Blame it on the rain (well, actually, blame it on the lightning)

When traveling to work on a broadcast, things are usually pretty simple. Fly in the day before, stay two nights in a hotel, and head home the day after the game. But things were a little different for Saturday’s FC Dallas-Colorado Rapids broadcast, and it almost got me in trouble.

Weather delays -- not part of the plan

You see, I am currently in the middle of moving to New York City, a big deal on the personal side that probably deserves several posts of its own. Since I need to use as much of my time as possible to look for an affordable and passable place to live, my trip to Denver was a whirlwind that involved flying out that morning and flying out that night. What nobody had counted on was the Colorado weather, which almost derailed those carefully laid plans.

My outbound trip was smooth enough, catching an early morning flight out of LaGuardia Airport, connecting in Dallas-Fort Worth (where I ran into an old friend from Rice University), and arriving in Denver before noon. Even a little construction on I-70 didn’t keep me from getting to the hotel (kindly reserved even though I had no intention of spending the night), getting lunch with broadcast partner Brian Dunseth, and catching up with two close friends from college.

But the skies turned threatening in the late afternoon, and as I drove to Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, Dunny and I found ourselves plotting how we could stay as dry as possible while running through a downpour to the stadium. The stadium exit was closed off due to flooding, so we had to U-turn and find our way back. Thankfully, the downpour had not yet reached the stadium, so we made it to the press box without having to dance between the raindrops.

Pretty soon, however, lightning started to flash in the distance, and that’s when things got nervy. Any lightning strike in the area requires at least a 30-minute wait before the teams take the field. Soon the possibility of a delayed kickoff came up, and that was an issue for me.

Knowing that soccer games reliably last two hours, I had assumed that I had plenty of time from the game ending (9 p.m. MT) to my flight’s departure (1 a.m. MT) to go back to the hotel, change, return my rental car, and check in for the flight. But a delay, especially one that threatened to go as long as two hours, could have made that impossible. There was also the worrying possibility that the game would be canceled, and that seemed to mean arranging a new flight and calling the game the next morning without a partner (Brian had other Sunday commitments).

Kickoff was initially pushed back to 7:52 p.m. MT, but there was strong speculation in the broadcast booth that it might not actually get underway until 8:30. And that wasn’t even factoring in the possibility of an in-game delay. So I was sweating the timing just a bit.

Once we taped our open, all went smoothly.

We went on-air briefly at 7 p.m. to let TXA 21 viewers back in Dallas know that the game had been delayed, and then we sat and waited. We taped the opening segment of our show a few minutes later, as the players warmed up in the rain, and thankfully no more lightning appeared. In fact, the rain itself had stopped by kickoff, and the game was played on a slick but safe field, and a surprisingly healthy crowd stuck around to see it.

Reunited with Brian Dunseth.

I felt like we ended up with a very good broadcast, discussing both teams’ seasons when the game had a little less action, and talking about tactical changes and the implications of the game once it kicked into high gear. Unfortunately for our viewers back in Dallas, FCD let a 1-goal lead slip away, and Colorado took a big step toward the post season.

Fortunately for me, the game ended on time, and while I drove pretty aggressively on my way out of the stadium and then from the hotel to the airport, I really had plenty of time. Even a wait for my rental-car bus and the crazy Arizona State-Wisconsin ending couldn’t keep me from making my flight and arriving at New York’s JFK Airport early Sunday morning.

Given the conditions in Colorado,
13,145 was a great crowd.

In the future, however, I think I’d like to keep things simple. 

My 2013 soccer season kicks off!

My 2013 broadcasting season is underway, as I'm at the Desert Friendlies in Tucson, Arizona, working on the MLSsoccer.com online broadcasts! After calling Houston-Colorado tonight, I'll work a game Friday, two games Saturday, and wrap up the trip with Seattle-Portland on Tuesday morning.

Game highlight package:

The game production may seem simple compared to a regular-season broadcast, but it takes a lot of people and effort to put together our show. You can see a few of them at the right -- I promise they don't always look like that. Luckily, most of these guys worked three games on Tuesday, so they felt like a single game was easy pickings.

My broadcast partner, MLS 'Armchair Analyst' Matt Doyle, conducted interviews with players and coaches from Houston and San Jose during the day, so I tagged along and tried to pick up whatever behind-the-scenes information I could. We got an early tip on an injury to Houston goalkeeper Tyler Deric and got a better idea of San Jose's roster situation, while also hearing MLS veterans talk about some of the league's top players. Hearing the near-universal praise for Landon Donovan is always really impressive - he is pretty much universally accepted as the best player in MLS history, and with good reason.

On to the game itself. Our hotel managed to totally screw up all my printing options, so my carefully prepared notes on players from both teams - especially important in a pre-season game with many non-roster players - never got printed. To make matters worse, when I got to the stadium, I was told the internet line we were using to stream the games had been cut off. Not exactly a perfect start!

But the internet situation got cleared up, I found time to at least write down lineups and numbers, and we were off. It's a bit weird calling a game from a really low position - on a platform maybe 35 yards off one end line - while the camera angle the viewers are seeing is the preferred high-middle shot. But we had a lot of fun with the show, sharing some trivia and banter and reacting to Twitter comments in addition to calling the game and talking lineups and trialists. Four more games to come this week from Tucson!

Preseason invitees 2013 - Western Conference

The MLS preseason is inevitably a blur of players coming and going as teams try to fill out their rosters. Here is an attempt to keep track of who's under contract, who's in camp with whom, and which teams are keeping spots open for the summer.

Information is unofficial, acquired to the best of my ability via team and media reports.

Western Conference:

Chivas USA (7-18-9, 9th West) -- 'Chelís' Sánchez Solá			Signed: 28 / Open: 2
2013 Newcomers: MF Carlos Alvarez (draft, 1990, UConn), MF Eric Avila (trade, Toronto via Colorado), DF Steve Purdy (1985, Portland), MF Carlos Borja (1988, former Chivas, LA Blues), MF Edgar Mejia (1988, Chivas Guadalajara, Mexico), FW Giovani Casillas (1994, Chivas Guadalajara, Mexico), DF Mario De Luna (1988, Chivas Guadalajara, Mexico), DF Joaquin Velasquez (1975, Puebla 2010, Mexico), DF Walter Vilchez (1982, Sporting Cristal, Peru), MF Josue Soto (1989, Houston / San Antonio Scorpions loan), DF Emilio Orozco (1992, Tigres, Fort Lauderdale Strikers loan), MF Daniel Antunez (1986, Inter Turku), FW Jose Manuel Rivera (1986, Chivas Guadalajara, Mexico), Julio Morales (1993, Chivas Guadalajara)
Draft: Alvarez, DF Jose Diaz (1991, UC Riverside), FW Paul Islas (1991, Fresno Pacific), DF Joe Franco (1990, Cal State Northridge)
Trial: MF Rodrigo Lopez (1987, Orlando City), FW Leopoldo Morales (1990, Fort Lauderdale Strikers)
Rumored via Chivas de Guadalajara: Juan Pablo Ocegueda (1993) Not with Team: Ante Jazic

Three keys for FCD against Colorado on TXA 21 Saturday night

After almost two months without working an FC Dallas game, I’m back on the call in the Metroplex on Saturday night, teaming up with Ian Joy on the TXA 21 broadcast of FC Dallas-Colorado Rapids at 8 p.m. CT.

These teams met back on May 6 in Frisco, with Colorado winning 2-0 after Daniel Hernandez and Blas Pérez were BOTH sent off in a three-minute span in the first half, leaving Dallas with just nine men for the rest of the game.

A lot has happened since then, and some Thursday night rumors have been heating up about Toronto midfielder Julian de Guzman potentially being traded to Dallas. But regardless of whether or not FCD has a new center mid, here are three of the key matchups for FC Dallas on Saturday:

1. Set Pieces – Big in any game, set pieces loom especially large because of Colorado’s recent troubles defending them and a serious FC Dallas size advantage. Colorado’s tallest regulars are Conor Casey and Jeff Larentowicz at 6-foot-1. After that, Drew Moor at 6-foot-0 and Jaime Castrillon at 5-foot-11 are next tallest. As you can see above, Colorado’s set-piece strategy has been to position Larentowicz and Moor as zonal markers along the 6-yard box, with 4-6 man markers at the top of the penalty area and nobody covering either post. That leaves shorter players, other than Casey, marking opponents’ primary targets, so driven delivery that lands between the zonal markers can put the Rapids under serious pressure.
   Dallas, meanwhile, boasts big targets in Matt Hedges (6-4), Brek Shea (6-3), Andrew Jacobson (6-2), James Marcelin (6-2) if he starts, and Hernan Pertúz (6 feet). That’s four players taller than Colorado’s tallest, not counting goalkeepers. What’s more, David Ferreira is back and can provide consistently dangerous service, something Daniel Hernandez has struggled to do. After Seattle scored two goals on poor Rapids marking last week, expect Schellas Hyndman and Dallas to look for set pieces early and often. On the other side, it will be interesting to see if Oscar Pareja sticks with the same marking system or tries something new to fix a recurring problem.
2. Defending the Dynamic Duo – Feared as one of the most formidable forward tandems in MLS, Conor Casey and Omar Cummings are a handful for any defense. Colorado is fourth in MLS in scoring at home, averaging two goals per game, which will test a young Dallas back line (Zach Loyd-24 years old, Hernan Pertúz-22,Matt Hedges-22,Carlos Rodriguez-21) that has grown confident after allowing just one goal in the last three games. All three of those games were at home, however; Dallas has the second-worst road defense in MLS, allowing 2.13 goals per road game. Meanwhile, Casey and Cummings have only started together twice this season, but the Rapids had 31 shots in those two games, and expect to see them put a lot of pressure on Kevin Hartman in goal.
3. Second Stanza – While Dallas is one of the worst second-half teams in MLS, Colorado is one of the best. The Rapids have scored 18 of their 25 goals in the second half, including nine goals in the final 15 minutes, which trails only the 'Goonies-never-die' Earthquakes in MLS. Dallas, meanwhile, has surrendered 21 goals in the second half, ranking second-worst after only expansion Montreal. Perhaps most surprisingly, Dallas has only trailed at halftime twice this season, yet its record when leading or tied at the half is a frustrating 3-7-7. Dallas is going to have to close the deal to break either its four-game road losing streak or its 14-game all-competitions winless streak.

* A reminder that you can use Twitter to ask questions of myself and analyst Ian Joy during Saturday’s game by using the hashtag #FCDTV- we'll answer some questions prior to the second-half kickoff.

These matchups are very subject to change, because both teams are unpredictable in terms of formation and personnel, especially with Colorado’s different formations (4-3-3, 4-4-2, 4-1-4-1) and Dallas’ continued injuries and now personal absences. Blas Pérez, sadly, lost his father this week, so you have to assume he won’t be in the lineup, which leaves Dallas without a proven forward. Brek Shea has been playing up top, but we know he’s more comfortable as a wide midfielder. Despite his inconsistency, the speedy Fabian Castillo has a favorable matchup against Colorado right back Hunter Freeman, so I think we might see Shea stay up top.

I'm really interested to see how these teams fare and how their coaches handle some big decisions this weekend - join us on TXA 21 for the broadcast at 8 p.m. CT!

Looking back: May 6 Dallas-Colorado broadcast

I'm in the midst of another five-day stay in north Texas calling two games for FC Dallas, the first of which was last night, a 2-0 Colorado Rapids win. Here are some thoughts on the broadcast and the game:

May 6 – FS Southwest – FC Dallas vs. Colorado Rapids
This proved to be a tough game to handle because of what happened on the field: FC Dallas had two players sent off in the first half, leaving them with nine for the rest of the game, and Colorado cruised to a 2-0 win. I’m not making excuses, but it can be tough to keep a broadcast exciting when the shot margin is 23-1, the go-ahead goal comes early in the second half, and the home team is on the losing end.

Oddly enough, of the now seven regular-season games I’ve called on TV, this was the second one I’ve called in which the home team saw two red cards. Last July, Houston (already with a 1-0 lead) got two red cards early in the second half, eventually holding on for a tie against Kansas City. While the tactics (4-4-0 formation, dump-and-don’t-chase strategy) were similar, Dallas really didn’t have much of a chance to match that result.

Brian Dunseth and I worked together on this game, our second game together, and we had a lot of storylines to talk about. Our tease and first talking point were both focused on the return of Oscar Pareja, a long-time Dallas player and coach, as the head coach of the Rapids. We ended up a little short on time, and I had an unusually tough time writing my copy for the tease, but I thought it came off pretty well in the end.

One storyline we didn’t address in the open and perhaps should have was the status of Brek Shea. We had heard informally from local media that Shea had not trained fully and was dealing with turf toe, but the secret was jealously guarded – we met with Schellas Hyndman 15 minutes before lineups were due and still were not told – so we planned the show without knowing. In retrospect, that maybe should have been our second point after Pareja. On the other hand, Brian’s focus on the versatility of Jackson turned out to be a perfect set-up for later in the night, since Jackson played several spots to help Dallas cope with its disadvantage. The uncertainty of the situation showed in our lineup, which listed FCD in a 4-4-2, even though they eventually came out in a 4-2-3-1. Predicting the Dallas lineup this year has not been easy.

Another thing we were still trying to square away less than an hour before kickoff was the pronunciation of new Dallas midfielder James Marcelin. When he played in Portland, it was listed as ‘mar-suh-leen,” but I thought as a French word (Marcelin is Haitian), it should be ‘mar-suh-lan.’ I asked FC Dallas communications staffer Jason Minnick to double-check when he asked, and he came back with a pronunciation of “mar-SEE-lin,” so that’s what we went with.

As for the game itself, it is difficult to read much into it due to the red cards. I thought both were justified. I know Blas Pérez had no malice in his challenge on Drew Moor, but his studs were up, above the knee, and he came nowhere near the ball, so I thought Mark Geiger made the right call. Game highlights are embedded below - I thought they came out pretty well. We also did a short recap for the FOX Sports Southwest website, and you can find that via this link.

The crucial thing about the result, however, is that Dallas dropped home points against a conference team. With a 3-4-3 record, Dallas is 3-2 against the Eastern Conference and 0-2-3 against the Western Conference, which does not bode well for the rest of the year. At home, Dallas is 3-0 against Eastern teams and 0-1-2 against Western foes. They get another chance at home against a conference opponent on Wednesday, but it’s a much tougher team – Seattle is unbeaten in its last five games – and Dallas will be without Pérez and Daniel Hernandez. It’s going to need big games from Shea, Fabian Castillo, and one more offensive threat to get three points Wednesday night.

Ian Joy and I will call the game on FOX Sports Southwest Plus, so we hope you’ll watch or set your DVR if you’re going to the game!

5/6 Game Highlights: