Since Jason is not here... I'll post it for him... Thug stat of the week Fouls Portland 13 Colorado 9
That is the magical Jamie Smith free kick spot. No wonder Spencer was so mad at the call. I don't know who got the first header, either, but Amarikwa blocked the defender's clearance attempt with his butt.
Thanks, just got back to my parent's place from the game. Took 6 family members to their first ever MLS game and sat them right in front of the Rapids supporters, who were on fire tonight!
It feels pretty nice to win both our games against Portland this season. They're a great new club with amazing fans, but I take smug satisfaction in the Rapids putting them in their place.
Funny, you posted the exact same thing I was about to post. Couldn't have said it better. They sometimes act if they are the ONLY MLS team with the ONLY MLS supporters group. And the lovefest gets old after awhile. See ya next year for 6 more. WHO ARE WE? WE ARE THE RAPIDS.
It does. I'll admit I wasn't too enthusiastic about the odds for the away win. Portland's been tough at home. The boys did well, created chances, and hung with Portland in an unusually open game.
Now THAT'S what I'm talking about! The first truly entertaining game I've seen the Rapids play in 6 weeks. As the clock ticked down, I didn't even mind the specter of yet another potential tie because watching them was so fun. Don't get me wrong, I'll take the win; but for my money, they played with some fire out there last night and it was good to see. Almost like the championship swagger came back just a little bit.
I'd much rather get 6 against the "god's gift to MLS" Sounders and their supporters. The Timbers fans seem to be good people and treated the traveling Rapids contingent very well.
Agreed. After watching that useless Gold Cup fiasco earlier in the day, I was very pleasantly surprised to see a Team that looked like they were prepared and played like they wanted to win. Great atmosphere and even a better game. Finally!!
It was great having you guys in town yesterday! It was a good game, but hopefully next season we get at least 3 of those 6 points back
BTW, the only way Conor is going to get a foul call this year is if the defender walks up and punches him. Otherwise it's apparently open season for the defense to take down Casey.
From the pov of an "internet presence," I agree. No comparison between the two fan groups. Sounds like the Rapids supporters had a great time and were treated to much hospitality.
Now, now. That scenario would quite obviously get Casey booked for inciting the opponent to violence. He's a thug, remember?
The following doesn't really belong in this thread, but hopefully you guys will give me a little latitude in light of how horrifying that game was. It was so painful to watch. I really think that pretty much any MLS team could've given the USMNT a run for their money in that match. I know that Bob Bradley is common fodder for criticism, but preparation, game-readiness and passion were pretty much exclusively to blame for the performance. Given the pattern of playing from behind after conceding early (ALL of 2010 essentially) I don't think you can blame anyone but the coach. We certainly aren't lacking for talent on that squad. Losing to a vastly inferior Panama team at home is unpardonable in the context of how we have performed lately. Bradley must go. Brazil is still three years away, we can fix this, but have to dump Bradley immediately following the Gold Cup IMO. We'll be lucky to even make the semi-finals playing the way we are now. End rant.
Thing is, I don't know that the US Soccer Federation knows or cares to find a better replacement. Near as anyone can tell, after last summer's World Cup, Gulati called up Klinsmann and asked, "Are you still a no?" then just went with Bradley again. I don't think Bradley's a bad coach but I'm starting to think he's gotten as much out of theses players as he can. The slow starts to every game really does seem to be on the coaching. But hey, thank God for the Rapids for washing that horrible taste out of my mouth last night!
You're right, but at the same time, Conor does himself no favors by picking fights with every ref, every game.
Random factoid: anyone else notice we're undefeated since Brian Mullan's suspension started? Not that one is the cause of the other, but it's just happened to work out that way.
Well, that Seattle game was certainly a traumatic experience for the team-- it is possible that going through that together imbued them all with a certain toughness. Toughness enough to avoid losing, even when they haven't been good enough to win.
I wasn't going to say anything because I didn't want to jinx the 10th and final game next week but I did notice that.
Yeah - for the first half. 2nd half we were constantly back on our heels . We looked like sparring partners for them most of the time. Our line left holes that a more seasoned club would have devoured - lots of missed marks while we stand there as they fire point blank at us. They got behind us with speed from both forwards, neutralized most of our possessions with ease and generally looked way the better side. They were constantly pressing us as we did our rope-a-dope imitation for 47 minutes - and why not, we seldom threatened through the midfield and our long-ball kick and pray offense was easily controlled. ...I'll tell you, if Pickens goes down, we're toast. ...Go Pids - great win - but honestly, that was one helluva lucky strike for us. Game should have been 3-1 Timbers.
Marshall has been a big pickup. I can't imagine anyone thought he'd be playing so often. He's been very solid.