laredo Bucks organization). Oh Hi Friends. Welcome, welcome, welcome! I am writing to you from the press box at the LEC about five hours before game time against Missouri. We have quite a bit to discuss don't we? Let's get at it.

It's been another busy, mostly blog-less week for me, and I apologize for it. We have tons of stuff to get ready for the all-star game, and that's been taking up most of my time these days. Don't hate me!

There's no need for me to talk about Tuesday's 4-3 shootout win over Corpus because that seems like days ago, so i'll just move on to more recent events.

In a move that was supposed to happen three weeks ago, Mike Sgroi was released by the Bucks yesterday. I was hinting that this move would happen a while back, but then things kept popping up to save Sgroi. For example, Neil Trimm and Lance Monych's injuries kept Sgroi on the roster so the Bucks could still have 18 active players. And now that Monych is back there is no room for Sgroi anymore, so he was released.

I think it's safe to say that Sgroi did not live up to his reputation as being a tough guy. The guy played in 14 games and only had one fight (where he was beaten by Brett Clouthier in Rio). I think Sgroi was trying to establish himself as a scorer and that just was not going to happen. I will say this for Sgroi though. I thought that he was very nice guy. He did not cause any problems in the locker room with any other players, although he did steal my bunk on the bus (I get it back now yes!!). El Presidente Coach Rosco said it best, that if another coach asks about Sgroi Rosco will tell that coach that he is a very good guy and will try his best for the team. So basically he would recommened him. I'm wondering if Sgroi has an MMA fight scheduled next week somewhere? I would not doubt it.

I saw Sgroi today as he was leaving the LEC with his bags, we said good bye and take care and that was it. He then rode off into the sunset.

As far as Monych coming back, I feel this can only help the team. If the old Lance Monych comes back it will be very good for the Bucks. And by the old Lance Monych I mean the one that had a six game point streak to start the season, I mean the one that had two or three good scoring chances every-game. Monych's last goal was the home opener on October 24th, that means he has not scored a goal in the last 10 games that he has played in. Tonight is as good a night to get off the schnide! I'm not sure where Monych will be line-wise, but it would not suprise me to see him with Evan Schwabe and Jeff Bes. I think Schwabe and Bes have worked well together lately. We'll see.

In a move that I did not expect, J.P Levasseur will start tonight's game against Missouri, and probably tomorrow's game in Allen as well. I would have guessed that Kyle Gajewski would have gotten one of the starts this weekend, but that's not the case. Just think of it this way, if J.P wins both games this weekend he will be 12-1-3 on the season. Wouldn't that be nice.

Rosco keeps telling the Bucks players not to overlook this Missouri team here tonight, because they have some talent on their roster but for some reason have not put it together yet. Missouri is 6-0 against Wichita this season and just 2-11-1 against the rest of the league.

I think I know why they may be struggling though. Missouri travels in a regular coach bus, not a sleeper that most of the teams in our league have. I kind of feel bad for Missouri, they had to travel 15-hours here in a sit-up bus with no bunks in it! No wonder the Mavs are 3-9-1 on the road! They cannot sleep on that bus with no beds!! But if it's any consolation, their bus has the Mavericks logo on it and ours does not have a Bucks logo. If that's what makes you happy I say go right ahead, plaster your logo all over your bus! And while you are doing that we will be sleeping in our comfortable bunks and not in seats!!

Wow, I kind of got off on a tangent there. Sorry. Wow. I feel better now!

Moving on.

Right after the game tonight we will board the bus and head for Allen (who had two players suspended from that brawl Wednesday against Texas). Depending on if the Bucks win or lose tonight it may or may not be a fun eight hour bus ride. Either way, we all will enjoy delicious Hal's Landing food in to-go boxes on the bus. Now if the Bucks win it will be relaxing, with movies playing and laughs abound. But, if the Bucks lose tonight it will be very quiet and Rosco will be going over the DVD from tonight. We all are hoping for the first option. We should arrive at the Allen Events Center around 6am tomorrow morning, where we all will help unload the equipment into the arena before heading to the hotel. I'm pretty excited to see the new arena, as it's our first trip there. I heard the hotel is nice there also. I'm also looking forward to seeing the "All American" girls, the cheerleaders for the Americans. I'm really looking forward to that. No, I mean really looking forward to that.

I'll write about tonight's bus ride, the game, and much more sometime tomorrow when we are in Allen.

I'm interested to see how the Bucks come out, not only tonight, but tomorrow as well against a very strong Americans team. We will really be able to see how much the Bucks have come along since after Nov. 4th, where they are 9-2-2.

How can I forget this, if the Bucks win tonight it will be their 300th in franchise history! That's a great milestone! Let's hope it happens tonight.

Don't forget the silent auction tonight during the game, with all of the proceeds going to Navidad En El Barrio! There's a lot of good items to bid on at the game tonight, so come early and get in those bids! Also I have one of the mini-radio's that we are giving away before the game, I hope you like them they look pretty cool!

That's it for now, enjoy tonight's game and i'll talk to you tonight!

Until next time,

It will be a hot one in the old town tonight!

GO BUCKS GO!