"Hall Pass" - The Official Ironmen Blog of Ryan Hall

As I am sure many of you are aware, the majority of us are not from the Newark area. Come to think of it none of us are from the Newark area.... With that being said, the team has done a great job helping us find places to live. Our house in particular has seven of us living in it. That's right seven! It is a three level house with the top two floors acting as three bedroom apartments and the bottom level is a studio apartment. Needles to say there is always something to do or someone up to something. There is never a dull moment especially when the pranks begin. So far with the season just starting the pranks between roommates and especially floors has been rather subtle but I am sure as the season progresses there will be some good pranks that I will gladly share with everyone (as long as its not one done to me) haha. For example (I will leave names out of it), some players have tried to go to practice only to find all of their shoes have been taped and tied together. Another more recent prank saw the removal of all the kitchen cabinet knobs from one of the apartments. Its amusing to see how angry people get when the can't get to their food....
One other thing I wanted to mention is the driving situation in New Jersey. I might go on a little rant here and I hope it doesn't offend anyone. This is meant to be in good fun but I do have a couple of questions/concerns. I have been very fortunate to live in cities all over the country and New Jersey is the most confusing state by far. Why is it that the fast lane seems to be the slow lane and the slow lane is the fast lane??? Also, how come you can't make any left turns?? Every time I want to make a left turn there is either a major sign telling me "No left turns" or I have to find the next round-about U-turn to get to the other side of the road. Does anyone else ever ask themselves these questions or is it just me??? Just thought I would ask.
I hope everyone has a great holiday and I look forward to seeing you at the game!!!

As we come closer to the season opener on Sunday, I wanted to take a look at the past two weeks which was the Ironmen's preseason. Things look great so far in the Ironmen camp. I was fortunate enough to play with a team in Cleveland during the 04-05 season that lost in the finals but was loaded from top to bottom with some of the best talent and legends of the game (i.e. Hector Marinaro, Zoran Karic, and Otto Orf). There is no doubt in my mind that this team has equal to if not more talent than the one in Cleveland. It is not a question of if we will win but how many we will win......
Our preseason started on December 1st and for the first week the team went through two-a-days. We would spend the morning sessions on tactics and skills while the afternoons were focused more on fitness. I have to admit, no matter how many times you go through two-a-days, they never get easier. My legs were sore for the majority of last week. On Saturday we had a scrimmage and I think most of the guys were excited to get out and play against some fresh competition. The game went well as expected. We played five quarters with a running clock. It gave us the opportunity to get used to one another during the flow of a game and also allowed coach Namazi to see some of the newer guys in a game-like situations. This past week was toned down a little a focused primarily on the upcoming game against Chicago. It also gave us the time to get our legs back so that we will be fresh going into the game. Although it has been a hectic two weeks it has also been a productive two weeks. I had to balance the schedule of two practices a day while moving into our new apartment and trying to get use to the Newark area. Now that things have settled, I think I speak for everyone when i say "Bring on Chicago!!!" Look forward to seeing you at the game! Tune in for the next blog when I discuss apartment wars and New Jersey traffic.

Hi to all the Ironmen fans out there!!! I first want to take a min to thank you for taking the time to read this blog. This is the first for me and hopefully I can give you a little insight on what we go through on a daily basis as well as what its like to be a professional soccer player. My name is Ryan Hall and I am entering my 6th season as a professional indoor soccer player and 9th season overall as a professional. I attended and graduated from Syracuse University in 2003. After college I played for the Syracuse Salty Dogs of the A-league for the summers of 03' and 04'. During those winters I played in the MISL for the Cleveland Force and coach Namazi. Unfortunately, both the Salty Dogs and Force ended up folding after the 2004-05 seasons. From there I spent 2005 with the Rochester Rhinos of the A-league. I then moved to Califonira and spent the last three winters (05-06, 06-07, 07-08) with the California Cougars in the old MISL.
This is my first year with the Ironmen and I am very excited to be reunited with coach Namazi and the potential that this team posses. As many of you know the Ironmen made the playoffs last year in only their first year of existence. This year we are looking to go all the way and bring the first ever Xtreme Soccer League championship to Newark! I just wanted to take this first blog to introduce myself to everyone and I look forward to future blogs and all the insight and behind the scenes of the 2008-2009 Ironmen season. Ill be back later on this week to update on how our preseason is going...... Season opener December 14th vs. Chicago at the Rock!!!! Don't miss it!