The Rapids have blanketed the heart of downtown Denver with burgundy and sky blue. It was a beautiful sight to see banners on Denver’s famous 16th Street Mall of Colin Clark, Conor Casey, Pablo Mastroeni, and Omar Cummings.

The banners said April 3rd, and we are all hoping that doesn’t turn out to be false prophecy.

Well done Rapids.

For those of us who have the privilege to live in Denver, we know this is one of the most passionate sports cities in the world. I just signed the petition to bring the beautiful game’s biggest stage to one of the most beautiful cities: Denver. Sign the petition today:




For a man the MLS Direct Kick announcers were calling the Galaxy Killer, he sure found a whole lot of “space” in a porous L.A. defense. Just 16 seconds into the game, Casey started his scoring spree off an Omar Cummings cross. He didn’t finish until he had posted a hat trick and earned the Rapids their second win of the season.

Gary Smith, from the Denver Post

“Wonderful, absolutely wonderful,” gushed Smith. “No game away from home is easy, we all know that. We took the game to them, and then we implode a little bit. It was a difficult night, but I think we showed a lot of character.”

The Rapids did manage some shaky play in the first half. Preston Burpo appeared to have his feet in concrete as rookie Omar Gonzalez put a Landon Donovan cross into the back of the net (36′). The entire back four caught the slows in the 48th minute and they were unable to close down a nice passing attack resulting in goal number two.

However Casey was not to be denied. The former South High School answered less than 2 minutes later with a deja vu tap-in of a Cummings cross (watch for that Thunder & Lighting combo all year). Then in a complete collapse of the Galaxy defense, he found himself all alone in the 84th minute, calmly steered around the goalie, and pounded in the winner.

I wouldn’t presume we will find all defenses so accommodating in the future. The set piece goal was needless, we will certainly want to improve our marking (especially the really tall guys!). It will be interesting to see who is in net next week as well, I haven’t heard why Preston Burpo replaces Pickens in goal, who has been performing well.

Again, however, the Rapids ability to score and score often (I can’t believe I said that) led the way. The Casey/Cummings combo is a delight to watch.

Next up: the Galaxy again, Tuesday night, in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup.

For more coverage of the game

• The Denver Post
• Video Highlights

Things looked bright when Omar Cummings pounded a mishandled ball from Chivas goalie Zach Thornton into the back of the net. However it was a shaky performance from the back four that let Colorado down.

Chivas’ Paulo Nagamura came into the game with only 4 career goals, but upped that by 50% by the end of the night. His pair of goals exposed weaknesses in the Rapids’ defense. In the 54th minute, he was given far too much space and hit a beautiful ball to the bottom corner that gave Pickens no chance. In the 59th minute, Kimura attempted to head the ball clear, but it turned into a perfect setup for Nagamura that even Kljestan couldn’t have bettered.

In the category of encouraging signs: Conor Casey was lively and active, and with a bit more luck might’ve netted a pair himself. Pickens made a brilliant stop on Kljestan right before the break, and can’t be faulted for either of the goals.

It’s only one game, but it isn’t going to get any easier for the traditionally slow starting Rapids, as the Denver Post pointed out

…Colorado suffered its 10th loss in 14 Major League Soccer openers and faces a difficult start to the season, with three of the next four games — all but Saturday’s home opener against Kansas City — on the road.

Between now and the Wizards this Saturday at DSG Park in their home opener, I’m sure Gary Smith will be working on the Rapid’s defensive clearances. Goal production was an achilles heel last year, I would also like to see Casey and Cummings find a way to turn chances into goal scoring (yesterday’s goal was a gift).

View video highlights of the match

Our Rapids finally take the pitch this Saturday night at the Home Depot Center vs Chivas USA. Rapids fans will be gathering for the official away-game viewing party at Sobo 151 (151 South Broadway in Denver).

Chivas USA comes off a season-ending semifinal loss to Real Salt Lake on aggregate goals, and should be a good first test for this new Rapids team. This year certainly feels like a fresh start, with a new Captain at the helm, fresh talent in Guerrero, and our young stars coming into their own.

See you at Sobo 151!

View the full match details at the Rapids site.

I just noticed recently that Channel 3 in Denver, KCDO based in Sterling, CO, is airing English Premier League Football games. I believe the games are through the Bolton and Everton football channels. The quality is quite poor, and the games vary from 1 day to 6 months old, but hey…it’s free!

The other exciting part is that sometimes even though the TV information in the cable guide says “English Premier League,” it will actually turn out to be a kitchen appliance infomercial with Mr. T. If I can’t get EPL for free, Mr. T is a more than adequate plan B.