A Whole Lot To Gain, And A Whole Lot More To Lose

        Chicago has the best record in the PASL, both Massey Ratings and The Indoor Outhouse have them as the number one team in the PASL, though the Indoor Outhouse has them there for different reasons, they are undefeated this year, and now they are renting out the Sears Center in Chicago to host the 2013-2014 Ron Newman Cup Finals.  If the Mustangs are lucky, the PASL could gift them the other qualifying team from the Eastern Conference, where Chicago went undefeated, in their first game, guaranteeing an Eastern Conference team in the Finals, most likely Chicago.  But I doubt that the league front office would manipulate the tournament like that.  Right?  Or do they run the risk of having an East vs East final?

        The Mustangs have the opportunity to go undefeated for the whole season, fill the seats with up to 9,000 fans, host two great games at home and reap all of the financial benefits from that, expose the sport and the team to a large Chicago audience and grow the fan base, and most importantly, win the Ron Newman Cup, being the first non-Californian team to do so in the history of the PASL.  If the Chicago Mustangs could do that they would be considered one of the greatest teams ever in the PASL, and the second team ever to go undefeated in a season.  They are also still in the hunt for the US Open Cup and could also win that on top of everything else.

        On the other hand, things could go South from the start.  Imagine if Chicago struggled to fill the seats in their first game, considering that their biggest crowd all year was 1,216, and then lost their first semi-final game.  Not only would their season end there, but so would the undefeated streak, they would be 0-1 in the playoffs and 0-1 against non-divisional opponents this year, and they would be known as the team that owned the regular season, but blew it in the Playoffs.  I remember in 2011 when the Cincinnati Kings hosted the finals.  They were first PASL team eliminated, and in the championship game, San Diego went on to win the title in front of a handful of people in a virtually empty Cincinnati Gardens.  Cincinnati went on to miss the playoff the following year, never won a playoff game or made the finals again, and then folded as an indoor team in the PASL.  Chicago runs a huge risk, the same risk that the Sockers organization ran last year, of losing their first game and dropping a ton of money hosting a final for two teams other than the home team.  That would be a complete disaster.  The Chicago Mustangs are under an awful lot of pressure.  It would be a terrible thing to see them choke at that critical moment and lose everything.

        Last year's Ron Newman Cup Finals in San Diego were awesome!  In the first game Detroit won an awesome game against the Rio Grande Valley Flash 6-5 in overtime.  I was sitting next to the field with the Zellers and watching that physical battle from beginning to end was highly entertaining.  Then the Sockers edged out Las Vegas in fiercely competitive game that went into overtime and ended in dramatic fashion with the Sockers winning 6-5.  Then in the Ron Newman Cup Final, San Diego bested the Detroit Waza in a historic game that saw Detroit climb back in the game after trailing early, leading Craig Elsten to coin the phrase, "Don't count out the Detroit Waza, EVER!!!"  That game could have gone either way, but it was San Diego that caught the lucky bounce at the end of the game and walked away victorious.
     
        Given the excitement of last years games, there is extra pressure on this year's Ron Newman Cup Final to produce an exciting three matches for the fans.  One thing that is left to be unanswered is how the Eastern Division can hold up to the rest of the PASL?  Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, and Cincinnati, the 4 most likely teams to fill the 2 reserved spots for the East in the final four, have not played an non-divisional opponent this whole season.  Can these Ron Newman Cup final games live up to the standard of excellence set by the Flash, the Legends, the Waza, and the Sockers in last years finals?  We shall see in what looks to be an excellent ending to the 2013-2014 PASL season.