RSS
Full slate for Saturday
Sixteen teams. Eight games. Today is the day I could only dream about when MLS took the field in 1996.
Names have changed (Clash, Burn, the lamentable “Wiz”), franchises have come and gone (Tampa Bay Mutiny, Miami Fusion), but the league has persisted. And now, on a gorgeous May Day, 16 teams will take to eight fields for one glorious day of soccer.
I never thought this day would take this long. I thought every weekend was going to be this way.
I grew up as the North American Soccer League grew. As a young man, I thought the professional sport would just keep going and growing. Thirty years ago, the NASL boasted 24 teams and seemed to be thriving. As I flip through “The Complete Handbook of Soccer — 1980 Season” today, I realize how fleeting those moments were. By 1984, the NASL was done.
As the MLS goes through the throes of its teen years, I continue to believe that the league is doing the right thing. The single-entity structure can be awkward, but controlled growth is better than the wildfire expansion that swept through the NASL. In biology, unregulated growth is a cancer, and it was the disease that killed the NASL.
Play is continuing to improve, and the early mistakes of bringing over-the-hill players from Europe into the league seem to be waning. Soccer specific stadiums are becoming the norm in the MLS. If the success in Seattle is any indication, further expansion in Portland, Oregon, and Vancouver, B.C., will only benefit the league. The designated player — aka “The Beckham Rule” — has benefited the league and brought some star power to the field.
It’s a beautiful May Day for professional soccer in the U.S. Go enjoy it.
Rapids Clash: Colorado faces the San Jose Earthquakes, nee Clash, in a late game in California. The two sides take the field at 8 p.m. Mountain time. The game will be broadcast locally in Denver on KWGN, Channel 2.
Queasy Feeling: The Rapids played San Jose to two contentious 1-1 draws in a five-day period last fall. A win in either of those games would have put the Rapids into the playoffs. A loss would have left them out. Instead, it was a share of the points in both cases. Ultimately, the Rapids crumbled at Salt Lake in the season finale and spent another off-season at home.
Meanwhile, the ties were further proof that a San Jose team that couldn’t get past its own shadow to start the season, was starting to come together as the year ended. Since being reconstituted after the original ‘Quakes moved to become Houston 1836 — scratch that, Houston Dynamo — San Jose has struggled. Today, the Earthquakes are off to a respectable 2-2-0 mark.
Winning Ways: The Rapids, at 3-1-1 (10 points), are off to the best start in the club’s 15-year history. Hopefully that promise will continue as Colorado faces a team it has been unable to beat in the past 11 meetings. The Rapids have an 0-5-6 mark in that span. The last Rapids win came April 24, 2004. The Rapids last won in San Jose on Aug. 30, 2003. The victory seven years ago was also the last time the Rapids scored more than one goal against the Earthquakes.
Injuries: With no one out due to suspensions or cautions, the Rapids injury list is the only place left to look. Of players that have seen game action this season, only midfielder Jamie Smith with a hamstring pull is questionable.
Home Wednesday: It’s a quick turnaround for the Rapids as they face the league’s hottest team, the Los Angeles Galaxy, at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday.
Leave your response!