For $14, today's side deal gets you a sideline ticket (a $29.75 total value including ticketing fee) to a Tampa Bay Rowdies home soccer game. Choose from two games:

• Thursday, July 15, 2010 at 7:30 p.m. vs. the Puerto Rico Islanders
• Thursday, July 22, 2010, at 7:30 p.m. vs. the Rochester Rhinos

Professional soccer officially returned to Tampa Bay on May 8, when a crowd of more than 8,000 fans watched the Rowdies play their debut home game at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Currently headed up by Scottish coach and retired professional footballer Paul Dalglish, the Rowdies are chest-trapping, banana-kicking, and head-butting their way back into the world of black-and-white-spotted balls. Watch them take on the Puerto Rico Islanders, who are hungry to work their way up the 2010 standings, or root on the Rowdies as they gun for the Rochester Rhinos, currently ahead of the Rowdies in the rankings. Sideline seats get frenetic fans close enough to observe the fantastic flairs of Division II soccer savants as they attempt to sneak the European pigskin between an opponent’s legs and through the goal zone. Since both game options are Thursday games, fans can also take advantage of Thirsty Thursdays, featuring $1 beers from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

First born as a team in 1974, the Rowdies helped introduce soccer to the Tampa Bay region. Although the last home game was played in 1993, the Rowdies are back again, inviting fans both stoic and maniacal to scream at the sight of swift passes, firm kicks, and insincere handshakes.