June 22, 2007 by f4denz.

Done, yup I am done with a number of things:

• China, done with it, it was funny to watch guys who know that 6/4/89 is bad, but do not know why.  Maybe not so funny, as sad but to have them react to something they do not understand why it is bad, has some level of humor in it.  But it was two weeks ago and mistakes have been made by several parties involved, how about this put it behind you, get over it, and move on.

June 18, 2007 by f4denz.

For some reason, we change 2 of 4 defenders that have only given up one goal in the last 4 matches. So we pull Forko (I hear he has a minor injury), we pull Stewart (who has been on and off all season) and we go with the Kipre option of the (Kipre/Besagno) in their place we put Richie “Red Card” Kotschau and put Danny Torres back into the line up. Yup so over the last couple weeks Jason told us he wanted to solidify the defense and with the exception of a last minute breakdown on Thursday, they had not given up a goal since the 23rd of May. So why not, when we have our best shot for a win in months, screw with the line up. Are we trying not to win, because the way Torres played tonight, it sure looks that way. Blow a back pass, so badly that it looks intentional. Then get played off the ball by Buddle, is Danny really that slow and weak? It looked sad. OK, it looked worse than sad, how do we expect our keeper to keep making wonderful saves and giving us chances for ties, when can’t keep a line in front of him for more than a week.  

Then how much trouble are we in when our offensive power is Chris Brown, you remember him the guy who could not get into a match last season. It was interesting but against a team that has a defense that has been worse than anyone elses in the league (ours looked worse today) how could we not take advantage of the chances. Klein had a great chance but chose to pass to Medhi (you know Mr. 20 wide or 20 over) and sure enough he lived upto it, a simple shot shanked 20 ft over the goal.  

I am going to ask this question everyday until, we get an answer. We were told that moving Cunny to Toronto was the first in a series of moves, well the only move since we got rid of the “golden boot” to free up cap room, is to pick up a journeyman defensive player. Not exactly what anyone expected. So the transfer period is open, where is Mackelele, where is S. Joseph. Or wait we don’t need a d-mid we have moved Atiba to that position, all must be well in the world. Are we being held hostage by some tight fist controlling the RSL purse strings? Or are we still looking for the right player. How about this advice, anyone is the right player, any change has to be better than what we are getting now.  

A mere 3 weeks ago, Coach Kreis said we needed “9 wins” to make the playoffs. Well, that now means that a team that has not won a single match now needs to win 1/2 of their remaining matches. Ain’t gonna happen, NY picks up two world class players, LA has Beck’s coming but keeps finding money and cap room to sign a new player every week. Even the Crew have picked up some international talent to boost their team. But no, not us, not the last place team in the league, we have traded away the guy who will one day be the league all time leader in goals scored because our coach couldn’t get over his own issues and deal with him. In the gap, we brought in Esky, who has given a ton of effort in 3 weeks but, without anyone to feed him the ball, how long before he plays the match looking at his feet like so many of our players have started to do.  

The only surprise is that Eddie has decided to stick out the rest of the season? If I were him, I would be gone right now, because ending your career (one of the best in MLS history) on this team, playing this way is got to be a sad way to end your career. I don’t know what to expect, but to be honest, even I, have began to wonder if this season is over before the 4th of July.  

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June 16, 2007 by f4denz.

Well it was, interesting.  So the start of the week saw the whole flag issue almost dead, if we could only have been so lucky.  Tuesday, saw me get my comeupins (sp?) from Jason on the Coaches Corner radio show, never ask a question if your not sure that it hasn’t already been answered.  If you have not stopped by for the radio show, your missign out.  Great shakes and always an educational and entertaining show. 

Thank god for Wednesday, a nice peaceful day, no major events. 

Then comes Thursday, first I get to see an article from the RSL head of marketing, in which he slams the RCB, makes false statements and overall sound like well (a dick).  Then in mere minutes I get an email from RSL announcing two “holy crap” internationals, just when I was convinced that most in the FO were spending more time looking for their butts (most are firmly planted where the sun does not shine), they pull this off.  While none of these teams were those mentioned a couple months ago with the staff changes, we all knew the deals would change.  I am the only one that was surprised it was this much of an improvement?  This proves that god does have some mercy on us and must love the fans who stand with their team (even if sometimes we get knives plunged into our backs). 

Oh wait, there was more to Thursday, I forgot in all the other crap we actually had a match.  So the tailgate as always was a great time, if you haven’t stopped by and joined us, do so grab a cold beer, water, some pizza (if we are not grilling) or a brat if we are.  Everyone was up for the match, I mean F*C* Dallas was missing Cooper, Ruiz, and Mina, we should have had easy pickings.  Wait did I say a minute ago that the soccer god must love us, well true to most deitys, the soccer god is a cruel mean task master.  I will say the following about the match: 

• Where does MLS get their officials (clown college or sister mary’s school for the blind)? 

• How can professional athletes who have had a week without a match looks so tired? 

• Emotions are nice but how about showing us a couple goals (freddy, esky, medhi, or anyone). 

• What exactly did Jason say to get kicked 

• Why do some people think that throwing stuff on the pitch or at players is OK? (it never is and never will be) 

• Can we figure out how to play til the whistle?  How many matches in the last year have we given up the last minute goal to end up with a tie or loss? 

ah, crap did any of us really expect anything else?  But I am sure that Sunday will be different, after all LA is without Landycakes, we can beat them.  (who am I kidding? someone hand me a beer) 

OFF MY SOAPBOX

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June 12, 2007 by f4denz.

So Thursday night we get to put the politics of last week behind us and get back to what matters and that is can RSL pull of it’s first win of the season?  I am putting this one down as my “lock” of the week, consider that our opener was stolen from the win column in the last minutes of the match due to a problem with the communications between our keeper and defense.  If you have watched the last two MLS matches, that issue no longer is a problem (two straight shutouts).

In my formulation of my “Lock” of the week, I considered a number of factors:

• Dallas will not have Cooper (broken leg) and most likely not Ruiz (Gold Cup duty)- these are the two players who scored during the season opener
• In 2006 Ruiz and Cooper scored almost 50% of Dallas’ goals
• Dallas will be in the middle of 3 matches in 8 days- we played our reserves on 6/7 so I starters are fresh
• we are 0-1-1 on ESPN2 matches, what better time to make it 1-1-1

For all those reasons plus we are just simply due a win.  I am going out on a limb and predicting a 3-1 RSL win.

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June 10, 2007 by f4denz.

While I understand all the hype, hysteria and outrage over the events involving flags, signs and chants at the RSL vs. China soccer match.  I believe a greater injustice was going on right in front of our eyes and not a single person other than yours truly seems to have noticed. 

Ever since the unveiling of “Leo the Lion” as the official mascot of Real Salt Lake, the person inside the suit has made rounds during the match and at halftime that covered all of the stadium.  In fact, most often we see Leo several times and the RCB has enjoyed a playful banter with our mascot.  It was us who posted a $100 bounty for the tail of Leo, which along with hundreds of kids pulling on his tail caused a change in the original outfit, to the current “tailless” version.  But something strange happened on Thursday night, something very strange indeed. 

So I noticed that as soon as the national anthems of both nations played, that Leo headed directly to the north end of the stadium.  I noticed because during the “arts and crafts” night, a new tail for Leo was made, well several of them.  So as we waited for him to come down, so we could enjoy our harassment of Leo, I began to notice that Leo was not moving from the North end of the stadium.  This was a bit strange since the north stands were rather empty compared to most matches, if you don’t believe me look at pictures from Thursday and compare them to other matches (http://www.flickr.com/groups/rcb/) and you will see what I mean.  So this behavior continued through the entire first half, but I figured everything would be back to normal in the second half.  Wow was I about to be surprised. 

So during the halftime activities, while the Chinese players were in their locker room, Leo seemed back to normal taking part in the on field activities and even going up to the section where the Chinese fans were located to throw out some free mini soccer balls.  Ah, I thought I must just be a bit paranoid; things are going to be OK.  Well through the clouds of controversy and conflict, I began to notice the same disturbing behaviors out of our “beloved” Leo.  He seemed to be stuck at the north end of the stadium, perhaps there was a special guest in the stands, or maybe a birthday party but I did not notice either of those from my seat (limited by the distance to the north end).  

It was about the 75th minute or so that I had “sick” feeling take over my thoughts, no it did not concern flags, what if the Chinese had gotten to Leo?  If they could get to Jack Bauer, was Leo out of their reach?  Worse yet, what if it was not the Chinese but our very own FBI, everyone knew they were here; you could not miss their large RV/command center in the parking lot.  Could one of those two organizations had gotten to Leo and turned him into a tool of tyranny?  Was Leo’s real purpose on this night to keep the Chinese players from getting too close to the fans, or to keep the fans from getting to close to the Chinese players?  My friends, was Leo acting as an agent of the much maligned Patriot Act?  

I was afraid of the thoughts running through my mind, was the real Leo bound and tied to a chair with a ball gag in his mouth to keep him from roaring for assistance?  I turned to Mr. S (I will keep his identity secret to protect him from the “powers” that be) and asked him if he thought it was a bit strange, he in turn looked at me like I was nuts.  I wondered had they gotten to him as well.  Was I the only one who noticed that while those around me fought a battle over “free speech”, that the real battle was taking place some 60-70 yards away as a mascot was being prevented from providing children and adults alike, a humorous distraction from the action on the pitch?  

Well I can live no longer with the burden of this on my shoulders, I had to tell my story and allow you my faithful blog readers (both of you), to make up your own mind.  Watch the replay of the match, look at the pictures and remember that Leo simply was not the Leo we all know and torment on that fateful June evening. 

Off my soapbox 

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