Chivas circling the drain.

It might as well be over. Just days after getting bounced out of the US Open Cup by Seattle in a 1-3 suck fest, the Goats were blasted 0-3 by the Rapids to put the whole season on self-destruct mode. It's weird because this team certainly had turned things around for a little while, but maybe it was just the push of the transfer market that got us going briefly. Either way, we've come crashing back down to Earth.

Chivas and Colorado played a hard fought first 45, with neither side giving in too much. The 0-0 result at the half was a sign that this game could be the kind of match that would help Chivas forget about the Rave Green loss and get back to the MLS task at hand. The second half completely destroyed those hopes. The Goats barely even made it into the penalty area of the Raps in the second half, as the pitch seemed to tilt toward Zack Thorton. What was the deal? In the 52nd minute, Colorado's leading scorer, Casey, bounced a rebound into the net. 15 minutes later, Jamaician Boy Omar Cummings danced his way into the box, undressing three Chivas defenders along the way, and buried a ball into the lower corner of the net. As if it wasn't enough, Cummings would get the brace to completely seal the deal nine minutes from full time, as he was left alone to streak down the side and politely send a ball into the netting behind Thorton. Were we tired? Were the Raps just that good? What the heck happened? 

It was a horrible second half effort, and we'll examine the lineup to see if it yields any reasons:

GK-ZTB: The Beast looked beatable in the game, showing his age, and allowing three in. The rebound was impossible, but Cummings' brace was lame.

D- Trujth, Yamith Cuesta, Umaña From Heaven, DJ Jazzy Jaziç: The defense looked pathetic in the second half. How does Cummings just completely dance around us like that? Also, how is there no defensive sub made when they are doing so poorly in the 2nd half? 

M- Zemanski, Fighting Baptist (Braunie in the 59th), Naga Naga, and 'Dolf (Zizzo in the 58th): Now I'm starting to see how Chivas may not have actually been going for the win. Braun gets subbed as a middie, instead of playing up all game? Sal Zizzo is coming in for the second half? I don't know about this stuff.

F- Flash and El Gringo (Jorge Flores in the 74th): Please. This is crazy! Is Maldo out for international play? Even so, Flash has been a bust since coming over from the Galaxy, and why drop Padilla for Flores (who?)? Again, it seems as though Martín Vasquez has given up.

With Newcastle and Celtic taking the weekend off for International play, I was really hoping Chivas could give me some love with a good game. Oh well. At 6-12-4, El Rebaño still sit in last place in the West with 22 points in 22 games. We're still just -1 of Houston, but -10 of the next team up on the table, San Jose. The playoff dream is all but over in the MLS for the Goats. This Friday night, KDOC will be carrying the Chivas/New England game at 7:30, as the Goats continue to try and get back to winning. The Revs have 24 points in 22 games (7-12-3), but they beat Seattle 3-1 in their most recent test. Bad news for us. The Revs are well known for being the only team in MLS history to have every single one of their league games televised, which shows they have pretty amazing support up there in Bean Town. Here's to hoping Chivas can put some hurt into them to get us off to a nice weekend.

Just quickly I'll touch on what Ireland was able to pull off last week. It's Euro 2012 Qualifying time, and the Irish battled the "A Teams" last week. Ireland opened up with a narrow 1-0 win over Armenia on 9/3 with Keith Fahey coming off the bench to get the golden goal. The Dublin native (actually, just outside of Dublin) plays for Birmingham City, and saved the day for the mighty Republic. Yesterday, the Irish kind of opened a can against Andorra. A 3-1 win helped ease the concerns of Irish fans, as Kevin Kilbane (14th), Kevin Doyle (41st), and my boy and former Celtic loan dog Robbie Keane (54th) powered our way to victory. The clean sheet for former Magpie Shay Given would have been grand, but I'll take the win. Our Group B Euro Qualifying Table looks like this:

Ireland (6 points, +3 GD)
Slovakia (6 points, +2 GD)
Russia (3 points, +1 GD)
Macedonia (1 point, -1 GD)
Armenia (1 point, -1 GD)
Andorra (0 points, -4 GD)

Next month, the Irish get to match up with a much more difficult lot, as we get Russia on 10/8 and Slovakia on 10/12. Fight on Éire!

-- Sent from my Palm Prē