Thursday, April 3, 2008
Not One But Two For O'Brien
Ciaran O'Brien, the rookie Rapids midfielder who was sent off last week on debut for a rough tackle on LA Galaxy forward, Carlos Ruiz, will receive a two-match suspension. I spoke to Ciaran at training earlier this week and he fully expected to get just a one match ban. I'm sure the powers that be were affected by the fact that the tackle did end in a serious injury for Ruiz who will be out for four to six weeks. Based on his performance, O'Brien looks a strong personality not easily overawed. He will be back and stronger for it. I'm certainly looking forward to seeing him play again. He is strong in the tackle (a bit too strong on Ruiz, admittedly) and plays with great heart.
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5 comments:
Hey Nick! Awesome work on the blog, I love reading your stuff and keeping up to date.
Your readers (and especially their kids) might be interested in SportZu.tv -- youth sports centered website with some great rapids content, especially behind the scenes stuff with rapids tips and drills!
Thanks artfuldodger. I like the fact that you like to drink and find it hard to keep your mouth shut. I met some guys from sportzu.tv and am meaning to check them out. I'm trying to post one blogpost a day now that the season is up and running so please do check back. Thanks again for your contribution and maybe see you at the next home game April 19?
Unless they determine there was intent to injure (ahem, Ricardo Clark), I don't think the league should consider injuries that are the result of a hard foul when issuing fines/suspensions. But perhaps they do.
I actually was surprised to see that O'Brien got an extended suspension for his card. Sure his tackle was hard, but it was a run-of-the-mill red card. It makes me wonder if one can really get a regular one-game suspension (and associated fines) for a straight red in this league anymore.
As for the Galaxy's Abel, his suspension is probably the best thing to happen to the Galaxy defense.
Ciaran got screwed. He was only suspended because Ruiz the Flopping Fish actually turned out to be injured, even though the tackle itself wasn't malicious. The fact he was tacked with two games is unfortunate, but his effort against LA illustrates his potential. I'm curious what's up with Colaluca (last year's first-round pick), he seemed like he had some potential coming out of U Va, but we haven't heard much of him.
Joey, I think Colaluca is not really fully fit right now. He is going to find it hard to get back in this team though.
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