MLS Thursday Night: Colorado Rapids v New England Revolution

By: Bob | August 16th, 2007

The great American experiment known as MLS Thursday Night lumbers on with the Colorado Rapids playing host to the New England Revolution at the Dick. This one doesn’t have the luster of say, the NBC Thursday Night lineup in the mid-80s, but New England is one of the more enjoyable teams to watch in MLS and Colorado is always prone to doing something fun like taking part in a brawl. So watch we will. [Update: Or maybe we won't. This game was dropped by ESPN so that they could show Beckham sit on the bench against Toronto a few weeks ago. Apparently you need Direct Kick to watch it. Doh!]

After starting the year playing soccer that was almost decent, the Rapids have descended to their normal depths having earned just one win in their past 11 games. That win came last week against versus the league-leading Houston Dynamo of all teams thanks to an own goal by Dwayne De Rosario. The Rapids might need a few more own goals this evening. The team has scored a mere 3 goals in its past 9 games.

On the other end of the spectrum are the New England Revolution. The Revs have been on fire lately, suffering just one loss in their last 7 league games. New England leads MLS with 34 goals with Taylor Twellman and Andy Dorman combing for 16 of them. They look like they are on pace to reach the MLS Cup again where they will probably lose again.

A few things to keep an eye on while you try to muster excitement for this one instead of tuning in to reruns of Night Court and Family Ties.

1. Taking the strike out of striker – If you want to point to an area where the Rapids have room for improvement it is at the striker position. Jovan Kirovski has played in 18 games and has a whopping 3 goals. His lack of production is only outdone by that of Nicolas Hernandez. The Argentine forward has found the net once in 1,472 minutes.

2. Heaps of praise – For someone who has never earned a cap for his country, New England defender Jay Heaps is pretty darned good. Heaps has played in every minute of every game this season for the Revs, but he has gotten less air time than David Beckham’s left toenail. Hopefully ESPN will do a profile on his shopping habits.

3. Bloated Bellies – Can’t fault the Rapids marketing people for trying. “All You Can Eat Night: The Rapids are giving you the chance to fulfill your greatest desires: soccer and food! It’s the Rapids’ inaugural “All You Can Eat Night”! For only $35 per person, you can get a seat to the game, plus all the nachos, peanuts, Cracker Jacks, hot dogs, soda, popcorn, and more, that you can eat!” Clint Mathis must be devastated he was traded before this promotion went into place.

Enjoy your snacks and the game.

Some Related Stories:

Category: MLS, World Football

« MLS Represent: Team Anthems, Oh Yeah | Home | The Offside Fantasy League: And So It Begins »

The Offside RSS Feeds

Clint

DENG! Yeah he rules, as does/did Elton. Actually, apart from JJ I haven't hated Duke basketball as much as I did in the 90s. Good on ya for not fielding teams of pretentious asses anymore!
Eluvsdynamo

Dont like any of the teams who played, but good job on Colorado.
Sam

Man, them Revs played like ass!
Blue Devil Brad

...and sure enough, Heapsy commits a foul in the box to give Colorado a PK and a two goal lead at the half. Maybe I shoulda just kept my mouth shut. He looked good in the second half, however, when he was rushing the box... maybe a shift to defensive midfielder would let him do this more? We've got a tough string of games ahead so this isn't really the time for a lot of experimenting, but I'd love to see what we could do out of a 3-5-2 with Heaps playing RDM...

And to Clint, re: other sports where fans can be proud of Duke alumni on the roster... Major League Lacrosse has lots of Dukies, but no fans, so that can't be it... I hope that wasn't a backhanded crack at our basketball team, because Luol Deng is on the verge of big things in Chicago... but yes, best bet is soccer. College Soccer News has us as the preseason #2, but with Sal Zizzo leaving UCLA, I think that rating could be even higher.
John

[EDIT]Commentary is up now. ;D Me thinks the read The Offside.
John

Game commentary not even available via Lamecast
Clint

Ok, I was past the point of caring about the Rapids this season until I found out New England has a Duke grad. Now I'm going to get wasted, strap on a couple .357s, and start going apeshit for my Rapids!!

By the way, can you think of any other sport where fans would be proud to have Duke alum on their pro teams?
Lucas

[Update: Or maybe we won’t. This game was dropped by ESPN so that they could show Beckham sit on the bench against Toronto a few weeks ago. Apparently you need Direct Kick to watch it. Doh!] - LAME! We'll be in the pub tonight trying to watch the Mighty Portland Timbers away match on the innernets, and it would have been nice to have the MLS game on the other TV.
Blue Devil Brad

I like the shoutout to Jay Heaps, but lets not go overboard with the praise. He looked to me like the weakest link on our defensive line against LA - he never made a big mistake, but he gave his marks waaaay too much space. Early in the second half when LA figured this out crosses were a dime a dozen to and from his side.

And lets not forget that miss in the shootout in the MLS Cup last year.

Don't get me wrong, he's a Duke graduate (actually walked on to the basketball team! earned a scholarship from Coach K by his senior year! and now he's playing pro soccer!(?)) and I'm a proud Blue Devil. I'm beyond excited to have him and rookies Kyle Helton and Chris Loftus on the roster representin' Duke and the Revs - those last two, I had a chance to watch once a week last fall in Koskinen Stadium, and they will be something special.