By Andrew Villegas The problem with the MLS expansion draft candy dish is that you have to wade
through a hundred stale Tootsie Rolls (some of which cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, go
figure) to get to that proverbial Snickers bar. This is the worst kept secret in American soccer.
Teams stack the unprotected [.
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.
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.
The Colorado Rapids kick off defense of the 2010 MLS Cup tonight in conditions reminiscent of
the night the team won the title in Toronto in November.
It will be chilly in Dick's Sporting Goods Park for the 8 p.m. battle with the Columbus Crew.
But there will be plenty of heat on the field for the Rapids.
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.
The emergence of Sanna Nyassi as a speedy striker has a been a big part of Colorado's 3-0-1
record since losing Conor Casey for the season to a ruptured Achilles tendon.
What should have felled a team that was struggling to score instead led to a four goal outburst
from Nyassi and 10 points from four games.
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.
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.
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.
Do you celebrate a record number of consecutive ties?
If a tie is like kissing your sister, then what is six draws in a row?
Can you be both winless and undefeated over a month of games?
These are questions for the ages, but the reality is that the Colorado Rapids have now set an
MLS mark with six consecutive draws.
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.
Three days after coming back to tie and then beat the Houston Dynamo, the Colorado Rapids
settled for a 0-0 draw with the New England Revolution on Saturday night.
The tie moves the Rapids to 4-3-2 (14 points) and gives the team four points from the first two
games of a three-game road trip.
(Editor's note: This is part three of a series looking at how the Rapids will fill out an
expanded roster for 2011.)
The Rapids won an MLS cup with a team that relied on a midfield built to challenge balls,
disrupt attacks and allow little room for opponents.
Colorado midfielders spent a lot of energy.
(Editor's note: This is part two of a series looking at how the Rapids will fill out an
expanded roster for 2011.)
There are only six defenders on the current roster, but there is probably no position in better
health for the Rapids. There's also no area that will tell more about the team's long-term plans
for captain Pablo Mastroeni, 34, than what Colorado does on defense.
