Pre-game warm ups:

This one has “the big ducky” as Jen likes to say:

Action shots:

The “In Honor of Kyle” shirt that was brilliant but scary (should I create a IN HONOR OF KIERAN shirt and wear it to Old Trafford next season when K-Rich is playing for Sunderland?)

My brother coaches youth soccer and always told his kids that he has eyes in the back of his head so they’d better not slack off when he’s not watching them. They didn’t believe him so he got a tattoo to prove it!

In case you want an idea of how many Scots and Irish there are here in Denver (at least among the soccer fans).

Graveson, my twin.

Last night was rough. Oh, it started out well enough – plenty of sunshine, decent crowd (not only did the Dick look over 50% full, there was some good noise coming from the crowd throughout most of the game), and plenty of stadium food.

Despite most of the seats filling up as the game got started, I always had a seat buffer to my left, which has to be the greatest feeling in the world at a sporting event. Especially after a hot link and nachos, the need to stretch gets reaaallll important in the second half.

Pre-game entertainment included some folks holding up various Celtic nation flags for some reason. I don’t understand some of the things that happen in this state, but it is nice to have a change from what we’d grown used to at Quakes games (essentially, nothing at all). After seeing those flags I tried to call upon the spirit of my McAncestors and kick some Norman ass, but, to be honest, us white people all look the same to me.

My wife asked why there was a ducky on the field, too. I had no answer for her.

Once the game started, within ten minutes it became clear that not even Arriaga II would be able to save the Rapids tonight. Nie dominated possession, keeping Colorado from even touching the ball on most plays. After several strong plays, they got the lead through a goal that even Bouna couldn’t stop (although he did make a brave save on a 1:1 early in the game when Wolyniec came breaking away towards him). And that was that. One goal was all Nie needed to win this one, despite a second half flurry (especially in the final minutes) AFTER Gomez was brought on at halftime and Beckerman was taken off (jeez, who would have thought that was a bright idea?).

In the first half, besides Bouna, Peterson, and Jovan all looked good – Peterson has a great work rate and balls of steel at times. I’d hope someone with the team would see this and put him up front with Gomez instead of sticking Brown up front to provide great comedy, but not much else.

Gotta go for a meeting right now – if I think of anything memorable from the game (apart from a great Jovan blast that hit the crossbar) later today, I’ll post it. For now, here are some other shots I took last night:

Corner action.

Reyna and Jovan having a little talk.

Bouna setting up for some damage.

Wide screen action.

Clint (the other one) was engaged in several side-conversations.

…while the ref and linesmen (and most of the players) were trying to get his attention back on the game, seeing how he was holding the ball.

Claudio time.

Angel, who had another uneventful game. Yeah, he’s not getting much service, and yeah, Altidore wasn’t there to relieve some of the pressure, but he really looked flat.

1. Setting up for the pre-game festivities:

2. Looking across from our seats:

3. The view from the (south?) end:

4. Action shot from the stands:

5. Off-center shot of the side of the field we need a telescope to see:

6. ESPN booth getting ready for post-game filming:

Unfortunately, I deleted the best shots on accident – the mini donuts vendor and the views out in front of the stadium. My camera isn’t made for sports photography or long-distance shots, but I tried to get a few snaps of the field and stands before death’s cold hands wrung the life out of me.