May 20, 2007 1:45 AM

Beautiful evening, great crowd, frustrating result

This one is on the Rapids.

In Saturday night's 1-1 tie with Kansas City, there was no finger to be pointed.

There was no blame for the refs.

There was no bad weather to contend with.

There was no visiting team that took control of the game in the second half (or the first).

There was no red card to put the team down a man in the opening minutes.

Saturday night, the Rapids just didn't seal the deal.

And it was a shame because nearly 15,000 fans crammed themselves into Dick's Sporting Goods Park in hopes of watching the home team win. They didn't get what they wanted.

It was a beautiful day and night for soccer, and many of the fans who didn't test the wind, rain, snow or freezing temperatures of previous games turned out on Saturday.

However, the Rapids didn't seize the moment. They controlled most of the game (except for a few K.C. counterattacks), but never got closer than almost. Never opened the door, just knocked. The Rapids' lack of finishing cost them a shot at first place in the conference. But, perhaps more important, the tie was an opportunity missed. Nearly 15,000 folks went home unsatisfied.

The Rapids have invested heavily in Colorado. Dick's Sporting Goods Park, for example, is a mutimillion-dollar venture.

The two dozen soccer fields surrounding the stadium were alive on Saturday, with kids and adults alike playing games on artificial turf and on real grass that's groomed so well it looks fake. The fields make up another piece of the Rapids' commitment to cultivating the soccer community in Commerce City and Colorado.

The advertising (on street lights, on buses, on billboards, in the Rocky Mountain News, at the airport, all around the metro area) is another piece.

The team invests in players and puts a top-quality soccer team on the pitch each week.

But Saturday night the Rapids had a chance to make believers out of a packed house, and they failed those folks. Mothers who wore their Broncos sweat shirt to the game. Businessmen who compared soccer injuries to the whining in the Suns-Spurs series in the NBA playoffs. Kids wearing Carmelo Anthony jerseys. Grown-ups wearing Rockies T-shirts.

Maybe a winning goal plants the seed for these paying customers that a night in Commerce City beats a night at Coors Field or the multiplex.

Certainly there are the faithful who will show up no matter what, like the Rapids supporters who beat a traveling band of Wizards fans 6-3 in a friendly in the afternoon then filled the bellies of the Kansas City folks with bratwurst, burgers and beer afterward.

But for the casual fan (the one who wonders if it's worth the drive up from Centennial or the one who's choosing between buying a Rapids T-shirt or a ticket to a Colorado Crush game), Saturday's 1-1 tie was a lesson learned. Ties are not as fun as victories, especially at home.

Let's hope the Rapids learned that lesson Saturday as well.

ODD SUBSTITUTION: I won't second-guess Fernando Clavijo much on this blog. He knows his players better than I do. But I thought it was strange when he substituted Ugo Ihemelu for Jovan Kirovski in the 59th minute and then had Ihemelu play midfield. I figured Ihemelu would go to the back line and Pablo Mastroeni would move up to midfield. Mastroeni certainly would've been more effective than Ihemelu turned out to be. Midfield is Mastroeni's domain, he is much more effective on the prowl than stuck in the back.

KUDOS TO THE ZEBRAS: In the 34th minute, referee Jorge Gonzalez slapped Herculez Gomez with a yellow card, and it was the right move. The card came after a series of reckless fouls and tackles from behind, and the game threatened to go from chippy to ugly. Gonzalez's call came at the right time for the right foul (a silly slapping incident), and things settled down after that.

YOU GOT THE WRONG MAN: Although Kyle Beckerman was announced as the man of the match Saturday, Dan Gargan deserved the honor. His long throw-ins along the left sideline were as good as corner kicks. At times he seemed like the only defender Eddie Johnson couldn't outrun. Gargan was aggressive, he was inventive and he had the best move of the night: Late in the second half, he tapped the ball to the left of a Wizards forward and ran around the guy's left to collect his own pass; then, as an onrushing midfielder slid in to tackle the ball away, Gargan flicked it over him and hurdled him, freeing himself for a deep run into the Kansas City half. Nice game, Danny.

Posted by George Tanner at 1:45 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack