March roars in like Leo the Lion: T-5 days and counting

Happy Monday, everyone. Do you know what this week is? If you don't, don't worry — it's something that's come much more quickly than I'd have thought myself. Yes, indeed, the first kick is this week. Major League Soccer, you see, is back.

But that's not really the important part. Excuse me for being a bit biased, but I could care less about whether the whole league is back right now. I'm much more concerned about whether the one and only Real Salt Lake is back. Of course, they are, and inevitably, they'd be back with the rest of the league, but I could care less who the Rapids play, who New York plays, who Houston plays, who the Galax— oh, right.

I've talked about my predictions for our lineup in that first match, and while I'd largely stick to those, I'd hope that the presence of the talismanic Javier Morales and the mercurial Alvaro Saborio in our final pre-season match speaks to their progress. If we even have both of them on the bench for that match, I'll be wholly and utterly tickled.

So, as we grow ever more anxious about the return of Real Salt Lake, of Major League Soccer, of the sport in its uniquely American take, we hold our breath. We'll be hoping that Javier Morales can reach his form so vaunted that he's spoken of boldly as a candidate for the top individual awards. We'll be hoping that Alvaro Saborio, one of the top goal scorers in the league, can continue to smash them in. We'll be hoping Nat Borchers gets back to fitness and Borlave can rise again. We'll be hoping that Will Johnson can continue crunching into tackles and winning the ball back, keeping our play dynamic and fluid.

But even amongst all those hopes — all hinging on recovery and returns — we're given reasons to smile, to nod, to be excited. The undeniably talented midfield candidates — Sebastian Velasquez, Enzo Martinez, Jonny Steele come to mind in an instant — will be given early chances. An effective Schuler-Olave pairing could hand more chances to the still-young Schuler to shine. Chris Winger, Tony Beltran, Diogo de Almeida, and Terukazu Tanaka could continue to work wing magic. Paulo Junior should return to form, Emiliano Bonfigli should get his first minutes, Fabian Espindola should smash defenses as he cuts inside from wide positions.

One thing seems relatively sure about all this. If we, as fans, are ready, the club should be just as ready. While we may not have scored the quantity of goals we would've liked to have seen in pre-season, the players look fit and ready.

Saturday can't come soon enough. Yes, it's March.