Stupid in Seattle

Last Saturday's game sucked big time.  It may have been my fault though.  I didn't watch the first 30 minutes of the match because I was busy trying to get out of the restaurant that i was in and get to a television.  And apparently, those 30 minutes saw a crappy RSL team out there struggling to do what they did the entire second half; dominate.  Everything that I watched during the game was positive for RSL, except for one lucky shot from 35 yards away.  There is no need to panic yet, because it is just one game in front of a sold out crazy crowd on the road.  There were a lot of good things that went on in that game.  The biggest fear for RSL fans has to be that we are on the road to dominating every game that we play in and still managing to lose them.  Lets hope we can snap that streak ASAP.

The two brightest spots for RSL had to be from one of its oldest players and one of its newest.  First the oldest:  Clint Mathis.  He was the Ace Slideshows, LLC Bad Ace of the Match for sure this week.  He was sharp and active for the entire time he was in the game that I saw.  He put the ball in dangerous spots with every one of his touches.  That through ball to Yura for a breakaway was sublime.  Next: Rafael Cox.  He didn't get that many minutes in this game, but he made every one of them count.  He did something dangerous with everyone of his touches in the offensive half without sacrificing any of his responsibilities in the defensive half.  It was an instant upgrade over having Beltran in there.  Beltran is a good athlete with good skills, but he doesn't have a brain.  Cox, being left footed, brought a great spark to the left side of the attack that I'm sure would have produced a goal or two if he had more time.  He was very impressive in his debut and handled the preasure and hostile environment very well.  Lets hope that the RSL coaching staff saw the same thing that I did and Cox will get some more time very soon.

Next up:  Columbus.  Morales will need to make a strong bid for Bad Ace of the Match for RSL to be successful.  Lets hope that the snow isn't a determining factor tomorrow.  If it is a factor, it should be an advantage for us because hopefully the guys are more used to it than the visitors.  We'll see you at the Riot tomorrow.

Horst Crap

Well, I'm a bit upset about the game. Everyone except the back 4 played an outstanding game. Borchers played what looked like a crappy game because he had to play two positions at the same time. Horst had two or three bright spots in the first 10 minutes, but when it mattered most, he did nothing. Weenert looked dead tired all game and Russel bit on every fake that he saw. If we would have had Olave in the game, it would have been an easy win, guaranteed. That just reinforces the fact that Olave is probably our MVP.

The Ace Slideshows, LLC Bad Ace of the Match this week is a very close call. Yura Movsysian made a very, very strong case for himself because he looked very dangerous every time that he touched the ball. Doctor Goals finally got a goal on a sweet shot, but didn't play long enough to impact the game as much as the Bad Ace needs to impact it in order to get the award. Morales scored also, be he missed two other EASY goals that knocked him out of contention. Beckerman and Williams also had very, very solid games. However, this week's award had to go to none other than Robbie Findley. He was the biggest reason that RSL was so dangerous on offense and he also, especially at the end of the game, was trying harder than anyone else on the field. He took everything personal all game long. If he'd make a little mistake and loose the ball in an attacking position, he track down the guy who stole the ball and make him make a crappy pass and win the ball back. Towards the end of the game when a tying goal was within reach, he was everwhere trying to win the ball back and get another opportunity on goal when most of his teammates weren't able to move. He got into a bunch of dangerous positions and nearly picked up a couple of goals with his head. And most importantly, it was his awesome assists that were the reason for two of our three goals. His first assist to Movsysian was an awesome, perfectly weighted pass into space where Movsysian nearly managed to take all of his own angle away, but made up for it with an excellent finish past Pat Butt-steada (the Houston goalie). Then, he switched roles with Dr. Goals for his second assist and layed down a header right in the path of Dr. and Dr. rifled it home with a sweet finish. Findley is very deserving of this Bad Ace award and lets hope his teammates can all give the same effort that he gave this comming weekend against the first place team in the league, the Columbus Crew.

Saprissa Stinks

Last night's game was kind of a waste.  It was pretty much one way traffic the first half with RSL getting all the chances.  However, there is some sort of curse on our forwards.  None of them can buy a goal if their lives depended on it.   Dr. had some good shots, all of which the goalie miraculously saved.  Findley had some easy tap ins that he squandered.  Alex Nimo was definately a bright spot as he sent in a bunch of dangerous crosses that no one could figure out what to do with.  But, not surprisingly, the game when into the half 0-0.  The second half was pretty unorganized and there wasn't much effort on RSL's part until they were backed into a corner down 2 goals to 0.  They came out in a 4-3-3 formation and kind of coasted around.  Espindola came in for about 15 minutes to start the second half and looked a little bit slower than normal, and he seems to be suffering from the same curse as everyone else.  He had an easy peasy tap in that he never got a foot to and didn't manage to score on golden opportunities.  But, after some sloppy, unorganized defense lead to two quick Saprissa goals, RSL started putting on some pressure in hopes of salvaging the game and not looking ridiculous.  It got pretty chippy at one point in the match when a couple of red cards were handed out and boos flowed from the crowd for the last 10 minutes of the game.  But RSL managed to get one goal back and only lost 2-1.  It was kind of a waste of a game, but oh well.

As for the Ace Slideshows, LLC Bad Ace of the Match, it has to go to Weenert (aka Chris Wingert) for his persistence and unwillingness to give up.  He was all over the place at the end of the game, making good runs everywhere, giving it everything to try to energize his team.  He figured since the forwards couldn't score a dang thing, he would take the game into his own hands and do everything himself.  It was his slashing run through the heart of the midfield that lead to the goal.  Hopefully the forwards were taking notes from their defender who showed them how to time their run perfectly and finish a breakaway chance one on one.   

Chicago Wrap

I'm back in Utah after a week of traveling to Wisconsin and Illinois and it is nice to be back. Unfortunately, I've got very little to report on today, because I am still digesting my Chicago experience. In summary, it was awesome. Their stadium is an awesome place. The grass and the seating layout was so much better than Rice-Eccles. There were just under 20 grr people and it was the loudest soccer match I've ever been to in my life. The game day experience was fantastic. The game was as exciting as a 0-0 tie could be and I'm blaming the fact that RSL didn't get on the score card on Robbie Findley. He should have done better with that shot that went straight at Jon Busch. But RSL was lucky not to give up a goal a few times as well, so I think that the result was a fair one.

This week's Bad Ace of the Match will go to Nick Rimando. He came up big a bunch of times and was the only reason RSL got a point.

Bad Ace of the Match

First off, I would like to appoligize to all of my readers for the delay in getting this post up. I've been traveling every day since the game and haven't been able to sit down to finish this. Now to the good stuff...

The Ace Slideshows , LLC Bad Ace of the Match for the Columbus game last Saturday is Javier Morales. He set the tone for the rest of the team early with a goal and he controlled everything in the game from then on. Every touch he had was beneficial for the team. He kept the ball and didn't lose it cheaply. He was the leader and influenced every thing that hapened in that game. Everyone on the team was inspired by hos performance. He is well deserving of the title of Bad Ace.

I'll have another post about the Chicago game soon as well as a report about Toyota Park because I will be in Chicago for the game this Saturday! Untill then, let's just enjoy our position at the top of the table...we better get used to it cause we're here to stay!

Bad Ace of the Match

On behalf of the authors of The Real Awesome Fans blog, we would like to thank all of our readers for making this blog a success in it's short history. We are continually seeking to improve the quality of our blog as we learn more and more about life in the blog sphere. Today, we would like to introduce to you a new feature that we hope will carry on for years to come. After every game, we will be selecting the Ace Slideshows, LLC Bad Ace of the Match. This distinguished award will go to the player(s) that turn in an exceptional performance and are a the difference makers in a particular match. We're looking forward to providing more dynamic content on this blog starting with this feature and are excited to hear your comments on our weekly selections! Without further adieu, here is our first Ace Slideshows, LLC Bad Ace of the Match:

Alex Nimo

RSL vs Club Santos Laguna on Wednesday July 9, 2008.

Alex held his own despite his small stature and proved to be the only bright spot for RSL on an otherwise lackluster performance by the rest of his teammates. He is very deserving of this award and hopefully it will not be his last Bad Ace award in an RSL uniform. Congratulations Alex on officially becoming a Bad Ace.

We would like to thank our corporate sponsor, Ace Slideshows, LLC, for their continued support.