Not quite. In 32 games, Junior netted 15 goals and was the top scorer for the club in 2000. I think we now realize the state of the Rapids, and by extension, MLS, in the year 2000. As part of their policy of getting rid of any and all decent players, the Rapids traded AgogoGadget to the Earthquakes in 2001 where he played out the season before being released the following spring. Junior was replaced on the Earthquakes by Devin Barclay, a guy who played for four teams in four seasons before being released for good.

Writing this is pretty depressing. It’s making me think no MLS team would survive a year in the Malaysian league, much less a season in England or Spain at the top level.

Anyhoo, Junior moved back to blighty and discovered his touch in 2002. Since his return, he’s played for Queens Park Rangers, Barnet, Bristol Rovers, and Nottingham Forest, scoring 69 goals in the process. Not bad for a guy cut by a team from my hometown (and, ironically, a team that was cut by my hometown, as well).

Junior has been playing so well lately that he’s been getting time with the Ghana national team (take THAT, Freddy Adieu).

While I wasn’t a Rapids follower when Borchers was around, news reports from 2003-2006 claim he was one of the better defenders on the team, yet he was transferred to the Norwegian club last year (and Odd turn of events, considering his age and skills). Nat started for Odd Grenland yesterday in a 2-1 win over ‘Start’, meaning his current team is now only 2 points away from getting out of the relegation zone.

From the team’s official match recap:

ODD scorer ikke mange mål i år, men de som scores er stort sett perler! I kveld ble det hentet fram to nye, og timingen kunne ikke vært bedre. Seier og tre poeng i kveld var utrolig viktig for et presset ODD lag, og allerede om tre dager på Skagerak Arena skal vi hente enda 3 poeng fra Sandefjord.

Now THAT is excitement!