The Rapids only had one pick in today's two round Superdraft, their first pick at #14 (The second was traded for Quincy Amarikwa). They used it on UConn midfielder/forward Tony Cascio. He's a senior who played for 4 years with those other Huskies (go Washington!) and last year he was a first team All-American and the Big East offensive player of the year.

Today the Rapids announced that they had signed Hunter Freeman to a contract. As normal, terms and length were not revealed but I'm sure we'll find that information out down the road. Freeman started his career with the Rapids in 2005 before he was traded to NY before the season. Hunter has some versatility to play in defense or midfield, but he's primarily an outside back.

Houston's Danny Cruz could be an easy selection for the Impact tomorrow. (Getty Images)

I've already given a mock draft based on my predictions of each MLS club's protection lists and now that the real lists are out we can get a better sense of who could be actually taken tomorrow.

Every team released their protection lists yesterday evening with a few surprises listed Montreal should come away with a decent start to their expansion campaign.

Colorado just unveiled their protected list for the expansion draft:
Conor CaseyOmar CummingsDanny Earls - InternationalJeff LarentowiczPablo MastroeniDrew MoorBrian MullanJoseph Nane - InternationalMatt PickensJamie Smith - InternationalMarvell Wynne
You can see that the pictured Kosuke Kimura is not on the protected list.

Brad Evans could be that one Sounder that will be picked by Montreal. (Getty Images)

Over the last few weeks I've gone through each of the 18 Major League Soccer clubs and put out the list of players I could see them protecting and not protecting. Many of you have emailed, tweeted, sent messages on Facebook to let me know you've enjoyed these lists and that you want a mock draft from these lists.

Colorado spent 3,330 minutes this season defending the 2010 MLS Cup Championship, which put the team 180 minutes shy of defending its title.

Graham Zusi provided the services in the 28th and 76th minute as Sporting Kansas City recorded another 2-0 victory over the Rapids, giving KC a 4-0 aggregate win in the Eastern Conference Semifinal.

That's Jamie Smith dressed up as the Mad Hatter for Halloween yesterday.
Another quick turnaround as the Rapids face the end of their season tomorrow in Kansas City. Down 2 goals Colorado mus win by 2 to force overtime and PKs or 3 to win and move on. On top of the other problems a storm is rolling into KC tomorrow night (probably the front edge of what's rolling into Denver tonight) which could make the game sloppy.

Teams that can't score don't make it far in the postseason, and the Colorado Rapids are a team that can't score.

The latest evidence came Sunday evening as the Rapids fell 2-0 to Sporting Kansas City in the first leg of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Colorado, which edged the Columbus Crew 1-0 in the wild card match on Thursday, couldn't generate legitimate threats as Sporting spent the evening shoving them around the field.

Teams that can't score don't make it far in the postseason, and the Colorado Rapids are a team that can't score.

The latest evidence came Sunday evening as the Rapids fell 2-0 to Sporting Kansas City in the first leg of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Colorado, which edged the Columbus Crew 1-0 in the wild card match on Thursday, couldn't generate legitimate threats as Sporting spent the evening shoving them around the field.

The Colorado Rapids' uphill battle in the Eastern Conference Semifinals just got tougher.

Kosuke Kimura, Drew Moor and Caleb Folan are all expected to miss extended time after picking up injuries in the first leg of the home-and-home series against Sporting Kansas City, the Rapids announced Monday.

A quick turnaround for the Rapids as they are back in action tomorrow. The first leg of the conference semi-finals sees the SporKC's coming back to town. It will be the final home game of the season, no matter what happens, so let's go out with a bang. The tailgate starts at 2:30 with kickoff at 5:30.

In "the other wild card" game, two offensive lineman type soccer clubs come together, again.

Reigning champs Colorado have swept the flakes off their pitch to host Abercrombie FC, the Crew(necks.)

Kimura (left), if you didn't know, is Japanese....ironically...

First, some odds:

• 25 to 1: Will Hesmer scores or gets an assist

• 30 to 1: Marvell Wynne, own goal.

The Rapids start the playoffs tomorrow night at the Dick against the Columbus Crew. 4 games in the next 11 days separate them from another trip to MLS Cup. Tomorrow night its simple, win or go home. There will be 30 minutes and, if necessary, PK's to decide a winner. Of course last year when Colorado started their run to MLS Cup they did it by beating the Crew in the first round.

The wettest fixture in the league happens tomorrow as the Whitecaps and Rapids face off in the rainy Pacific Northwest. Its also the final game in what has been a somewhat soggy season for the Rapids. Colorado has clinched a playoff spot though, and with a win they will clinch home field for the wild-card round.

Tomorrow its on. Rapids - FSL with the Rocky Mountain Cup on the line! Need I say more?
OK, I will, but only because the tailgate is almost as impressive as the game. About 5 hours from now the crack Class VI/Pid Army chefs will be arriving at the Dick to start the grill on the biggest tailgate they've ever done, a full pig roast!

The Saturday night showdown between FC Dallas and the Colorado Rapids was not so much a rematch of the 2010 MLS Cup as it was a desperate 90 minutes for two teams stumbling toward the playoffs.

Colorado came in winless in its last five MLS matches (0-3-2) and Dallas arrived on a string of getting shutout in three straight matches.

"No disrespect to the Eastern Conference, but tonight was the championship" -- Dallas defensive midfielder Daniel Hernandez after winning the Western Conference Championship in 2010
I just wanted to throw that in as a "friendly" reminder about our guests tomorrow. I expect him to get the official Class VI welcome for 90 minutes!

The last time the Earthquakes were in town the Rapids sent them packing after a crazy goal by Koz and the trophy celebration to the left sent Colorado to MLS Cup. The stakes aren't quite so high tomorrow night but if the Rapids have any hopes of repeating they need to repeat the result from that night to solidify their playoff position.

The last time Colorado was in Toronto they left with their first ever win at BMO Field, and more importantly, the MLS Cup! Tomorrow they try to make it two in a row North of the border. The Rapids probably need 1 more win to really assure themselves of a playoff spot and their best chances are tomorrow and next week when they host San Jose.

The Rapids come off their two week break with a trip to LA to face the Galaxy. It wasn't all rest though as Ceus, Cummings, Larentowicz, and Nyassi played for their National Teams. Ceus and Cummings got 2 full games, while Nyassi only had one and Larentowicz was on the bench for one and got 15 minutes in the second.

Omar Cummings tees up a shot during the Rapids home clash with Chivas in 2010. (Photograph by Jonathan Ingraham/ColoradoSoccerNow.com)

The Colorado Rapids start the final eight games of the MLS season secure in a playoff position and tangling with one of the teams chasing them, Chivas USA.

This alone makes the Saturday night clash at Dick's Sporting Goods Park intriguing, but add in the Goats' latest signing, the return of a former Rapid and the potential to watch an endurance record, and the storyline gets a little overwhelming without even mentioning CONCACAF Champions League play.

Omar Cummings tees up a shot during the Rapids home clash with Chivas in 2010. (Photograph by Jonathan Ingraham/ColoradoSoccerNow.com)

The Colorado Rapids start the final eight games of the MLS season secure in a playoff position and tangling with one of the teams chasing them, Chivas USA.

This alone makes the Saturday night clash at Dick's Sporting Goods Park intriguing, but add in the Goats' latest signing, the return of a former Rapid and the potential to watch an endurance record, and the storyline gets a little overwhelming without even mentioning CONCACAF Champions League play.

After a successful Champions League match in mid-week the Rapids are once again back in MLS play which the Under-a-Chivas coming to town. Along with the game Class VI and the Pid Army are holding their second annual home brew contest! Tailgate starts at 4pm and all are welcome to sample the entries and vote for your favorite.

Sanna Nyassi maneuvers past an Isidro Metapan defender during a CCL match in Seattle on July 28, 2010. Nyassi and the Colorado Rapids face Metapan on Wednesday. (Photograph by Jane Gershovich/Prost Amerika Soccer)

Nearly nine months after winning the team's first title, the Colorado Rapids finally start the group stage of the CONCACAF Champions League on Wednesday night.

Sanna Nyassi maneuvers past an Isidro Metapan defender during a CCL match in Seattle on July 28, 2010. Nyassi and the Colorado Rapids face Metapan on Wednesday. (Photograph by Jane Gershovich/Prost Amerika Soccer)

Nearly nine months after winning the team's first title, the Colorado Rapids finally start the group stage of the CONCACAF Champions League on Wednesday night.

The Rapids are on the road this week, some of them on a very long road trip, in San Jose. Last time these two teams met a great Kosuke Kimura goal gave the Rapids the win and, more importantly, the Eastern Conference Championship en rout to their MLS Cup victory. I think we can expect the Earthquakes to be looking for some revenge after that loss.

The Chicago Fire have now played all four of their scheduled games against the 2011 MLS Expansion teams. Their final record against the Portland Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps is 0 wins, 1 draw, and 3 losses while getting outscored 9-5. Each expansion team even defeated the Fire 4-2 at one point.

The Colorado Rapids have only four home games remaining in the MLS regular season, and as the dates dwindle, The Tuesday List takes a look at how the roster has changed since the team moved to Dick's Sporting Goods Park for the 2007 season.

Looking at the 2011 roster, we go back in time to who was here in each of the previous seasons.

When the Columbus Crew visited Colorado this past fall it was for a first-round playoff match that the Rapids won 1-0 on a Pablo Mastroeni goal.

While that win put the Rapids (8-6-10, 34 points) on the road to the MLS Cup title in 2010, the stakes are not much lower this Friday when the two teams meet at Dick's Sporting Goods Park.

Well they also have to play the Union, but I'm guessing that at least a couple of the guys will take the opportunity to try a cheesesteak. Its somewhat of a homecoming for the Ginger Ninja as he went to high school and college in the Philly area. The Rapids get the honor of being FOX Soccer Channel's Game of the Week tomorrow night, kickoff is at 5:30.

The New England Revolution are in town tomorrow and long-time Rapids fans know what that means, Jamesons Night! (Go here for the history of this fan tradition) Both teams are coming off of mid-week wins, so they have momentum but may be tired. Game time tomorrow at the Dick is 7pm, so the kegs will be tapped at the tailgate at 4pm and the grills fired up at 5pm.

The picture has nothing to do with our opponent, but I found it funny. Its from an article about Wynne and Earls going to the Cat Care Society to help them celebrate their 30th anniversary. Cat Care is also where we adopted our cat from.
As reported earlier today, Conor Casey's season is over.

Might as well accept it. Regardless of the actual facts tomorrow the Rapids are going to be the evil thugs who are single-handedly bringing down the level of play in MLS while Seattle while Seattle is the shining example of all that is good in MLS.
OK, so that's a bit of an exaggeration, but you get the idea.

The Rapids get their first look at the team trying to swamp their control of water nicknames in MLS, the Vancouver Whitecaps. Essentially you've got turbulent river water versus turbulent sea water at the Dick tomorrow. Vancouver just traded for former Rapid Jordan Harvey, so we may see him back at the Dick for a second time this year (he already played for Philly last month).

Its appropriate that Colorado, home to the Garmin-Cervelo pro bike racing team and so many American bike racers, is going to Livestrong Park tomorrow during the first week of the Tour de France (can you tell one of my other interests is bicycle racing?). Kansas City finally got a home of their own and this will be the Rapids first look at it.

Every year the Rapids (and most teams) play a game or two where the videotape should be burned, the game forgotten, and the team moved on. Last night was one of those games. So we're moving on to the big event of the week, the Colorado's visit to the White House. The Rapids started the day getting their championship rings:
(Photo from Anthony Wallace)
Then it was off to the White House!

Two teams in red, the home side Portland Timbers and the visiting Colorado Rapids, put the throttle to the floor and did not relent for 90-plus minutes on Saturday night.

Finally, in stoppage time, the Rapids found a goal. Following two great saves from Troy Perkins, Drew Moor rushed in to deliver a dagger that finished the Timbers 1-0 and snapped an MLS-record of six ties.

Toronto came to town with 4 former Rapids on their roster, 2 of them from the Clavijo era. As part of their return to Denver they returned Clavijo-era ball to the Rapids. An ugly 0-0 game then played out.
The closest the Rapids got to a goal was right before halftime when Quincy Amarikwa was tripped up in the corner of the box, but didn't get the PK call.

After a midweek tease, the MLS slate is full this weekend with all but two teams playing on Saturday. For those looking forward to a little Friday night soccer, there will be none so you'll just have to wait for Saturday night's glamorous TV lineup, which includes the renewal of the U.

The Seattle Sounders did come away from a 1-0 win against the Colorado Rapids, though it still feels like a loss due to the Brian Mullan tackle on Steve Zakuani. We're not going to show the full package of highlights because I don't want to see that play again. And in effort to look at just the game there will be no quotes, just the dry hard facts as relates to the match.