God, Country, Soccer

Conor Casey shoot for the record book tonight as Colorado takes on San Jose tonight (Altitude 7:30pm). He is tied for goals scored in a season with John Spencer at 14. With the Earthquakes coming to town it looks promising that Casey score that 15th goal this evening. Check out The Undercurrent for more details.

I did an interview for Class VI with Coach Gary Smith. Check it out!

Colorado has waived Stephen Keel. With the rosters being downsized this year, poor Keel got caught in a numbers game. The Rapids signed their draft pick Ross Schunk and are seemingly making way for Scott Palguta.

It's that time again, time to play Arm Chair GM. The MLS Players Union has realeased the player's salaries for 2009. If you care, the Rapids salaries are listed below. Team / Name / Position / Base Salary / Guaranteed Salary COL Ballouchy Mehdi M $ 100,000.00 $ 118,000.00 COL Burpo Preston GK $ 57,871.99 $ 57,871.99 COL Casey Conor F $ 200,000.00 $ 200,000.00 COL Ceus Steward GK $ 20,100.00 $ 20,100.00 COL Clark Colin M $ 85,000.00 $ 90,000.00 COL Colaluca Nico M $ 75,000.00 $ 108,000.00 COL Cooke Terry M $ 187,500.00 $ 192,500.00 COL Cummings Omar F $ 65,000.00 $ 73,750.00 COL Dalby Greg M $ 34,650.00 $ 34,650.00 COL DiRaimondo John M $ 20,100.00 $ 20,100.00 COL Gibbs Cory D $ 110,000.00 $ 117,142.86 COL Guerrero Ivan M $ 154,000.00 $ 161,000.00 COL Harden Ty D $ 34,008.00 $ 34,008.00 COL Harvey Jordan D $ 50,000.00 $ 51,250.00 COL Ihemelu Ugo D $ 140,000.00 $ 140,000.00 COL Keel Stephen D $ 34,000.00 $ 34,000.00 COL Kimura Kosuke D $ 52,500.00 $ 52,500.00 COL LaBrocca Nick

The Rapids unveiled their jerseys for 2009. Something is missing...hmmm...it's really subtle. The "Colorado" and "Rapids" wordmarks have been removed for this year. We saw this last year when D.C. United started the year with a blank jersey, only to have a sponsor added later in the year. Could something be in the works for Colorado? Could Wal-Mart be the next thing added to the jerseys? Or is not printing the letters on the jersey just a cost cutting measure?

Soccer by Ives is reporting that Colorado has made a trade with Toronto FC for the rights of Forward Gregory Richardson. Richardson is a Guyanese Forward who is/was on trial with Toronto FC coming from Joe Public FC in Trinidad & Tobago. You might remember him from scoring a hat trick against New England in the Champions League. If the report is correct, what a deal for the Rapids. Only giving up what looks like a second round pick for a player who the Rapids desperately need. He's a bit of an unknown quantity, which has bitten Colorado before, however only having 2 proven forwards on the roster, the addition of depth in Richardson can't hurt. I'll make this guarantee right now, he'll be better than Thiago Martins.

The Colorado Rapids have their eyes on 32 year old Southampton Forward/Midfielder Jason Euell. Euell has been capped 3 times for Jamaica and has spent time with clubs, Wimbledon, Charlton Athletic and Middlesbrough. Not only that, but from his Wikipedia page , he appears to be quite the philanthropist, spending time with charities that help and encourage the deaf and hard of hearing. He himself is deaf in one ear.

Sorry for the lack of posts recently, what can I say, the Mexico vs. USA game had me speechless! What a win, 2-0 again, how fitting. As for what's next for GCS, I have a story in the works that you'll definitely want to read. Stay tuned for that, as I work out the details.

I'm so excited, I cannot even tell you. USA vs. Mexico. 5pm on ESPN2. As far as predictions go, here's mine. It will start slow, the weather is going to be crappy, so it'll take a while for the guys to warm up. Look for Beasley to work the left flank and use his speed to set up Donovan. I see a first have strike from Dempsey, cleaning up a rebound from Landon Donovan. Second half, Mexico comes on strong, putting pressure on Tim Howard. But the defense will hold, Gooch will get a yellow, just becuase he's so big, the refs pick on him. Look for the nail in the coffin to come from second half sub Jose Francisco Torres. For the final score, USA 2, Mexico 0. What's your prediction? Feel free to post yours on the comments section. Also, where you will be watching? Here's a funny video for you that I first saw on The Offside Rules :

It's Official . Christian Gomez has been traded back to D.C. United.

It appears that the Christian Gomez trade situation is coming to a climax. Washington Post Soccer Insider is reporting that Gomez and D.C. are to be re-United as early as today. As a part of the deal, the Rapids would get back their Designated Player slot, which means absolutely nothing. The Rapids weren't going to use it anyway, which is why they traded it away in the first place. I just hope the Rapids don't have to pay him most of his salary to play for another team.

The Rapids first round draft pick of 2007, Nico Colaluca has been in New York training with the Red Bulls the past week or so. Word comes today that he played in a pre-season game yesterday for New York against the US U-17 team. Huh? Why is this so? What's the story? Is he a Rapid or not? He's only played 4 games in 2 years with the Rapids, but with Cooke getting older, his shot may be coming soon. Why isn't he in training camp with Colorado? I'll try to find out what I can, stay posted. Edit: Here's photographic evidence from Red Bull New York's website. (Click image to enlarge)

The Denver Post reports "Of the 34 players currently in camp, Smith said only captain Pablo Mastroeni has a guaranteed spot."

Boom...outta here Marcelo Gallardo. Washington Post Soccer Insider Steven Goff is reporting that D.C. United has gone the way of Denilson (ie. parted ways) with the injury prone forward. If you had your money on David Beckham being the next DP to leave MLS, I hope you didn't bet the mortgage.

I posted the list of players invited to camp yesterday. Here's how I see things shaking out, at the end of training camp. This is a little bit of what I'd like to see, and also what I think will happen mixed together. You get to keep 20 senior team players and 4 developmental contract players, noted with a DV. -------------------------Casey-----------------Cummings--------------------- ----------------------------------Gomez/Ballouchy---------------------------- -------Clark--------------------------------------------------------Cooke------ ----------------------LaBrocca--------------Mastoeni------------------------- --------Harvey------------------Gibbs----------------------Ihemelu---------- -----------------------------------Pickens---------------------------------------- Jordan Seabrook (FWD) DV Kwame Adjeman-Pamboe (FWD) DV *Mehdi Ballouchy (MID) Nico Colaluca (MID) Greg Dalby (MID) John DiRaimondo (MID) Ciaran O’Brien (MID) Jacob Peterson (MID) Ty Harden (DEF) Stephen K

The MLS has unveiled this years complete schedule. The Rapids schedule is as follows. 3/21 - Sat - 8:30pm at Chivas USA (FSC) 3/28 - Sat - 7:30pm Kansas City 4/4 - Sat - 8:30pm at Los Angeles 4/11 - Sat - 5:30pm at Columbus 4/19 - Sun - 1:00pm at Houston (Telefutura) 4/25 - Sat - 7:30pm Los Angeles 5/2 - Sat - 7:30pm Real Salt Lake 5/16 - Sat - 5:30pm at New England 5/23 - Sat - 7:30pm Seattle 5/30 - Sat - 5:30pm at New York 6/6 - Sat - 8:00pm at Real Salt Lake (FSC) 6/20 - Sat - 7:30pm D.C. United 6/24 - Wed - 7:30pm FC Dallas 6/28 - Sun - 2:00pm at Seattle 7/4 - Sat - 7:00pm Chicago 7/11 - Sat - 7:30pm FC Dallas 7/18 - Sat - 6:00pm at D.C. United 7/25 - Sat - 7:30pm New York 8/1 - Sat - 7:30pm Columbus 8/8 - Sat - 7:30pm Chivas USA 8/23 - Sun - 4:00pm at Chicago 8/30 - Sun - 1:00pm Houston (Telefutura) 9/5 - Sat - 8:00pm Toronto FC (FSC) 9/12 - Sat - 1:30pm at Toronto FC 9/18 - Fri - 9:00pm at San Jose (ESPN2) 9/23 - Wed - 7:30pm San Jose 9

Today is the first day of training on the pitch for the 2009 Colorado Rapids Season. The Rapids have announced their roster for training camp, which contains 34 players. Out of the following group, 20 will be kept to the senior team with 4 being singed to developmental contracts. So, who do you think is in? Who's out? What line up do you see using? Surprised that Tam McManus, Jose Luis Burciaga Jr., Facundo Erpen and Bouna Coundoul are gone? I'll be back with more later and tell you how I see it all breaking down. Forwards (6) Kwame Adjeman-Pamboe (FWD) DV Conor Casey (FWD) Omar Cummings (FWD) Kevin Forrest (FWD) DV Ross Schunk (FWD) DV Jordan Seabrook (FWD) DV Midfielders (12) Mehdi Ballouchy (MID) Colin Clark (MID) Nico Colaluca (MID) Terry Cooke (MID) Greg Dalby (MID) John DiRaimondo (MID) Christian Gomez (MID) Brian Grazier (MID) Nick LaBrocca (MID) Pablo Mastroeni (MID) Ciaran O’Brien (MID) Jacob Peterson (MID) Defenders (10) Kwame Sarkodie (DEF) Cesar Zambrano (DE

Is he a Rapid, or isn’t he? Is he a part of the future plans on the field or not? What are Gary Smith’s plans for him? Those are all questions that Rapids fans want answers to. There have been reports of him being traded to New England , Dallas and now DC United , but nothing has surfaced. I talked to him at the end of last season and he said that he’s not happy with not being on the field. If Gary Smith isn’t going to use him, shouldn’t the Rapids try to get some value out of the $400,000 they are spending on him, not to mention the DP slot they used as trade bait? The MLS isn’t a league where you can have dead weight on your roster; especially now with the rosters sizes slimmed down. I’m not saying that I want Christian gone; I think he does have something left, but he has to be in a very specific role. He has to be the playmaker. Is there enough room on the same field for him and Mehdi Ballouchy to be productive? That’s to be seen, but whether he’s going to be a Rapid or

What a great 2009 debut for the US Men's National Team. Stellar performances by Brian Ching and Sacha Kljestan give US fan's that this year will be a great one. Kljestan showed why he'll be the next youngster to leave the MLS in scoring a hat trick. Ching showed why he keeps getting called up, becuase he's solid. Watch the highlights of the second goal scored, Ching's skill to possess and control the long pass surrounded by two Swede defenders was outstanding, not to mention the little pass that set up Kljestan for the goal. Excellent work.

MLS Primetime Thurday has gone the way of the Tampa Bay Mutiny, an is no more. ESPN has dropped MLS Primetime Thursday from regular line up. Instead, they will rotate days playing games on 4 different days. It's too bad, I loved MLS Primtime Thurdays, I tried to make it a big deal, I even came up with a song for it. "It's MLS Primetime Thurdsay, MLS Primetime Thursday, MLS Primetime Thursday with a baseball bat!" I'm sure my wife will enjoy the news that I won't get to sing that anymore. C'est la vie

The Rapids have dealt their pick at number 20 to the Chicago Fire for their second round pick, #28 and also, GK Matt Pickens. Matt Pickens will step right in for the exiting Bouna Coundoul. Sad to see Bouna go, but this deal basically tells us that he's gone. The Rapids selected Kwame Adjeman-Pamboe (F/M 5-8 155 George Mason)with the pick they acquired from Chicago.

The SuperDraft is under way in St. Louis and as the first round comes to a close one guy is still in the draft pool that would look very good in the Burgundy and Sky Blue. Forward Baggio Husidic from the University of Illinois - Chicago. I'm hoping first of all that he'll be there at pick number 20, and also that the Rapids will help the offense out and take him.

SuperDraft 2008 is a very deep draft with a lot of talent coming out of college ( ESPN2 @ Noon ). However, the Rapids don't pick until the 20th selection. Don't look for the Rapids to come out of this draft looking any different than they went into it based upon draft selections. With the roster sizes being cut and developmental contracts at a minimum, if you can't snag a Generation Adidas player, why even bother with the draft? Is the player that gets picked by the Rapids at number 20 even going to make the team? If you are the Rapids, are you going to cut a guy you've had a year or two to work with, like Kosuke Kimura, in favor of a guy who is a prospect? Or do you let them go to the USL, prove themselves, get some game action in and try to build your team that way? I expect the Rapids to maybe try to make some deals, try to see if anyone will take Christian Gomez from them, and possibly try to deal to get a higher pick. Don't get me wrong, the draft is exc

Paul Bravo has been announced as the Colorado Rapids technical director. The all time leading scorer for the Rapids comes back to town after spending the past few years in the LA Galaxy organization. We'll see if this makes a difference. Hopefully he has a good eye for talent.

John Murphy and the Colorado Rapids have parted ways. Murphy was the Director of Player Development for the Rapids for the past 4 years. He is moving on to pursue other interests. The Rapids have always touted his credentials of having a US Soccer "A" License and also a UEFA "A" License, so maybe now he'll be using them. Details were not made available about where he is going or who will replace him. I'll post more when I find out.

Ugo Ihemelu has been called into this months US Men's National Team's camp as a replacement for fellow Colorado Rapid Cory Gibbs. With all the confusion in '08 about which team he was going to play for (Canada/US), it's good that he gets a chance with the USA. Congratulations to you Ugo!

It's that time again, MLS Superdraft time. This year's version will take place on Thursday January 15th at noon. The Generation Adidas players have been finalized and announced , and if you remember last year, 6 of the top 8 draft picks were Generation Adidas players, so take a look.

I'm back from Holiday and ready to talk some more soccer. I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year. I look forward to a great 2009 and hope to share it with you.