Rapids Class VI

Finally some good news!

We've all been desperate for something. Well, I've come to put a smile on your faces!

CVI has confirmed that Nat Borchers is in talks with the Rapids to return to our beautiful state.

Keep your fingers crossed!

In case you've missed it, Zach Thorton was waived by the Rapids.

Keep checking NoFanAlone.com - there's a lot of interesting stuff coming your way. Don't give up on our team yet - big changes are brewing.

Click Here to Discuss

MLS Roster Rule Changes

CVI has learned about a rule change coming to MLS rosters. Remember the complicated SI, YI, SYI, TI, designations that you tried to explain to the person in the seat next to you, only to get that look that the Trigonometry Professor sees on a daily basis?

Well MLS rosters will no longer resemble the Pythagorean theorem, because there will only be one for 2008 - the International Player!

How many will MLS rosters get?

Well someone has got to figure out The Cotangent of 8.13 Degrees!!

Click Here to Discuss

Season Ticket holder? Don't read this...

The Rapids have started offering great deals to NON-season ticket holders a bit early this year!

Yep.... 2008 specials have arrived, just in time for Xmas!

Season Ticket Holders Need Not Apply

For $79 you get 2 tickets to each of the first two home games (corner flag seats until you do an "onsite upgrade" wink-wink). Plus you get to give your loved one a present under the tree of a scarf and beanie.

Pretty cool! Seriously, actually seems like a good deal.

NOTE: I'm being sarcastic. Technically, season ticket holders are welcome to buy the non-denominational winter holiday pack as well... if you still have enough friends that haven't heard about the Rapids stellar 2007 onfield performance.

Rapids Radio...

Don't bloody miss tonight's show!

The interview with "our" coach who returns for 2008.

The interview with Nat Borchers, who escaped the Rapids to go to a colder place.

Bouna - back from Paris! Lots of good stuff!

Tuesday night's guests include:

~ Nat Borchers Norwegian Football Club Odd Grenland

~ Jim Davidson Broomfield High Soccer School Coach

~ George Tanner & Angel Hernandez FC Rocky writers

~ Bouna Coundoul Rapids GK & National team member of Senegal

Topics of discussion:

* Jeff Plush has confidence in Fernando for 2008

* FIFA World Cup Qualifying Draw

* EURO 2008

* Real Madrid Interested in Jozy Altidore

* Email us your question at MarceloBalboa@yahoo.com

Name This Ex-Rapid

I thought it might be fun during the off-season to dig up some old pics of ex Colorado Rapids players and see how many of us can remember them.

Do you remember this ex-Rapids player? What do you remember about him?

Jeff Plush speaks to the fans

The Rapids have given this State of the Rapids address by Jeff Plush to the fans of our beloved team.

-What do you see as the positives from this year?

“Obviously opening Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, both the stadium and the sports complex, was a great achievement. When comparing this year to previous years, take out all the one-off events like 60,000 + fireworks games and USA v Mexico, and we hosted more people to see Rapids games than any time in the history of our franchise. In addition to that, it was great to see over 500,000 kids and adults play on our field complex over the course of the year. It sets us up for the long term growth of our sport. We brought in a total of 6 international teams from all over the world this year for our fans to experience, that's more than any other season in our club history, and it was great to bring the world's game to Colorado in the truest sense of the word this year.”

-What do you see as the areas that need improvement?

“Clearly the biggest need for improvement is on the pitch. We failed against every goal we put in front of ourselves from the team side this year. It is time for reflection and time for us to figure out how to improve in virtually every area on the pitch. We cobbled together some points anyway this year, but it certainly wasn’t with any real sense of purpose...there was no real system or a vision of what we want to be. Most importantly we need to fix the first team and right now. Clearly there are still other areas for growth for the club, with selling more tickets and sponsorships and getting more media coverage and exposure. On balance though, I am pleased with where we are as a business and am confident in the future of our club and our league.”

-Going into 2007 the club had some distinct goals and objectives. How do you think those were fulfilled this year? What will change for ’08?

“They were not fulfilled. We put out a clear goal that we wanted to make the playoffs, advance to the MLS Cup, and win the MLS Cup. We didn’t get any of those done. We also didn’t qualify for SuperLiga next year. We have to be honest with ourselves and our fan base that we didn’t get it done. We will come back next year with the same goals, because the reality is that we are not a bad team and we don’t have a lack of talent. Off the field, our organizational goals included the successful launch of Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, the re-branding of our team and our new corporate identity, and consolidating our front office into a successful and soccer-focused business staff. We need to put lofty goals in front of this group and demand more of ourselves, and we will do that. It starts with me demanding more of our coaching staff, our players, and our front office. The objectives are the same as they have always been, but we have to work that much harder because we didn’t get it done this year.”

-What is the status of the coaching situation?

“Fernando will be back for 2008. He has one more year left in his contract. We know that it is a controversial decision and that some people don’t agree with it at all. We respect everyone’s opinion on the subject, but at the end of the day Mr. Kroenke believes in honoring the contracts that we sign, and he believes in honoring his word. I think there are some positives to be learned by that. Clearly there is some work to do to recover some of our fan base that we may have lost with this decision. We will work diligently to do that and that work has already started. However, the reality is that this organization can win with this coaching staff and this current team. We did make it to the Western Conference Championship game in both 2005 and ’06. I’m confident that if we can get some things shored up, demand more of ourselves, train more effectively, and add a little bit of talent, then we can make steps forward next year for sure. As far of the rest of the coaching staff goes, John Murphy has been doing a great job for us, had led the Rapids Reserves to back-to-back championship titles this year, and is helping build the future of this club with all the work he is doing with the Rapids Academy. On the other hand, a couple of subordinates on the staff have been let go. We will move forward next year without Goalkeeper Coach Leo Percovich and Fitness Coach Hector Ifran. We are in the process developing a plan on how to fill those positions now.”

-How have the Colorado Rapids stacked up against other MLS teams this year? How do you think we fared both on and off the field?

“You go back to how we didn’t hit any of our objectives, but when you look at some of the specific games and how we stacked up, it makes it that much more frustrating. If you look at it, we split the points with the East. We beat DC, New England, and New York, tied all four games with Chicago and Kansas City. So all the playoff teams from that conference, we split the points with. Where I think we really struggled was against Dallas and Houston, two of our main rivals in the West. We beat some good teams; in a five day period we beat both of the Cup finalists in Houston and New England. Clearly we have the ability to compete at the highest level in this league. It made it difficult to be a bystander at MLS Cup this weekend. I also think that when you start looking at 2008 we know we have the ability and the talent. Off the field, I think we did very well. We are right where we need to be. We are in the upper middle tier in the league in revenues and merchandise sales, for a bottom four market in the league. I think we are performing well and even outperforming other teams in some of the metrics. However, there is still a lot of room for growth. I’m still amazed at the quality of the marketplace of Denver and Rocky Mountain region. This marketplace will support us more as we give them something that is truly worthy of their future support.”

-There are two camps currently divided about the importance of signing a designated player. What is your vision?

“Our vision remains the same. The success of the designated player is still very much in doubt. David Beckham had a tremendous effect off the pitch, but played only 252 minutes for LA. (Cuauhtémoc) Blanco had a very positive effect for Chicago, as did Juan Pablo Angel with New York. I think Denilson was a miss in Dallas...Dallas took a team that was doing quite well and was never the same after signing Denilson, and Claudio Reyna was a non-factor in New York. At MLS Cup we saw two teams playing in the championship match that not only don’t have a designated player on their rosters; they both have a couple of the lower payrolls in the league. At the end of the day it is 11 v. 11, it is 18 players on the senior roster, and 28 players on the total roster...all pulling in the same direction. You can’t lose sight of that. There is a reason Houston and New England win, over and over again. They do it with continuity and they do it with a team. We are very interested in a designated player, but it has to be the right player at the right time and in the right position. They have to want to be a part of this community and be a part of this team. We aren’t in the market to sign a designated player just to say we did.”

-Dick’s Sporting Goods Park now has its first season under its belt. What have you and the team learned from the process of building what’s considered one of the premier soccer-specific stadium and complexes on Earth? How will you keep fans coming back once the newness has worn off?

“We learned a lot. It was a tremendous challenge and a tremendous amount of fun. It is just the beginning of what it can be. We have learned how to run a stadium and sports complex, which we had never done before. We have a soccer-specific stadium to be proud of and we can provide more soccer content, not just Rapids, but other events. We went through some hurdles early on relative to traffic management and concessions. We tweaked some things and re-oriented some things to make it a better experience for people. We tried to listen to some of the fan feedback and make some changes there as well. We will always have that dialogue with our fan base, so that we are always trying to get better. As far as keeping it new, we will always invest more money into it. You never think the building is done. You are always trying to add things to add value, but we will continue to aggressively market the building. We spent more time and money in marketing this team and stadium in 2007 than we have in the history of the franchise. We will continue to reach out to people both in the soccer community and in the macro sports community.”

-What is the status of the Rapids’ youth development programs? How is the Rapids Academy progressing?

“We are excited about how the academy is progressing. We have hired two Rapids youth team coaches in Brian Crookham and Brett Jacobs, who were previously the directors of coaching for, respectively, the states of Colorado and Michigan. They are coaches who love spending time teaching kids. We have launched already the Rapids Academy U-17 and U-16 teams, and they will play in US Soccer’s Development Academy. We are excited about that, and it is the first step in providing a fully integrated youth development system for this club. It will be a real pyramid system based on learning and getting better at the game. It will be about technical skills and bettering yourself to play at whatever level you aspire to, not winning and losing. It is progressing well, and will ultimately lead to a true club system that our first team can only benefit from, and we are excited about how it can tie in with our friends at Arsenal and Pachuca as well. We will share coaches and share ideology.”

The Rapids have been accused of being content with mediocrity...how do you respond to that?

Nothing could be further from the truth, but I also acknowledge that it is just rhetoric unless the results change. We have made mistakes and we will set out to change them. At the end of the day, I take responsibility for our failings. If anything I have been too deferential to others but no longer. We will change the way we conduct our soccer business effective immediately. If we make changes on our roster it will be based on character and integrity in addition to technical skills. I no longer will tolerate people who do not want to be here. We will move forward with a club first mentality and with a group who wants to play for the shield on front not the name on the back.

-What do fans most have to look forward to for next year?

“Our fans right now need to know that they can look forward to a quality product next year, one they can be proud of. A product we believed we would put in front of them this year but we didn’t do it. We need to make it happen, there are no excuses. We have a platform to be proud of. We have a fan base that wants us to be successful and will support us. We have players who want to play in Denver and others who aren’t here but would love to come play here. We can be very successful. We have made the playoffs most years in this organization. Since KSE has owned the Rapids, we have made the playoffs three of the four years and have made it to the conference final twice. That should be the expectation and not the goal. I have met with the coaching staff and players and my expectation is that we will play an attacking, pressing brand of soccer in 2008, especially at home. We want to take advantage of the altitude, the big pitch, a fun and raucous crowd to make teams dread playing here at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. That is our responsibility to ourselves and to our fans. That is what we will set out to achieve in 2008.”

Protected List

The Rapids have shared their protected list for the upcoming expansion draft with Class VI:

The eleven players (the maximum number allowed) the Rapids will protect are:

Goalkeeper #1, Bouna Coundoul

Defender #18, Ugo Ihemelu

Defender #3, Facundo Erpen

Midfielder #11, Terry Cooke

Midfielder #25, Pablo Mastroeni

Midfielder #23, Colin Clark

Midfielder #8, Mehdi Ballouchy

Midfielder #27, Kosuke Kimura

Forward #15, Jacob Peterson

Forward #10, Herculez Gomez

Forward #14, Omar Cummings

In addition to this list, Rapids midfielder #21 Nico Colaluca is automatically protected by the Rapids due to his Generation Adidas status.

The complete list of protected players from all the MLS clubs will be made available by the league tomorrow.

Expansion Draft Rules

CVI has learned from sources inside the Rapids Front Office the rules for the expansion draft on Wednesday.

• Teams may protect 11 players between their Senior and their Developmental Roster.
• If the Player’s contract expires at the end of 2007, he will still be considered part of the Team’s Senior Roster.
• If a Team protects a player, it is not obligated to exercise the player’s option. It may renegotiate a new budget number for the player as in previous years.
• If a player retires, he will not be a part of the Senior Roster, but his Team will lose its right of first refusal to him should he ultimately decide to play.
• Designated Players do not have to be protected unless the player has a No-Trade clause in his contract in which case the player must be protected.
• Players on a Team’s Developmental Roster, other than Project 40/Generation adidas players who have not been graduated at the end of the 2007 season, will be part of the expansion draft.
• Project 40/Generation adidas players who have not been graduated at the end of the 2007 season are automatically protected (teams do not have to use a protected slot on them)
• If San Jose selects a Developmental Player it must offer him a Senior Roster position and he must be on San Jose’s Senior Roster as of Roster Compliance Date.
• Teams may make available no more than 1 Senior International player. A player shall be considered a Senior International if he will be a Senior International in 2008 (e.g., a 2007 Youth International who becomes a Senior International in 2008).
• For purposes of this expansion process, for US-based teams, any non-domestic US player would count as an International and for Toronto FC, any non-domestic US player or non-domestic Canadian player would count as an International.
• Once a player has been claimed from a Team’s non-protected roster, that team is eliminated from the expansion draft and may not lose any further players.
• The expansion draft will be 10 rounds

What's Next?

The response I've been getting from other fans about Fernando Clavijo being retained has been extremely passionate to say the least.

There are a lot of fans that cannot fathom the logic of this decision. But that's the decision Jeff Plush has made and we can either live with it (agree or not) or stay away if living with it is something you can't swallow.

Rapids fans up in Arms!

If April comes and Fernando is the man on the field guiding our beloved Rapids, what choice do you have other than cheer him on? You cannot be hoping for our gaffer to make more poor decisions to get himself fired - because that would mean cheering against the very team you support!

So what's next? Something certainly has to change!

The pressure is certainly growing from the fans. Jeff Plush (and Charlie Wright? what does he do again?) have placed that pressure directly on their shoulders with their decision of retaining Clavijo. And Fernando is going to be under tremendous pressure to succeed, thusly placing more pressure on the players from their coach. Certainly if he doesn't have at least a .500 record in the first ten games he's gone (though he survived a ten game winless streak and Plush has stated he doesn't think mid season coaching changes benefit the team).

That pressure grows annually since the Rapids are one of two teams with and empty trophy cabinet among the non-expansion sides. 2007 was one of the worst seasons on the field endured among Rapids fans that are so desperately hoping for some form of success. The result?

Rapids Trophy Cabinet

We sit and wait. Are we in for more of the same, or are the Rapids going to invest in talent? Are we going to get treated to more of the most boring soccer in MLS or are we going to go and sign the next Fred and Angel?

MLS goes legit?!?

Saint or Sinner?

I know, I know. We all assume the MLS is as rigged as that boxing match I witnessed Saturday night.

And when the decisions are going in your favor, who am I to ask too many questions?

Well... I'm a Rapids fan, and as such given to hear a lot of theories, now widely regarded as fact, that MLS is rigged towards the big teams: LA, NY, DC, ETC.

I was watching Houston give Kansas City an R-rated spanking Saturday night and thinking ... who in their right friggin' mind would want MLS Cup fouled up for a third year in a row?

Nobody. Not even the Don. Yes, it's true. I said it. Don Garber didn't rig the elections... I mean season.

Sure, *before* the season things are as rigged as they possibly can be. That's not the point. That's why they call it the off-season. Everyone takes their eye off the other guy and lets a few things go.

But we've commonly assumed that *during* the season, things were just as rigged. So what am I really saying here? Turns out the referees just suck on their own, nobody's paying them.

Let's look at MLS Cup '05, '06, and now '07.

In both 2005 and 2006, the league desperately wanted FC Dallas to challenge for a spot in the final. Didn't happen. Luckily, Houston brought the fans in 2006.

In 2007? LA was supposed to get to the playoffs and make a month-long splash for MLS. And some more money. Didn't happen.

Certainly, the Supporters' Shield winner, DC, was supposed to be in the Final to sell out their own friggin' stadium.

Didn't happen.

And now it's New England and Houston yet again.

As it turns out, the boys from down south have been a revelation. 30,000+ at the Houston Conference Final victory... and they stayed after the game to celebrate. Amazing!

And New England? Well... at least they're not that far away from DC, I guess. Don't get me wrong, I love the 100 folks we party with every year from the Midnight Riders, but seriously, NE is always a top contender and has crappy support in a city the size of, well, Boston.

Huh.... I don't think MLS planned it this way. That's all I'm sayin'.

Fudge.

I truly apologize, but I just heard the news from our Grand Poobah, Mark Bodmer.

He couldn't bother to tell me in person. He couldn't even call me. Instead? He mass emailed a group of people, and I was "lucky" enough to be one of them.

What's the news that's got me so riled up?

Mark has confirmed the rumor with Fernando Clavijo. He will be back in 2008 as our head coach. He's now heading to North Carolina for the ACC tournament.

I'm sorry. I realize that some Class VI fans don't like profanity. Heck, some fans even like Clavijo! I mean, as a coach. He seems like a nice enough guy, but he's screwed this team so hard it'll take years to dig our way out.

Little did I know when I put horns on Dicktator Plush this morning in polishing up a post about Don Garber that I was simply reacting to psychic waves of mis-management coming from the Rapids.

Drew Carey takes over MLS

"What started as a passion to drink beer in a pub and watch soccer has exploded," said Carey, drunk on the set of The Price Is Right, where he serves as host.

"Now I can own the whole damn schming!" he said.

While not strictly true, it has been confirmed that Drew Carey will be a minority owner and loud spokesman for the new MLS franchise in Seattle, which was officially, officially, officially announced today by Don Garber.

See the new website and notice which languages they have prioritized for the Seattle audience.

More importantly, look at the countdown timer towards the bottom of the page to see the first player expected to be drafted by the not-quite-named Seattle franchise, which starts play in 2009.

Another way to look at this? Yes.... it's true that the Rapids chances of getting to the playoffs have officially gotten worse today. Bummer.

Hopefully the Rapids management realizes this at some point before 2009.

Also of interest to MLS watchers, it's important to note that this is team #15... a 50% increase in the past few years, and quite an achievement after contraction less than a decade ago.

It's now much, MUCH more likely that we'll see 18 teams by 2012 (or earlier). It guarantees 16 teams by at least 2010, and I'm betting Philadelphia or St. Louis gets the next announcement, no matter how much Cleveland begs for a team.

From the Pitch Tuesday Night

Tuesday night's guests include:

~ Mike Petke Colorado Rapids Defender

~ Shalrie Joseph NE Revolution Midfielder

~ Paul Mariner NE Revolution Assistant Coach

~ Dominic Kinnear Houston Dynamo Head Coach (not confirmed)

~ Eddie Robinson Houston Dynamo Destroyer (not confirmed)

~ Topics of discussion:

* MLS CUP 07 Houston Dynamo Vs New England Revolution

* LA Galaxy Hire Ruud Gullit & Cobi Jones

* MLS expands to Seattle 2009

* Who will Coach The NY Red Bulls?

* Email us your question at MarceloBalboa@yahoo.com

Where to listen? When to listen? Check it out now.

Lead up to MLS Cup '07

There are many events leading up to MLS Cup '07, from the announcement of Player of the year to the upcoming Tuesday announcement of the newest MLS team to be based in Seattle (Shhhh, it's a secret)!

As part of these events my wife --a designer and artist-- was commissioned several months ago to create an installation art piece for a private collector in D.C.

Kathleen is currently in the nation's capitol delivering and installing the final piece this weekend before tonight's game to decide the final MLS Cup '07 team. (Don't forget to watch the game tonight, on FSC!)

The artist ultimately decided on acrylic-on-canvas as the final medium, but used several intermediary steps in the process. Beginning with a series of related collages, Kathleen ultimately abstracted them to the final work, an expressive, inter-related triptych wall installation.

MLS Cup '07 Viewin' ParTAY!

The big one is here! We get to watch some other teams play for the championship. Yeah!

To make this all a bit easier to swallow, we'll be watching on the big screens down at the British Bulldog with fellow fans to enjoy the morning.

MLS Cup '07 is November 18th and Class VI will be having a viewing party at the British Bulldog. The game starts at 10 AM!! And the Bulldog does indeed serve breakfast. Good breakfast. Full English breakfast. And my fave, the Farmer's breakfast. Well... my second fave. My first fave is a pint of Fuller's ESB!

Two things to announce about the viewing party...

1. CVI has a friend stationed in Iraq - his name is Daniel Clark. At the MLS Cup viewing party, CVI will be having a soccer ball drive for the children in Iraq.

So bring a soccer ball (preferably deflated) to the Bulldog - you all know you've got some promotion ball - or a size 3 that you haven't used in years that you need to get out of the garage! Any soccer ball will do. CVI will ship them and a pump to Daniel to give out to the kids that live in a terrible situation.

2. There will be some Rapids players appearing at the Bulldog too. Come meet and say hello. Currently Stephen Keel is the only confirmed guest - with one player tentative (if he's in town). Hopefully there will be more. Bring friends that may be interested in our group.

More announcements to come later on (like trying to work out a Bloody Mary deal!)

This may be our last chance to get together this year, so stop on by, cheer on whoever is less evil, look for BilFish & JasonMa waving to their Bulldog Buddies from the D.C. crowd, and enjoy the experience with fellow fans.

Thanks again to our 2007 Class VI partners, who helped ensure we had quality beer at the right price for every tailgate this year. Please consider supporting them, which is really quite a pleasurable experience, we can assure you :-)

From the Pitch tonight

It's an all-star lineup tonight, so make sure to check it out!

The show airs tonight from 6-8pm.

Here's the lineup for tonight, straight from 'Celo himself:

GUESTS:

• Curt Onalfo Kansas City Wizards Head Coach

• Chris Rolfe Chicago Fire Forward

• Fernando Clavijo Calling in from Brazil

• Esfandiar Baharmast Director of Advanced and International Referee Development

• Bouna Coundoul Rapids GK
  

Topics of discussion:

• Western & Eastern Conference Match - Ups

• Two MLS Coaches Resign,
  
  
• Who should take over NY & LA
  
  
• Bouna Coundoul Gets his First Call-Up to the Senegalese National Team
  
  
• Email us your question at MarceloBalboa@yahoo.com