Re: Match 1: Houston vs. Colorado Pretty cool. In the relaled photo gallery from the Chad Hendrick event, I know the guy sitting behind Chad in the 2nd last photo. His name is Jorge Vargas, I think we works with one of the local Houston News programs as Sports anchor or director. He's a close friend of my brother's and remember going to many parties at his parents' house back in the mid '80's. Great guy. I need to forward that photo to my folks and my brother. Maybe I can get on the field with Jorge when I go back down to Houston to catch a game. I know it won't be for the Fire game since I'll be coaching my kid's soccer team that day up here in Chicagoland. That means I can feel good about joining you guys in the supporter's section when I do get down there.
Re: Match 1: Houston vs. Colorado They have first kicks at soccer games? Is this normal or a special thing? What do they do, kick it on the field or in a goal?
way too much info http://la.galaxy.mlsnet.com/MLS/new...tent_id=6327&vkey=news_lag&fext=.jsp&team=lag The HDC opened on June 7, 2003, with much fanfare, as soccer elite in the USA hailed the nation's second soccer-specific stadium -- following the 1999 opening of Columbus Crew Stadium -- as a further sign that U.S. soccer is on the rise. As part of the festivities, Brazilian national team and North American Soccer League legend Pele participated in a ceremonial first kick before a raucous sell-out crowd of 27,000 fans. http://www.ukrweekly.com/Archive/2005/410527.shtml A special guest at Ukrainian Day was former Olympic figure skating champion Oksana Baiul, who addressed the crowd during the afternoon program and later made the ceremonial first kick to start off the Metrostars' game against New England. http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,600126963,00.html Three politicians, Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon and Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson, were all on hand to participate in the ceremonial first-kick Saturday.
poll Prediction poll added above. Check out the Rapids forum for discussions of their roster, pre-season results, etc. Here's our pre-season schedule with links to threads that contain results and discussion about most of the games so far: Houston Pre-Season Schedule
Re: Pre-Game Thread -- Match 1: Houston vs. Colorado 04/02 Those pictues were taken at the press conference at St. Pete's Dancing Marlin downtown Friday afternoon. Though I did hear the office is all painted up orange and waiting for championship trophies to decorate with.
Re: Pre-Game Thread -- Match 1: Houston vs. Colorado 04/02 Yeah, I hadn't looked at the slideshow of pics when I first posted, could tell it had to be some kind of bar, thanks for the ID. Did they have an announcement on their site about this Hedrick press conference beforehand, I guess I missed it. And you are right, the downtown office is definitely orange, was over there this week to talk w/Brian Rizzo about my season ticket. It isn't yet decorated very much, you might even say it's a bit spartan.
Re: Pre-Game Thread -- Match 1: Houston vs. Colorado 04/02 No, I have the feeling it was a very rushed deal. Oliver emailed me an invitation late Thursday night. Hopefully we'll have plenty of accolades to decorate the officers with very soon. I'm thinking Supporter's Sheild, MLS Cup, Open Cup, you name it.
Re: poll Had to go with option 1 above - 3-0 rout for the boys in orange - but I did so want to vote for the last option...
Re: Match 1: Houston vs. Colorado Just the beginning of the season. Probably because it's the first game ever for Houston Dynamo.
Re: Pre-Game Thread -- Match 1: Houston vs. Colorado 04/02 OMG! The Crapids have Cletus? Bwaa hah hah! I'll be sure to offer him a chaw of chewing tobacky if he comes to take any corners in front of 217... And I'm ready w/plenty of choruses of "LA Reject" for Kirovski...
Re: Pre-Game Thread -- Match 1: Houston vs. Colorado 04/02 Who cares if they have Cletus or Kirovski. With players like Ron Cerritos, we can own them. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/soc/3719070.html. As a long term fan of the Clash/Earthquakes/1836/Dynamo, I think Ron's attitude sums up why this team has always been successful. It has had a blue collar work ethic; work hard, fight hard, support your teammates, keep in shape, and avoid the star syndrom. Even Donovan was susceptible to the same culture on the team. He may have been the darling of the MLS execs who decided which players would get promoted, but on the field, he was a 'Quake and expected to play team ball. Over a 36 game season, with the Open competition, international friendlies, call ups for national team duty, tournaments, and reserve matches, it is the team, not individuals, that count. That's what we have had for years; I hope the Dynamo fans jump aboard and support this team. The team deserves rabid support.
Re: Pre-Game Thread -- Match 1: Houston vs. Colorado 04/02 Ching Moreno Davis DeRo Clark Mullan barrett cochrane robinson gray Ostad That is my prediction for the opening day lineup. Anyone disagree?
Re: Pre-Game Thread -- Match 1: Houston vs. Colorado 04/02 I think Davis is going to be out for a while, but that looks pretty good otherwise. I'm not sure who comes in. Actually, here's the line up from the last pre-season game -- Barrett moves up to replace Davis and Goldthwaite fills in for Barrett: Onstad Gray Waibel Robinson Goldthwaite Mullan Clark Derosario Barrett Ching Moreno
Re: Pre-Game Thread -- Match 1: Houston vs. Colorado 04/02 With Clarke in I'd expect a diamond midfield, DeRosario attacking mid, and Ching being the holding forward. Gray will be given more of a wingback role, while the left side of the defence should play a big more defensively (with 2 defenders on the left). I expcect to see the attack come through Mullan and DeRosario. ------------Onstad-------------- --------------------------------- ---------Waibel-Robinson---Gold- --Gray-------------------------- -------------Clark--------------- -Mullan------------------Barrett- -----------DeRosario------------- -----Ching----------------------- ---------------------Moreno-----
Re: Pre-Game Thread -- Match 1: Houston vs. Colorado 04/02 Interesting - that's one way to take advantage of having several serviceable defenders and perhaps a shortage of midfielders. Has Barrett played much midfield in the past?
Re: Pre-Game Thread -- Match 1: Houston vs. Colorado 04/02 Actually as a rookie, and for a few years thereafter, Barrett was the defensive center mid fielder, the position now played by Clarke. He has played on the left wing, the right wing, and in defense on the right, the left, and when Jeff Agoos was injured, in the center as well. Frank Yallop and Dom seem to prefer players who are versatile as well as capable. That sense pays off in July when injuries start to deplete the squad. Barrett played quite a bit on the left wing last year, and probably will have to do so again until Davis returns and gets match fit. The possibility of Mullen and Barrett on the wings and DeRosario and Clarke in the middle makes our mid field sound very strong, both offensively and defensively.
Re: Pre-Game Thread -- Match 1: Houston vs. Colorado 04/02 Thanks. It'll be intetersting to see how Dom lines them up in the Carolina Challenge Cup in the next few games.
Re: Pre-Game Thread -- Match 1: Houston vs. Colorado 04/02 The crazy thing is that a couple of weeks ago I saw someone walking down the street wearing a Colorado Rapids jersey. He never saw it coming.
Rapids lineup According to the Athletic Bilbao site, here's Colorado's lineup from their friendly today in Bilbao - obviously not sorted by position, but looks like most of the usual suspects from last year, plus Mathis: Joe Cannon, Eric Denton, Kyle Beckerman, Jovan Kirovski, Clint Mathis, Jean Philippe Peguero, Terry Cooke, Mike Petke, Chris Wingert, Dedi Ben-Dayan y Pablo Mastroeni. Maybe something like this - not sure if they have Mastroeni in central defense or defensive mid: -----------------Cannon------------------ ------------------Petke------------------- ---Wingert------------------------Denton-- -----------------Mastroeni----------------- -----------------Beckerman---------------- ---Ben-Dayan---------------------Cooke--- --------------------Mathis----------------- -----------Peguero--------Kirovski---------
Re: Rapids lineup I'd say its a 3-5-2. Two D-mids. Denton is good at coming up the wing. --------------Cannon--------------- ---------------Petke---------------- ---Wingert------------------Denton-- ----------Maest----Beck------------- ---B_Dayan-----------------Cooke--- --------------Mathis----------------- -------Peguero--------Kirovski------- If this is their lineup opening day, it will be a scorefest. Mathis and Kirovski both had bad years last year, and I think they will both come back this year with a vengnce. Having only 3 defenders should allow Moreno to get behind the defence with his speed, and it allows Gray and Barret to make easy runs up the wings. The attack will have to go on the outside (Mullan, Gray, Barret) because Maestroeni and Beckerman will be in charge of shutting down DeRosario. I would be surprised if he gets an assist this match let alone a goal with who he's up against. I beleive our outside midfield is better than their outside midfield, but we still need Mullan to step up his game. Clark should shut down Mathis for most of the game, but we still need to watch him. Fouls near the box could lead to most of the goals scored agaisnt us. Most of our goals this game will come from a crosses (Ching headers), and Moreno breakaways. Mullan and Moreno are the best bets for fantasy soccer managers this game.
Re: Rapids lineup Ching headers are always a good possibility. But a Moreno breakaway and "having only 3 defenders should allow Moreno to get behind the defence with his speed"? Not very likely. I like Moreno but he is unusually slow for a forward or even for a soccer player in general. But he's very strong, with a bull-like build. He will typically score by getting just a little bit of space with his footwork and then hitting a well-placed shot. Or by bulling his way in for a header. If the team is going to start Ching and Moreno at forward, I think you can expect a lot of the scoring to come from the air. Play the ball down the wings and then pump it up there for Ching and Moreno. The speed will come from Mullan and DeRo, and also Clark, and maybe Cerritos as well. Clark can fly in from his d-mid position and wreak havoc. He's like a secret weapon. If Barrett plays left wing I think he'll do pretty well there. He's got pretty good speed, though his passing was pretty inconsistent last year. I doubt he can cross the ball nearly as well as Davis can, but he's probably faster than Davis and he plays better defense.
Brad Davis to be "Ready" vs. Colorado Brad Davis "should be ready to play by Opening Day" according to MLSnet as the surgery was successful. He will resuming training in 7-10 days. Check out the link: http://houston.mlsnet.com/MLS/news/...ntent_id=53948&vkey=pr_hou&fext=.jsp&team=hou So much for worrying about Barret at left mid, this is assuming that Davis will be in playing form come 4/2.