Please read Denz's post about this already. I don't know how you can write so much Denz you are a magician.

It is time to worry and stress and argue about this. My list will follow the jump

Continue reading this post »

Pls do not take my poor note taking summary as quotations.  Thanks.  Here is what I got from the teleconference with Jason Kreis today:

It is not really acceptable for the #2 and #3 team to play each other in the first round but we will deal with it.  Seattle is worse off than we are as they should have been playing a wild card team and instead they have to face us.

What is the feeling in Salt Lake?  Is there much excitement and what are you expecting having the game on the same day the University of Utah has a PAC 12 game?  JK-I don’t really pay much attention to the sport scene outside of ours, but we had a game on the same day that the University played BYU and we sold out.  We have a specific base of soccer fans that support us.

more after the jump

Continue reading this post »

Tomorrow night is the 98th annual U.S. Open Cup Final.  It will be played in Seattle between Sounders FC and the Chicago Fire.  So why am I creating a fan post (my first) at RSL Soapbox?  To explain to RSL fans why they should be rooting for Seattle to take home their 3rd trophy in 3 years.

Jason Kreis recently commented on how important it was for his club to finish second in the Supporters Shield (SS) race (since RSL can no longer win the SS):

In particular it would be nice to finish second in the Supporter’s Shield race because then we give ourselves a little insurance policy to qualify for CONCACAF.

He's, of course, referring to the CONCACAF Champions League (CCL) which you are all familiar with since RSL became the first MLS team to make it to the championship round of the tournament earlier this year before losing to Monterrey.  That was the 2010-11 edition of the tournament.  RSL did not qualify for the 2011-2012 edition.  Clearly Kreis wants to get another shot in the future (next year if possible).

US based MLS teams can qualify for CCL 4 different ways: (1) win the SS, (2) win the MLS Cup, (3), win the U.S. Open Cup, and (4) be the MLS Cup runner-up.  Occasionally, the same team will achieve one or more of those in the same season.  The most recent occurrence of this was in 2008 when the Columbus Crew won both the SS and the MLS Cup.  When this happens, the available spot goes to the next team in the standings after the SS winner.  As a result, in 2008, the Houston Dynamo qualified for CCL.

So why does Seattle winning the U.S. Open Cup have anything to do with this?  If Seattle wins, they'll seal their entry into 2012-13 CCL.  LA has all but clinched the SS (Seattle still has a remote chance of winning it they're perfect and LA falters repeatedly).  This means that if RSL remains in 3rd place for the SS (or passes Seattle to get 2nd), then they will qualify for CCL if either LA or Seattle make it to the MLS Cup final since both will have already qualified via other means.  Obviously if RSL makes it to the final they'll be in anyway.

I know denz has mixed opinions on CCL, stating both how proud he was of RSL making it to the final and also stating that teams who compete in the CCL group stage have poor performances in the MLS Cup playoffs. Nevertheless, RSL players, coaches, ownership, and many fans have made their desires known at various times and they want another shot at CCL.  If Seattle wins the U.S. Open Cup tomorrow night, this can only help RSL achieve that goal.

So even if it's sanctimoniousness (something I was accused of this weekend), RSL fans should root for Seattle on Tuesday.

For those of you who follow Denz’s Twitter feed, you may have noticed a call for Chris Wingert to paint or tape the cast on his left hand (an unfortunate freak injury sustained against Toronto FC earlier in the year) into a red color. Not only would this better match the Claret portion of the Claret and Cobalt, but as Denz pointed out, would give Chris the appearance of the fictional character "Hellboy" due to the appearance of a massive club for a hand.

Though the character of Hellboy has the "Right Hand of Doom" (and Chris’s cast is on his left hand) the appearance would be menacing for the defender. It would also give Chris a nickname to fit in with the duo of "Borlave." However, it would never happen, right? First of all, Wingert would need to go along with it and ask for the paint job or taping of his cast. Second, the referee (in this case, Kevin Stott) would also have to be ok with a taping of the cast. Surely the idea was a pipe dream.

After the jump: turning a dream into reality

Continue reading this post »

Entering the final quarter of the season is a bittersweet thing to me.  It's great that we are moving towards the Playoffs and the MLS Cup, but also it means that a lot of my Saturdays are losing something to look forward to each week.  The other thing that begins to happen is that we all start speculating on things such as awards and also where the teams will land in the final standings.

This is one such speculative post, but obviously with an RSL focus.  How does RSL get the Supporters Shield?

More after the jump. 

Continue reading this post »

A true test of fanhood in any sport is what happens to your allegiances once you change cities. For me, I left Salt Lake in at the beginning of 2008 and started life in Los Angeles due to a job transfer. However, I have maintained my faith in the Claret and Cobalt and it seems to have worked; Real Salt Lake has made the playoffs every year that I’ve been in LA. Obviously, there’s no correlation, but it’s still nice to point that out.

This does make following the team a bit of a challenge. Local media follows the Galaxy (and to a lesser extent Chivas USA) so I’ve tried to do my best to follow the team through web coverage. However, twice a year I go to the Home Depot Center to watch RSL play in person. Since moving out here, I have not missed a single RSL game when they’ve played in the HDC, including the playoff game against the Goats in 2008. This one would not be any different.

After the jump, my latest experience attending a RSL game on the road. 

Continue reading this post »

This may be one of the more boring weeks of this season.  Looking at it from the beginning of the season and a San Jose vs Colorado Rapids match up would have seemed like a great choice to tune into, even a few weeks in Columbus vs New England could have been an exciting prospect as well.

Things being as they are now though the match ups this week seem fairly lopsided overall.  There are a few exceptions and I think this week may be where we see some teams fall into a status where their post season prospects are completely dashed and it might be time to start tooling with the line ups to see what is going to help next year.

More after the jump

Continue reading this post »

August 27th will see RSL host a "Ligas All-Star Game" at Rio Tinto.  This All-Star game combines players from the top hispanic leagues around the area and splits them into two sides that then compete against each other.  This will be the second year of the competition.  Not only is this a great idea for brining in more hispanic fans, but it is a great idea to find any possible gems that might exist out in the community.  It doesn't take much to look around and see players that were plucked from local leagues (Diop in Kansas City, Salt Lake's own Justin Braun, and RSL recent catch and release Artur Aghasyan).  While only Braun has show something consistently, the fact is that some players slip through the cracks.  

It would be nice if RSL did this kind of tournament with more than just the Hispanic community.  Why not make an all-star team of the Utah Premiership.  Better yet, form an Amateur team (I'm not talking PDL).  How cool would that be to have the best amateurs from around the area donning the RSL jersey.  Even if these players never even have a crack at making the team, at least it would be a good group to scrimmage against now and then.  Who knows, maybe we can even find the next Justin Braun.

So it's been a while since I have done one of these.  Life had gotten nutty and promises to continue that trend in even greater quantities in coming weeks, however today seems to be the calm before the storm so I wanted to push my opinions on the willing masses.

Last week saw the spanking of Seattle by Man U., Colorado running roughshod over New York then turning around and barely making it against New England, and a dive that is apparently going to cost RSL Saborio for a week.  On the subject of the dive I have to say that the MLS Disciplinary Committee needs to learn what consistency is.  Charlie Davies had been proven once before to be diving for PKs, and rightfully his dive against RSL cost him $1000.  Saborio does it and first time caught/getting the benefit from it is suspended plus the $1000 fine?  Come on guys, can't be that tough to keep it consistent.

More after the jump...

Continue reading this post »

Kall 700 just reported that Sabo has been suspended by the league. I don't know where to find this anywhere else, so I will have to go on the report. Does anyone have a link or more information? Any word on what the fine was?

The suspension makes sense considering the outcry after Davies' dive against RSL.

Also it's been difficult to get information on the injury front. Lagerway said Gonzalez was out for the year with his foot problem, but the media guide says he is "questionable." Any places to get updates on this?