Two small pieces of news before we get on with the Player Of The Year discussion:
*Steve Nicol turned down the Rapids interview request. There was some talk about him being uncomfortable with the environment here, but all along I thought getting Nicol out of Boston, where he's been for 13 years, would be a long shot.

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.

Today the Rapids released information about the expansion draft, namely which players qualify as internationals. That means its time for my take on who to protect.
Automatically protected under homegrown player rule:Davy ArmstrongJosh Janniere - I'm not sure how he qualifies as homegrown for the Rapids, but maybe the status transfers with the player.

Zak Boggs and Darrius Barnes may provide a lone bright spot on 2011's gloomy MLS campaign as finalists for two MLS End-Of-Season Awards. The following is directly off the press release:

Two New England Revolution players are among the three finalists for year-end Major League Soccer awards, the league announced today.

On Monday, the Revolution's Darrius Barnes and Zak Boggs were named as finalists for year-end MLS awards for their efforts on and off the field in 2011.

Barnes is a finalist for the XBOX 360 Fair Play Award, which is given to the MLS player who exemplifies the meaning of sportsmanship. In 2011, the versatile defender, who split time across the backline in 28 games, committed only 14 fouls on the season and was cautioned just once.

By Tony Edwards - San Jose, CA (Nov 3, 2011) US Soccer Players -- In the ‘regular-season wrap up' edition, Tony asks about various MLS statistical leaders, which team management is at least willing to ask questions about caliber of play, and finds a National Team alum thriving in the NASL. What players led MLS in games played this year?

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.

The first spot in the MLS Conference Finals will be locked up tonight when Sporting Kansas City takes on the Colorado Rapids at Livestrong Sporting Park tonight (8pm, Fox Soccer Channel).

Sporting KC opened the Eastern Conference semifinal series with a 2-0 victory against the Rapids at Dick's Sporting Goods Park, and will now return home where they will be favored to hold off an injury-hit Rapids squad that will play tonight's match without injured starting defenders Drew Moor and Kosuke Kimura.

Home-and-away series in MLS playoffs tend to play out like the company Christmas party: things may start out a little slow, stodgy and cautious. But pretty soon furniture is being tipped over, fights are breaking out, things are gettin' wacky and, by the latter stages, you just don't know what kind of craziness may claim the night.

Sporting KC are back to business with a quick turnaround as they take on the Colorado Rapids in the second leg of their Eastern Conference semifinal series at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park tomorrow. It'll be interesting to see how Colorado comes out for this game. Three players that started the game in Colorado are now done for the season, Drew Moor, Caleb Folan, and Kosuke Kimura all left the game with injuries.

photo courtesy of Jarred Donalson
Sporting KC took a big first step in the playoffs on Sunday night in Colorado as they took out the Rapids 2-0 in the first leg of their home and home series. With the second leg at home at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park, KC is firmly in the driver's seat in the series.

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.

By DAVID GUBALA

Sporting Kansas City went into Sunday's Eastern Conference semifinal first leg looking to hopefully come away with a draw against the Colorado Rapids to send the series back to Kansas City

A nightmarish night for the Rapids helped Sporting KC return to the Midwest with so much more.

The Colorado Rapids' hopes of defending its MLS title are still alive, and the club can thank Omar Cummings for that.

Cummings scored his first goal in nearly three months to help lift the Rapids to a 1-0 win over the Columbus Crew in a wild card playoff match at Dick's Sporting Goods Park on Thursday night.

The Colorado Rapids looked like a team raising the white flag and giving up on the CONCACAF Champions League when they fielded a reserve team in a must-win game against Salvadoran side Isidro Metapan.

At least that was the initial impression. The Rapids reserves had other plans.

The Colorado Rapids season ended at about 10 p.m. on Wednesday.

The team will still play two more CONCACAF Champions League group stage games, four MLS regular season matches and one probable playoff game, but the disappointing 2011 season ended with the final whistle in Real Espana's 2-1 victory at Dick's Sporting Goods Park.

The Colorado Rapids roster is being tested by CONCACAF Champions League and MLS play, and it is being found wanting.

The latest evidence came on Saturday night as the Rapids fell to the Chicago Fire, one of the worst teams in MLS, 2-0 at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Ill.

While it was the most disastrous result in the latest string of games, it was also further proof of the mounting fatigue for a squad battling in two competitions.

Isidro Metapan and the Colorado Rapids combined for five goals on Wednesday night, but it was a brace from Macoumba Kandji that made the difference in the home side's first CONCACAF Champions League match.

Kandji's goals, in the 16th minute and first-half stoppage time, rescued a discombobulated Rapids side and paved the way for Andre Akpan's second half winner at Dick's Sporting Goods Park.

Even with a two-year absence from the league, the San Jose Earthquakes remain one of the teams the Colorado Rapids have faced more often than almost any team in Major League Soccer.

The Rapids have played Los Angeles 55 times and Dallas (first as The Burn and then as FC) 51. Next on that list is San Jose, which has met Colorado 46 times since that first MLS season in 1996.

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.

After each match the contributors to New England Soccer Today will rate the performances of the New England Revolution players who made an appearance on a 1 to 10 scale (1 horrendous, 5 average, 10 perfection). This week Sean Donahue and Brian O'Connell contributed ratings for the Revs 2-2 draw with Colorado.

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.

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.

By CALEB SONNELAND

The bad blood between the two teams was evident for everyone to see as the Seattle Sounders and Colorado Rapids played out a wild 4-3 Sounders victory rife with disciplinary and goal-mouth action from start to finish.

With the score knotted at 2-2 going into the home stretch of the game, it took some Fredy Montero magic to unlock the Rapids' defense to give the hosts a win and all three points at CenturyLink Field.

Houston Dynamo (4-6-7, 19 pts.) at Colorado Rapids (5-5-7, 22 pts.) Dick's Sporting Goods Park, Commerce City, CO - 8:00pm CT
BROADCAST ESPN2 (ENG TV) ESPN Deportes (SPN TV) SportsTalk 790 (ENG Radio) La Ranchera 850 (SPN Radio)
REFEREE: Baldomero Toledo. MLS Career: 113 games; FC/gm: 25.

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!

WASHINGTON -- The team that finally got over the hump earned their moment with the leader of the free world.

Clad in gray suits, the Colorado Rapids were honored in the East Room of the White House by President Barack Obama Tuesday afternoon for winning the 2010 MLS Cup a little more than seven months ago at BMO Field in Toronto.

By JOSE M. ROMERO

Andres Mendoza is on a pretty good tear.

The big striker scored goals in each half off mistakes to lead an impressive performance by the Columbus Crew in its 4-1 win over the Colorado Rapids Sunday night at Crew Stadium.

Mendoza's first goal came in the 18th minute.

The 4th place and defending MLS Cup Champion Colorado Rapids (5-3-7) entered their showdown with the 1st place LA Galaxy (8-2-7) leading the MLS in goals scored while only conceding 14. That + 8 goal differential was good enough for 3rd in the league. They ran into a Galaxy squad that was without starting Jamaican national team goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts and USA star Landon Donovan, as they were set to duel Saturday afternoon at RFK Stadium in D.

Previous Updates
#1 4/11 66 players remaining
In these updates throughout the season, I'll be keeping track of which MLS players have played every minute of every game in the regular season. That feat has been accomplished only 42 times in 15 seasons. Click here for the complete list.

Sorry for the lack of posts after Saturday's 1-1 draw. I've had computer problems and been sick. My computer issues still aren't solved so this is going to be a quick combined post.
First Saturday's game. A just result arrived at in an unjust way. A great free kick from Jamie Smith led to Drew Moor's first goal of the season.

Frustrated.

That was the word of the night for both teams that took the pitch at RFK Stadium on Saturday night. It began with Charlie Davies, who with Bob Bradley as one of the almost 13,000 in attendance had a chance to show that he was well on his way back to being USMNT fit.

As the Colorado Rapids see the revolving door at forward continue with injuries, the team keeps finding a way to pull a point.

On Saturday in Washington, D.C., Drew Moor found the net off a set piece in the 23rd minute off a free kick from Jamie Smith. Moor's strike appeared it would be enough in the first half as the Rapids controlled play and D.

Photo by Jose L. Argueta/ISIphotos.com

By THOMAS FLOYD

WASHINGTON -- Threatening for an equalizer early in the second half against the Colorado Rapids on Saturday, D.C. United seemed poised to draw even one way or another, despite the loss of forwards Charlie Davies and Josh Wolff to first-half injuries.

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.

An interesting discussion came up on BigSoccer this week about how the Red Bulls have started a lineup of 11 players from 11 different countries. So I decided to take a look at the Rapids roster to see how close I could come. I can come up with a Rapids lineup of 11 players who have eligibility for 11 different national teams, but one has already passed on it.

In these updates throughout the season, I'll be keeping track of which MLS players have played every minute of every game in the regular season. That feat has been accomplished only 42 times in 15 seasons. Click here for the complete list.
This year, we started with 198 eligible players (18 teams times 11 starters).

Editor's note: Just a reminder that if we are always on the lookout for quality fanposts. Great look at possible targets.

Why has the MLS not penetrated the Japanese market? This is one of the biggest questions that I have had about the league, mostly because we have all seen how Japanese baseball players have affected the MLB.

Before I start this I wanted to point out the request for help that Kosuke Kimura wrote for the New York Times soccer blog today. I've added the link to the Red Cross donation page he linked to on the top of the right column and I'll leave it there for the season. Please help if you can, and the supporters are planning another auction/raffle for the Red Cross for some point this season.

This year starts on a much better note than the last 3 years. Before our first kick of 2011 we'll be raising our 2010 Champions banner (I assume)! That's a much better place to be than on a 3-year playoff drought like last year. With the added CONCACAF Champions League games the Rapids have a full schedule this year.