We Are Who We Thought We Were

Today's press conference with Padraig Smith to discuss the state of the club after firing Fraser went just about as you expect it would, which is to say not well.  The whole thing (1 h 11m) is on YouTube and if you can spare the time I'd watch it, just so you can fully understand where Smith thinks the club is and where he thinks it should go.

The one thing that was clear to me is that KSE has no plans to significantly increase their investment in the club anytime soon.  We're going to have to figure out how to succeed with the resources we have.  You won't actually hear that in the press conference, but the way Smith avoided mentioning any type of new investment and actively discouraged the idea whenever it came up made it clear we shouldn't expect any.  This would be the time to announce it if KSE had plans.

Smith also kept bringing the idea of investment back to "buying players" but there's a lot more to investment than spending money on the first team.  First of all investment isn't just money.  Its also interest and care about the team, which KSE has never shown.  But its also investment in the stadium, training facilities, staff, and all the other pieces that go into running an organization like this.  They all need help, but Padraig's answers today make me question if he even knows how far behind the team is in those areas.

The rest of the press conference was Padraig doubling-down on everything he's said between 'The Rapids Way' and yesterday's letter to season ticket holders about how he thinks the club should be run.  Every reason that we're in this situation was some version of deviating from that plan, every answer to how we get back on track was some reference to that plan.  Of course there was very little to explain why we got off that plan other than some version of "Fraser made the decision" and no explanation as to why he's hired two coaches (Hudson and Fraser) who decided to deviate from the plan.

Even if the plan is the right one, which I'm not convinced of, I'm pretty sure Smith can't lead this club to execute it.  Its no help to have the right answer if you can't present it in a way to get everyone else on board and pulling in the same direction.  He couldn't prevent Hudson from deviating (apparently), he couldn't prevent Fraser from doing the same (again, apparently).  Why should we believe he can find a coach who will stay on plan this time?

In the end I haven't seen a single fan on any social media or message boards who's reacted well to the last two days.  The Rapids are standing at the edge of a precipice and are planning to jump off with no parachute.  The number of dedicated fans, deeply involved in Centennial 38 or other similar things, who have told me this afternoon and evening that they're out or are seriously considering it should be setting off alarm bells in Commerce City.  Losing the few dedicated fans the team has combined with a club falling further and further behind the rest of the league is not a picture that ends well.  Chivas USA is not an unfair comparison when you have reports that the club was reported to the union for inadequate training facilities.  I don't see a light at the end of the tunnel that isn't an oncoming train anytime soon.

As for me, I don't know what I'm going to do.  There are 5 home games left, and I have conflicts with each of the next three.  I was planning to choose the Rapids for two of the three but now I'm rethinking that.  As far what happens after the season?  I'm not renewing my tickets as of right now.  Maybe thy knock it out of the park with the coaching hire and player signings and if so I may renew.  Short of that though I might find something else to do with my investment.  If KSE isn't going to spend money, why should i?