New Supporter Group Name, New Jerseys

This weekend the long-discussed merger between Class VI, the Pid Army, and the Bulldog Supporters Group became official with a new name, Centennial 38, quickly becoming C-38 as an abbreviation.  Named after the fact that Colorado was the 38th state in the union, joining in 1876, making Colorado the Centennial State.  I'll admit that my first reaction to the name wasn't positive, but its growing on me.  Especially when combined with this:

That's the sneak peak of the new Rapids away kit on MLSGear.com.  It appears to be confirmation of the rumor that our new away kit will be based on the Colorado state flag.

The home kit was already sneak previewed at the season ticket holder party in August but if you need a reminder:

The kits will be officially unveiled as part of MLS's Jersey Week on Feb. 25th-26th.  The 25th will be an exclusive VIP event at the Brown Palace wile the 26th will be on a caravan from the mountains to Denver (Breckenridge/Evergreen/Red Rocks/Confluence Park) ending at a public event at LoDo's Bar and Grill in Denver.

Those of us who pre-ordered a home jersey are expected to receive them before the unveiling.

News and Notes - Feb. 8th

Heads up, long post ahead.  Time to catch up on some stuff from the week.

• The big news is that the Rapids re-signed Jamie Smith today.  Actually, based on the scrimmage report from Wednesday, it appears to have happened earlier this week but it was announced today.  Good move from the team.  The knock on Jamie has never been his quality, its been his fragility.  The number of games missed due to injury versus the salary paid was getting more and more out of alignment as the seasons went by.  It will be interesting to see what his new salary is.
• An article was published in Paraguay yesterday that Eeduardo Echeverria was hoping to sign a contract with Colorado yesterday.  That's the first time his name was ever mentioned and we haven't heard anything since.  Bad info?  Contract leverage in Paraguay?  New player in Colorado?  Who knows.  He's a speedy left winger that could add to our attack.
• The August 21st home game against New England has been moved to July 17th.  As regular readers know this is the Jamesons Night game.  Moving it to a midweek in July, the same month as the Gold Cup is over at Sports Authority Field, makes me wonder if we'll see a "use your Gold Cup ticket to get into the Rapids game" promotion.
• The league appears to be using the week before the season starts (Feb. 25-Mar. 1st) as jersey week, with NY, Columbus, and Philly all scheduling unveilings and a Sports Business Journal Article today says that the Rapids will unveil their alternate jersey later this month.
• The Rapids announced that they are fully funding their U-18, U-16, and newly added U-14 teams going forward, which will make it easier to attract the top players in a competitive Denver market with Rush and Real.
• Castrillon is set to have surgery on his injured knee.  Time frame for recovery is not announced but I'm assuming ti won't be quick.
• The Rapids reserves and backups won a scrimmage against the Foxes on Wednesday 2-0.  Here's the starting XI: Irwin, Klute, Griffiths, Castro, Wallace, Powers, Sturgis, Hill, Smith, Serna, Akpan and the second half lineup: Maurer, Klute, Griffiths, Castro, Wallace, Powers, David, LaBrocca, Giraldo, Serna, Romero.  Academy players Martinez and Perez replaced Wallace and Powers in the 65th minute.
• Since the game Jim Maurer has left camp.
• Argentine forward Marcos Pirchio joined camp today.

Updated camp roster:

Goalkeepers:
Steward Ceus
Matt Pickens
Clint Irwin - Unsigned trialist

Defenders:
Diego Calderon - International
Marcello Castro - Unsigned draftee, International
Brenton Griffiths - Unsigned draftee, International
Kory Kindle - Unsigned draftee
Chris Klute (Atlanta loan through late-Sept)
Drew Moor
Anthony Wallace
Marvell Wynne

Midfielders:
Davy Armstrong - Homegrown Player
Tony Cascio
Jaime Castrillon - International
Machael David - Unsigned draftee
Kevin Harbottle - International
Nick LaBrocca
Pablo Mastroeni
Brian Mullan
Shane O'Neill - Homegrown Player
Dillon Powers
Martin Rivero (Rosario Central loan through 2013) - International
Dillon Serna - Homegrown Player
Jamie Smith
Nathan Sturgis
Hendry Thomas - International

Forwards:
Andre Akpan
Deshorn Brown - Generation Adidas, International
Edson Buddle
Charles Eloundou - International
Atiba Harris
Kamani Hill
Stefano Souza Pinho - Unsigned draftee, International
David Giraldo -  Unsigned trialist, International
Marcos Pirchio -  Unsigned trialist, International
Cesar Romero - Unsigned trialist

That leaves 11 international players in camp, 6 already signed to a deal. The remaining 5 are our Supplemental Draft picks Castro, Griffiths, and Pinho and newcomers Giraldo and Pirchio.

Laying out the position battle:
(in camp/signed)
GK: 3/2
DF: 8/5
MF: 15/14
FW: 10/6

36 total for 30 spots, 27 already signed. Assuming a 3rd GK that leaves 33 field players battling for 27 spots, with 25 already signed. Barring cuts/trades Kindle, Castro, Griffiths, David, Romero, Giraldo, Pirchio, and Pinho are battling for 2 spots (both of which could be internationals). Based on play in AZ, I think Kindle has the inside line on one of the open non-GK spots.  With Castrillon and possibly Rivero likely to start the year on IR though, that frees up 1-2 international spots, so the Rapids could carry 31 or 32 players into the regular season (9-10 of them being internationals) and give a couple of players and extended trial before having to make a decision when everyone is healthy.

Trialist In And Out

Just a quick roster update.  Pery Martinez did not come back to Colorado with the team, but Colombian forward David Giraldo has joined the team in Commerce City.

Updated camp roster:

Goalkeepers:
Steward Ceus
Matt Pickens
Clint Irwin - Unsigned trialist
Jim Mauer - Unsigned trialist

Defenders:
Diego Calderon - International
Marcello Castro - Unsigned draftee, International
Brenton Griffiths - Unsigned draftee, International
Kory Kindle - Unsigned draftee
Chris Klute (Atlanta loan through late-Sept)
Drew Moor
Anthony Wallace
Marvell Wynne

Midfielders:
Davy Armstrong - Homegrown Player
Tony Cascio
Jaime Castrillon - International
Machael David - Unsigned draftee
Kevin Harbottle - International
Nick LaBrocca
Pablo Mastroeni
Brian Mullan
Shane O'Neill - Homegrown Player
Dillon Powers
Martin Rivero (Rosario Central loan through 2013) - International
Dillon Serna - Homegrown Player
Nathan Sturgis
Hendry Thomas - International
Jamie Smith - Unsigned trialist

Forwards:
Andre Akpan
Deshorn Brown - Generation Adidas, International
Edson Buddle
Charles Eloundou - International
Atiba Harris
Kamani Hill
Stefano Souza Pinho - Unsigned draftee, International
David Giraldo -  Unsigned trialist, International
Cesar Romero - Unsigned trialist

That leaves 10 international players in camp, 6 already signed to a deal. The remaining 3 are our Supplemental Draft picks Castro, Griffiths, and Pinho and newcomer Giraldo.

Laying out the position battle:
(in camp/signed)
GK: 4/2
DF: 8/5
MF: 15/13
FW: 8/6

36 total for 30 spots, 26 already signed. Assuming a 3rd GK that leaves 32 field players battling for 27 spots, with 24 already signed. Barring cuts/trades Kindle, Smith, Castro, Griffiths, David, Romero, Giraldo, and Pinho are battling for 3 spots (two of which could be internationals). Based on play in AZ and rumors, I think Kindle and Smith have the inside line on two of the open non-GK spots.

Rapids Get Win In Arizona

Colorado played their final game in Arizona on Saturday morning.  Unfortunately my schedule didn't allow me to watch the game, but the Rapids did finally get a win by the score of 1-0.  Colorado started with a close to starting XI:

 

Calderon has been solid at center back, but the weakness of the left backs may force him outside to start.  Good to see Brown our first round pick, getting time with the first team.  He had the best chance of the half, putting a header just wide in the 17th minute.  The game was scoreless at half, and as has been the pattern the Rapids made wholesale changes.

Serna swapped out for Romero in the 79th minute.  Obviously Klute is getting an extended run at left back, being the only player to go a full 90 in Arizona.  In the 65th minute he found Akpan down the left side, who drove in a cross to an on-rushing Jaime Smith.   Smith finished it for the 1-0 lead in Smith's first action of the season.

Afterwards the team returned to Commerce City for the next week before heading to Vegas for games against UNLV on the 14th and Chivas USA on the 15th.

Rapids Lose 2nd Preseason Game

Last night Colorado played the 2nd of 3 preseason games in Arizona, facing the Houston Dynamo.  Alas the Rapids started playing about 3 minutes after Houston, by which time they were already down a goal.  Here was their starting XI:

Due to work I wasn't able to watch the game.  According to reports, much like in the Portland game, after an early flurry by the Dynamo (including their goal) the Rapids controlled play in the half but couldn't convert.  Once again they made a full lineup change at halftime, going with this group in the second half:

In the 61st minute Wallace had to hobble off and be replaced by Chris Klute.  Not good news with his injury history the last two years.  The only other sub was Martinez for Akpan in the 83rd, which was not injury related.  Again the Rapids reportedly controlled most of the play but couldn't convert, eventually losing 1-0.

One interesting note came from the commentary team on this match.  According to them they were told that Walter Martinez has a green card and would not count as an international.  Of course the information for informal games like this is sometimes sketchy so I'm trying to get confirmation.

The final game in AZ is tomorrow (Saturday) morning at 11am Denver time against San Jose.