View From The Couch is reporting that it's rumored that the Rapids will announce their new coach today at 1pm. Money is on it being Gary Smith as the Rapids have already signed one of Smith's friend Steve Guppy as assistant coach. In fact Sunday while I was at work eating bugs, Brian Forbes over at the Denver Post reported that short of an official announcement from the Rapids, everything points to Gary Smith including Guppy on a radio show stating that it'll be Smith. Click to continue reading...

It's been two weeks now for the tears to dry and the hearts to heal. It's Real Salt Lake who play Chivas tomorrow for a place in the conference final and not the Colorado Rapids. The season is over for the boys from Commerce City, I am back from my UK trip and it feels like a good time to try and figure out what happens to the team from here. Click to continue reading...

Conor Casey suspended, Omar Cummings on international duty. Landon Donovan and David Beckham away internationally too. Add to the mix that the Colorado Rapids have only one half-fit true striker available and, at first glance, you have to wonder where the goals are going to come from in tomorrow's game against the LA Galaxy. Click to continue reading...

Photo by ISiphotos.com

The 2008 season isn't over, but with just a few games remaining in the regular season, I don't think it's too early to start looking at some of the bigger trades in MLS and how they have shaken out.

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Photo by ISiphotos.com

The 2008 season isn't over, but with just a few games remaining in the regular season, I don't think it's too early to start looking at some of the bigger trades in MLS and how they have shaken out.

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Well, it could have been a first eleven. With a defense featuring Bouna, Ihemelu, Burciaga and Erpen and a midfield consisting of DiRaimondo, Peterson, Christian Gomez and Dalby, the Colorado Rapids fielded a very strong reserve team today in a straightforward 3-0 victory over visiting Dallas. Click to continue reading...

There's a nice write-up about Bouna Coundoul in the Denver Post (link below) and how he is caught between a rock and a hard place both at home and with the Senegal national team. He's saying all the right things about being happy as a deputy to Preston Burpo but it is clear how frustrated he is at being on the bench both for the Colorado Rapids and Senegal. Click to continue reading...

One thing that may be sneaking up on everyone is next Monday's trade deadline. Yup, Major League Soccer is just like every other American sports league by having a trade deadline. The big question is who is left to be traded at this point? - New York is looking for a striker within the league. We've known [. Click to continue reading...

Crikey! Didn't we just play a game? The Colorado Rapids have a very quick turnaround this week and will be off tomorrow for the game on Thursday night against Dallas. Unfortunately, that gives me no time to get up to training due to work commitments to suss out camp mood and get an idea of the line-up. Click to continue reading...

Confession. I only saw the last 20 minutes or so of this game due to other commitments and a need to change shoes. It's a long story. Suffice it to say I have very little intelligent to say about the game. I arrived when it was already 2-0 to Real Salt Lake, saw a bit of honest running from the likes of Omar Cummings and very little actual shots on goal. Click to continue reading...

The Colorado Rapids go into Friday night's Rocky Mountain Cup showdown against Real Salt Lake with what amounts to a mini injury crisis. Pablo Mastroeni and Terry Cooke, two of the most influential players in the team, will not make the trip due to hamstring injuries. Click to continue reading...

The Colorado Rapids woes continued as they lost Toronto FC at Dicks Sporting Goods Park. Toronto hadn't won a game in 2 months. The Rapids had only won once in their last 10. But Toronto was missing players (Amando Guevara, Laurent Robert, Marco Velez, Carmelo Lobo) forcing them to start some reserves. Click to continue reading...

Wizards captain, Jimmy Conrad, is now all star winning captain, Jimmy Conrad. Conrad played all 90 minutes, captaining the MLS all stars tonight against West Ham United at BMO Field in Toronto. United put up a good effort against the MLS all stars. They grabbed the lead through Dean Ashton in the 26th minute. Click to continue reading...

The Colorado Rapids are in Frisco, Texas today to play FC Dallas. Dallas has 2 wins and 3 ties in their last 10 games. While they're struggled for points during this stretch they've only been shut out once, a 1-0 loss at New York. Can the Rapids shut them out this time around?

The only injuries with the Rapids worth noting at this time, sorry Justin, are Mike Petke, Tom McManus and all-star Christian Gomez.

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Those who were disappointed that no Colorado Rapids' players were selected to the starting XI last week for the All-Star Game can now comfort themselves with the knowledge that coach, Steve Nichol, has selected two squad members in Pablo Mastroeni and Christian Gomez. Click to continue reading...

Coach Steve Nicol added 5 players to the MLS All Star roster and commissioner Don Garber added his 2 commissioner picks to the squad that will face West Ham.

Nicol added Pablo Mastroeni, Juan Pable Angel, Jim Brennan, Christian Gomez and Pat Onstad. Garber choose Edson Buddle and Dwayne De Rosario.

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Colorado Rapids 2-1 Dallas: I can't believe it, but I never did post a comment on the game last Sunday, and it was a beaut'. The Rapids used their normal relentless style of play, but also slipped one in in the 6th just for good measure. If Tom keeps scoring like that, the Rapids will be unstoppable.

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Is it unfair to say that Colorado got the better end of the deal in the Christian Gomez deal? Maybe, maybe not. One thing I do feel certain about though is that for the Rapids Gomez is worth every cent and then some. If you don't believe me watch his on-the-money assist on Conor Casey's goal yesterday against Dallas and then get back to me; if he's not the best CAM in the league then he's tied for the title (and it might not be with his succesor in DC). Click to continue reading...

Throw all the trash you like, Salt Lakers. The Rocky Mountain Cup is coming back to Colorado.

Let me start by offering a formal apology for predicting yesterday that Salt Lake would score a goal. That was shameful and, in retrospect, I don't know what I was thinking. I will put forth great effort to avoid saying such hideous things in the future.

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If you had told me before the game that a Rapids player would make a game losing error, literally the last person I would have guessed would have been Ugo Ihemelu.

Other then the Ugo error, the Rapids continued pretty much every trend from their past few games. They played good defense (exceptional in the case of Erpen and Kimura), contested the midfield, and had many opportunities which they didn't finish.

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One of the best problems a soccer team can have is having too many good players to field them all. That, and the ability to adapt the line-up to different opponents, is a sign of a good soccer team. The Rapids have both.

The biggest question on my mind as we await the game against Houston (with much anticipation, by the way) is who will be starting.

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How good are the Rapids? On Sunday, the Rapids outplayed DC United by any measure, and I still think they underperformed. I really think they could have scored three or four if they had just finished on a few of the opportunities they had in the first half. That's how good they are.

The match on Sunday was a great way to get back into the swing of things.

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Sometimes I think people talk about sports by saying really simple things in an overcomplicated way. For example: the Rapids game versus United on Sunday really comes down to which team shows up. In most of their games, the Rapids proved to be a formidable club capable of scoring a lot of goals.

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Maybe this is what Colorado Rapids' coach, Fernando Clavijo, thinks to himself when he's on the seat of his Harley approaching Estes Park. How am I going to get the most out of my big players and what is the best formation to fit the biggest of them all, Christian Gomez? Click to continue reading...

Do you want the good news or the bad news? The bad news is that we lost. The good news was that this was so much better than last week. The Colorado Rapids certainly bounced back from last week's poor performance against San Jose. They played with far more intensity and better creativity. Click to continue reading...

Oh dear. All that optimism from the recent games just went up in smoke tonight as the Colorado Rapids deservedly slipped to a 2-0 home defeat to San Jose Earthquakes. Lacking in creativity and verve, the Rapids never got going. Can anybody even remember a solid chance they had all night? Click to continue reading...

A Carlos Tevez header just two minutes from time saved Manchester United from blowing the Premier League title chase wide open. By equalizing against Blackburn, it keeps United a precious three points ahead of Chelsea. Even if Chelsea were to beat United in the big one at Stamford Bridge next Saturday (set your alarm clocks early), United still have the advantage of a much better goal difference. Click to continue reading...

The San Jose Earthquakes have very dangerous forwards in Kamara and Glinton but, by the time they shoot at Bouna, their team may already be three down. I say this not in some marketing bravura but because Rapids coach Fernando Clavijo will be fielding a very attacking formation come the game Saturday night. Click to continue reading...

One of the more surprising things about the Colorado Rapids fielding an unchanged line-up for Saturday's game against New England was the apparent absence of some of the more high profile players even from the bench. Unless I failed to see these players on the bench or the Rapids website is missing them on the team sheet, Pablo Mastroeni and Jovan Kirovski were not even substitutes. Click to continue reading...

Thoughts turn feverishly now to tonight's game between the Colorado Rapids and New England Revolution. Had to wait for full-time in England before concentrating on the Rapids. With none of the big boys playing at the top of the EPL, it was all relegation-focused. Fulham and Bolton secured vital wins, Fulham away to relegation rivals Reading. Click to continue reading...

So I'm still on a high from the Caps' victory over Carolina last night (even United's dismal performance against Pachuca didn't bother me too much), when I see this in Mike Wise's column in today's Post:

...Ovechkin is about to become the first Washington star in 25 years to win the most valuable player award in a major American team sport.

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I think I have a plan now: barring too much ____ I will post three times a week - before the game, after the game, and, once a week, I'll probably post something like what appears below - e.g. a big check-up on all the Rapids news I can find. I've been doing a little thinking about my approach lately and times come when I wonder what good I do in this space given all the laudable (unofficial) sites devoted to the Colorado Rapids.

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Ben Olsen can do it all, can't he? What a guy. FC Dallas' "FCD TV" has a great piece with an inside look at the Dick's Sporting Goods commercial shoot Benny took part in a while back. He's also got a great handle on the lingo of actors. He gets it. He really does.

Special thanks to the guys over at FC DALLAS UPDATES for putting this together (I do wonder, though, if it's necessary to have a blog name that's all in caps.

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Now, I really hate to do this, but I'm reading what I'm reading. The most for which you can hold me accountable is what I'm reading into things. Here goes...

- Remember that somewhat recent loss to the Bermudan National Team (no? Here ya go!)? If that ...

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...hmm, that title isn't quite what I'm going for...and I can't link to some of the statistical stuff cited below because MLSnet.com was gummed up and lame at time of typing.
Today, we get to the failing that doomed the Colorado Rapids's 2007: namely, the ever-sputtering offense. If Toronto FC hadn't suffered eternities of incompetence in front of goal, the Rapids 29 goals scored would have set the all-time low-scoring mark for the 30-game era in Major League Soccer (MLS).

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