The RSL announcers are pretty dull. I turned away for a few seconds and didn't even know they'd scored.
Dude...Dunseth is anything but dull.... Meanwhile The Smoke Monster from Lost's red cousin is lingering at the RiOT...
I liked him commentating on Rugby League on Yorkshire Television in the early 80s. I think John Helm replaced Martin Tyler as their soccer guy. Ian Darke was covering boxing on BBC Radio at around the same time.
Funny you mention Darke and boxing. In the not-so-distant past, I was watching the Mike Tyson/Evander Holyfield fight -- the one where Tyson bit his ears -- on YouTube. I thought I recognized the voice, but I couldn't quite place it. Then, Ian Darke said "What's the referee going to do about this?" And BINGO.
Here's an odd MLS story. Remember the cat that ran onto the Rio Tinto pitch during the Leagues Cup game that precipitated Mike Petke's complete meltdown and subsequent firing? RSL interim coach Freddy Juarez adopted the cat. 1) Cat that somehow got into the stadium (someone maybe brought it?) runs on field; 2) Head coach goes ballistic at the refs and is suspended; 3) Assistant coach becomes caretaker manager, adopts cat; 4) Head coach is fired, elevating assistant to interim manager. Pretty suspicious! (Or just cute.)
Not sure how many teams in league history have regularly shifted a player from d-mid to striker in the same game. And back, in other games. Such is life for Damir Kreilach, who can be shifted also to attacking midfielder depending on subs in the same game.
RSL has only conceded five goals in the past 11 games. Let's see how that works out against LAFC this weekend.
I kind of wish there was some MLS database and people were able answer questions. For example, do West Coast teams traveling to the East Coast have a disadvantage like in the NFL. Another one one would be if playing at Altitude is a disadvantage for a non RSL/Rapids team ... especially on only a few days of rest. A last one would be analyzing if teams like TFC, Montreal, Vancouver, Seattle, etc where summer highs are in the upper 70s-80s struggle with Texas / Florida weather in the 90s with humidity, especially when they cannot acclimatize. It would be cool to see if there are trends. Might explain some of these results.
Well, if there were any doubts about how the Timbers homestand will go, that game sure as hell didn't answer them.