Voice of C38

Now that the Rapids have shown that they can indeed come from behind to win a game, we really wish they'd stop showing us that.

Somehow even when we win we do it in the most stress inducing way possible.

Anyway, on to new business! Colin Peterson joins us to talk all the happenings in Commerce City this week.

The USA vs Trinidad and Tobago game was held here at Dick's Sporting Goods Park as Mekeil Williams turns his loyalty against Tim Howard. The USMNT met the challenge and beat T&T 2-0 and Williams had a great showing for his country.

Then on to the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup game against Oklahoma City Energy (OKC Energy). On either side of halftime, it was an embarrassment to be down 2-0 to the USL side, but Pablo Mastroeni wove his Jerry Maguire-like magic and the burgundy boys rallied scoring an almost unheard of 3 goals (with 3 subs well placed subs!) to win the game at zero hour.

It's been a pretty big week in Colorado and it continues this weekend with the battle against Portland Timbers.

A big, ugly win on Saturday will carry us thru another week at the bottom of the tables, but how optimistic should we be about this week?

Very, if you ask us. Despite all the Rapids struggles; continuing this week with the suspension of Bobby Burling and the questionable fitness of Axel Sjoberg and Jared Watts; oh, and Tim Howard and Williams off galavanting around on international duty. The Columbus Crew will be coming to the Dick on the heels of a whomping 5-0 loss last weekend and a midweek game at home. We only hope they're as mentally exhausted as they will be physically drained when they reach altitude.

We also hear post match comments from Howard and Burling and we talk about "The Rant" laid out by Pablo. Do you think heart trumps stats? Mastroeni seems to.

Tags: Colorado, Rapids, Soccer, Centennial 38, C38, Denver, Football, Commerce City, Dick's Sporting Goods Park, MLS, Major League Soccer

Here's some comforting words for you: Soup, blanket, fireplace, woolen mittens.

Unfortunately, none of those have a damn thing to do with the current state of the Rapids.

We know it's hard to stay excited about a team that keeps missing opportunities and dropping points. It's frustrating to analyze a team that seems to be lacking any cohesion with a coach in "shoot-from-the-hip mode, but dammit, that's our job.

So buck up and pang-wangle. Show up on Saturday and cheer for your team. We will be.

Tags: Colorado Rapids, Sporting Kansas City, Major League Soccer, MLS, Denver, Commerce City, Soccer, Football

Believe it or not, Pablo broke from stubborn form to try a more offensive 4-4-2 formation; and the results were tremendous.

The Rapids finally delivered a performance worthy of the home fans by drubbing the Vancouver Whitecaps 3-0 on Saturday. Gashi showed up big in his long awaited return to form scoring a brace.

With two road games this week, can the Rapids hold onto that feeling? Will the 4-4-2 show again? How do you distribute starters between the two games without risking exhaustion?

We talk about all this, plus an exclusive post match interview with Dillon Powers in this week's hastily published Voice of C38 Podcast! Go Pids!

The weight of the league is on top of the Rapids now that they have hit the rock bottom of the table.

A disappointing loss to the Vancouver Whitecaps last week coupled with a stellar 3-nil win for Philadelphia has left us alone at the bottom of the league with hopes of a win just to boost us up to a tie for dead last.

Pablo Mastroeni continued his experimental starting lineup while continuing to avoid experimentation with formations, but you think how you think about that. Tim Howard returned from his 3 game suspension and put on a typical Howard-esque performance, unfortunately a single unanswered Brek Shea shot made its way thru the sticks.

We'll talk about how the Rapids can possibly keep their morale up now that so many of the players have sunk to unfamiliar depths. We next face a middle of the road team in the San Jose Earthquakes. Can our legendary defense stand up against still-stellar Wondo and Co.?

The Rapids went East. The Rapids went down. The Rapids are bottom bound.

The Voice cast took a road trip to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and that was the high point of their trip.

They were also able to sneak in a Rapids game after applying Butter Beer to their Hog Warts.

By design, this trip was a fan experience and the guys talk about the Orlando fan experience: The good, the bad and the Voldemortean...(is that a thing? I don't know Harry Potter)

Of course you can take the Rapids fans out of Colorado but you can't take the Colorado out of the Rapids fans; so there will be match analysis. From a surprising lineup change to a reasonable use of subs, this game almost appeared to be our shot at getting back in MLS contention. Alas, despite the heroics of Zac MacMath the Pids fell to the Lions a devastating 2-0 in the sweltering Florida heat.

The wind is out of the sails, but it's far from time to burn the boat.

Ok. We can all appreciate that things have taken an unexpected and unwanted turn to the Rapids of yore, but it's still early days and we have a lot of guys out of the equation.

This week we are joined by Colin Peterson (@TheAceArbiter) to gnaw on the loss to Minnesota over the weekend and look forward to a trip to sunny Orlando; for the team and for most of the Voice Cast.

Orlando is a strong team this year and it'll be hard for the Rapids to regroup against Cyle Larin and Company.

Tags: Major League Soccer, MLS, Centennial 38, C38, Colorado, Rapids, Denver, Commerce City, MNUFC, Minnesota United FC, Orlando, Soccer

A devastating late loss to rivals RSL, ending our home unbeaten streak, and falling behind in the race for the Rocky Mountain Cup has the old faithfuls dusting off familiar hashtags.

Some of us, on the other hand, recognize bad luck as part of the game. But still...did it have to be to RSL?

We talk about the personnel issues facing the locker room. The all-to-rushed integration of new young players has left the team 11 strangers on a pitch. Can this team find their leader? Or will they spend the season a pack of dogs without an alpha.

Key Words: Major League Soccer, MLS, Denver, Colorado, Rapids, Centennial 38, C38, RSL, Real Salt Lake, Rocky Mountain Cup, MNUFC, Minnesota United FC, Bismarck Adjei-Boateng, Marlon Hairston, Kevin Doyle

We finally got a taste of the post Cronin/Burch era Rapids and boy-howdy was it sour. So we're left feeling a bit confused; a bit unsure; a bit betrayed.

There are rumors swirling around out there that this may be another rebuilding year. Which means our agony may be prolonged. And without any comfort from the Rapids FO, we can only speculate on what the hell Pablo's grand vision is.

After a good 40 minutes on Sporting Kansas City, we find the strength to look ahead to this weekend and the first leg of this year's Rocky Mountain Cup.

We're not terribly optimistic but this trophy may just be our everything this year.

Tags: Major League Soccer, MLS, Colorado Rapids, Centennial 38, C38, Denver, Commerce City, Soccer, Footy, Football, Dick's Sporting Goods Park, Rocky Mountain Cup, RMC, Fake Salt Lake

With another week off we start off the show discussing the best MLS action of the weekend. The Loons got their first ever pro win against the hated Real Salt Lake, which still tastes pretty sweet to us. LA blew a lead, JJ carded again and Houston slaughters the Red Bulls.

But enough of those other guys! This weekend sees the Rapids back at the dance with a roadie along the 39th parallel to SKC on Sunday.

Our record against the Possum Trotters has been good, winning the last 4 meetings, but this game will see some pretty important personnel changes.

For starters Burch and Cronin have gone over to the grey side and Dom Dwyer's cryptonite--Axel--is still out with injury.

However, this could be the start of a more offensive Rapids team and the game that gets this season right back on track.

Tags: Colorado, Denver, Rapids, Soccer, Commerce City, Jermaine Jones, Sporting KC, Major League Soccer, MLS, Centennial 38, C38