September 27, 2007
And then there were 3!
We've all had that feeling. The one where nothing could go wrong and you get a bit Laissez-faire about events and then BLAMO! Reality strikes you upside the head like a Dario Sala sucker punch.
Last time this happened to me, I fell off the roof of my house. Luckily I couldn't afford 2 stories!
Well, it looks like the Rapids just fell off the roof of The Dick. Ouch. That cement ain't soft.
The Terrible Threesome?!?
What am I talking about? The Rapids playoff hopes are no longer in their own hands. In fact, they've slipped from the final spot, to being envious of the Columbus Crew! Ugghh. That is disgraceful. And sends us to the bottom rung of this 3-ring circus battle royale for the last playoff spot.
CrApiCago!
With only four games left in the 2007 MLS season, let's take a gander at how each of the three teams' might crawl into the playoffs:
Leading this pack of uninspired MLS Cup contenders is the Chicago Fire. Chicago appears to to be cheating. Apparently they've found some way around the rules applied by the Rapids Management Team, and added some top-notch players to the mix in Blanco, Wanchope, and Conde, as well as hiring a top new coach mid-season (a coach once considered to lead the Rapids to MLS Cup Glory).
With a single win and three ties in their last four games, they certainly haven't been burning the league up with their play, yet they have still jumped into the final playoff spot ahead of the Crew and Rapids.
Upcoming, Chicago has two very difficult games with visits to Chivas USA and DC United, and they host a good New England Revs and a last place LA Galaxy. Let's hope they flub them all.
Columbus, under guidance from Sigi Schmidt, has taken his team from last place winners in 2006 to just a single point out of playoff contention in '07. Big & Tall Men's store spokesman Sigi (also once considered to replace Tim Hankinson) needs only one more win to match last year's total of eight, but they have an equally difficult job to do. Their next game is a must win against Los Angles at home (okay, that's not the difficult part), followed by hosting Dallas and visits to New England and DC United (what we might call "three the hard way").
Our Colorado Rapids are mired in a four-game winless streak and haven't won a road game since May 13th, but our schedule gives us some reason to be optimistic. First, we can't go on another 10-game winless streak this season. Second, we're just a win out of the playoffs, so at least one win and a tie is essential.
We've got two of the leagues worst teams with Fake Salt Lake concluding the third edition of the Rocky Mountain Cup in the last game of the season at The Dick as well as hosting those hosers, Toronto FC. The bad news is we have road games against New England and Chivas USA.
The Rapids are going to have to win at least one of these games (one of these days) and need four points minimum to finish the 8th seed if the planets were to somehow all line up and the Dodo bird were to be rediscovered.
Realistically however, they're going to need six points and and a handful of four leaf clovers at the very least, which means two wins or one win and three ties in their last four games.
A Grande Macchiato order indeed considering our inability to win big games lately.
As a side note, New England is four points behind DC United for the Supporters Shield and a guaranteed Champions' Cup berth, so don't count on them to B team us.
Now who was it that was coaching the Revolution before three-time runner up Steve Nicol? Wonder if he's ever thought of plying his trade out here.
Posted by mark at September 27, 2007 08:00 AM