Tradition Tuesday is a new weekly feature where we’ll explore the history, lore, and culture of the Dark Clouds. Confused about why we sing about Hot Nuts? Which Minnesota player coined “Nuts Of A Warrior”? Why does the section quack every so often? We’ll have the answers in Tradition Tuesday.

We’ve got Nuts Of A Warrior!

HEY! Nuts Of A Warrior!

We’ve got Nuts Of A Warrior!

And you don’t!

In 2010 the Minnesota Stars rose out of the ashes of the Minnesota Thunder (that story deserves its own post someday). After finishing seventh out of ten in their inaugural season, it’s safe to say that the Stars were not favorites for the title in 2011. That year the Stars earned a 9W-9D-10L record which placed them sixth out of eight teams after the regular season. Incredibly they still got to the the playoffs (only two teams were cut) and two wins later they were in the two leg Soccerbowl Final against the Fort Lauderdale Strikers.

The Strikers were heavy favorites going into the first leg at NSC but the first game ended with a resounding 3-1 win for the Stars. Or rather it ended with the Stars and assistant coach Carl Craig singing Wonderwall to the Dark Clouds (a moment now recreated by the Dark Clouds after every win).

A week later the second leg was held in Fort Lauderdale during unseasonably hot and humid weather which led into a rainy match. Commentators assumed the conditions would hurt Minnesota who were used to cold. While walking down to the pitch before the game, Stars forward Simone Bracalello turned to the camera and said, “Tonight we will see…we will see who has the…Nuts Of A Warrior“:

Turns out it was Minnesota. Minnesota had the Nuts Of A Warrior. They held onto the aggregate lead in that game to win the title. Only two years after professional soccer in Minnesota had almost disappeared forever, the Stars were the NASL Champions.

‘Nuts of a Warrior’ immortalizes the sentiment of a Minnesota team fighting against the odds and coming out on top. The Dark Clouds put the phrase on our 2012 scarf and today when we sing the song, we relive the fairy-tale story of 2011 when “the team that nobody wanted” won the cup.