Unbelievable The Rapids showed good composure tonight after literally giving away their 2 goal lead to stay composed and build some attacks after the equalizer. They definetely came out with some energy and something to prove after the match in New England. Kingsley's hustle on the 2nd goal was tremendous. However, in typical rapids fashion they were unable to stay organized in the back. (wasn't Herdsman on the bench the entire first half of the season for some reason??) Kotschau and Stewart seem to be so much better as marking backs. Sure speed is great, but it doesn't make up for the unorganization Herdsman brings. How does the fastest guy in the league get beat on a 40 yard ball played to his man? Possession seemed to be much better for the Rapids tonight but the break downs giving away 3 on 1's and 3 on 2's aren't going to cut it in the playoffs. I thought Kramer was better tonight, not much he could have done on the second goal with Herdsman 's man streaking in alone again. Obviously, Kramer made a mistake in New England, but how unbelievable is the Rapids front office (PR) tonight. One of the most embarrassing things the Rapid organization has done all year....the highlights at halftime were a joke. I don't care who you are a fan of Garlick, Kramer or whoever. How could the Rapid organization stoop so low as to embarrass one of their players in front of the home crowd? I realize there weren't many highlights from NE, but to not only show our rapids getting scored on and include the commentary ripping our keeper was very dissapointing. I hope the Rapids organization take a hard look at the mistake they made tonight. It was great to see Spenny back and boost the team with the score tied. Another relentless effort by Carrieri to give us the 3 points and make the playoff race more interesting. Go Rapids!
I think you guys were lucky that Martinez was only unleashed on you for a mere 30 minutes. He's been lethal all year versus the Rapids. I have a bad feeling that this Open Cup adventure is going to cost the Burn big. I sure have been impressed with Kingsley the last few games I've followed him. He certainly plays boldly, and he makes his impact on the game. And what can you say about Carrieri? I can't believe that some people actually downplay his accomplishments this season. It's very nice to see a young american come right out of college and make a name for himself in this league. We need more guys like that in MLS. Congrats on the win, but after tonight, I still feel pretty good about the Burn's chances in a full strength battle home or away.
Time To Breathe!!!!! Wow, that was exciting!!! The Rapids started great, and they usually do well when they go on top early. The second half was scary. The Burn have speed to burn, and every time they flew down the field, it looked like they might score. Pablo has played great, and did tonight, but that was a hideous turnover that led to his yellow. Until the very end, it appeared that the refs were favoring Dallas, Colorado got yellows, Dallas got warnings, or nothing at all. The end was a mess. I think if the ref had called things more evenly and more often early, the ruckus at the end might have been avoided. Nonetheless, it was an exciting match, and I hope a great preface to the kind of matches we'll see in the playoffs. Well, the Raps have a bit of a layoff, and a chance for everyone to heal. Will Garlick be back? I hope so. Kramer does reasonably well, but every match there are times he seems to lose sight of what is happening. On the first goal, he and Fraser didn't communicate, and I would leave that responsibility up to him to make the call. He didn't, they didn't, and it was an easy goal. Way To Go Raps!!!!
I thought it was a great game. It was good to see Spencer back in but I wish he could get back to his old self. All in good time I guess. Kingsley is awesome. I would never have expected that from an A-Leaguer. Carrieri is a good guy to have when we're down. He almost got into a scuffle with ?Rhine? (Blonde guy, not sure who he was). When the Ref brought out the Red for Martinez, I thought it was for Carrieri. How many more Yellows before Pablo gets suspended again? Anyways, great game. Because it was so good, I'm reserving my playoff tackets now. Seemed like there where quite a few people there. BTW, what is FWIW?
FWIW = For What It's Worth White knuckle match for me. The ref sure did seem to favor Dallas with the calls. He was all over the place. Within the first two minutes of play he calls a foul then lets others go. Kingsley is having a stellar showing with the Rapids. And the Rapids are in the playoffs. Now we just need two more wins against Kansas City, more Dallas loses, more LA wins, and San Jose loses. The crowd size did look good too. Think there was a chant going on the west side of the stadium too. And last but not least, Peanut Butter and Jelly sucks even more. Please office people that think this a brillant idea.......DROP IT LIKE A BAD HABIT!
Kingsley's shot for the second goal was the most impressive thing, or at least co-most with Carrieri's persistence, if you ask me. He couldn't have had more than one foot of space to the keeper's left, and put it right there where no save could be made. The second half as a whole was a concern, though the important thing is the three points. And please can the Peanut Butter and Jelly, management. That is an embarrasment to supporters and the organization, especially when shown during the run of play. If shown at halftime it's one thing, but it really makes things look like a sloppy Chuck E. Cheese trip IMHO. Now that I said what I needed to, I'm very glad to get the three points.
It certainly did sound like an exciting game. We didn't get to see it at all in Dallas so I'd appreciate any details at all you could offer. I can't believe some of you guys are complaining about the ref. I mean you got a freaking handball called in the 10th minute! And we all know what an MLS handball call is like - "intentional handling of the ball while playing AWAY from home." In other words, the kind of call that would never in a million years be called if it was Colo that did the exact same thing. I'm not saying a penalty wasn't deserved, but it's just odd that handballs in this league never seem to be committed by teams playing at home. So instead of griping, thank the ref for the 3 points.
Let me get this straight, you didn't see the game, but you're griping about an intentional handball call? What, you just know that the player would never do something like that? How do you know it was a bad call?
If you'd read my post, you'd have seen that I didn't say it was a bad call or that it wasn't deserved. I said that handballs are only called on away teams in this league. If you think that's an inaccurate statement, fine. Please don't put words in my mouth.
Some of my takes on the game: Mastro played well, but he is not nearly as clean of a player since he came back from the WC. He came in twice on a tackle with his studs up. Neither time did the ref give a yellow, but it would have been deserved. There's no excuse for this kind of behavior. Kingsley - what a find!! Great goal and a nice overall game. Once he realizes when to pick his attacks, he could be a force in the league. In my mind, Fraser was at fault for the second goal. He carried the ball to the middle of the field, and then was lazy about getting back into position and Dallas capitalized on a nice, quick counter. Herdsman probably should have done a better job covering for Fraser, but I still think it was primarily Fraser's mistake. Herdsman played decently in general, and showed nice skills carrying the ball out of the back on a couple of occasions. He needs to realize that while he is very fast, there are a few forwards in the league that have pretty good speed as well. He gave Johnson too much space on the first goal, and Eddie put in a textbook header which gave Kramer no chance. Great to see Spencer back. If he finds his form for the playoffs, that would be an unexpected bonus.
Are we guranteed home field for the first round of the playoffs or is reserving tickets just wishful/hopeful thinking? And just to throw in my extra bit of opinion, lose the PB&J dance. It isn't even sponsoring anything. At least the chicken dance is HOPEFULLY bringing in some money.
We're guarenteed at least one home game in the playoffs. That's all I would expect since the rapids probably won't catch Dallas/LA/SJ for the #4 spot.
So your comment "So instead of griping, thank the ref for the 3 points" wasn't supposed to be interpeted as complaining about bad calls by the ref? Why else would we thank the ref for 3 points?
You got me Perry Mason, I was complaining about refs in general in MLS. I still maintain that 9 out of 10 handballs for PKs in this league go against the away team. I understand "home field advantage," but jeez. I'd love to look up the stats on this if I knew where to find them, but I don't. Then again, no one has actually disputed that claim yet, you just try to dismiss it by saying that I'm complaining about the ref. To recap: Congrats on the win I think we can beat you at full strength Handballs are disproportionately called in favor of the home team. No "interpretation" needed.
That has no bearing on whether or not this was a valid call. When MLSnet posts the replay, you'll be able to see it's pretty bloody clear. Can't tell you about whether or not they were awarded for hand balls -- I'll let you look it up -- but in perusing MLSnet's list of PKs this year, I count that 24 or 39 were awarded to the home team. Yes, a bigger number, but hardly a surprise. Home teams in this (and most) leagues are generally the ones on the attack, scoring more goals, putting more pressure in the box. As for your comment about beating us at full strength... likely true, but all that matters is your last game out. And be careful how much you complain about your squad not being full strength, lest you sound like a Mexico fan.
Do you know who started for the Burn? DALLAS BURN--Matt Jordan, in the starting 11 Lee Morrison, First start in MLS, ever. Tenywa Bonseu, current starter Percy Olivares, second start maybe and has gone at least 6 games with zero minutes Carl Bussey, First start Jorge Rodriguez, not currently in the starting 11 Matt Behncke, First start in MLS, ever. Jordan Stone First start in MLS, ever. Ronnie O'Brien, either first or second start. Edward Johnson might have been first, certainly no more than 3rd Bobby Rhine, current starter count them, Jordan, Bonseu, and Rhine were the only current starters who started this game. The general feeling of Burn fans, if I may be so bold, is that this was a good outing for our reserves who played well and pushed a first team fighting for the playoffs to the wall. Are you sure you'd have won in overtime? I saw the result and thought "gee, add in Chris Gbandi, and they might have won it. oh well, US Open Cup semifinal tonight. Metro Thursday. Wish I could see the tape to see how the second string was. If you have anyone to thank for your three points, it's the morons at the USSF that forced the Burn to play this game tonight, instead of next week. There was no reason for it, but then again, what does one expect of USSF?
Sorry, but we can only beat the guys you put out on the field. If you lost because your coach played the scrubs maybe your beef should be with him. On the other hand, perhaps he ran this pack of dogs out there thinking they would win, and by underestimating the Raps posted a big "L". Who knows. One thing I know, the Rapids are starting to play better as we head toward the playoffs and the Burn are starting to look like, well they are starting to look like the Burn. Good luck, your gonna need it.
Personally, from a Rapids standpoint, I was thrilled to see Broome on the bench. He has owned Colorado 24/7 this season, taking the ball up the field at will. And yeah, it may have been O'Brien's second start, but you can't tell me he isn't above average in this league.
Of course the Rapids were missing their normal starters of Garlick, Stewart and Kotschau, not to mention Spencer's first action in how long? But of course, that couldn't explain why we didn't beat the Burn by more, it must be that we're a bad team that got lucky playing the Burn scrubs...
The Rapids are an up and down team. I was glad you smacked the Quakes on national TV, and your team looked good doing it. It was well deserved. Your team almost blew this one, at home, against a team that elected to rest almost all the starters. By the way, I don't have a beef with the choice. Jeffries is playing the cards he has, and he nearly won it all with his gamble. A tie would have been a welcome result. Did they lose while pushing for a win? You won, hooray for your 3 points won fair and square. You beat the 11 players the Burn put on the field. I would love for the Burn to meet your team in the playoffs.
Can anyone describe the handball in question? Was it one of those where the ball hit him in the arm, but it influenced the play and he shouldn't have had his arm in such an exposed position, or did he do a John O'brien and reach up to bat the ball out of the air? Damn I wish I could have seen this game.