I rolled out my (half-blind, hence limited) thoughts on the Colorado Rapids tough loss to April’s Major League Soccer (MLS) flavor-of-the-month, the Kansas City Wizards. Fortunately, and as always, the Web restored my sight (Allelujah!) courtesy of game wraps by View From The Couch and wewantrapidman. You’ll find different formats – e.g. the former likes his bullet points and A’ing the Q’s he put to himself earlier, while the latter has a groovy stream-of-consciousness feel – but, among the names glowing on both sites, one name glows in both places: John DiRaimondo. In fact, DiRaimondo and his midfield running mate, John LaBrocca, enjoyed such a solid Saturday that they caught BigFoot-level attention: yes, Steve Davis made the duo the lead story for his Week 2 wrap for MLSnet.com. Good vibrations, Rapids fans, good vibrations…

…enough to get you wondering, by the way, why I don’t rate the Rapids higher in my Week 2 power rankings…though I think I explain it adequately.

Going back a week further – and this is where the “Busted Knee” thing snuck into the conversation – the reaction to Ciaran O’Brien’s red-card tackle on Carlos Ruiz continues to draw a little chatter; that could be down to MLS’s disciplinary committee going beyond the minimum sentence. The Black Panther Blog posted video of the tackling offense and one could imply from the copy that he’s not sold on the decision (it’s a terse comment and hard to read into; I don’t know what lev yashin actually thinks, only that his comment could be interpreted as contrarian). Not surprisingly, red cards have stirred conversation even this early in the season: The Original Winger held forth on several of individual incidents just last Tuesday…O’Brien’s among them.

To weigh in for myself, There’s no doubt, in my mind at least, that O’Brien’s tackle was dangerous. I am, however, less sold on the need for “bonus time and fines” being levied against the lad, for the reasons The Original Winger lays out. To sum up, start punishing stupid and the cards and fines will start flying.

All for now. Sorry this is a bit disjointed, but I’ve got a lot in the hopper today. I’ll get back to all y’all Friday.

I figure MLSLIVE.tv owes me about 50 cents. I’m considering tacking on some money for pain and suffering – I mean, here I am, primed to tell you about how the Rapids lost to KC and I got less than nuthin’ – but haven’t yet settled on a figure. I’m thinking, say, the low millions – ’cause this hurts real bad…and there’s this crink in my neck since – but, like I said, I haven’t settled on a figure.

Suffice to say, I didn’t see this game. Did catch the highlights, though, and – shuey! – what a second half I missed! All y’all will have to tell me about it…seriously, if you guys don’t provide some copy, I’m hung-out to dry here…so, please, anyone who caught the game should feel 150% free to tell me what I missed. If you just want to link to this article, hey, beats a kick in the head for drumming up traffic. I think I had something like 1,300 visitors last month…oh yeah….all right, I can’t make you famous, but you can make all of us smarter, so give it up. That goes double for anyone who made the road-trip.

Based on what I did see – again, just the highlights – I’d forward the following questions:

- Set piece defending: 1) was it as bad as it looked; 2) would you chalk it up to having the players better left to the “kids’ table” handling the piping hot gravy-boat before they’re ready.

- Your thoughts on the Rapids’ goals: I liked Jose Burciaga’s all right – even if Hartman shouldn’t have let that one in – but the other one….well, that ain’t gonna happen every week, now is it? Still, great work by Omar Cummings to let that go for…um…John DiRaimondo. Unselfish and alert isn’t exactly going to keep you off the field…good finish, too.

- OK, if MLSLIVE.tv didn’t take a giant crap on your afternoon (ooh…I think my knee hurts to; better call Dr. Nick), how did you think the Rapids did? On paper, this is about what I expected, if not a little better. A team can do worse after a opening day, home slaughter than a hard-fought home loss against a decent team.

All for now. I’ll tie some things up tomorrow…can’t say what yet…mainly ’cause I don’t know.

Therefore, the Colorado Rapids can beat a bad soccer team like red-headed step-children.

C) The Los Angeles Galaxy beat the San Jose Earthquakes last night, a team widely regarded as being worse than they are.

With San Jose not just perceived as, but proved to be a worse soccer team than LA, you’d expect them to put up a lesser fight against the Rapids than LA’s red-headed step-children…perhaps the tenacity of fluffy, white baby seals?

D) The Kansas City Wizards are not a bad soccer team.

Well, now what? How will the Rapids fare against the Wizards this weekend, a team generally believed to be competent? I don’t know, but we’ll have to wait on Sunday for a firm answer. The point of the exercise above boils down to something simple: I resisted drawing too many conclusions from Colorado’s win over LA and, given my perception of San Jose, making much of LA’s subsequent win doesn’t tally either. I expect Saturday’s game will provide a bit more context…even if I don’t know what the hell is going on with DC United.

Here’s what we do know. Here’s the team KC started last weekend in the win over DC United:

Kevin Hartman, Tyson Wahl, Jimmy Conrad, Michael Harrington, Jack Jewsbury, Jonathan Leathers, Carlos Marinelli (Kurt Morsink 74), Kerry Zavagnin, Ryan Pore, Ivan Trujillo (Scott Sealy 69), Claudio Lopez (Eloy Colombano 89).

With none of those guys showing up as injured in MLSnet.com’s preview (only Sealy’s name appears and he’s still probable), and after taking a look at the subs not used by KC last week, I’m pretty sure we’ll see the same bunch on Saturday, if not the exact same. We have evidence that Lopez, 1) came to play, and 2) that he’s got some class – a lovely goal he scored, wasn’t it? – and no one’s really sniffing at Trujillo’s play either. KC seems solid and respectable, but with a little flash: think a flame-job on a Toyota Camry.

Squaring off against this bunch for the Rapids will be? Well, here’s the roster from the LA rout, a group, by the way, that the Class VI blog quite reasonably says, “would seem to deserve to keep playing” (though he immediately suggests thereafter that some of the Rapids’ bigger names need game-time too):

Bouna Coundoul, Kosuke Kimura, Facundo Erpen, Stephen Keel, Jose Burciaga, Jr., Terry Cooke, Colin Clark, John DiRaimondo (Pablo Mastroeni 81), Nick LaBrocca, Christian Gomez (Ciaran O’Brien 71), Omar Cummings (Herculez Gomez 68)

Referring back to MLSnet.com’s preview, it appears a couple notable players have walked off the lists of the wounded: both Mehdi Ballouchy and Jovan Kirovski (No!) show as probable, while Mastroeni’s name doesn’t show anywhere in the injured list. So, there’s the question: do those guys boot anyone off the roster that shellacked LA? Well, if it’s answers you’re wanting, you’re better off ignoring the latest pre-game hype-job provided by The Official Organ; not one (frankin’) iota of word on players…well, apart from going down on Terry Cooke’s Week 1…again. You can also read about the local viewing party for the KC game…which is nice, though it lacks the “tea leaves” for reading; the preview doesn’t give away a lot either.

So, what do I think will happen? Maybe a start for Mastroeni, maybe Kirovski coming in as a sub if/when Gomez comes out, maybe even Ballouchy gets a little run-out (though it’ll be tiny and that’s if he gets it): basically, the Rapids can’t make changes that make much sense – e.g. Petke or Ihemelu coming on at the back to replace Erpen or Keel. There’s also the new signing at forward, Tam MacManus, to consider: will he start over Cummings? I don’t know much about MacManus, but unless you’re talking about a clear upgrade, sticking with worked makes sense. The same applies across the board. So, I’d field the same guys and see what happens.

And, now, the big question: can this Rapids line-up get a result in KC? I don’t see why not, perhaps even a win could happen. But I’m also not expecting the 45-minute cake-walk that was the second half against LA. If nothing else, we should know more about the Rapids by Sunday morning…unless, that is, they play to a tie.

Still, there is something I can do: send traffic to those Rapids-centric sites – something I’ll do below – and, when applicable, praise them; that can be my contribution to building the Rapids’ base. Something else I can do: provide a slightly more dispassionate take on what’s happening in Rapids-land. For what it’s worth, I see value in both activities…and I respect the opinion of those Rapids fans who count the first contribution as the more significant. So let’s get straight to that and, with it, move on to the other items in the title – e.g. post-game musings and my educability.

In my post-game comments, I floated the idea that Colorado seemed set on the same offensive approach – e.g. flying down the wings and banging in crosses; moreover, I didn’t see Christian Gomez as much of a factor. The two Swella Fellas over at FC Rocky, George Tanner and Angel Fernandez, took a different view – a diametrically opposed view, in fact:

“Finally, the Rapids pushed forward vertically. Gomez’s presence had much to do with this (more on that later … ).”

[SNIP]

“Gomez was able to create scoring chances individually. He set up Cooke’s goal with his quick shot off the post, and he essentially put the game out of reach with a solid PK.”

[SNIP]

“In the 37th minute, Gomez freed the speedy Cummings with a sweet flick forward. The key word there is ‘forward.’ For YEARS this team has relied on playing the ball safely and unimaginatively to the wings and settling for a cross from the sideline. But if Saturday’s game was an indication, Gomez has planted the seed with this team: It’s a good idea to go straight at the defense sometimes.”

Just so you know, for all the love they send to Gomez, FC Rocky, like everyone else it seems, saved the biggest gushes for Terry Cooke…no wonder he got player of the week.

But I wanted to use that mega-(and-hopefully-not-legally-oversized)-excerpt to make a point: I didn’t see the same thing, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t just miss it. In fact, I kind of see what they’re getting at and that gives me something to watch for this week and the next and the next. The point is, I miss plenty; reading other peoples’ perspectives has the capacity to make me smarter at the very least. I won’t always agree, but it – as in watching and thinking and writing about this soccer stuff – is all about building a better understanding of the game. I’m willing to learn….questions of ability to do so notwithstanding…

With that in mind, I have a couple other pieces to pass on. wewantrapidman reserved some of his highest praise for the youthful stand-ins who played so well last Saturday – most notably, Stephen Keel and Kosuke Kimura. And that’s some good news, judging by current mini-plague of injuries – also posted on wewantrapidman. View From The Couch also posted entirely praiseworthy match analysis that ran the gamut between As to his own Qs, match facts, and random observations. Anyone wanting to learn about the Rapids could do a hell of a lot worse than to read these sites.

Speaking of a hell of a lot worse, it’s time to check in with The Official Organ – i.e. the Rapids’ official site, i.e. the narrow font of information from which, absent thorough coverage in the local MSM, Rapids fans learn about their team. Their weekly update spent the first few paragraphs doing what corporate mouthpieces do: go down on the product. That’s not to say there’s no “nutritional value” in there; after all, the piece contains the first mention I’ve seen of the Rapids U.S. Open Cup date with the Los Angeles Galaxy (May 27). Better still, it connects to – I’ll admit it – a wicked cool preview set-up for this weekend’s game against the Kansas City Wizards. Loathe to admit it as I am, it’s not just well-organized, but all techy and smart as well. You got me there, Official Organ…just don’t get it in my hair*. (*Sorry. Wow. Really, really sorry.)

Once your stomachs settle down, do read up on the apparent signing of Tam MacManus, the Scottish striker who has been skulking around the Rapids camp for some time now. Looks like they got ‘im and that he’ll be playing this weekend. The question, though, is what they got.

I have to confess to some guilt if the post below left any visiting Colorado Rapids fans feeling a little blue heading into the season – then again, I’m also confident experience has made expert at adjusting expectations. And even if I remain a little dubious about how the Rapids will fare in their second game – an away visit to the Kansas City Wizards (let’s just say, I’d advise against getting on the traveling bus if you’re the type who can’t live with losses) – I definitely like the Rapids’ chances in their opener, a home game against the Los Angeles Galaxy.

If you want to know why, read Steve Davis’ analysis of LA’s goalless draw on Saturday against FC Dallas in a charity match. The piece basically gets at what I expect LA will look like in 2008: a team that can win on any given Saturday, but one that, composed as it is, is unlikely to win on too many of them.

The thing is to see that you’re not that team, Colorado. I have no doubt you’re up to it.