A week of soccer camp

Bug attended the Colorado Rapids soccer camp this past week, every night from 5 - 8. My friends whose daughter and son also attended took her every night, luckily considering there was no way I was going to get from downtown Denver to Commerce City by 5 every day. But I dutifully drove every night from work to home to let dogs go to the bathroom to the soccer fields. It's been a long week. And then yesterday, they allowed the campers and their parents to sit in on a closed practice, followed by autographs and pictures. And tonight, a game against the Columbus Crew . . . which, unfortunately, we lost 0-2. But while the week was draining on me, Bug thrived under the direction of the players as her coaches. So sadly, Pablo Mastroeni and Christian Gomez were playing in the MLS All Star game and were not at the camp. And Tom McManus was injured. . . . But she received direct instruction from some amazing players. Nick LaBrocca, Steven Keel, Colin Clark, Ugo Ihemelu, Herculez Gomez, Mehdi Ballouchy, Omar Cummings, Justin Hughes, John DiRaimondo, Jacob Petersen, Cesar Zambrano, and some others whose names escape me at this late hour. Bug's favorite of late, Bouna Coundoul, is a goalkeeper, and so he did not coach her, to her disappointment, but he took pictures with her on Saturday. They all loved her new braces, which were put on Tuesday, because the bands are the Rapids' colors: maroon and baby blue. Here are some pics from the week:

Steven Keel and Herculez Gomez talk to the campers . . .

John Murphy, Director of Player Development and Head Coach of the Reserve Team was a tough cookie out on the field, but the kids loved him (and his Bronx accent) . . .

Mehdi Ballouchy and Nick LaBrocca sign soccer balls . . .

IT'S BOUNA TIME!!!! One of Mattie's favorite sayings . . . . Here she is with Goalkeeper Bouna Coundoul. He was very sweet with her, and after I took the picture, he kept saying, "But you didn't say 'cheese'," in his Senegalese accent. Cracked us up.

The highly acclaimed Christian Gomez (next to Bouna). . .

Our favorite Scot, Tom McManus, next to our favorite Brit, Terry Cooke (or, as everyone calls him, Cookie) . . .

Conor Casey, Steven Keel, and Jake Petersen . . .

Facundo Erpen and Colin Clark . . .

Justin Hughes a/k/a "Juice. Juice is one of the goalkeepers, but he separated his shoulder diving for a ball and had to have surgery right before camp started. The kids all loved his cool hair. I think he looked just like the guy who played George in the "George of the Jungle" movie several years ago.


The gorgeous Pablo Mastroeni runs laps at the closed session on Saturday . . .

Herculez Gomez and Bug at a Q & A session. Herc kept telling her questions to ask Mehdi that were meant to embarass him . . . which Bug didn't realize. Herc is like one of the kids . . . one that's always getting in trouble. :):)

Ugo talks to the campers . . .

Mehdi is very sweet, very shy . . . . from Morrocco. He took a shine to Bug and gave her lots of extra coaching. . . .

Bug and Omar. She loved his Jamaican accent . . .

Bug and Nicky (Nick LaBrocca) . . .

Coach Murphy holds the "applause meter" over Bug during the crazy shirt contest . . .

Kosuke Kimura autographs a ball. He won "best autograph" . . . his Japanese writing looks like a work of art . . .

Happy Independence Day!

This was a picture I took of the fireworks display at Dick's Sporting Goods Park last night following the Rapids game. The Rapids teamed with Commerce City to put on the largest fireworks display in the State of Colorado. And it was . . . spectacular . . . all set to music, from James Brown, to Bruce Springsteen, to John Philip Sousa, to Lee Greenwood, to Colorado's favorite adopted son, John Denver. . . . . It was so much fun to be singing "Rocky Mountain High" at the top of your lungs with 18,000 other people on the field! Even Bug, who's only 10, knew all the words . . . apparently they sang it at sunset on Saturdays at Sanborn. :)

Here is the big screen at Dick's that showed patriotic images while the music was playing and the fireworks were . . . shooting . . .

It was a great evening. We returned from Steamboat in time for a nap and then headed for the game. The Rapids beat New York 4-0. Tom McManus, Omar Cummings, Colin Clarke, and the new guy, Mehdi (can't remember his last name) all scored. One of the funniest highlights of the evening is when all of the mascots from the pro and college teams in Denver and Boulder took the field at halftime and played soccer. Rocky, from the Denver Nuggets, scored 2 goals, but our favorite was the Wooly Mammoth (LaCrosse) . . . he was so cute and chubby and played goalie. Since he couldn't move so fast, he turned the goal over so no one could score. It was hysterical when the other mascots noticed and tried to get him. It was really great to see all of the mascots together in their uniforms, trying to play soccer.

Pablo Mastroeni, my favorite Rapid, drew a yellow card last night for arguing with the refs. We did get horrible calls all evening. Our players were getting beat up and no fouls called, but if our guys touched the other team, a foul would be called. Pablo finally had enough and had his say. :)

Here are some more fireworks pics. Will write about Steamboat trip later.

I finally decided . . .

. . . who it is that is my favorite Colorado Rapids player. My eyes are constantly drawn to him. He's probably the oldest player on the team (at the ripe old age of 31), but he is so skilled on the field and gorgeous to boot. His name is Pablo Mastroeni.

He's from Argentina, and I think has been picked for the World Cup team twice. Soccer is such a great game. My other favorites include: Bouna Coundoul, who is out for the next month or so as he returned to play for his native Senegal in some national games. Bouna is an unbelievable goalee; Tom McManus, a recent recruit from Glasgow, Scotland, who's goal against Chivas was voted MLS Goal of the Week last week; Christian Gomez, another Argentinian hotty who's tremendous in the midfield; and two Colorado natives, Collin Clarke and Connor Casey.

Today, the Rapids beat FC Dallas 2-1. It was a fantastic game. Can't wait for the next one. My daughter will be at a camp taught by Rapids players for a week in July. Hope Pablo is one of her coaches . . . . I may just have to have some one-on-one parent/coach conferences! :):):)

Go Rapids!

Attended a Colorado Rapids soccer game today. They beat D.C. United 2-0. The games are great. Held at a beautiful new stadium, Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado. My daughter's favorite player is Christian Gomez, no. 10. I still haven't decided on my favorite player, but do love to watch them play. I will no longer get to see Razorback football, so I needed a new "home favorite". After being told of a 12-15 year wait for Broncos season tickets, I turned to the Rapids --- good decision. I'm still psyched about getting to see the occasional Broncos, Nuggets, Avalanche, Rockies, or Mammoth games, but the Rapids are now my #1 team for which we have season tickets.

Was thankful for the game today. The weekend started out badly. First with a phone call that my storage company had to move all of my things to a new unit because of a water leak --- now I've got to determine what might be damaged/missing (as if I have time). Then, when we got home Friday, there was a nasty letter in the mailbox from the city stating that someone complained about my dogs barking and that if there are further complaints, I get to look forward to: (1) impoundment; (2) fine of up to $1000; and/or (3) jail up to a year. The thing that really tears me up is I know it's not my dogs --- I just don't know how to prove it. I do know that the "uppity ups" in this townhome complex weren't thrilled that "renters" moved in (everyone else owns), that I had a child, or that I have dogs. I'm hurt and angry over the whole thing --- if someone thought my dogs were barking, why wouldn't they have the common courtesy to come talk to me first? And why do bad things always come in the mail on Friday afternoons when you get home from work, it's too late to call anyone, and then you have to stew about them all weekend? This is the downside of living in this neighborhood --- the residents are extremely wealthy and intolerant of outsiders. Lots of "trust fund babies" and retirees. I should have known when, in the winter the other dogs had designer coats and boots, and I was out walking mine in 10 degree weather with just their dog fur. Guess it's time to start looking for a new place to rent. I do not want to give up my dogs.