Gary Mack General Manager Stanislaus United Cruisers (vs. San Jose Earthquakes) “We’re going to enjoy this. Win or lose, we got the Earthquakes to come to Modesto. What we’re hoping this will do is bring us a couple of thousand people who don’t usually watch us. “And maybe a third of them will come back. We’re normally in the sports section twice a week anyway but we’ll be getting two or three extra stories. We’ll have pretty good media coverage. “You never say ‘no you can’t beat them.’ On any given day, it can happen. We have a better chance of beating the Earthquakes after their recent trade because I feel we can eat them up in the back with our speed. We have enough speed to break their defense down. That’s the only hope we have if we play out of brains.” Rich Gentile General Manager New Jersey Stallions (vs. Miami Fusion) “The feeling’s pretty good. The players are excited and they like the draw. From all the MLS teams, Miami’s the best match up for us. The Fusion has had high and low points to their season and hopefully we can catch them at a low point. If we can just eliminate Lassiter with his speed and play our top game maybe we can pull off the upset.” Jim Duggan General Manager and owner Mid Michigan Bucks (vs. New England Revolution) “The whole match scares me to death. Last year was a different situation. We lost, 2-1, to Tampa Bay and it was during the dog days of summer, they were struggling, we had played 10 more games, we were home and we were right with them.” Jerry Schiavo Owner, General Manager and Coach Uruguay SC (vs. Tampa Bay Mutiny) “The best thing is that we have an excellent group. And they are growing a lot. They’re an excellent group of players playing a long time together. Tampa Bay is going to be putting a lot of pressure on us. They’re a very patient team. It’ll be tough for us. We’re playing against a pro team but I believe in our team. It is experienced and we’re going to do our best out there. “Fernando Clavijo still helps us in many ways, in managing the team, getting players and all that. We are looking to see if we can do that in the future [moving up to a higher division]. We’re working with what we have right now. “Maybe we’ll have a couple of busses going out from Miami. It’s the first time a team from Region 3 from Florida is in the U.S. Open Cup.” Chris Libert General Manager Wilmington Hammerheads (vs. MetroStars) “It’s been crazy this year. We’ve done a little bit of rebuilding after losing our top goalkeeper and our three top goal scorers. But this team’s doing very well and has a good core nucleus. “We added a 13 member professional dance team this year and they’re just like the Laker girls. We consider ourselves an A-League operation. We don’t have player salaries like an A-League team but we have a full-time staff and a nice stadium. “We have one of highest attendance rates, 2,000 a game for the regular season, which is one of the highest for D3. We’ve sold over 2,000 tickets and have set up four additional phone lines. “This is the biggest sports event ever in Wilmington. We never had a professional team play a competitive game here although the Charlotte Hornets did play an exhibition game.” Paul Turner Head Coach Cape Cod Crusaders (vs. Columbus Crew) “We’ve had a couple of playoff games down here and some very exciting games. “But as far as competition and the level of the opponent goes, this is a big game. The excitement from the fans has been amazing. “We’ve had non-stop phone calls. We’ve had groups from 50 miles away buying 50-100 tickets. We’re hopeful we’ll have a good crowd. “I watched the Crew on TV. I got 20 minutes into it and turned it off. I think you can’t worry too much about them. That would just completely throw off our players. We’ll adjust slightly and not completely change our game plan. “We’ll try to keep it tight early. And hopefully 20 minutes will turn into 30 minutes which will turn into halftime. And then maybe anxiety will creep into the Crew at that point.” Brett Mosen Head Coach Tennessee Rhythm (vs. Dallas Burn) “We just got to win the individual battles. “It’s an opportunity for our young players to show Dallas, one of our affiliates, what they’re capable of doing. It’s a one-off game and anything can happen. We respect Dallas but where I’m from (England) there are giant killers out there. I’d like to think we can be one of those teams. But we’re realistic what our strengths and weaknesses are. We’ll be giving it 100%. “We watched them play the other night. Some of their players are very strong. We played against the Colorado Rapids in an exhibition about a month ago and lost, 6-2. So we’re aware of what the next level is capable of. You make one mistake and you’re punished. “We’re going to attack form the beginning. But we’re excited and realistic. With our defensive record, we can’t sit back and wait for things to come at us. Dallas has everything to lose and the pressure is on them.” Leigh Cowlishaw Head Coach Richmond Kickers (vs. Colorado Rapids) “I was very happy with the draw. A lot of MLS teams wanted to play at home because they don’t want to be embarrassed any more. We were lucky that Colorado wanted to play away. We are undefeated at home in six games and so we’re very confident going in. “Richmond is a big event type of town. We average 2-3 thousand a game and this will be our best crowd of the season by far. We’ve only had ten days to promote it but we’ll have a lot more time to promote the next one. Our fans are educated about the U.S. Open Cup process. We mailed out 10,000 cards to all the soccer households telling them about the game. “It’s not difficult to get the players excited for this game. I’m sure any top player in the A-League feels he should be playing in MLS. The standard of play is a lot higher than people realize. Rochester showed it last year. That was no fluke. And this year the standard is a lot higher because the weaker teams in the league are falling by the way side. “I think everyone knows we can win this game without a doubt. We’re not even hoping. It’s definitely a reality. Colorado is a better team but anything can happen and I’m just loving it. We have everything to gain.”