With Austin playing Portland to a 1-1 draw, the Rhinos magic number to clinch first place overall is down to 22.
With the Rhinos playing in Montreal tonight, that number could be as low as 19 by tomorrow morning.
It will be interesting to see if the Impact play much better tonight. After their 2-1 loss in Rochester two weeks ago, Montreal owner Joey Saputo ripped his players. They responded by defeating Crystal Palace Baltimore 5-0 last Saturday night.
Will the Impact still be playing with that kind of fire. Or, will it be out of their system?
One thing is for certain, Bob Lilley likely was telling his team all week that the Impact are back on track and they need to be at their best tonight to get the three points they want.
I just hope the Rhinos players aren't looking forward to their upcoming weekend off and don't have a great effort tonight.
News & Notes:
- Apparently former Rhino Ross Smith can really bowl.
- Devo is wondering where the fans have gone. Like most things in life, I doubt there is a short list of factors.
- WV Hooligan looks at the RSL residency academy announcement. With Toronto FC being the last MLS club to sign a homegrown player, I'd love to MLS Soccer.com's Debate Team debate what is more important for the future of MLS: signing DPs or signing homegrown players?
- DC United DP Branko Boskovic answers Country to the Club vs Country question and he'll miss the USOC Semifinal because of his answer.
- Bob Bradley had his chat with US Soccer president Sunil Gulati.
- Rafa Marquez says that Bob Bradley should remain as the US coach. I'm not sure how to take that.
- DeMarcus Beasley and Benny Feilhaber are awaiting closure on their club futures.
- It looks like the MLS Reserve League will be back in 2011. I wonder what that means for lower levels of US pro soccer?
The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author, and not necessarily those of the Rochester Rhinos or SoccerSam.com. Feel free to send any comments or complaints to news@soccersam.com. James promises to read (but not to respond) to all of them.
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