Were you ever the last kid picked for the playground dodge ball game?Or the guy who was voted 'least likely to succeed' in his high school yearbook?
Have you ever made a terrible first impression and weren't given a fair shake thereafter?
Meet the Memphis men's soccer team. They know just how you feel.But now they're getting revenge.
"It seems like everyone in the conference has been laughing at us for three years now," said Tigers defender Justin Dyer. "So now we're the ones that get to laugh back.
"We just played every game with anger."That attitude has vaulted the Tigers from also-ran to big-man-on-campus, a development that has shocked everyone -- including the coaches.Before the season, the C-USA coaches got together and picked the preseason conference rankings, largely based on last season's results.
Their conclusions?
St. Louis would win the conference. Memphis was picked ninth out of 10 teams.
Nostradamus they were not.
Fresh off a 2-0 victory over the preseason favorite Billikens, the Tigers (10-3-1 overall, 6-1 in C-USA play) turn their attention toward another formidable task: upending preseason No. 2 UAB.
More impressive than that victory over Saint Louis -- their first in 14 regular season tries -- is that these previously tepid Tigers are just one victory from a C-USA regular season title.
The conference's ugly duckling is just one step away from laying a big, fat, golden egg.
"The ratings never meant a lot to me as a coach," Grant said. "I knew what we did here last spring; I knew how close we were last fall. I'm just excited for the players. They've come through and put themselves in this situation."
Still, even Grant acknowledges this season has exceeded expectations. The Tigers' initial goal was simply to participate in the six-team C-USA tournament for the first time since 2000.
That's already been accomplished. Memphis is a lock to join the party in Louisville, Ky., this season. Now that goal has been modified: win the regular season crown.
It won't be easy. The Blazers preseason placing proved prophetic, as UAB sits in second place, just three points behind the Tigers.The Blazers' (9-4, 5-1) are 9-1 in their previous 10 games.
Led by current C-USA Offensive Player of the Week Leandro de Oliveira, they feature five players with three or more goals this season and lead the conference in scoring.
In fact, UAB is top dog in all offensive statistical categories. Countering that potent attack, Memphis features a defense that has allowed the fewest goals (12) of any C-USA team.
"We just worry about ourselves (defensively), said defender Gary Connolly. "Keeping ourselves disciplined, keeping well organized. We seriously believe we can take any offense."
The Tigers can score as well. Forward Andy Metcalf and midfielder Dayton O'Brien pace the offense and have accounted for 15 of the Tigers 25 goals this season.
In many ways, the Blazers' represent the perfect foil for a fairytale season.
But unlike most fairy tales, the ending isn't predetermined.
"You just really don't know (what will happen tonight)," Metcalf. "We beat (UAB) at their place last year, so I'm sure they'll be wanting to get a little revenge for that, but it's a lot more than that.
"This is for first place in the conference."
True, victory would assure Memphis the regular season championship and a first round bye in the tournament, but it's even bigger than that.Memphis has never won a regular season championship in 22 years of men's soccer.
The Tigers would also be the lowest preseason pick to ever capture the conference crown. The previous low was no. 4 Marquette, who won the conference in 2002.
Also, only two C-USA regular season champions have failed to make the NCAA tournament, the last being the 2002 Marquette team.
But for all the dizzying statistics stacked upon his team, coach Richie Grant states the only statistic that matters.
"Really, (everything) is in our own hands," Grant said.
And if all of that sounds like a lot to handle for a team that was supposed to play doormat to UAB and the other conference powers, consider Dyer's evaluation of his team.
"I knew we were better than that," Dyer said. "We have a determination to prove (the rankings) wrong."
They've already done that' Now all that's left is to write the happily-ever-after.
