Opening Day for MLS - United at Rapids

Several nice storylines for this game. Obviously being the season opener for the entire league is an exciting backdrop - on top of that is the first match being played at brand spankin' new Dick's Sporting Goods Park.



The stadium is a beauty - imagine something similar in DC and what a difference it would make in the gameday atmosphere. A little bit of jealousy is setting in seeing other MLS cities and their soccer specific homes. So today should be a beautiful spring day for the opening kick off - a high in the low 30's with snow flurries. Oh the Brazilians must be loving life.

Just about an hour before gametime and I'm watching the end of the Man U/Portsmouth match as an appetizer. With a few minutes left it looks like Chelsea could be giving a hearty thank you to Portsmouth in a couple weeks. Oops - now they'll be thanking Rio Ferdinand who just made a fine pass past Van der Sar into his own net.

For those interested, here is a link to a nice summation of what happened in the offseason and what to look for this season from Soccer America.

More on the DCU match when its time. My predictions for today's games:

DC 2 Colo 1
Dallas 2 Salt Lake 2
Red Bull 0 Crew 0
Chicago 1 New England 0
Toronto 1 Chivas 3
Galaxy 2 Houston 0