With Desert Diamond Cup, RSL's back on our screens and in our hearts

The 2015 campaign may have already started, with Real Salt Lake playing a few preseason matches already, but for those of us not so lucky to be spying on the team in California, it starts in a few scant days.

Wednesday marks the opening of the streamable, watchable preseason. Real Salt Lake take on New England Revolution, kicking off our involvement in the Desert Diamond Cup. It continues Saturday with a match against USL PDL participants FC Tucson, then again on Wednesday with a match against Sporting Kansas City. The final match is seeded tournament-style, so we won't know our opponent until after that Kansas City outing.

It's been a long time since most of us have seen Real Salt Lake play, and the last "game" (if it was one at all) left a bitter taste in our mouths. Along with that, the team's changed not insubstantially. That should both make us excited and a little curious as to what we'll see. It might not go perfectly. In fact, it could go horribly wrong. But you know what: We're back, and that's reason enough to be excited.

As always, for the latest team news, stick with RSL Soapbox for tactical breakdowns, match reports, player ratings, and other hot, exciting features. (Please take everything we say about ourselves with a giant grain of salt. Obviously.)

The schedule follows:

Feb. 18 - Real Salt Lake v. New England Revolution - 6:00 p.m.
Feb. 21 - Real Salt Lake v. FC Tucson - 6:00 p.m.
Feb. 25 - Real Salt Lake v. Sporting Kansas City - 8:00 p.m.
Feb. 28 - Real Salt Lake v. TBD