THE LAST HURRAH?
Written By: Cole Ford and Steven Craig
After Drawkland's defeat of ThePenguinLand in the Independents Cup 7 playoffs, DISC held a press conference at their headquarters. For diehard fans of the Kick Corps and its players, this news could be a crushing blow. Here is the opening statement of the DISC correspondents at the, admittedly sparsely attended, conference:
DISC wrote:The Drawkland soccer national team, otherwise known as the Kick Corps, will be dissolved in its current form. Manager Carol Haywood, her staff, and the players currently associated with the team will be released from national team duties effective the end of this Independent Associations Cup tournament. We know many fans will be displeased with this news, but we believe it is the best move for the national team at this stage. Our plans for the future of the team are currently still confidential. This information will be released as soon as it is set in stone, hopefully in the near future.
Of course, this is probably catching a lot of you off guard. Even us at the DNSN HQ are in a real state of shock right now. But, when you look a little bit closer at how the team has been performing lately, it almost makes sense. We aren't experts on the situation, nor the internal politics of DISC (which we're sure are completely cutthroat right now), but we may be able to shed some light on the situations. Let's take a little look-see at what's been happening.
WHY THIS DECISION?
For the foreigner, Drawkland is likely only known for their feat of four straight qualifications in the World Cup, starting with their very first cycle. Besides that, you might even know them for being perennial contenders in the IAC (after the first couple cycles). Outside of this though, Drawkland's history in international sport in soccer is rather pedestrian (unless you count hosting). Perhaps this is one of the bigger concerns of DISC, despite being a big-ticket name in nearly every other major sport, real big-ticket soccer success has eluded the Kick Corps ever since its failure to capture the Baptism of Fire.
To find an appropriate comparison, we could look no further than the World Baseball Classic. I'm sure everyone in that area of sporting knowledge has laughed at the 10-3 meme, which pretty much encapsulates the performance of the Base Corps in one inning of play. For the uninitiated, this was Game 5 of a best of 5 series in the Round of 16 of World Baseball Classic 43. Hosted in Equestrian States, this was one of the first times Drawkland had a legitimate chance of making the Quarterfinals of the WBC for the first time. They had lost the first two games of the series to Scootalove City, before coming back and winning the next two games to force the rubber match. In a dominant performance, the Base Corps had put together 10 runs in 9 innings to go into the bottom of the ninth, just needing to prevent Scootalove City from scoring 7 runs in a single run (which is highly improbable in baseball). Instead, the closer pitched a horrible inning, allowing not only 7 runs to tie, but actually 9 in total. A walkoff grand slam allowed Scootalove City to win the game 10-12, the most crushing defeat in Drawkland sporting history.
While this was before the 10-3 "incident," the subpar performance of the Base Corps had caused DISC to "blow it all up" in the past. After 4 straight cycles of terrible play, the Base Corps in its then-current form was deleted, and replaced with an interim squad of the Elite Eleven. The Elite Eleven, known as more of a showboating multi-sport act of 11 skilled athletes, was also pretty bad, so they were axed after a couple cycles as well. Still, the greater lesson remained - DISC is not afraid to axe an underperforming team and start anew. This could be what's happening to the Kick Corps in the very near future.
After not only ruining what was the longest starting qualification streak in World Cup history and failing to even muster a Cup of Harmony berth in that same cycle, longtime manager Michael Starre was shown the door right before the following IAC, thrusting DLK stalwart Carol Haywood into the spot. The squad managed to win their first-ever IAC championship that cycle, but only on their third of three straight IAC final appearances. The next qualifying cycle was again a disappointment, and a Cup of Harmony run that was nothing to write home about.
Safe to say, after inklings of what could've been far greater success, it could be really frustrating for the national team administration to see such actual failure on display. Imagine hosting a World Cup finals, playing on home soil, and only needing to not lose by 2 or more goals to advance to the playoffs for the first time. Instead, the team loses 1-4 in an absolutely pathetic display. This is the nature of the Kick Corps - placed on a pedestal, only to curl into the fetal position and try to suffocate to death.
I would want to delete them too.
IAC-7 SO FAR
Whether or not the Kick Corps knew this was probably their last cup playing together for a long time - perhaps ever, in this lineup and form, they certainly came out and played to impress. Hosted in Drawkland for the first time, IAC-7 hosting duties were split between Raikennax and Kayo. These cities, while not the biggest names for foreigners, are still major sport hotspots in Drawkland and household names nationwide. Raikennax, being the more major city for sporting, was where the Kick Corps was set to play their matches, and the rabid home crowd was certainly a factor.
To start the cup, the first match at Castle Stadium (where Drawkland's Group A was being held) kicked off an hour earlier than others to have a solid first game. Drawkland went toe to toe with newbie nation Orestea and cruised to an easy 5-1 victory in front of a roaring crowd. The next match, against fellow Sonnelian nation Crownbrook, featured a similarly dominant 4-2 scoreline thanks to a Cam Cross hat trick. With a playoff berth already clenched, the Kick Corps edged out a rowdy goalfest against the US of Devonta 5-3, securing a first-round bye in this lighter-than-usual playoff bracket.
Going 3-0-0 in the group stage of the IAC has actually never been achieved by the Kick Corps. Even the winning campaign of IAC-6 had started with a scoreless draw due to logistical issues. The 14-goals scored over 3 games is the best in a tournament group stage (not counting World Cup Qualifiers) by this team. Like we said, for what could be a last gasp for this squad, this is certainly a great way to go out. There's still much to play, however.
The playoffs were still a question, but not much of one. Drawkland has been a nigh-unstoppable force from the First Round to the Semifinals in every IAC since the 4th edition, and this wasn't expected to change now (especially being on home soil and all). Opening against unfamiliar foe ThePenguinLand, who had been performing well thus far, could've been the stage for a disaster, but Drawkland managed to edge out. Locked at 2-2 at halftime (goals by Madison and Crawford, Fernandez and Dinawsci), the defense managed to shut down the Penguins and come to a 4-2 victory. The Semifinals are now in the Drawkian grasp, so the only question is if history will be repeated or not.
WHAT DO WE HAVE LEFT?
With the Final or 3PPO now guaranteed, a podium position and some silverware is incredibly likely. However, everybody knows the fate of many a hosting nation in tournaments throughout history, so we shouldn't really expect much, especially with the class act teams making names for themselves this tournament. Off the record, a DISC employee was quoted saying an IAC-7 victory may change DISC's plans regarding the future of the team, but that could be false or exaggerated. For all we know, the game after the semifinal will be the last of the Kick Corps as we know it.
Let's not get too ahead of ourselves. First we must play Reçueçn in the Semifinal. In their first foray on the Independents Cup, they've been making a very solid run. Old fans may reminisce over Veldgouwen's nearly championship run in the very first edition, a no-name coming out of nowhere and shocking the Independent world (but probably nowhere else). Even older fans will remember that this isn't Reçueçn's first foray, that they kicked around for a cycle about a decade before Drawkland came on the scene. Reçu's team, playing in Stad-Stallion from Group B, earned the other first-round bye on the Raikennax side of the bracket. They are a formidable force already, and if the Kick Corps aren't careful, they could crumble. Need examples? Literally look at any mildly difficult game from the last 3 cycles we've played. We've won maybe two of them.
Our possible foes in the final or third place playoff are either Omerica or Kavagrad. Sound familiar? That's because both those nations played in the semifinals of last IAC in Mercedini. In either case, we probably shouldn't be too worried. After all, we did defeat Omerica in the last championship, and Kavagrad had lost to them that year. Our more immediate task lies in Reçueçn, and we have plenty of time to hmm and haw about the final/3PPO matchup once it's determined.
With the Kick Corps more than likely on their last legs as a team, it's impossible to know how the team will perform now. Perhaps they did know this would be their last outing, and that's what motivated them to play with so much fire and finesse thus far. Perhaps they didn't know, but this will still serve as motivation. Conversely, this could be the straw that breaks the team's shaky chemistry for good, causing them to completely implode on these last 2 games. We have no way to tell ... and we have no idea what will replace this team in the future.
We do know one thing though. We will always cheer them on. On Corps. Let's see that magic one more time.
