Brought in with hype and fanfare, this former Mexican first division defender has become the Rapids invisible man. If memory serves he has started one game and played in parts of three or four others. He has been completely MIA in the past 3 games. In place of this experience, we've seen multiple rookies start or come on as subs. Maybe he's shown horribly in practice, maybe he's hurt, maybe he's..... well, that's what this thread is about. Considering the completely lack of official (or unofficial for that matter) information from the team, we must resort to rumors and wild speculation. I believe the situation started, or reached it's zenith, during a home game last month when Rizo entered as a sub in midfield. Late in the game Chung sent a long pass towards some fans in the south stands, who in all fairness to Chung, were unmarked. Rizo, yelled towards Chung, suggesting a square pass to him may have been a preferred alternative. Chung responded firmly, but politely, suggesting (paraphrasing) where Rizo could put that square pass. I'm not sure Rizo has removed the warm-ups during a game since. Any other thoughts?
While I can't answer the "Wher's Rizo?" question, I want to say thanks... the line above nearly sent the water I was drinking up into the ol' sinus cavity.
Where's Rizo? I don't know,but the person who might would be "Phills"... This person knows exactly what is being said in the locker room.See Phills post after the LA match.Galaxy/Rapids Dos Pre/Post 6/7/03,page 4 it was quite amusing but not nearly as amusing as DavidJames comment about Chungs long pass into the unmarked fans in the stands. That was TOO FUNNY!
Re: Where's Rizo? I don't think it was that funny. Hankinson later told someone who leaked it to JoeyClams that Greenie and He's in Fashion were supposed to drop into space and cover that section. They have since been moved to section 128 in favor of some kids from a youth team who showed promise in a U13 select tournament over the weekend. I agree that line is a classic. I have been thinking about it all day and laughing my ass off. It sounds like something those English commentators say in the Premier League broadcasts. But was that actually a corner kick or did Chung pull a similar move on a corner in that same game? I bet Rizo has fallen into the Yoda zone, where players suffer bad practices, minor injuries, get outplayed, have bad games and become discipline problems, all the while not knowing what fate has befallen them because no one tells them. For all Rizzo knows, he has a chronic back strain and is getting outplayed but a frisbee dog that wondered onto the field and will start tonight.
Re: Re: Where's Rizo? Actually they moved me one more section over into 129. With my 23" vertical combined with the 30" vertical rise of the stands, I'll be the one getting his head on the end of our corner kicks.
I'm serious. Ever since 1996, I've been dying to have a ball come my way. Screw catching it, I'm putting my head right on it.
I noticed Rizo limping to the locker room at hlftime tonight. Nagging ,unreported injury may be the reason.
He problably has one of those career ending sore toes (at least career ending playing for the RApids).
Don't some sports require teams to report injuries and get in trouble if they don't? How about the MLS?
I think a lot of that injury reporting is associated with gambling. All the betting puts pressure on various leagues to reveal injuries, etc.... MLB, NFL, NBA, and NHL all have different policies. Not a lot of betting happens with the NHL, not to mention that because of the physical nature of the games, you often hear vague injuries like "left leg strain" when the guy really has a sprained ankle or broken tibia. I don't think there's much pressure by the gambling community for the MLS to disclose their injuries for betting purposes, so you don't hear about player injuries, etc... as much. Not to say that gambling runs sports, but try telling that to Rick Neuheisel... Anyone know official MLS policy?
Only MLS policy that really exists in this regard has to do whether or not players are to be considered injured reserve or not. Everything else is pretty much a courtesy to the press. What irritates me is that Hankinson blames the fans for not knowing who's injured, yet the team won't communicate that to the fans (or the press). Instead, we're left with observations from fans at games who say it looked like Rizo was limping when heading to the locker room.
Maybe Ruiz is Plasidos in disguise. They just couldn't get rid of him...Hankinson seems to see the similarities!
last night at the dc game, rizo was warming up right in front of us, not showing any signs of a limp or other injury. i politely yelled at him, "come on man, get into the game!" he looked at me with that look that says, "dude, i know, ask the coach." or maybe his english isn't good enough, so he was just looking at me like, "no comprende." either way, he looked like he didnt expect to get into a game for a long, long time. way to use an international spot you dirty hanki.
Thats what I don't understand the most and it seems to happen al the time. We get some international, praise him up as a new find or whatever and then her rides the pine most of the season because it turns out he isn't as good as they thought. Seems to me like a pretty important thing to figure out before you sign the guy.
you guys have had the worst luck with internationals, about the only one that has really stuck has been Spencer.