So the Rocky Mountain News has a nice story on the retirement(?) of Carlos (or at least from the Wapids). I guess this means his $270K (per the RMN) can be used for another player. Will we get another forward? This is only our third, so we cannot really say that another forward is excessive, I guess. We have a lot of midfield talent, especially when we add the "attacking midfield" nature of Spencer and Carrieri. So this means we'll sign yet another midfielder, eh? OK, my other fear is that the league will unload a re-run (Zambrano) on us that someone else does not want. ("Counce announces that the Rapids are delighted to have Roy Lassiter for their $270K salary line!"). I hope not THAT nightmare. (OK maybe someone is worthwhile out there who is not 35 and coming of re-constructive knee surgery). So, does anyone know who the club is looking at? We can sign a real forward, and then draft a youngster...maybe Musa's borther Hashu Shannon is available? (OK..I just made that one up). I hope all those trips to Portugal has opened up a few doors to 'discover' the final ingredient for a nice 19-9 season and a championship. Looking at the roster, we really don't need much else as long as Fraser doesn't slow down, Garlick recovers, and no one gets hurt. RLH
Pibe should of gotten a better send off last year. It is too bad that he didn't really say during the season that he was retiring because every city would of given him his due respect.
Glad to see that there's something on the Rapids website, that front page story is the least that the league could do for CV...
Why would you need to see news about Valderrama on the Rapids website, when you can look at photos from Kingsley's visit to Kohl Elementary School? Boy, that helicopter sure is neat!
Oh, and kudos to Alan Pearce of the Rocky for not only writing a piece on this, but actually showing that he's been paying attention and/or doing research, rather than re-hashing a press release. Raspberry to the Post for no mention whatsoever. And a middle finger to the same Post for removing "Rapids" from the navigation of their Sports section.
Bad news: The Page Two guy from the Post (Anderson?) had a comment about supporting the Avs, because if they flop it would be the first time in about a decade that no local team has had a sniff of the playoffs *a-HEM*. Good news: Paul Willis, who also works part-time at the Gilpin casino with me, got the job covering the Mammoth indoor lacrosse team, and he slipped in a mention of the Rapids when listing all the pro teams here. And another guy who works for the papers and at the casino is sympathetic to soccer. So I'm working on the next generation. ;D
Even "MLS Newsstand" doesn't mention it. Surprise. Granted, the article ran on December 31st and the Newsstand didn't run from the 24th to 31st... but you'd think they could have included that link on ohhh I dunno, January 1st? Of course, that would be releasing information that MLS would prefer people don't know. Understandable in the general sense, but not after it's already confirmed in direct quotes from the GM and the coach of the Rapids. Unfortunate that such a legend who for so long was invaluable to the league has basically been put out with the bathwater.
From what I've heard, and this comes from someone within the Rapids, is that Carlos is still under contract with MLS for two more years. They are trying to shop him around to another team but Carlos doesn't want to take a drastic pay cut. So, officially, he hasn't retired. He just doesn't play for the Rapids any more. If some other team wants to pick him up and sign him, they can. Maybe that is why there is no announcement from MLSnet.
I'm sure there are a big list of reasons why the Valderrama departure hasn't been announced. That doesn't mean it's not screwy, especially given today's news from mlsnet, which reports that allocation ranking for 2003 is as follows: Well, at least that's confirmation from the league that he's gone.
According to a source with the Rapids, Carlos' playing contract is in an option year and unless the other 9 teams want to pick him up for a reduced rate, he will leave for Columbia to finish his career. Though, he will still be on the MLS books as a 'marketing consultant' for the next year, maybe two. That is, unless, the Rapids can manage to trade him and get something for him. This is highly doubtful. The Rapids were just hoping he would officially retire so that they might get an allocation. Either this happened or the league did the Rapids a favor for the first time in history.