At the most recent Colorado Rapids home game, the club recognized the 5th member of the Gallery of Honor, current coach and former player Pablo Mastroeni. As a player, Mastroeni was the Rapids' most decorated player - named to the MLS All-Star Team in his first seven years with the club (2002-2008) he earned Rapids MVP honors in 2007, 2008 and 2010. He currently holds club records for most regular season games played (225), games started (217) and minutes played (18,669), and served as the Rapids captain from late 2004 until mid-2013. His tenure as coach, just beginning, he has a record of 8-6-6 as of this posting. Mastroeni joins Marcelo Balboa, Paul Bravo, Chris Henderson, and John Spencer whose names

I meet many men who tell me, "I don't sing." Many of these men are speaking from a church context and about modern worship styles and trends as this blogger details. But these same men who may stand silent in modern-day churches (and for many different reasons) are the same men who might have entire poetic passages of endearing chants and songs for their favorite sports team committed to memory as the Portland Timbers Supporter section Timbers Army has here. Why do men (in particular) struggle to perhaps worship and lift their voices in the church? Donald Miller suggests some reasons out of his personal reflections here, but regardless of whether one can connect in a traditional setting like a church

There is perhaps no larger stage for a single sport sporting event than the World Cup - the National Football League's Super Bowl ranks high on the list with a large American viewer base and the Olympic Games also have a broad global appeal, but in terms of reach - there is no comparing to an event like the World Cup where, literally, the world is watching (some recent statistics have the US vs. Germany game with a higher viewership than the most recent NFL Super Bowl). The question, though, is what do they see? Is the world seeing the poverty and social justice issues that are seemingly "behind the scenes" in Brazil? Brazilian street artist Paulo Ito and others have

The red line - it is every coach's nemesis in Major League Soccer. It's simple: teams above the red line when the season ends gain entry into the playoffs for the MLS Cup. Teams below the red line go home early. Every coach handles the red line differently - some watch it closely from the beginning of the year to the end. Others pay it no attention (or, so they say) choosing rather to take it "one game at a time." Some coaches play through a thousand scenarios and calculate how many points are needed to be above the red line when the season ends. But amidst formulaic calculations and all manner of worry and concern, the red line represents

The other day at the stadium, one of the Colorado Rapids staff members said, "Thanks for the luck!" The team had just scored a couple of goals against an important rival and looked to win it's first game of the season. The comment reminded me of the superstition that surrounds much of professional sport - from the player wearing the same socks game after game or makes the sign of the cross before entering the field of play to the coach or executive that hires certain staff or makes certain business decisions in order to keep "luck" on their side. A few years ago, after the Colorado Rapids had won the Major League Soccer Cup (2010) a member of the