January 23, 2009
The 2009 Rhinos schedule is out and it is very interesting.
The Rhinos will start off with eight straight on the road as they open the season at the Carolina RailHawks on Saturday April 18th and then play at Puerto Rico (4/24), Miami (4/26), Cleveland (5/1), Montreal (5/9), Portland (5/14), Vancouver (5/16), and Charleston (5/23) before hosting Montreal on Saturday May 30th.
The Rhinos also have a prolonged homestand with eleven straight at home between July 5th and August 22nd.
That's right, the Rhinos will play 1 road game (August 29th in Vancouver) in the months of July and August combined.
Also, it appears that Rhinos fans will get to watch the Rhinos in Cleveland on May 1st and in Portland on May 14th as part of the USL on FSC package for 2009.
News & Notes:
- Carolina has re-signed former Rhinos forward Hamed Diallo. It will be interesting to see how motivated Hamed is in 2009.
- Steven Goff has a piece in today's Washington Post about Ben Olsen being back with DC United. DC's blog has some quotes from Benny as well.
- Seattle has signed a young Colombian forward in Fredy Montero.
- Landon Donovan was creditted with 2 goals in a friendly versus Mainz. Although, the keeper is still wondering if that second one ever crossed the goal line. Check out this piece on the Bundesliga website about Donovan's trial/loan with Bayern.
- I liked this story about how a professor at UCLA needed proof when Tina DiMartino said she would be missing time at school to attend USWNT camp.
- In stunning news, AIG will not renew it's sponsorship of Manchester United.
- In even more stunning news, Red Bull Arena will not open until 2010.
- MLSNet.com has a big article on DeRo signing is new 4 year deal with Toronto FC.
- Columbus goes into the way back machine to grab their new assistant coach.
- FC Dallas needs to name a new captain.
- Rafa Marquez may be out for El Tri when the US and Mexico play their World Cup Qualifier in Columbus next month.
- It looks like Liverpool is up for sale by American owner Tom Hicks.
- Michael Bradley is at it again.
- Check out who's a West Ham fan.
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.
