Article Contributed on: 4/2/2007 9:24:12 AM
Good day to all,
We are back in the good ol' United States and I can tell you that everyone is excited to be back home. Unfortunately, jet lag and sickness struck many players once we arrived back. I guess a 20 hour travel day, with 9.5 hrs spent on one airplane, will do that to you. But that is neither here nor there.
Once we got back we enjoyed two days off to relax and get our bodies back to the Denver time zone. Everyone was back in on Monday for training. The training sessions have been good with the sight of opening day near. On Wednesday we played Metro State. The game was played in some very windy conditions. What is with the wind and following us wherever we go for games? The Rapids won 3-0 with goals from
Danny Wasson,
Yherland Mcdonald and
Nico Colaluca.
As most of you know, mother nature decided that we had not seen enough of her so she decided to drop 5 inches of snow on us on Wednesday night. Awesome. That means the Rapids have to go indoors, which is not the coolest thing. Thus, our footie session on Thursday was played indoors. Now one would think that being indoors means being warm and away from the snow and cold. You are correct in thinking that we are away from the snow, but not from the cold. Apparently there is no heat in this indoor center. The cold air gets trapped inside over night and then when we come in at 10am it is a bit chilly. So chilly that winter jackets are worn to practice in, granted its by mostly foreigners, but it is still colder inside than it is outside. I feel better now that we got that little rant session over with.
Friday, the team departed for Viva Las Vegas. What goes on in Vegas stays in Vegas, therefore I am not at liberty to tell what went on. I can tell you that we tied RSL 0-0. We played down for a good 30 mins after Brandon Prideaux received a second yellow card. Overall it was a good trip where many guys lost money, what else would expect in Vegas? On Sunday, after arriving back from the airport, the guys who did not play at least a half in Vegas played a 60 minute match against Regis. The game was won by the Rapids 1-0 with us controlling the game and having numerous opportunities to score.
We are now 5 days away from the opening match of the season. The guys are all very excited. As it is custom the week before the first game we have events everyday. There is the kickoff clinic today, luncheon on Tuesday, futbol match on Wednesday night and the hospital visit on Thursday. All events are great as we get to interact with you the fans.
It has been a great preseason. The guys are happy that it is over and now we get into the games that count. We look forward to seeing everyone this week at the different events and for sure seeing everyone on Saturday.
Have a great week as I know we will.
Stephen