GAME TIME NOW 1pm SUNDAY

The Rapids have officially moved the game to 1pm Sunday March 10th.  Tailgate will start at 10.

A smart move by the club.

Snow Way This Game Should Be Played

Gulp!

That's the forecast for Commerce City tomorrow leading up to kickoff.  The National Weather Service is expecting blowing snow and blizzard conditions east of I-25 tomorrow afternoon with 8-13 inches of snow by the end of the storm tomorrow evening/night.  Their Winter Storm Warning from 2am-5pm tomorrow warns of hazardous driving conditions and states that people should only travel in an emergency and if they do travel they should take food, water, and a flashlight with them to be safe.  Quite simply, this game should not be played tomorrow.

However all the public comments from the Rapids are that the game is on as scheduled.  Multiple tweets, two different official communications via email and a press release this afternoon state that they don't expect the storm to effect the game schedule.  If the storm shows up overnight as expected at best the Rapids will look like idiots and at worst they're being irresponsible.  The only good outcome for Colorado at this point is a weaker than expected storm.  Otherwise they'll be asking their fans, and more importantly requiring their staff, to travel in unsafe conditions, or after a week of posturing they'll have to fold and move the game to Sunday (reportedly the contingency plan is a Sunday afternoon game).  In neither case do they come out looking good.

As it is, if the weather is as bad as predicted I won't be going to the game tomorrow if its played.  I won't risk myself or my wife in our Civic on roads in hazardous conditions and who knows how many idiots driving in it.  This would be the first time since I became a season ticket holder in 2008 that I've skipped a home game when I didn't have a conflicting event.

Whenever the game does get played though, I want to remind everyone of this:

That was Philadelphia Union right back Sheanon Williams the day after the Union's last visit to the Dick in 2011.  I don't think he appreciated being the target of Class VI that night.  Let's make sure he feels welcome this time, shall we? :D

The game is currently scheduled for 4pm tomorrow and will air on Altritude and the new Univision Deportes Network.  The Centennial 38 tailgate will start at 1pm.  Should the game be rescheduled I'll post the details as soon as possible.

Injury Report:

Looks like the injury reports this year are only listing Out and Questionable.
OUT: FW Edson Buddle (knee), MF Jaime Castrillon (knee surgery), MF Martin Rivero (R foot fracture)

Ineligible:

FW Charles Eloundou - No word that his visa has come through yet

Philly's only reported injury is that Conor Casy is questionable due to a hamstring.  I'm sure he wants to play back in Colorado though.  Here's my guess at our starting XI:

Since Buddle isn't ready I expect we'll see the same group as last week except Pickens is reportedly ready to play.

Key To Look For: Obviously the weather.  That could turn a game where the Rapids are probably the favorite into a complete toss-up.

Prediction:
If the game is played Saturday: No prediction.  Playing in a near blizzard makes it a complete unknown (though probably low scoring)
If the game is played Sunday: 2-1 Rapids win, goals by Brown and Moor.

Meeting the Don

Commissioner Garber, accepting a Class VI scarf at the DSG Park Opening

Today I was invited by the Rapids to a media lunch with MLS Commissioner Don Garber and Rapids President Tim Hinchey.  Also included were media from Goal.com, MileHighSports, the Denver Post, and Centennial 38, among others.  There were 7 of us total.  We only had 45 minutes or so of the Commissioner's schedule but it was a chance to have a round table and ask him questions.  Most of the discussion focused on growing the league and youth development.  If you follow the league closely you'll have heard everything Garber had to say on those issues before, but he mentioned the new partnership with the French Football Federation to train our coaches, the supporters culture in Seattle and Portland and how it relates to the newly combined C38, and where the league needs to go to meet its 2022 goal of being one of the top leagues in the world.

I did get to ask him a couple of questions that relate to Colorado.  The first question I asked him was the status of the trademark dispute between C10 and MLS over the Rocky Mountain Cup.

I haven't mentioned this issue here before, so for a quick backstory over the offseason MLS filed U.S. trademarks on all the supporter cups in the league (the RMC, Cascadia Cup, Trillum Cup, etc.).  The only groups to really object were the Cascadia Cup between the 3 pacific NW teams and C10 to protect the Rocky Mountain Cup.  Last summer, after the Subaru sponsorship mess, C10 filed state trademarks on Rocky Mountain Cup in Utah and Colorado but MLS filed for a federal trademark.

Garber admitted to not being up to date on the status of the RMC dispute, being more focused on the more public (and as such, the bigger black eye for the league) Cascadia Cup dispute.  He did say that their goal in filing these trademarks is not to commercialize the cups, but to protect them from being picked up by other groups that would put the league in an awkward position.  The example he used was what if Sports Authority stepped in and trademarked the RMC to sponsor it.  The inference being that Dick's Sporting Goods might have an issue if the Sports Authority Rocky Mountain Cup was being played in Dick's Sporting Goods Park.  I was hoping for a more complete answer than that, but I wasn't expecting one. ;)

The other question I was able to ask him was about the push by a number of vocal fans that MLS should be playing the traditional Western Europe Fall-to-Spring schedule to reach the top level.  Given the forecast for Saturday's home opener calls for blizzard conditions and 6-12 inches of snow I asked him if MLS sees that at all realistic.  He essentially said no, and that the schedule isn't what's holding back the league from growing its fanbase.  Eventually, maybe its possible, but no time soon.

Afterwards I was able to talk to Hinchey one-on-one to ask him to follow up on the media hour last August where he "put his stake in the ground" and declared we would start 2013 with a jersey sponsor.  Clearly that didn't happen and he admitted it and took the blame.  He said its been harder than he expected and referred back to something he said in August, where they had a deal lined up and signed off on, only for the CEO of the company to kill it at the last moment (a source has said the deal was with Molson Coors and it was killed in a bit of political maneuvering between execs of the two former companies).  Because of their ongoing failure he said that they've hired an outside company to help them find a sponsor, and they're widening their scope to beyond Colorado-based companies to national companies that have something to offer Colorado.  He also said that the Western Union team sponsorship, which will be officially announced next week, came out of their attempts to sign them as a jersey sponsor and will amount to the 4th largest sponsorship deal in team history.

He does admit that at this point its almost less about the money and more a credibility issues, which I was happy to hear.  This carrot has been held out there under Hinchey long enough that its starting to become hard to believe that everything else is going as well as they say when they can't get this done.  You can't get up in front of the media and "put your stake in the ground" and then fail to follow through on that without taking a hit.  I don't really care about walking around with a corporate sponsor on my jersey but for me its a bit of the "canary in the coal mine".  If the FO can't get this done, what other opportunities to advance the club are they missing or failing to take advantage of?

Goalkeeping Blunder Cost Rapids A Point

A pretty even game on Saturday night was marred by a spectacular goalkeeping blunder, giving Dallas the win.  The teams were fairly even in the first half, with the difference coming in the 11th minute.  A high looping ball came towards the penalty area from Ferreria and Ceus ran out to field it, realizing at the last movement that he had left the box and couldn't use his hands.  He tried to head it but read the ball badly, allowing it to bounce over him.  It was a simple tap in by Jackson after that.  Both teams had 3 looks at goal in the half, Dallas converted one and we didn't.  After Dallas had a couple early chances in the 2nd half they started parking the bus and the Rapids had the run of the game but couldn't convert.

Random Thoughts:

• I have not idea what Ceus was thinking on the goal.  He was standing at the top of the area when Ferreria played the ball, which left him no room to work with.  He ran out like he had room only to find himself out of position when he realized he couldn't use his hands.  Hurry back Pickens.
• Some good play from our rookies Brown and Powers.  They looked like they belonged more than most rookies do.
• Great to see Pablo back!
• Harbottle seemed a bit out fo sync with his teammates.  I liked what he brought but he'll work better when he gets on the same page as the rest of the team.
• Harris is my early candidate for my "why is he starting?" player of the season.
• Calderon looks like a great pickup and even at his smaller size he's not afraid of anyone.
• Mullan was serviceable at left back
• Overall a better performance than I expected given the number of players we were missing.

Player of the Match: Dillon Powers.  He created a couple of good chances early (one that Brown completely blew) and overall performed at a much higher level than I expected.  Its early but considering we essentially traded Larentowicz for him we seemed to have made out well.

And So It Begins...

Never gets old, does it?

We're finally here, kickoff of the 2013 season.  The journey starts in our playoff home away from home, Dallas.  Both teams have undergone a number of changes in the offseason, so its hard to get a read on either team.  It should be entertaining if nothing else.  Kickoff tomorrow is at 6:30pm MST and the game is on Altitude.  Calling the game are Marcelo Balboa and an old friend to Rapids fans, Marc Stout.  I challenged Marc to work Scott Vermillon's name into the conversation, we'll see if he attempts it. :D  The official Centennial 38 watch party is at The Armory downtown, but a group of fans are also gathering at the Westminster CB & Potts on 120th.

Injury Report:

Well the official injury report didn't get updated.  What we know is that Buddle, Castrillon, and Rivero are officially out, Pickens and Kindle are fighting injuries and are questionable I'd guess.

International Absences:

CONCACAF U-20 Championship: Dillon Serna, Shane O'Neill (Nice job qualifying for the WC guys!)

Ineligible:

Charles Eloundou - No word that his visa has come through yet

Dallas apparently has a couple of players injured and one suspended, so their lineup is going to be a bit piecemeal, much like the Rapids.  Early reports are that Pareja really likes the youth movement so we could see both our first round picks start their first games as professionals.  My guess (an that's really all it is right now) at our starting XI:

Really though we could see Harbottle for Harris, Hill for Powers, Mwanga for Brown, or Wallace for Mullan, plus a bunch of other combinations I haven't even listed yet.  And of course if Pickens can't go we'll see Ceus in net.

Key To Look For: Do these guys know how to play together?  We're looking at a pretty new group just getting to know each other, it could lead to some chaotic play.

Prediction: 2-1 loss, goal by Brown.  Our lack of familiarity hurts us and Dallas takes advantage going up 2-0 before Brown scores on his pro debut late.  If Pickens is out and Ceus starts the loss will be by 2 goals, either 2-0 or 3-1.