We made a scarf.

This isn’t a sales pitch, but we’re getting some attention from new people so we wanted to get something up to talk about a decision we made recently. We made a scarf and not everybody loves it. That’s okay. Beyond the shock value, though, the scarf has some historical meaning for supporters of our club so we wanted to put something up on the Internet for folks who might not know the history.

In 2012 we put “Nuts of A Warrior” on our scarf. It was a quote from Simone Bracalello, said on an evening in Fort Lauderdale, just before he stepped on the pitch to help us win the 2011 Soccerbowl. Walking in the rain he turned to a camera: “Tonight we will see who has the nuts of a warrior.”

That night we did, because that night the Stars became champions.

Our return to Florida a year later didn’t end how we had hoped. The Stars played a beautiful game, fought hard, and lost in penalties.

Losing the game was a disappointment, but it also came on a day when we weren’t certain if the then-league-owned club would survive another year. League leaders had met that day to decide our fate, and we hadn’t heard the outcome.

As players collected themselves on the field and traveling fans consoled each other in the stands, the press asked Manny Lagos what he made of the loss.

There were few words to describe his feelings, our feelings. We didn’t know whether or not we had just watched our final match. In that moment of doubt, sorrow, and fear, with tears in his eyes, Manny said three words before he walked away:

“This fucking team…”

Harsh words, and not poetry, but they’re the words of a coach and competitor that doesn’t play for the shirt or the brand or anything that’s changed so much in recent years here. Manny works to win for his team and his fans, and that’s why we love him. We wanted to remember that.