August 17, 2009
It was painful and frustrating to watch the Portland Timbers dismantle the Rhinos on Saturday night.
I was upset that Johnny Menyongar would be so selfish that he would kick a Portland player in the nether region after being fouled. This team can not afford to miss it's leading scorer for an extended period. But, that wasn't enough for Johnny to shwo restraint in that situation.
I was frustrated to see Andrew Lorei on the 18 man roster while Kwame Sarkodie and Tai Atieno were not.
I was frustrated by Warren Ukah not getting more playing time despite actually putting the ball in the back of the net.
I was frustrated to see some of the key vets come out flat against the Timbers.
Now, it is gut check time. If the Rhinos don't get three points on Wednesday versus Minnesota, it will be very interesting to see what management's reaction to the situation will be.
If this team goes in the tank, could they dump the rest of the season ahead of next week's roster freeze date?
I hope that we don't have to go down that road.
News & Notes:
- In case you missed it, Beckham got his first MLS red card over the weekend. That was certainly worthy of a red card, IMO.
- I have to pull for Puerto Rico over Columbus in the CONCACAF Champion League tomorrow night.
- Did you watch Chelsea-Hull City on ESPN2HD on Saturday morning?
- This ad reminds me of the ones that USA Hockey has ran in the past about yelling at kids.
- My guess is that there are one or two fewer questions about Arsenal after they torched Everton 6-1 on opening day.
- It will be interesting to see who buys the USL from Nike/Umbro. It's too bad that the price tag scared away MLS.
- If you think American refs are bad, check out this missed goal for Crystal Palace.
- It didn't take long for England's first manager to get sacked.
- Not only is Charlie Davies Sochaux's leading scorer, he's so happy he's dancing.
- MLS Talk has a post about MLS being invisible and then another asking who cares about MLS. I find it intersting that these topics come up with four of the six MLS games on the weekend drawing 16,000+.
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.
