Atmosphere, final reactions to the Chivas loss, and some Friday rambling

Atmosphere, final reactions to the Chivas loss, and some Friday rambling

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Our regrettably long midweek is drawing to its conclusion, and with it comes a deal of celebration and the like. To you traveling fans, I salute you. I shall join you in the future, which isn't to say that I'm going to be tie-traveling or anything of that sort, but, you know, I'd like to. To you staying behind, I will join some of you at a watch party.

So while a good-sized group of you is watching from the incredibly atmospheric (not as in the gaseous type, but as in the metaphorical type) Jeld-Wen Field (er, Deep Space Nine Field — and if that doesn't resonate, go listen to this week's RSL Show podcast!), I'm looking forward to seeing our fans ramp up the atmosphere a bit at our own ground. We've made big strides in the first two home matches of the season, and we'll make more and bigger strides as the season goes on and as the years zoom by. It is perhaps easy to get caught up in the progress and want everything to change all at once, but a bit of patience will go a long way.

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Now that we've got that out of the way, I've got a bone to pick. Not a serious bone, nor one that's particularly large, but it's a bone nonetheless. What does that phrase mean, anyhow? (I've looked it up: It's in reference to dogs "picking on" bones, gnawing through information and grievances and the like. The more you know, you know.)

In many discussions about last week's match (I had to go there again, didn't I?), it's been all too apparent that people expect better of Real Salt Lake from home. This is undoubtedly justified, and I'm clearly in agreement. I, too, expect better of our club.

The complaints, though, focus on something a bit worrying: The perceived weakness of Chivas USA. Sure, they had a bit of a miserable campaign last season, and they lost their first two games, but the ways they're being spoken about are troubling. It culminated today when I heard Dave Checketts (a good man and a better owner — don't get me wrong) talking about how he was disappointed with the loss in particular because Chivas was winless to that point in the season.

Now, don't get me wrong. If I were a Chivas fan, I'd be upset at losing the first two matches of the season. I'm not, though, so instead, I'm upset at losing the third match of the season. Those are the breaks, you know? Chivas losing against Houston and Vancouver, both with 1-0 score lines, doesn't say a whole lot — just like being undefeated for the first two games of the season really doesn't say a whole lot. So touting the loss to   without-a-win Chivas ignores a number of things I'd like to approach.

First, it ignores that Chivas was well-organized and worked hard for a win. It's always tough to admit that the opponent beat you tactically and didn't just end up lucky, and that, indeed, is something I struggle with. The match came down to a fine margin, and one error and a few great stops tipped the scales. This says big things about the tactical outlay from Chivas, which, negative or not, was effective. Still, would I be happy seeing Real Salt Lake play that way? Not at all.

Second, and this is another Checketts nugget — no pun intended, though it's certainly appreciated — blaming a slim-margin loss on overconfidence seems a bit odd to me. Had we been well and truly outclassed by Chivas, I'd have bought into a bit. And while I did see a side brimming with confidence in claret and cobalt, I'm forced to wonder what we'd be saying had they come away with a 1-0 win — something that, on another day, would've been the case. I don't mean it in a '9 times out of 10 way', but it was a match, for me, defined by a few moments, and those moments could have quite easily gone differently.

Fine margins, though, regardless, I suppose. I'm also no sports psychologist, and I am, after all, writing this while sitting in an arm chair. (It's comfortable — what would you have me do, sit at the table? Perhaps I need a desk.) A rather lackluster way to end that, but that's what you get: An admission of my faults. (Does that make me sound more noble? Ah, bother.) At any rate, I'd like to hear your thoughts on this, should you have reached this part in the rambling ranting bit of nonsense.

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Right, well, check back later — either today or tomorrw — for the first in a new feature I'm rather excited about, and I hope you will be, too.

Aside from that, I'll have a match preview tomorrow, and after that — well, hopefully, I'll be writing about a gargantuan win for RSL.