Rapids Supporters Party

I was going to do a writeup of Sunday night's supporter's party at the DSG Park Cantina today. Deron White over at the Colorado Rapids Examiner beat me to it though, and since I was standing right behind him for the Gary Smith discussion I see no reason to duplicate his work. Go over there to get the lowdown on what Coach Smith said. I did get a chance to talk to a few of the Rapids reps after Smith addressed the supporters, so I'll fill in the added info I got.

Head Coach Gary Smith:

• There were no injury concerns after the rough play in the Chivas match. He expects both Clark and Kimura to be ready to go next week.
• The field at the Dick will stay the same width last season. If you remember in 2007 the field was the maximum allowed 80 yards but they narrowed it to 75 yards last season to squeeze in some field-side seats (and there was a rumor that Clavijo didn't think he had the team to play that wide of a field). Smith says he likes the way the team plays at the 75 yards width. I asked because looking at the field lightly-lined on Sunday night it seemed wider than last year.

Assistant Coach Steve Guppy:

• He talked about how the tackles in the Chivas game were worse than some of the rough play you see in the EPL, which is generally considered to be the most physical of the European leagues.
• Guppy mentioned that he was setting his alarm for 5:30 Monday morning so he could get up to call a player (or his agent, it was unclear) in England. He wouldn't say any more than that to us, but the Rapids are continuing to look for new options.
• I also got a chance to tell him that I was glad he joined the team since I first started following English soccer by following his Leicester City club.

General Manager Jeff Plush:

• I finally got a chance to thank Plush in person for his quick response to my email last year about comments Clavijo had made in an FSC interview. He said that there was a right way and a wrong way to do things and even though you're frustrated and worried (as I'm sure FC was at the time) that's no excuse.
• We also talked a bit about how the Beckham deal went down. We agree that its always good to see a Rapids rival in turmoil like the Galaxy are, but it may have not been the best decision for the league as a whole, at least the league's image if not its bottom line.

Rapids midfielder Terry Cooke:

• I didn't talk to Terry for very long but he did say that he expects to play in tonight's Burgundy & Blue game.

That's it for now. I'll have a unique look at the Burgundy & Blue game tomorrow, and the Weekend Roundup on Thursday (probably), before the KC game preview on Friday.