Day 2 of alumni week saw nothing short of brilliance from the spread of alumni showcased. What appeared to be an ordinary Wednesday morning at Denver Sports Center gave birth to an underdog story that football fans could only dream of. It wasn’t individual success or flare that won the day, but the heart and desire shown from a struggling yellow squad to pull off an upset of extreme magnitude.
In the wake of the team sorting scandal that developed on day 1, day 2 began with a seemingly fair creation of four teams. Four teams full of hope and looking for success in front of a bolstering crowd.
Through the first hour of play, it was the green, orange, and shirts that dominated, leaving the yellow team with nothing but disappointment. Frustration manifested itself in the minds of the yellows as they watched the scintillating football on display by the other teams. In dark times for the yellow team, it was a laser of a strike from Nick Blanco that offered a glimmer of hope and something to grasp onto moving forward into the vital stages of the competition. The green team, arguably led by the timeless Andrew Kummer (Boomer), cruised through group play and looked threatening to the rest of the field. However, the oranges and shirts followed closely behind through consistent, all around team performances.
As group play concluded, the greens, oranges, and shirts found themselves in a three way tie for first seed, requiring additional measures to ultimately determine the semi final matchups. The greens prevailed in the first semi final behind two world class goals from Griffin Dorsey and a composed performance from the supporting cast. For a date with the greens in the final, the yellows, riding an astounding one game win streak, took the field. It was Peter May, the unsung hero of the day, who found the back of the net for the yellows to send them through to the final, a destination nobody thought they would arrive at.
Embracing their role as the underdogs, the yellows took the field for the final game with everything to prove and nothing to lose based off earlier performances on the day. End to end action captivated the fans, producing an environment previously unseen in the well renowned Denver Sports Center. The breakthrough finally came in the 4th minute. To the surprise of everyone in the building, it was the yellow team on the board, the same yellow team who failed to earn a single point through the first hour of play. After two minutes of defending, it was over. The yellow team had done it through an unfathomable showing of determination that simply wasn't there in the beginning.
The series of events that occurred on this mild December morning show that anything is possible and will serve as real inspiration to the aspiring youth around the world. Will day 3 produce comparable excitement?