Greg Wilcox is not you average soccer fan. Born and raised in Waukesha, he was the captain and middle linebacker on the Waukesha West High School football team that won a state championship his senior year.  But a fan he is.

Greg Wilcox was a high school football player, but has gravitated to soccer in his professional life.

“I actually, more so now than ever, like soccer more than other sports,” said Wilcox, an account executive with the Wave.

His passion for soccer and the Milwaukee Wave in general is rooted deep into his sports-loving nature. Wilcox has some great memories from his days as a young Wave fan.

“My favorite Wave memory is probably the same as many fans, watching Michael King play,” Wilcox said. “I know that when I went to the Wave camps, he was kind of the guy I idolized and kind of latched on to. I always wanted his autograph and followed his progress, so one of the main reasons I went to the Wave games was to watch him and his success.”

His fondness for the Wave led him down his career path. Wilcox interned here two summers ago while in college. After graduating from UW-Lacrosse with a degree in sports management and interning with Badger Sports Property, Wilcox came back to his roots. The 23-year-old is now an account executive for the Wave, a job he says he loves.

“For me, it’s easy, as a salesman, to sell the product knowing that I once went to the games and the camps,” he said. “I can relate to the people that we bring in.”

Wilcox knows not everyone who goes to a game is a soccer fan, but he believes there is still something for everyone.

“Even if you’re not a soccer fan, you can still appreciate the physicality, and the aggressiveness and the tempo of the game,” he said. “The best part about my job is bringing in fans that have never come to a game before, and then speaking to them after the game. Ten times out of 10 they love the game and want to come back.”

As for his future, Wilcox doesn’t know exactly where he will end up, but he does know one thing, it will be sports related.

“I certainly want to stay in sports. I want to grow as a salesman,” he said. “I know I’m just getting started with ticket sales. I can see myself down the line, expanding into corporate sponsorship sales and more managerial positions in sports.”

For now, Wilcox wants to gain as much knowledge as he can, learning and training to be a better salesman each and every day.

And almost as quickly, it was over. We lost to a Third World nation, the players and coaches did their talk show turns, and then … what? Have we gone right back to soccer bashing, or is this a new dawn for the world’s most popular sport?

As usual, the answer is somewhere in between. Which doesn’t make for great talk radio and doesn’t perk up an editor’s ears. And maybe that’s why few are taking a measured approach to analyzing the aftermath.

Soccer had already “made it” in the United States, but it its own way. The sport never will ascend to their heights of the NFL or MLB, at least not in our lifetimes, but what sport does? And anyway, that isn’t necessary to “make it.” Consider the facts:

There is a viable North American major league with (soon) 20 teams, featuring specific, state-of-the-art stadiums.

TV ratings for the World Cup have soared from 2006. While it’s true that if ESPN threw its might at plumbing, we’d all be discussing the Langstrom seven-inch wrench around the water cooler, there are still many more folks who are demonstrating an interest in the event, even if they’re never going to be hooked on the sport.

The USA won its World Cup group for the first time ever. Yawn if you will, considering we are a nation of more than 300 million, but that’s a great accomplishment for any CONCACAF team. And when you can only take that kind of step every four years, that’s a big one. Along the way, we frankly looked better than France, Italy and England, superpowers all.

Anecdotally, it seems much of the stigma around soccer is melting away. Most Americans still might not sit through a first-round Champions League match, but they appreciate and respect the passion of those who will. I recently had a friend complain about Bob Bradley’s conservative approach; this friend could not be dragged to a soccer match and now he’s tearing apart the tactical acumen of the national team coach!

Around the office or out and about, formerly disinterested folks will ask thoughtful questions of the True Believers. Listening to certain talk show hosts look for a way to kill the sport is like watching a grown man drown in 3 inches of water. They’re flailing and thrashing incompetently, using old arguments and showing their ignorance before finally just giving up. That’s new.

So does soccer matter here in the United States. More than it did a month ago. Less than it will four years from now. Never as much as the NFL, and far more than old-line media folks want to believe. And that’s OK.

Bennett played and nearly poked in a rebound in the 61st minute, according to the Rhinos’ web site. Details were not available on the minutes for MacKenzie, who is the Riverhounds’ captain.

Also in the U.S. Open Cup, J.P. Rodrigues played the full 120 minutes for Miami FC as they held off in-state rival Tampa Bay 2-1. A penalty kick in the 98th minute was the difference. For Tampa Bay, former Wave player Chad Burt came into the match in the 80th minute.

Both Miami and Rochester step up in competition next Tuesday, when the Major League Soccer teams are folded into the tournament. Miami takes on the Houston Dynamo, while Rochester visits the Columbus Crew.

T.O. UPDATE: Tom Oatley, the runner-up for Most Valuable Player in the Premier Development League last summer for the Kalamazoo Outrage, has found his stride with the Chicago Fire PDL.

After picking up his first goal of the season last week in a 1-0 victory over FC London in Ontario, Canada, Oatley recorded a hat trick in a 5-0 win over the Toronto Lynx in Chicago on Wednesday.

Oatley scored two goals and recorded three assists for the Wave in his rookie season in 2009-10,

MacKenzie played for the Riverhounds two summers ago, just after finishing his college career at Duquense before his rookie season with the Wave. He took last summer off — “I just wanted to take some time; I knew I had vacations coming up with my family that couldn’t go on if I was playing,” he said. — but returned to the outdoor game this year. The two seasons he spent with the Wave in between outdoor stints were invaluable.

Travis MacKenzie is the captain for the Pittsburgh Riverhounds of USL-2 this summer.

“It definitely helps, especially learning from the guys at Milwaukee about what it takes to be a true professional,” MacKenzie said. “I was fortunate enough to have ‘Gules,’ ‘Chelo’ and those guys to learn what it takes to be a winner and a true professional.”

Not only did the Wave experience mature MacKenzie — he is the Riverhounds’ captain — but it has been a plus technically as well.

“My turns and sharpness on the ball are much better this time playing it Pittsburgh than they were last time,” he said.

The Riverhounds are 2-3-5 this season, after toppling Josh Rife and the Charlotte Eagles 3-1 on Saturday. MacKenzie earned the assist on the eventual winning goal and also contributed to the buildup for the third. He has a goal and that assist for 3 points, having played 701 minutes in eight games. It was the first time Rife and MacKenzie had been on the field together this summer, after Rife had not made the previous trip to Pittsburgh.

On Tuesday, the Riverhounds take on Ian Bennett and the Rochester Rhinos of USSF-Division 2 in a second-round match in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup (watch it live). The Riverhounds defeated Detroit United of the USASA 2-0 in the first round, while the Rhinos produced the same result against another USASA team, the Dayton Dutch Lions.

Tuesday’s winner gets a crack at the MLS’s Columbus Crew on June 29. MacKenzie said the Riverhounds are starting to come together after a rough start, with at least four rookie starters on the field most games.
Once the summer season is over, MacKenzie’s most pressing priority is his October wedding. And just like his soccer career, the wedding plans are progressing well, he said.

IF THE US WINS: They have five points and will advance.
IF THE US LOSES: They’re out, and likely will end up last in the group.
IF THE US DRAW AND:

• ENGLAND BEATS SLOVENIA: That leaves the U.S. (three points) on the outside looking in, with England (five) and Slovenia (four) going through.
• SLOVENIA BEATS ENGLAND: Fire up the tabloids. Slovenia (seven points) captures the group with the U.S. (three) second and England (two) left out.
• SLOVENIA DRAWS ENGLAND: Slovenia wins the group with four points and England and the U.S. each have three. If this happens, you’ll have to skip the goal differential tiebreaker — zero for both teams — and go to total goals scored. The U.S. holds a 3-1 advantage over England. So if the U.S. finishes in a 1-all draw, England must score at least three goals to match the U.S. in that tiebreaker.

What does it mean? England, which has scored one goal in two matches, must go forward. That’s not generally a problem for the Three Lions, but it hasn’t led to many results so far (Wayne Rooney … Paging Mr. Wayne Rooney …). And as Slovenia showed on Friday, it is fully capable of playing top-drawer soccer.

So the U.S. — which was absolutely robbed of a victory on Friday by a horrible foul call on Maurice Edu’s late set-piece goal — can enter Wednesday’s match feeling confident that the stars are lining up. Hopefully, they’re not lining up offsides.

Nathan Sabich (left) and Pablo sign autographs following Friday night's exhibition at KEVA in Middleton.

The result was 6-1 in favor of the Wave, though it had the true feel of an exhibition game. Goalkeeper coach Mark Litton directed the Wave in the stead of Keith Tozer, who was participating in the Vince Lombardi Golf Outing. Pablo, Nathan Sabich and Nick Vorberg represented the first team, though Nick played not as a keeper but as a wide midfielder. And the 56ers, with an important NPSL match looming Saturday against the Bavarians, used their 25-man roster liberally to avoid wearing out anyone on a hot and muggy night.

Winning the game was secondary to continuing to build a strong relationship both with KEVA specifically and in the Madison area in general. Eric Fritz and his group at KEVA treated us great, and we are looking forward to our first Middleton camp there July 26-30.

On the field, the contributions from Wave Reserves stood out. Pablo, a Brazilian midfielder who moved up to the first team from the Reserves late in the 2009-10 season, hardly came off the field Friday, scoring a goal and driving the engine in midfield. Rogerio scored the first two goals, both on assists from former first-teamer Marcelo Santos. Santos still trains with the Wave and plays on the reserves when his schedule allows. Piper Lee also picked up a pair of goals. The rest of the players moved in and out of the lineup easily, buoyed by the comfort of training and playing together throughout the winter.

Litton, who also is the coach of the Wave Reserves, said the effort just reinforces the value of the Wave Reserves. Most of the players train with the first team every day, learning the system of play and providing Tozer flexibility if first-team players are hurt. On Friday, that allowed him to seamlessly integrate them with the first-team players such as Nathan Sabich. Look for rebroadcasts of the game on Time Warner Sports 32 beginning the week of June 21. You can see a match report from Wisconsin Soccer Central here.

Spencer and his sister with Wave Head Coach Keith Tozer

A Whitefish Bay resident, Spencer collected items from his tae kwon do class, his soccer team and his neighborhood. He has some shinguards, jerseys, a few balls and some other stuff that we’ll make sure end up in good hands. There are plenty of great organizations that distribute equipment like this, including the Passback program from the U.S. Soccer Foundation and Soccer Without Borders.

Spencer received an impromptu tour of the trophy case and a history lesson from Wave President/CEO Peter Wilt, then met and posed for a photo with Head Coach Keith Tozer. We genuinely appreciated his act of kindness, which falls right in line with the Wave’s year-round mission in the community.

Many people know about our school appearances and our work at Wave Summer Soccer Camps. Fewer know that our players visit Children’s Hospital once or twice a month to call  Bingo games for the kids, or that we raised $10,000 for Go Pink! Soccer, or collected stuffed animals, hats and mittens and gently used books at our games. This sort of grass-roots support of a wide range of great causes is a hallmark of the organization.

Next Friday you can participate in a Wave of Hope toy drive at iPic in Bayshore Town Center and enter a VIP section for the premiere of Toy Story 3. All the toys will be donated to the Ronald McDonald House, which was the recipient last season of more than 100 stuffed animals from our Teddy Bear Toss. The movie begins at 6:55 but the event starts at 5 p.m., so tell your friends.

And for the 2010-11 season, we are committed to dramatically increasing this grass-roots movement. We’ll have more jersey auctions, more collections and donations, more fund-raising. The Wave staff is sincerely grateful for the way our fans stepped up in 2009-10, and we know this coming season more of you can do your part — just like Spencer.

Huffington Post shares the depths of ESPN’s commitment to broadcasting this World Cup, and it’s far bigger than 2006.

And the way fans follow this action will be unlike any sporting event before.

Talking about the USA-England matchup on Saturday, it’s good to see that Wayne Rooney is maturing and calming down.

And don’t think the Americans don’t plan to stick a few elbows in him.

Off the field, the South African government isn’t messing around with hooligans.

And England’s Daily Star tell us that manager Fabio Capello will rely on electronic surveillance to catch John Terry in the act.

Finally, a three missives from close to home. ESPN.com’s Jeff Carlisle, a former guest on the Soccer Saturday radio show, brings us a great dissection of why the U.S. missed every World Cup from 1954 to 1986.

The Match Pricks, those Soccer Saturday regulars, introduce us to #hateenglandweek.

And our own Peter Wilt just picks with his heart. Bless him.

Enjoy the reading and we’ll see you Saturday at The Highbury and Mo’s on Bluemound for the World Cup viewing parties.

As coach of the U.S. national futsal team, Keith Tozer brings elements from around the world to the speed and agility component of the camp program.

Keith Tozer and the staff are adding an agility module to the morning program. Brand-new speed ladders, hurdles and poles will be utilized in age-specific sessions designed to improve campers’ coordination and technique with and without a ball at their feet.

“Both as a domestic and international coach, I have found that the things I have brought back with me have been a huge benefit for our players,” Tozer said. “Adding this component to the camp program across the board will be a huge benefit for all the campers.”

As with all the Wave camp curriculum, it’s designed to be fun, to teach technique and be age appropriate. Every camper, from the 4-year-old Mini-Kickers to the teenagers, will have this aspect built into their camp day each day. It will begin with proper fundamentals — how to change direction; how to run forward, backward and laterally; and even the right way to fall and get back up. Performed without the ball, the movements will allow campers to focus on the correct body position. Then a ball will be added, so campers get the feel of the movements in a soccer-specific environment.

In addition to improving campers’ ability on the field, Tozer sees an added benefit in the new program.

“With the lack of really dedicated gym classes nowadays in schools, we’re finding our campers are maybe not as coordinated as they were years ago,” he said. “This will help get them going in the right direction.”

Online registration for the first week of summer camps continue through this Thursday; walk-ups are accepted onsite next week at Richfield, Racine, Wauwatosa, Glendale and New Berlin.

Tom Oatley picked up the assist on the winning goal in the 93rd minute as the Chicago Fire PDL team defeated the Michigan Bucks 2-1 on Thursday night. Oatley’s shot was deflected by the keeper but Mark Blades was there to clean up the rebound. The Fire PDL are 3-1-1 this season.

Ian Bennett tallied an assist on the winning goal for the Rochester Rhinos in a 2-1 triumph over the Vancouver Whitecaps on May 29. Bennett has 198 minutes in five appearances for the Rhinos.

Travis MacKenzie has played 431 minutes in five appearances for the Pittsburgh Riverhounds of USL-2.

Also in USL-2, Josh Rife of the Charlotte Eagles has played all but 10 minutes in eight games for the Eagles. He has one assist.

And J.P. Rodrigues remains a stalwart on the back line for Miami FC of the NASL, though exact stats for minutes played are not available. Miami FC is 1-2-5 this season.