Gamethread - 04.15.07 - @Colorado Rapids
By: Tom | April 13th, 2007Matchup: 7 p.m. CST, Sunday April 15th @Colorado Rapids
Season record: Fire 1-0-0 | Rapids 1-0-0
Last five: W - - - - | W - - - -
Weather: ~45F
TV: DK (national), CSN (local)
Key Fire injuries: QUESTIONABLE: DF Jordan Russolillo (L eye hyphema); PROBABLE: MF Chris Armas (R eye contusion/laceration); MF Pascal Bedrossian (R hamstring strain); DF Jeff Curtin (R adductor soreness)
Last meeting: Rapids won 1-0, Sept. 13 at Invesco Field
Opponent to watch: Terry Cooke, MLS “assists” leader last season
Reason #24 to hate the Colorado Rapids: their team website is so much nicer than the Fire’s, and even offers a game preview! What a novel idea. Well, at least I pinched the graphic below from their site (does this all sound familiar to you?!).
Reason #36 to hate the Rapids: Not only do they play in the stinking colours of West Ham United, they are also owned by Stan Kroenke, who just bought into the dreaded Arsenal. OK, this has nothing to do with the Fire and more to do with my affection for Tottenham Hotspur, but still, I hate them with all of my Lillywhite heart. Though their shirts are actually quite nice for an MLS team.
The problem is, we’re going to have a hard time beating them. The Rapids opened their season with an impressive 2-1 win over DC United. They have a number of good players; Terry Cooke, once seen failing to fulfill his potential on both sides of Manchester, is leading the MLS in crosses (or something), Kyle Beckerman (who I have a certain affinity for, given he shares the same last name as my grandma) can boss a midfield, and the spectacularly named Herculez Gomez scored last week, suggesting he might be back to form after a disappointing 2006 for the Galaxy.
The Fire, meanwhile, won their opener with an outstanding performance from Justin Mapp (enjoy him before he moves to the Premiership) and thanks to several key saves from Matt Pickens. But they were rather poor in the second half after a bright start, and may rely too much on Mapp to produce. Chris Rolfe, who performed some nice link-up play early on before fading, really has to step it up and give the Fire a second attacking option before the arrival of Blanco later this summer.
On the other hand, any team that plays at “Dick’s Sporting Goods Park” is clearly not very intimidating. The Rapids did have a packed house last week for the inaugural game at the stadium, though, and according to fellow Offside blogger Clint, “The Dick is rather lovely.” No comment.
Prediction: Fire 0-1 Rapids (Beckerman, ‘56). Post yours below.
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Comments
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Bring it on, big boy! Feel the wrath of the Legend of Herculez and The Eyes of Terry Cooke. How can you not fear someone who inspired an article titled “Whatever happened to… Terry Cooke?” - http://www.codalmighty.com/site/ca.php?page=whatever_happened_to/terry_cooke
Posted from
United States
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That’s a great article. The funniest part was “Terry soon decided that the life of a senior diplomat was not for him; coincidentally, this was just about the time that the Foreign Policy Research Institute decided that although his first speech had been quite exciting, his subsequent ones lacked a bit of effort, and they let him go on a free.”
Posted from
United States -
How do you pinch the graphics, man! I’d try to talk to the Blogger people, but searching their help section is like finding a needle in a haystack.
Good preview, by the way. This game ought to be fun one.
Posted from
United States
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