Playoff 2nd leg Nov 2, 7pm, SKC v. Colorado p/i/p [R]

It depends on Bravo's fitness. If he is good to go, then I would start him and sit Bunbury, if only because of the yellow card. If not, then I might be tempted to start Arnaud over Bunbury for the same reason.

 

I think if Bravo was available as a sub yesterday he could probably start on Wednesday, but with a two goal cushion, I'd say let him sit.

I'd probably start Davy. Let him captain the team in a home playoff game. Otherwise I don't think I'd want to mix it up much.

 

Bravo could have gone if need be yesterday, but better to rest him, I'd see how he does the next day or so in practice.

As for tickets the team said only about 1000 remain

 

Barring a total disaster, SKC will have another game on Sunday. A second yellow on Wednesday would render Bunbury ineligible for it. However, the slate is wiped clean for the MLS Cup final, so a second yellow in the Eastern Conference final would not result in a subsequent suspension.

The fact that no one else on SKC received a yellow card last night is huge. Collin, Espinoza, etc. can play their usual style the rest of the way without worrying about accumulation. Obviously, they still need to avoid getting two yellows in the same game or a straight red; those do carry over to the MLS Cup final.

 

I said this in the other thread, but there is absolutely no reason to change the midfield up. Arnaud has been great coming off the bench, no reason to change that. Having someone of his caliber as a sub is a wonderful luxury. Zusi, Espinoza, and Julio are playing out of their minds right now. The defense and midfield have now converted three straight clean-sheets. Leave 'em out there.

Bravo, Bunbury, Kei, and CJ are all on good form and interchangeable. I couldn't care less which three start if they are all healthy and fully fit.

 

My thoughts exactly, must be nice to be Vermes and have the ability to literally draw names out of a hat when it comes to picking forwards and not have a negative impact on the game.

 

So according to the Rapids twitter account, it's official, in addition to being without Mastroeni and Smith, the Rapids have also placed Kimura, Moor, and Folan on IR.

http://www.coloradorapids.com/news/2011/10/rapids-lose-kimura-moor-and-folan-injury

 

Lots of outrage from the Rapids fans over that game on those pages and on bigsoccer. (Must have been watching a different game, I just don't see the cards in those plays)

Apparently MLS is trying to "Fix" playoff games so they can be held in our shiny new stadium. (I think some people weren't watching us the rest of the season if they think MLS has any favoritism towards us.)

What we have this season was hard earned and it feels damn good as well.

 

the amount of venom from the CO board aimed at the officials, Besler, and Espinoza would make a hate-group proud. That isnt a happy place over there.

Oh, and for all the garbage talk about asserted dirty play/injuries I only have two little sad-sack pathetic words: Brian Mullan.

 

I don't get it. Soccer is a sport. Players get hurt. When two men are running full speed and essentially crash their legs into one another, injuries are gonna happen.

There's this weird misconception that if someone gets hurt, it HAS to be some other player's fault. Oh, and that player should be carded, ejected, tarred, feathered, disemboweled, castrated, etc.

For years, we Americans who followed this game had to defend it against meatheads who constantly referred to it as a "********y sport." Now, when a player gets injured, fans freak out and blame the other team. Jesus. You guys who piss and moan constantly about "thuggish play" aren't helping our side of the argument. When a player gets hurt in the NFL, we don't freak out on the other team. We know it's a part of the game and move past it. Not sure why MLS fans are such cry-babies about it.

Are there players in this league who play a little dirtier than others? Sure. But they are few and far between. Too many good players who play hard to the whistle are getting a bad rap from ignorant opposing fans who, from what I can tell, have never laced up and played in a real game past the 3rd grade.

EDIT: Sorry, this should probably be in the "First Leg" thread. But I guess since this is a two-game series, it's all really the same topic.

 

Eh, it'd be one thing if there was a large amount of discussion on how poor the refs were in regard to how well they played, but the stats are entirely one sided. Colorado had one shot on goal, less possession, few completed passes, etc.

Colorado played like junk in a physical game. We may have gotten lucky on a few calls, but one team is always going to make out better than another, and I really don't think any of the calls were all that bad, or all that game changing.

More than anything, I think their fans just want to find some reason for their season to be falling apart, and they're looking at everyone except their players and their coach.

Say what you want about how the match was played or officiated, but its impossible to argue that had some calls gone their way Colorado would have won. They looked terrible and we looked pretty good. Bottom line.

 

Hell, why stop at one player? Colorado has stacked their team with hacks for several years.

 

Conor Casey. The dude was just plain nasty in the MLS Cup Final.

He's a glass tough guy. He'll be rough, push guys around, and kick out. But you touch him, he shatters to the field.

 

Ever since Clavijo was at the helm, they have been the biggest hacks in the league. I have been worried for a long time that we would play them and someone would get seriously injured. Every time we play them I watch a lot of off the ball action and they know how to sneak in some shots.

I am also not sure Espinoza dove. I mean it appeared that he did but he had nothing to gain from diving at that time because the ball was going off a Colorado player out of bounds. Maybe he did but it didnt make any sense. The thing about this sport is a lot of the knocks you take can only hurt for a few seconds but it can be bad enough to keep you off your feet for the same amount of time so just because a player goes down, stays down for a few seconds and just keeps running doesnt mean they dove. I dont know how many turns I have twisted my ankle thought I hurt it pretty bad only to have it feel normal within a minute.

 

they're fixing it so much that all of our games are on FSC instead of ESPN.

Some fix.

 

If you want 20 minutes of good entertainment, surf the web reading the comments by Rapids fans. You'd think that not since the jews in the holocaust, has someone been so discriminated against as those poor delicate professional athletes.

 

Any word about the league looking at punishment for Kei taking a swing during the dust up in front of the goal? I personally dont think it is warranted, but the Colorado coach even mentioned it which leads me to believe they may have asked the league to review it.

 

So we go how long without any measurable rain, and Mother Nature decides she might just want to dump on game 2 tomorrow night. *sigh* What a b!tch she is....I still blame her for initiating the USOC loss to Richmond. I want rain, BUT NOT TOMORROW NIGHT!! Glad we have a roof so most of us stay dry, but I don't want it to affect the game, especially with a wounded animal coming in with nothing to lose.

Maybe we will get lucky and the rain will be dying down by kickoff.

 

Looks like it's going to rain all day, but it should be nothing more than a light drizzle. According to accuweather.com, it's supposed to start around 8 AM and continue all day until 8 PM, but we're only supposed to get .77 inches of rain. It won't make any difference as far as whether or not the game actually happens, but I have a feeling it's going to play hell with the (already less-than-stellar) pitch.

 

wtf.