Once I went to the great clips on 144th and Lowell wearing my Rapids jersey and the lady mentioned that Pablo went there often.
I guess I will opt for the American version. That umlaut-y syllable, I don't think we have that sound in English.
Same here. After the Rapids audio, and 10 minutes of Swedish Chef clips on youtube, I'm only slightly mangling the American pronunciation.
hey we needta trade 2 masscots to portland for Madison Shanley to sing the star spellgelled banner, girl has chops a lotsa up side (@ MadiShanley twitter) http://www.madisonshanleymusic.com/Madison_Shanley_Home.html Also where has the beard guy been?
Don't worry, per last year, PM will have 3 completely different line-ups for these games, heck he might even toss in an academy player if MLS will allows it.
So, Can we now get a qoute from Shane O'Neil that he is returning to his Youth Position of CF? Funny, after all their moves and such and yet now looking at roster we have even less depth at Forward than before and appalling depth again at Outside Back and CB.
BTW, if any of you saw the "report" that Petrescu, the ref for our first game, had been "suspended" it appears that it was bunk. Corey Rockwell, MLS AR and BigSoccer poster tweeted that he hadn't been suspended and that the reason he didn't get a week 2 assignment is that they were made before the week 1 games and that half the week 1 refs didn't get week 2 assignments. Today's announcement by PRO of the week 3 assignments shows Petrescu in the middle for KC-Portland on Saturday.
Padraig Smith joins the Rapids to help play moneyball in CO while, the man, Billy Beane heads to AZ Alkmaar: Earnie Stewart hires Billy "Moneyball" Beane at AZ Alkmaar http://t.co/OE1oMd281A— Subscribe to GrantWahl.com (@GrantWahl) March 17, 2015
If you are wondering about the seemingly odd baseball-soccer connection........... AZ Alkmaar's Executive Director (GM essentially) is Robert Eenhoorn, a Dutchman, who coincidentally played in MLB for the Yankees and Angels for 4-5 years and was the Dutch National Baseball Team Manager for nearly 10 yrs. His post baseball career has been mixed with soccer and baseball. AZ's Technical Dirctor is former USMNT Dutch-American Earnie Stewart. Stewart and Eenhoorn have really done a stellar job of scouting, signing, and developing players under a strict budget and then selling some players for big, big profits. Adding Beane, to a consultant / board of director role, is kinda cool and I'm interested in how it plays out especially since AZ has been a big advocate of financial fair play and smart money tactics in Europe. Edit: Opps! Didn't see the link in the tweet that give a tiny bit of background info!
So more good news: Chris Bianchi @Rapids_News · 18 hours ago Friendly reminder, #Rapids96 world: Shane O’Neill’s got an EU passport and 18 months until he can become a free.
More surprised that he did not have one. O'Neill has been on the "training" circuit the last two off-seasons in England. I think it's been pretty clear that Europe is beckoning sooner than later. I'm about 80% certain, through a mutual contact, that one of Middlesbrough or Sheffield Wednesday had a bid rejected by the Rapids this winter. It would not shock me in the least to see him head over next winter. I'd much rather sell him than lose him on a free. I don't know what his current market value is but given his age, experience, versatility, and Sr. international potential, he'd probably fetch a transfer fee in the region of $1.5-2.25M.
Bianchi sounds a bit cynical/surprised lately with a few of his tweets. Surely he understands that the Rapids have made it clear they will be selling young talent for a profit after they have helped develop them to a level of "sale-ability". Serna could be on the tranfer block in the next couple of years. IMO, the Rapids look to acquire youth so they transfer later. I'm sure a high performing Juan Ramirez will not be kept around for performance sake.
Based of Bianchi's past history of journalistic diligence, you're probably giving him way too much credit.
Call me a Eurosnob or whatever but I'm totally okay with this philosophy. Until MLS can complete on a year-to-year basis with the talent level and pay then I am all for selling players, especially those under-23, to European clubs. Nothing wrong, IMO, with being a "feeder club" --- if you will. That probably doesn't sit well with people and I totally get that, too. In a perfect world, the Rapids would be a winner and a selling club. It can be done. It takes a shit load of diligence, devotion, and smart business decisions to pull it off, though. The biggest question is if the RFO has what it takes to do that.
I'd go one further and say that being a selling club is the only path for the Rapids to have success in MLS right now. They need to take the money they make from these sales and invest it in "big" name players to help the team win.
Yes. And understanding this, and the business decisions and moves that go along with it, fans may be more "ok" with these kinds of transfers and sales. Re-acquiring new players to help the team win of course is the toughest part, IMO. Given the track history for decision-making by this front office in the past leads me to believe that The "winning" part of this whole equation will be the toughest part.
That, however, doesn't forgive the poor roster construction that Brown's sale has left us with. I think the decision to sell was a good one (though they got a minimal acceptable value if reports are accurate) but the depth at striker is ridiculously poor. Consider this, forwards on the Rapids roster: Badji Calvert - In Charlotte for the season Eloundou - In Charlotte at the moment but expected back Sanchez - Not really a "true" forward Torres If Torres gets called up for Panama (say for some pre-Gold Cup friendlies) as of right now the only real forward we have in Colorado is Badji.
Just realized I didn't see Fleming's "View from the Booth" after last game and I can't seem to find it. Did he do one or is that a thing of the past now?
Oh look, a shirt sponsor: http://www.coloradorapids.com/news/2015/03/rapids-partner-transamerica-major-jersey-sponsorship
Props to the RFO for this one - this is a quality sponsor with a recognizable brand. Anyone who has ever been to San Fran knows of the Transamerica Pyramid. Not to mention....Transamerica is likely not to go the way of Ciao and stiff the Rapids. I sincerely hope this gives them the funds they need to continue to make quality moves in the player acquisition department....and please let this help us get some forward/scoring help!
Well, it is a paying sponsor. I don't like the look on the jersey. For me Transamerica is tied to San Francisco. But who cares. Money is money.