March 31, 2008
It was pretty cold yesterday when the Rhinos opened up training camp at PAETEC Park and ushered in the Darren Tilley era of Rhinos soccer.
Here are some quick takeaways from Day 1:
- Scott Vallow, Chase Harrison, T-Bone Bonseu, Alfonso Lorea, Scott Palguta, Johnny Menyongar, Chad Severs, and Matthew Delicate were the familiar faces amongst the 15 players at camp yesterday. Player/assistant coach Steve Guppy also took part in training yesterday.
- Rey "Boom Boom" Martinez was watching the proceedings with a cast on a broken left foot that he suffered with the Baltimore Blast. Rey said it wasn't a major issue and he should be back on his feet in 2 or 3 weeks.
- Matthew Ford mentioned that Mauricio Salles was expected in town last evening. He left the NJ Ironmen to take care of a family emergency in Brazil and was not planning on reporting back to the Ironmen.
- The team was wearing training gear from a new supplier named Mass.
- One of the players in camp was former California Victory midfielder Hugo Casillias who scored a goal in Rochester last year.
News & Notes:
- US Soccer.com has the announcement of the 20 player roster that Pia Sundhage will take south of the border as her squad attempts to qualify for the Beijing Olympics. 19 of the 20 players on this roster also represented the US at the 2008 Algarve Cup. Kacey White replacing Angie Woznuk is the only change.
- Speaking of the Olympics, Captain America could be suiting up for the US Men's Soccer team at the Olympics according to SBI.net.
- In MLS' Opening Weekend , the Real Salt Lake-Chicago Fire and FC Dallas-Chivas USA games were the only close matches. And I wonder if Frank Yallop was laughing or crying while Colorado destroyed LA 4-0 on Saturday?
- Does Houston have a problem? SI.com's Greg Lalas thinks so. But, I remember a few years back when Pat Onstad let in the worst goal of his career, he had people calling him washed up, and then he went on an absolute tear. This team is just too good to go down like that. Although, I wouldn't be writing them in to win their 3rd straight MLS Cup, either.
- Ridge Mahoney has a really good piece at SI.com about former players filling up front office jobs in MLS. One suggestion would have been to not use a picture with Alexi Lalas in it.
- Jonah Freedman also has a piece up on SI.com, this time talking about former Cuban defector and current Chivas USA forward Maykel Galindo.
- If you were wondering what Brian Bliss was up to recently, here is a piece about a recent scouting trip to Honduras as he tries to unearth some hidden gems for the Columbus Crew.
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.
