The New England Revolution spent Thursday playing some serious catch-up.
The team's plane arrived at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport nearly three hours late, at 1:45 a.m. CT Thursday. The team did not arrive at their hotel until 3:15 a.m.
While the Revolution party did arrive, most of their baggage -- 66 pieces in all -- did not.
Almost all of the team's equipment and about half of the player's bags did not arrive until 45 minutes before the scheduled start of training on Thursday. It was delivered to the hotel.
Oh, and training began a half-hour later than its 3 p.m. scheduled start.
Revolution midfielder Daniel Hernandez became a father Wednesday when his wife, Tiffany, gave birth to Candace Danielle Hernandez, an eight-pound, one-ounce girl. Mother, child and father are all healthy and doing well.
As training wound down on Thursday, a game of soccer tennis broke out.
A piece of tape strung between two three-foot high trashcans was the net. Cones commonly used during training marked the court's boundaries. The game resembled more of a soccer volleyball match as players passed and set, then spiked with their heads.
The veteran side of coach Steve Nicol, assistant coach Paul Mariner and defender Joe Franchino defeated the younger side of forwards Taylor Twellman and Pat Noonan and defender Jay Heaps.
"I'm glad I was on the inside, not on the outside looking at it," Nicol said when asked how much his soccer tennis skills had deteriorated.
Robert Whitman is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
