Mastroeni tied a Rapids record 170 starts tonight, and did it in style with a lovely finish on a one-two with Ballouchy. Ultimately it was deja vu all over again, as the Rapids continued their slide.

By “outclassed,” I don’t mean to imply that the Crew are high class. However, they were up to the task, and finished the chances they had.

I had to force myself to write this article, because at this point there isn’t a lot to say. The boys in burgundy play their asses off week after week…and week after week they come up short.

We have a few injuries, but no where near the insanity of last year. Smith continues to tinker with the lineup, but  we simply can’t manufacture more than one goal a game. Not only that, but our defense showed some real vulnerability this game (exception Wynne who deserves to be MVP at this point).

Could it be we simply lack the class? As long as Kroenke treats us like the class nerd, we aren’t going to be making any major signings, so we have to make the best of it.

I still believe Lopez is the only player in burgundy to play that Xavi or Paul Scholes type role, dictating the attack with pinpoint passing. Smith came on as a sub, and was superior in his touches than Wells, though Wells put forth excellent effort.

Sorry this article blows, I really don’t know what else to say. I’ll be with the Rapids until the end, but that end looks more and more like another early end to the season.

Major League Soccer (MLS), Rapids News and Analysis Claudio Lopez, Columbus Crew, Pablo Mastroeni, Stan Kroenke

For the second season in a row, the Rapids have lost Colin Clark to a torn ACL. A more cynical perspective might be that we never got him back, as he struggled to regain his dangerous form from 2009.

When an athlete gets back to back injuries of this type in the same knee, it begins to build concern about his long term prospects. He’s young, though, and I certainly hope he will make a full recovery.

More troubling for me is the absolute dearth of attacking options this leaves us in the midfield. I was a proponent, despite Clark’s hesitant appearances, to continue to use him and get him back to making those dangerous runs down the left.

With just a couple days left to grab another, there is a collective cry coming out of Colorado for Kroenke to do right by the fans and get us another attacking option; either an offensive midfielder or a striker to pair with Casey while Omar drops back.

Here’s the full press release from the club

Colorado Rapids midfielder Colin Clark has been diagnosed with a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his left knee, the club announced today.

Clark suffered the injury on August 7 in the second half of the Rapids’ 1-0 win against San Jose and will miss the remainder of the 2010 season.

Surgery to repair the injury is scheduled to take place next week.

This marks the second straight season in which Clark has suffered a torn ACL in his left knee. In 2009, he missed the team’s final 10 regular season games after the injury occurred in a training session on August 11.

Clark appeared in 16 games this season, with nine starts, playing 866 minutes.

Main Colin Clark, Conor Casey, Omar Cummings, Stan Kroenke