DID THE RHINOS RETIRE DOUG MILLER'S #19?

The Rhinos made their preseason debut yesterday in a 2-1 loss to the Charleston Battery at SAS Soccer Park in Cary, NC.

Cary soccer fan Jarrett Campbell posted pictures of the match and this one caught my eye. Was that someone wearing Doug Miller's #19?

Apparently the Rhinos have given jersey #19 to Indiana University midfielder/forward Mike Ambersley. So, I guess that means that when the team gave Doug Miller that big framed #19 jersey at the last regular season match at Frontier Field, that didn't mean that the jersey number was retired. Granted, it was only a preseason game and they could change things for the regular season, but that just didn't seem right to me.

I was curious if the Rhinos had handed out Mickey Trotman's #14 in camp. Thankfully, it appears that the team has kept Mickey's number retired as John Ball was listed as #13 and Frankie SanFilippo was listed as #15, but there was nobody that had been given the #14.

Other jersey number notes:

- Rookie defender Kenney Bertz was wearing Scott Schweitzer's old #4

- Juninho wore Bill Sedgewick's old #11 (Livonia native Jordan Chirico was wearing Juninho's old #16)

- Matthew Delicate wore #7, Johnny Menyongar wore #10, Aaran Lines wore #18, and Charles Gbeke wore #23

- Penfield native Josh Bolton wore #28 and Spencerport resident Patrick Gallagher wore #2

- Milton Blanco, who played last season for MLS' Chivas USA, was wearing Jonny Steele's #22. Steele isn't in camp as he's still playing indoor with the Kansas City Comets of the MISL.

Jarrett Campbell's coverage of the match, including a link to a lot more pictures, can be found here: http://trisoccerfan.blogspot.com/2006/04/rhinos-drop-120-minute-friendly-to.html

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author, and not necessarily those of the Rochester Rhinos or SoccerSam.com. Feel free to send any comments or complaints to news@soccersam.com. James promises to read (but not to respond) to all of them.