September 29, 2007
Ahhhh....
He climbed cathedral mountains, he saw silver clouds below
He saw everything as far as you can see
And they say that he got crazy once and he tried to touch the sun
And he lost a friend but kept his memory
Now he walks in quiet solitude the forest and the streams
Seeking grace in every step he takes
His sight has turned inside himself to try and understand
The serenity of a clear blue mountain lake.
And the Colorado rocky mountain high
I've seen it rainin' fire in the sky
You can talk to God and listen to the casual reply
Rocky mountain high.
John Denver was a Rapids fan
Anyway, at least I'm getting a chuckle out of the Rapids, and that's a good thing with the creativity, scoring, and winning lacking from my experience with them lately.
On the ride home from the Bulldog, I was recalling a comment from the game. It was either Rapids TV announcer Stout or Crookham, but one of 'em said something like, "After 88 minutes of perfect play the Rapids made a mistake."
It was the "perfect play" bit that made me chuckle most of the way home (and not the beer, or only having one hand on the steering wheel, as you dirty-minded bastards might reasonably suspect).
The really sad part is that now I have all the ammunition for biting, sarcastic, droll, seemingly negative posts, but I've lost the passion to organize those thoughts swirling through my head.
For example: Mehdi's (hair is) Ballouncy.
And don't get on my back about trying to find a bad picture of him... the Rapids are the ones who posted it. I'm just spreading the love. Geeez. That expression makes me think the ball's already smacked Ballouchy upside the noggin'.
More importantly, this image allows me to talk about tonight's starting line-up. If you didn't see the game, I've got a quiz question for you. Who did soon-to-be-former Coach Fernando Cluevijoless start in the attacking center midfield position?
I'll give you a hint. It wasn't the massively expensive acquisition from Salt Lake.
Actually, I'll give you another hint because otherwise we're going to be here all night guessing. It wasn't Zach Thornton. Zach is too young. By a couple of years. In fact, this guy is just 4 days younger than me. YiKeS!?!
Still give up? He's an ex-Fire guy. His last name is *not* Cancela, Osorno, or Niko. Okay, even with the hints you're still too skeptical to come to the right (wrong) conclusion. Yep. Sanneh started as our attacking midfielder.
Sure, some of you may want to scream, "We gave up US Men's National Team midfielder, Kyle Beckerman, beginning to peak and come into his own, for this nice Mehdi guy -- in a straight-up bloody swap?!?!?!?????."
And then Fernando went and started 36-year old Sanneh in the über-physical attacking mid position best left to younger guys?
It's true. Now, don't get me wrong. My beef isn't with Mehdi. It's with the Rapids for trading a top American prospect with tons of experience for a Sophomore Slump guy who will become a Senior International liability next year. Without asking for the sun, the moon, and the stars in return.
And that seems to be the sentiment of everyone I talk to. "Mehdi, it's not you. It's me... and the problems I have with Fernando's decision on this."
Anyway, Sanneh pulled up lame about 10 minutes into the game. As a veteran player *he* obviously realized the stupidity of what was going on and bowed out quietly.
I know: The Beckerman Trade Is Over. Get over it. Yet.... it's tough when I see Beckerman is off enjoying Bright Lights, Big City in New York this weekend.
And thanks to the combination of young-defender errors committed in the 88th minute by Ihemelu and then Bouna, we may have a long off-season to learn to get over it.
Posted by BilFish at September 29, 2007 07:54 PM