October 12, 2010
Here are some random thoughts after Saturday nights win/loss versus Puerto Rico that ended the Rhinos' 2010 season.
- I like that the team went down fighting and didn't give up after giving up the first goal and being down 3-0 on aggregate.
- I felt like Pitchkolan and Motagalvan didn't look comfortable playing in roles that looked different than what they had been playing for most of the season.
- Tyler Bellamy picked a bad night to look like a rookie. That said, I really liked what he brought to the table this season.
- I actually liked bringing Kissi in off the bench even if he didn't score. And I said that before the game even started and not after Hoxie got the opening goal.
- Puerto Rico looked a lot better than your usual 8th seed.
- The Bill Gaudette crying clock was hilarious.
- Adam West played better on the left side than I expected. Although, he did look out of gas by the time that Lilley subbed him out.
- It was frustrating that a team that won the regular season title got bounced in the first round.
Now we get to live through an offseason of questions about what league the team will play in and if they are making the correct decision.
Rhinos owner Rob Clark was on Soccer is a Kick in the Grass last night and while he said that he would go over the club's options with GM Pat Ercoli and head coach Bob Lilley and make a decision, he sure seemed to be leaning towards going with the USL PRO League if I read between the lines correctly.
The good thing for Devo and I is that nothing gets people fired up through the off season than drama like this.
News & Notes:
- Bob Russell is no longer listed in the staff directory on Rhinos Soccer.com. I wonder if that makes his tenure the shortest for a VP in club history?
- Carolina-Montreal and Puerto Rico-Vancouver are your USSF D2 Pro League semifinal matchups.
- Senior Director of the USL PRO Chris Economides talks about the I-League.
- Here is the video of Abby killing a hot dog.
- Here are the highlights from the US-Poland match on Saturday night.
- Steve Davis has a post on the changes that are expected for the US when they take on Colombia tonight.
- Should the less than stellar ticket sales for tonight be something to worry about? With the Phillies in the playoffs and the Eagles season in full swing, I'm not surprised.
- Michael Kammarman had a cool interview with Carlos Bocanegra at the Small Bar in Chicago.
- Fanhouse has a nice little Q&A with Clint Dempsey about his playing for club and country.
- How would players like Bocanegra and Tim Howard ending their careers back in MLS be bad for the league? Has having Brian McBride & Kasey Keller been bad for MLS? Will Jay DeMerit be bad for MLS?
- SBI.net has an update on the Charlie Davies speeding incident.
- Wizards fans are getting tours of their club's future home.
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.
