Day 1: We arrive in Cleveland in the afternoon and we're excited to meet our teammates at the hotel.  At our light training everyone was anxious to get out and play.  Thanks to our well written documents, everyone was ready and excited for the game against Chivas.

Day 2: the awesome alarm awoke all.  After eating breakfast we went to the opening ceremony.  The professionalism of the event was apparent to all in attendance.  Shortly after, we took the field to warm up.  We had an advantage right from the kick off thanks to our mad nice new Rush jerseys.
We were catching eyes all over the stadium.  Both teams came out playing hard.  After 10 minutes of nervous battle, we took a hold of the game with a slammin' goal from the Foxhoven.  Chivas then equalized with a sloppy goal.
We were able to score one more before half to go into the break leading 2-1.
Coming out in the second half, coach made a smart sub to bring on Alex "the tomahawk" Vaughn.  He slanged a dime to Foxhoven within seconds of the start so Fox could improve our lead to 3-1.  Foxhoven added another goal to complete his hat trick and put the game out of reach from Chivas.  Our fly Rush jerseys made the win even more sweet.  We played a good team game.  One person said "it looked like we played together for two years".  The day got even better when Danny "Wayne Rooney" Bills came to join the squadron.  We leave you with one last thought for today... GO CRUSADERS!

Pack Foxiccolo blog for August 11:

“Team Pack Foxciccolo feels that you have a good idea of our feelings, so we take you on a journey outside our minds and into the minds of our teammates.”

PF: Who is your favorite teammate and why?
Trey Saunders: Joe Chabries (aka Baby Thunder) because he is normal.

PF: How do you feel about the smashing of Chivas?
Matt Kerridge: I felt they deserved it because they underestimated us and didn’t respect us.

PF: Which coach do you like more, Danny Bills or Erik Bushéy?
Zack Portillos-Grant: This is easy.  Bushéy.  Danny just can’t face the fact that he isn’t Wayne Rooney.

PF: How do you feel about Coach Danny Bills resembling Wayne Rooney so closely?
Zach Davis (aka Thunder): It is clear proof Rush has the best coaches in the country because they look like the best players in the world.

PF: How do you feel about the other teams in the tournament?
Cole Chapleski:   They are all good.

PF: What is the best soccer team ever?
Common Sense: The Rush Crusaders 

Day three had in store a crazy turn of events.  After finding out that all 15 of the dry erase markers in the meeting room didn’t work, we went to lunch.  Lunch was delicious, but like the dry erase markers, none of our credit cards worked.  After 45 minutes and a two mile round trip sprint by “Baby Thunder” we got our lunch paid for.  “It was a good workout.  I did what needed to be done.  Anything for the coaches”, said Baby T (Joe Chabries).  After lunch we left for the game against the PSA team.  “They looked like a tiny, young team with a bunch of different styles of play”, said Trey Saunders.  After a less than acceptable first half, we got it together and buried PSA in the second half.  Hotel room 221 ripped it hard.  Roberto kept a shut out, while us two (Paolo and Zack F.) combined with ZPG for a total of four goals to win the game 4-0.  After celebrating two birthdays in two nights, one for Erik Bushéy and one for Wayne Rooney, the whole team was tired and decided to go back to the hotel.  “The birthday parties were crazy!  Let’s just say we drank a lot of iced tea and things got out of control”, said Alex Vaughn.  Before going to bed, we collected the laundry, which as Matty Kerridge would describe it was “stinky, soggy and just eewy.”  Now for the news that people actually care about…CRUSADERS NEWS: Steve Trittschuh just signed a two year deal with the Crusaders.  He is not releasing the terms of the contract.  Also, Crusaders leaders, Wes Hart, Paolo DelPiccolo and Zack Foxhoven are to be knighted b the King at Buckingham Palace on August 23.

Pack Foxiccolo blog for August 13
There are many great players on our Rush squadron.  Some of them you might know because you read their name in the box scores, but other are just as great yet don't get the recognition.  One of these outstanding players is Tadd Kilmer (Oregon).  Team Foxiccolo was able to get a one on one with this Rush superstar.

PF: Hey Tadd, tell us about the tournament so far.
TK: It's a big opportunity to come play against teams of this caliber.
There are great players here, even some pros, so it is good to match up against them.

PF: How is it playing with a team you don't know?
TK: It took a while to get used to it because my other team plays different, but after a half of the first game I settled down and its been fun.

PF: Do you have any pre-game rituals?
TK: Not really.  I just sit quietly and think about the game.  I don't put my shoes on in a special way or anything.

PF: What are you feeling about the opportunity to play Venezuela?
TK: That's a hard one.  I never thought I would get a chance to play another country's national team.  It's unreal.  I'm anxious to go up against Venezuela's best.

PF: What inspires you in soccer?
TK: I don't really have one player, but I idolize many great players like Terry (Chelsea), Gerrard (Liverpool) and Ronaldo (Man. United) and try to combine aspects of all their games in mine.

PF: What has stood out to you in the tournament so far?
TK: The professionalism with the announcer and national anthems.  It makes you feel important, like a pro.

PF: Who do you think would win in a game between Barcelona and the Rush Crusaders?
TK: The Crusaders.  They have so many great players and Barcelona can't cope with them all.

PF: Thanks for the time Tadd.  You can hang here if you want.
TK: Alright.  I'll chill here man.

PF: Well, you heard it from the best folks.  If you take one thing from this interview, let it be the fact that the Rush Crusaders would beat Barcelona.

August 14:
Today team Pack Foxiccolo finds themselves in a chipper mood.
Maybe it is because the strip club literally 20 yards from our hotel room.
But probably it's because we must just made it to the finals of the tournament.  Despite the location of Club 57, and qualifying for the finals, there is a saddening reality we must face.  And that is the departure of our beloved assistant coach, Danny "Wayne Rooney" Bills.  In just 48 short hours, Danny will leave us prior to seeing us play in the finals.  Danny is a great coach.  He is also tall, dark, and handsome and enjoys romantic walks on the beach.  Ladies, you can find his number on the staff link on the Rush website.  We are all trying to enjoy our limited time left with the "Billsinator".  In our game today, the Venezuelan player's displayed passing, perseverance, passion and pressure.  But all alliteration aside, it was a hard fought game.  They scored two goals on us early in the first half.  It felt as if they all had shovels and were trying to bury us.  We fought hard and defended well throughout the rest of the game to get the result we needed.  This means we advance to the finals.  A metaphorical man described our victorious lost as a thing of beauty, like a galloping zebra chasing its prey.  All metaphors aside, it was a great feeling to advance to the finals in such a prestigious tournament.  We are nervous like a nerd in gym class, yet excited and confident at the same time.  All similes aside, the Rush Crusaders are living legends.