It’s that time of the year again.

If you’ve been following my work over the past two years, you’ll know that early May is when the true soccer hipster in me comes out.

Right when the Davis High girls make their annual playoff run and Sacramento Republic FC just starts to get in the thick of things, I clog our great paper with stories from an obscure soccer tournament that happens to be my favorite sporting event of all.

And now that The Enterprise made the mistake of giving me the platform of a column, this might not be the last time I use this space to write about the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.

On Wednesday, when most local sports fans’ eyes will be glued to game five of Warriors vs. Blazers, I’ll be posted up in the Internet-free press box at Capital Christian High School, watching a bunch of players you’ve never heard of (except for maybe UC Davis alumnus Matt Wiesenfarth) as the first round of the single-elimination tournament kicks off when the fourth-division Sacramento Gold host the Burlingame Dragons.

The Open Cup doesn’t discriminate among leagues in choosing its participants — Adam Lewin’s Davis Legacy men’s side was just one game away from qualifying for this year’s edition of the tournament.

Featuring 91 teams from across the country, the tournament kicks off its 103rd edition Wednesday with 23 fixtures.

To put its age in perspective, the Open Cup celebrated its 25th anniversary the same year March Madness first tipped off.

“What makes the US Open Cup so great is that it is completely unique within American sports,” said Josh Hakala, editor-in-chief for the website TheCup.us, which comprehensively covers the tournament. “In a country that worships March Madness and loves underdog stories, the US Open Cup is the ultimate underdog story, where a weekend beer league team could end up on the same field as a top-level professional soccer team.

“Where else can you find that?”

The tournament is typically dominated by MLS teams, who don’t enter the competition until the fourth of eight rounds, but there’s always room to dream of a run like the then-second division Rochester Rhinos had in 1999, where they beat the Colorado Rapids to claim the title.

Just making a run of one or two games can prove inspiring for a small club, as with amateur side Cal FC in 2012, when it advanced all the way to the fourth round, even taking down the Portland Timbers of MLS along the way.

Some of the players from that hastily-put-together squad were immediately snapped up by professional clubs, including current Republic midfielder Danny Barrera.

Says Burlingame Dragons president Jordan Gardner, a 2002 Davis High graduate: “The US Open Cup gives smaller clubs like the Dragons an opportunity to prove ourselves against top competition. The prospect of playing USL or MLS teams gives the guys extra motivation and is exciting for our organization as we continue to grow.”

Last year, Gardner served as the general manager for San Francisco City Football Club as it was knocked out in the preliminary round by, ironically, a Barrera-led Cal FC side.

Should the fourth-division SF City FC win its game Wednesday, it will take on the Republic in one week’s time, where ex-Sacramento striker Adnan Gabeljic will have a chance to score against his former team after quitting professional soccer to focus on an engineering career in the Bay Area.

There will be no shortage of interwoven story lines as the grassroots communities meet in the earlier rounds, but I’m sure you’re now wondering what it’s like to actually win the tournament.

For that, we go to two-time champion and three-time finalist Jalil Anibaba, a 2007 DHS grad.

“The Open Cup is yet another opportunity to bring hardware home,” Anibaba said. “That in and of itself is enough to motivate all the teams around the league, but the most special part about the tournament is that the teams from all over the nation can qualify and take part.”

“Every Open Cup match is played with a ‘win or die’ sense of urgency, which makes advancing through each stage of the tournament that much more intense,” Anibaba added. “The history that goes along with the tournament also makes it special.

“With that said, if you’re fortunate enough to win it all, it’s something that’s never forgotten by the fans or players.”

Just as I’ll never forget the look of pure joy when he hoisted the Cup after his Sounders won the title two Septembers ago.

— Reach Evan Ream at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter at @EvanReam