August 12, 2008
The Rhinos have officially announced that Kenney Bertz has signed a contract through the 2009 season with a club option for 2010.
It will be interesting to see how Coach Tilley adds Bertz into the Rhinos lineup. Will Bertz replace Ross Smith in central defense next to Scott Palguta? Will Palguta get slid out to left back with Smith and Bertz in the middle?
Either way, it will give the Rhinos more options down the stretch.
The other tidbit in the press release about the Bertz signing is that the Rhinos have signed Andrew Lorei, a young forward who played one year at Gannon University in Erie, PA.
These two signings put the Rhinos roster at 25 players.
News & Notes:
- The US Women took care of business versus New Zealand and Japan blew out Norway by a 5-1 score, the US ends up winning Group G . Up next for the US is a Quarterfinal date with Canada at 6am EST on Friday morning.
- The LA Times had the story of Alexi Lalas and Ruud Gullit leaving the Galaxy first. Cobi Jones is now the interim head coach. The rumor mill already has Bruce Arena landing in LA. But, I'd like to see Cobi get a shot as the full time head coach to see if he can right the ship.
- I am surprised that the only US Open Cup finals scenario that will see an MLS team host the final is if DC and Charleston win tonight. Although, with the Revs sitting a few big names, it shouldn't be too surprising that they won't host the final. And it's going to be interesting to see what DC has in the tank after getting blown out by NY on Sunday.
- SBI.net asks the question of who Peter Nowak will start tomorrow morning versus Nigeria. The only question I have is whether Jozy Altidore is healthy enough to start tomorrow.
The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author, and not necessarily those of the Rochester Rhinos or SoccerSam.com. Feel free to send any comments or complaints to news@soccersam.com. James promises to read (but not to respond) to all of them.
