Last night the Rapids held a Supporters Forum at Fado's in Lodo. I was unable to attend, but the big news that came out of the forum was that Colorado is pursuing a young #10-style Argentine midfielder. No details have been leaked on his name or his background but there may be a new arrival from South America in Commerce City soon.

The addition of Wilmer Cabrera as Pareja's right-hand man has been the worst-kept secret in Commerce City for some time. Today the Rapids made it official, along with the rest of the coaching staff (all of which had been leaked prior to today). The new additions:
Wilmer Cabrera - Assistant Coach
Former Men's U-17 coach for the U.

Busy day in Commerce City as the organization has a new face, a returning face, and a promoted face.
Let's start with the roster moves. In today's re-entry draft the Rapids selected Chicago midfielder Baggio Husidic and Houston defender Hunter Freeman. Husidic is a 24 year old former Generation Adidas player who's been with Chicago since leaving college 3 years ago.

Sorry I went AWOL on everyone (which I'm guessing is about 5 readers at this point in the offseason ;)) for a few days, stomach flu sucks. A couple of interesting news items came out this week.

• Colorado declined the options on Miguel Comminges, Danny Earls, Steven Emory, and Michael Holody.

Holody's 3 years of service means he's eligible to be selected by other MLS teams in next week's re-entry drafts.

Gary Smith, who led the Colorado Rapids to an improbable championship in 2010, was shown the door on Monday.

The coach, who had agreed to a new contract, and the team announced a parting of the ways on Monday afternoon. The departure came the same day that Rapids players cleared out their lockers following a 4-0 aggregate loss to Kansas City in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

A cold night in Commerce City worked to the Rapids advantage as they got a first half lead and then suffocated any chances the Crew might have had to get back into the game. Colorado won 1-0 and moved on to the Conference Semi-Final round to face Kansas City.
The Rapids took control early as they had the majority of play in the first half.

After a stellar 2010 campaign, Omar Cummings has had a season to forget. On Thursday night, however, he reminded everyone just how deadly he can be.

Cummings was alone in the penalty area when his roommate, Kosuke Kimura, passed to him in the waning moments of the first half. Kimura, who made regular forays into the attack, saw Cummings just after receiving a pass from Brian Mullan.

Columbus hopes to remain on top this weekend in the Eastern Conference. (Getty Images)

What a wild night in Major League Soccer it was last night. Week 21 got off with a bang in some ways as the LA Galaxy saw their long unbeaten run come to an end at the hands of the Portland Timbers of all teams.

It's still hard to grasp how the Revs didn't get absolutely obliterated in their last two games.

Despite being outshot, outplayed, and generally outclassed on the whole by a mediocre D.C. United, the Revs miraculously clinched their first road victory of the 2011 season last Wednesday thanks to an opportunistic Stephen McCarthy header.

The Colorado Rapids will host its first match of the 2011-2012 CONCACAF Champions League on Aug. 17 at Dick's Sporting Goods Park, taking on either Isidro Metapan of El Salvador or the Puerto Rico Islanders in the competitions Group Stage.

CONCACAF announced on Thursday the first two matches of the Group Stage, with the Rapids traveling to face Real España of Honduras on Aug.

On the tail end of their busiest stretch of the season, the New England Revolution will need to find the energy to do something they haven't done in over nine years if they are to build on Wednesday's win over D.C. United, their first victory since mid-May.

A.J. Soares and the Revolution defense will have a tough task Saturday against Colorado's speedy offensive line.

So, your team's going to play a tournament in Colombia and you need a place to train. How about Colorado?

Evidently, that is the thinking of the English U-20 team, which departed for the Rocky Mountains today. The U-20s are training for the U-20 World Cup, which opens on July 29.

The Young Lions squad met up in Hertfordshire on Thursday before traveling Friday to spend 10 days in Commerce City using the Colorado Rapids facilities in order to help acclimate to the conditions they will face in South America.

So, your team's going to play a tournament in Colombia and you need a place to train. How about Colorado?

Evidently, that is the thinking of the English U-20 team, which departed for the Rocky Mountains today. The U-20s are training for the U-20 World Cup, which opens on July 29.

The Young Lions squad met up in Hertfordshire on Thursday before traveling Friday to spend 10 days in Commerce City using the Colorado Rapids facilities in order to help acclimate to the conditions they will face in South America.

For crying out loud, another tie?! Midfielder Jeff Larentowicz goes down after being fouled during the Rapids 0-0 tie with Houston at home on July 3. (Photograph by Jonathan Ingraham/ColoradoSoccerNow.com.)

The Colorado Rapids have exhausted the thesaurus entry for "disappointing" this season, and now the team has moved on to "frustrating.

COMMERCE CITY, Colo. - The Colorado Rapids will soon be getting all dressed up for a trip to the White House on Monday. But before that, they have the small matter of an away game at the Columbus Crew on Sunday (8 pm ET; watch LIVE online).
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Soccer fans on Friday night got an entertaining match and a win for the home team as the Colorado Rush dispatched the Seattle Sounders 1-0 in W-League action.

Lindsey Horan delivered the lone goal of the evening in the 56th minute at Trail Winds Park in Thornton, Colo. Horan threatened several times during the night before her shot from inside the box found the upper left corner, giving her four goals in four games this season.

This is the fifth, and likely final, season of David Beckham with the LA Galaxy, and as the MLS leaders arrive in Colorado to take on the Rapids, this Saturday night may be the final chance for the midfielder to flash his famous right-footed free kicks at Dick's Sporting Goods Park.

If he produces something positive for the Galaxy in the thin air at Commerce City, it will be a sea change for the superstar who has been either absent or a nonentity in Colorado since joining the league in 2007.

Hannah Peterson's second half goal was enough to keep the Colorado Rush close to the Pali Blues on Saturday, but it wasn't enough to close the gap on the visitors from California.

Defender Elizabeth Eddy and midfielder Mariah Nogueira gave the Blues a two-goal first half cushion. While Colorado staged a comeback in the second half, generating four corners and two shots on goal during the second 45 minutes, the Rush was unable to close on the Blues.

Setting: Saturday, June 4 at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City; kickoff scheduled for 9:06:30 PM Eastern

Broadcast Information: The Comcast Network (J.P. Dellacamera, Bob Rigby), coverage starting at 8:30 PM Eastern with a pre-game show / Altitude Sports and Entertainment in Colorado / MLS Direct Kick, MatchDay Live (Altitude feed)

Colorado's Record: 4-3-6, fourth in West

Colorado's Last Match: T, 1-1 vs.

"Rapids are smelly pirate hookers"
In the midst of a ridiculously crowded fixture list, with arguably the season's most important match a mere three days away, Toronto FC faced a difficult trip to face MLS Cup holders Colorado Rapids. Playing the boys in burgundy from The Mile High Suburb is never easy and Aron Winter had some big squad decisions to make with visions of NutCans dancing in his head.

The New England Revolution are taking on the defending MLS Cup Champions tonight as they play host to the Colorado Rapids at Gillette Stadium. Neither team is off to the start their fans had hoped for this season, meaning that both teams should be going all-in for the three points. The British influence on both squads (from opposing managers Steve Nicol and Gary Smith) should be readily apparent, so expect a fairly physical affair with no shortage of full-blooded challenges.

Daniel Paladini (right) -- Getty ImagesBRIDGEVIEW, Ill. -- When Chicago Fire captain and defensive midfielder Logan Pause injured his hamstring on Wednesday of last week, it caused head coach Carlos de los Cobos to rethink his strategy heading into their game against the defending MLS champion Colorado Rapids.

Marco Pappa -- Getty ImagesTwo struggling teams in need of a victory each wound up with a draw as the Chicago Fire and Colorado Rapids played to a 1-1 stalemate Saturday at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colo.
Fire midfielder Marco Pappa tallied his third goal of the season, but Chicago once again could not hang onto a lead.

The folks over at MLSSoccer.com have update their weekly power rankings. No surprise that Real Salt Lake is in first place. The Portland Timbers are one of the big winners moving up to four places after a week that consisted of two home games, seven goals and six points.

Major League Soccer Week 5 Rankings

1.

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.

Colorado is back home for a Sunday game against DC United. DC comes in having only one once in Denver/Commerce City in the last ten years. Unfortunately that one win was the last time they were here in October. That was the last time the Rapids walked off the field from a league match feeling like they were the losers (Technically they lost the playoff game in Columbus but won the series on PKs).

The Rapids have finished their games in Arizona. Over the last 5 days they have faced Kansas City, Columbus, and La, finishing with 2 wins and a draw.
Game 1 - Sporting Kansas CityStarting 11: Pickens, Kimura, Wynne, Moor, Wallace, Nyassi, Larentowicz, Nane, Thompson, Folan, Cummings
29 of the 30 players on the trip played in the 120 minute session, only Mastroeni got the game off.

The team reported to Commerce City yesterday for the official start of pre-season. The first few days are physicals and fitness tests, including concussion tests. They'll hit the fields for the first time on Thursday.
The Rapids open camp with a 23 man roster and 4 draft picks. Rosters this year are 30 players, but there are restrictions on the salaries and availability of spots 21-30.

OK, after two weeks off for the holidays and a hard drive melt down we're back. Luckily its been pretty quiet lately so there's not that much to catch up on.

• The Rapids sign Tyrone Marshall to a one year deal with a one year option.

I like the short term nature of the contract, but the real key to this will be the salary number (which we'll see when the union releases the salaries in March).