May 1, 2008
The Rhinos open up the 2008 season in Charleston tomorrow evening versus the Battery. Former Rhinos defender John Wilson will not be in the Battery line up as he is sitting out a red card suspension. Charleston will have midfielder Stephen Armstrong back in the lineup after his MISL season has completed.
Sunday's game in Minnesota will likely see a large contingent of Johnny Menyongar fans out in force as the former Thunder player returns to face his former club.
Bob Matthews believes that two wins on the opening five game road trip will be encouraging. Personally, I would expect four points from the pair of games this weekend and then they can go 1-1-1 on the Pacific Northwest swing through Portalnd, Seattle, and Vancouver to return home with a 2-1-2 record.
Personally, I'll be encouraged with 10+ points on the road trip. Two wins should be a minimum that is acceptable at this point.
News & Notes:
- Apparently it only takes 5 or 6 games for Ridge Mahoney to come up with a 2008 Best XI for SI.com. Greg Lalas also chimes in with his newest 3-5-2 column for Goal.com.
- Houston is celebrating the return of Pat Onstad from injury. Although, Pat's return won't help Houston's offense which is the 2nd worst in MLS so far in 2008.
- Martin Rogers comes up with his MLS All-Underpaid/Overpaid list.
- Real Salt Lake destroyed San Jose 4-0 in a US Open Cup play in game last evening.
- In case you wondered what kind of car some world soccer stars drive, here's an article for you!
- Don't look now, but there may be a snag in the public funding for RSL's stadium. The weird part is that the stadium construction is well under way as seen here on the stadium's webcam.
- How did the Rhinos lose out to ManU on Forbes Magazine's list of most valuable teams?
- Real Salt Lake is taking this whole green for Earth Day thing too far.
- Some AS Roma fans really want an American owning their club. For some reason, that stuns me!
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.
