Losing Conor Casey was a major blow for the Rapids in 2011. (Getty Images)

A little programming note to kick things off today. Sorry for the radio silence yesterday (except for Geoff's Champion's League previews), I was hardly even able to look at soccer stuff until late in the evening when the two MLS playoff games were on.

Little change in the rankings this week as the favored teams all won at the weekend. This is how MLSoccer ranks the MLS teams after three weeks of the season.

1: Real Salt Lake
Nothing anyone in the league did this past weekend could have knocked RSL out of the top spot: a 4-0-1 mark in all competitions heading into Tuesday's CONCACAF Champions League semifinal second leg, Nick Rimando the Player of the Month for March and every reason to believe the RSL machine will keep chugging along indefinitely.

The injured Rapids take put their 7 game unbeaten run on the line against the Philadelphia Union tomorrow night at the Dick. Of course they haven't won in 5 games, so a draw tomorrow would reportedly set the MLS record with 6 in a row. Kickoff tomorrow is at 7 and in honor of Philly being in town Class VI and the Pid Army will be supplying cheesesteaks at the tailgate.

If the Portland Timbers are to return their winning ways in their upcoming matches, they'll have to do so without centerback Futty Danso.

The Gambian defender has been ruled out for the next 2-to-4 weeks after injuring his shoulder in Saturday's loss to the Colorado Rapids.

Danso was hurt in the 23rd minute of the match when going for a header against Rapids forward Caleb Folan, and an MRI revealed that he escaped serious injury but will still need a spell on the sidelines.

An own goal and a spectacular strike put the Colorado Rapids in a first-half hole, and then an ejection sealed the team's fate in a 3-1 home loss to the Los Angeles Galaxy on Saturday night.

The loss ended a nine-game unbeaten streak for the Rapids (5-4-7, 22 points) and continued a run of disappointing results for the team at Dick's Sporting Goods Park this season.

An own goal and a spectacular strike put the Colorado Rapids in a first-half hole, and then an ejection sealed the team's fate in a 3-1 home loss to the Los Angeles Galaxy on Saturday night.

The loss ended a nine-game unbeaten streak for the Rapids (5-4-7, 22 points) and continued a run of disappointing results for the team at Dick's Sporting Goods Park this season.

By ADAM SERRANO

Could another American be interested joining a different national team other than the United States?

FC Dallas defender George John recently trained with the Greek national team prior to Greece's friendly with Ecuador in New York earlier this month.

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.

By AVI CREDITOR

After weeks of speculation, Caleb Folan is finally a member of the Colorado Rapids.

The Irish international and former Hull City striker agreed to a deal with the defending MLS Cup champions to improve the team's depth at forward, which will continue to grow when Mac Kandji returns from his ACL injury.

On a night when the weather in Commerce City wasn't exactly meant for soccer, Colorado left it late to turn on the offense. Caleb Folan scored for the Rapids in the 38th minute. DC looked to be in fine position when Santino Quaranta equalized in the 69th, but Jamie Smith had Colorado's lead back a minute later.

There were several worthy nominees for MLS Player of the Week this week, but no player showed off a more impressive display of skill than Sporting Kansas City's Teal Bunbury, who earned SBI's MLS Player of the Week honors after scoring a pair of amazing goals.

Facing the Vancouver Whitecaps in front of a hostile crowd still angry at his decision to play for the United States instead of Canada, Bunbury silenced the boos with a pair of stunning strikes that helped SKC jump out to a 3-0 lead.

The 2010 MLS Cup Final was an All-Western Conference affair and now the teams that squared off in that memorable final meet again for the first time.

Colorado rolls into tonight's showdown (9pm, Fox Soccer Channel) with FC Dallas undefeated, while Dallas enters still searching for its first win of the season after suffering a pair of losses that included red cards.

By ADAM SERRANO

Now that he's finally on the scoreboard, L.A. Galaxy forward Chad Barrett is hoping for brighter days in Los Angeles.

Barrett tallied his first goal in a Galaxy uniform on last Sunday's victory against the Chicago Fire. After starting several matches at the beginning of the season, Barrett has been resigned to the bench with Argentine Miguel Lopez taking his slot alongside Juan Pablo Angel.

Much like the British stealing supplies at Fort Oswego (see game preview) the British-led Rapids stole a point from the Revolution in Foxboro on Saturday. An already beat up Colorado side got bad news when Jamie Smith couldn't start, causing the Rapids to set their XI without 5 regular starters and 2 regular backups, which forced them to play 2 more starters out of position.

Photo by Nathan Forget

Looking back on Earl's preseason preview of the Colorado Rapids, you will see the following players listed as anticipated starters:

Pickens (10)
Kimura (10) - Wynne (8) - Moore (10) - Wallace (5)
Mullan (5) - Larentowicz (10) - Mastroeni (8) - Smith (9)
Casey (2) - Cummings (6)

With pretty much the entire team coming back from last year's MLS Cup winning side and the key additions being for depth, this team was expected to compete again for a championship.

On May 25th, 1778 British-led forces raided the Rhode Island towns of Bristol and Warren. They took prisoners and supplies before withdrawing. On May 25th, 2011 the British-led Rapids will try to raid another Northeast town, this time Harrison, NJ. They hope to take points and confidence with them when they withdraw.

Tall Irishman, Cillian Sheridan (6'5") will appear in tonight's Reserve Game (7PM, Starfire, Free) according to SoundersFC.com. He has several years of professional experience, most in the Scottish Premier League. While his contract was held by Glasgow giants Celtic he also played with several of the mid and lower caliber teams in the SPL.

You're getting an early game preview this week as I'm preparing for a road trip to Portland to watch this game in person! Somewhere between 80 and 100 Rapids fans will be in the upper SW corner of Jeld-Wen field supporting Colorado and hoping they can continue their team-record 8-game undefeated streak.

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.

The Galaxy came to town without Donovan "Glass Jaw" Ricketts, Old Spice, and PrimaDonnavan. They left with 3 points and a bunch of Rapids fans wondering which team was really missing their best players.
The Galaxy picked apart the Rapids on offense and throttled any offensive chance Colorado got started.

Another political leader at No. 10 MLS champions Colorado Rapids presented President Obama with a 'OBAMA 10′ personalised shirt during a visit to the White House. The squad received a reception from Obama to mark their first MLS title. After receiving his number 10 shirt, the President commented "that's me and Messi"!

Tell me if you've heard this one before: The Seattle Sounders fall behind early, come storming back, fall behind again, take a lead and then hold on for dear life. Saturday's 4-3 win over the Colorado Rapids may not have played out exactly like last week's win over the Portland Timbers, but there seems to be an eery trend forming.

An offensive explosion the likes of which the Colorado Rapids haven't produced in three months proved to be not quite enough on the road against the Seattle Sounders.

Wells Thompson and Jeff Larentowicz scored in the first half to put the Rapids up 2-1 at the break. Seattle came back with three second-half goals and held on after a late Caleb Folan strike to win 4-3 on Saturday.

An offensive explosion the likes of which the Colorado Rapids haven't produced in three months proved to be not quite enough on the road against the Seattle Sounders.

Wells Thompson and Jeff Larentowicz scored in the first half to put the Rapids up 2-1 at the break. Seattle came back with three second-half goals and held on after a late Caleb Folan strike to win 4-3 on Saturday.

Some of you have read the title of this post and now believe I am inexplicalbly more full of sh*t than usual. You're saying to yourself "Sanna Nyassi is the baddest man? C'mon son." I know it sounds crazy but we're talking about today people; after the dirt he did to RBNY last night dude deserves some sort of recognition, even if it comes from an aging manic-depressive with a Blogspot account.

Rarely does a tie feel like a defeat more than when the closing goal comes on a dubious penalty call at the end of the game.

For the Colorado Rapids, it was the old sinking feeling that comes from letting points slip away at home to a poor side that has mustered only one win on the road. The fact that the tie came after Kosuke Kimura scored a ludicrous goal made the 2-2 draw with the New England Revolution only that much more unsettling.

Rarely does a tie feel like a defeat more than when the closing goal comes on a dubious penalty call at the end of the game.

For the Colorado Rapids, it was the old sinking feeling that comes from letting points slip away at home to a poor side that has mustered only one win on the road. The fact that the tie came after Kosuke Kimura scored a ludicrous goal made the 2-2 draw with the New England Revolution only that much more unsettling.

Photo: Daniel Gajdamowicz

Game time: Friday, 7:30pm

TV: Fox Soccer Channel

As perhaps the only MLS team to gain in confidence during a week of midseason friendlies, the Union must maintain the momentum gained against Everton and Real Madrid as they enter a stretch where they will play three matches in eight days.

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.

Photo by David Bernal/ISIphotos.com

The Colorado Rapids could advance to the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Champions League by winning both of their last two group matches. Even so, it looks like club is throwing in the towel on its tournament run.

Colorado sent a reserve-heavy squad to face Isidro Metapan in El Salvador for Wednesday's match, and head coach Gary Smith didn't make the trip, either, instead leaving assistant coach Steve Guppy to handle the team.

By AVI CREDITOR

The Colorado Rapids and Columbus Crew have taken different roads to get to this point, but ultimately they're right back where they were a year ago.

Colorado eliminated Columbus in the Eastern Conference semifinals last season en route to capturing its first MLS Cup.

People don't like Kenny Cooper. He is probably used to it by now. They didn't always like him in Dallas where he racked up forty goals in ninety games. They didn't always like him in England or Germany where he he was busy with a broken ankle. They didn't always like him here in Portland where he was the Timbers leading scorer.

Some news today out of Rapids camp about a number of trialists. The big news is that Irish striker Caleb Folan will be trialling with the team on the Arizona trip. Folan is currently with Championship side Hull City, but with their current financial difficulties they are looking to off-load salary and would be willing to let Folan out of his contract.

By JOSE M. ROMERO

PHOENIX – The defending MLS champions hadn't been in Arizona more than 24 hours before they had to play the first of three preseason games of a tightly-scheduled six-day trip to the desert.

It showed. To some degree, anyway.

The Colorado Rapids and Sporting Kansas City played to a scoreless draw after 120 minutes – two 45-minute periods and a 30 – before a decent-sized crowd of onlookers and Omar Bravo fans Saturday morning at the Reach 11 soccer complex.

The Rapids have given an update on the status of the 8 trialists that traveled with the team to Arizona. First-round draft pick Eddie Ababio, Metro State trialist Steven Emory, and former Rapids player Michael Holody have all been offered contracts. The team has also started negotiations with Irish international Caleb Folan.

Two big pieces of news today. first the Rapids officially announced that they'll be back on altitude in HD this year for 27 games. That appears to be every non-FSC or ESPN game, and the two ESPN games will be rebroadcast on Altitude. When the games overlap a Nuggets or Avalanche game the game will be on Altitude 2.

The BBC is reporting that the transfer of Caleb Folan from Hull City to the Rapids could be completed this weekend. Hull City has agreed to let him go on a free transfer and all that's left is to work out the details of the contract.
At the same time Nick Thomas has reported that the Rapids are working on a new contract with Omar Cummings.

Sorry for the false alarm on the game stream last night. Turns out it was only available in the Seattle area. The Rapids lost 3-1, but the Rapids didn't give up a goal until 3rd string keeper Steward Ceus was subbed in, and the last two came after Gary Smith made wholesale changes to the lineup.
Meanwhile there's news on a couple of players.

The Rapids have finally announced the long-rumored Caleb Folan signing. Folan arrived in Colorado yesterday and trained with the team today. He will be available for selection against Portland on Saturday. Contract terms were not announced but we'll get to see the salary once the MLS Player's Union releases the salary list later this month or early next month.

By ADAM SERRANO

The Portland Timbers are after their first ever Designated Player and would like to do so sooner rather than later.

In a radio interview with the Talk Timbers radio program on Portland radio station 95.5 The Game on Wednesday, club owner Merritt Paulson stated that the club was interested in adding a central midfielder as a DP and hopes to have that player by the team's home opener against the Chicago Fire.