It’s been 221 days and I have finally come to terms with it.
But when I close my eyes, I can still see the ball sailing higher and higher as
it floats above the upright toward the scoreboard. In my mind it plays out in
slow motion, even though the actual incident took only a fraction of a second.
At first
I felt bad for Greg Simmonds, who instantly became the ugly lovechild of David
Batty and Scott Norwood. Then I felt awful for the team as it lost its first
home playoff match since 1997 and fourth home match of the year (the most since
1997). Ultimately, I felt the worst for me and the other fans. We not only
suffered through a cruel penalty shootout against Richmond that sent the winner
to the league title game (against eventual champs Milwaukee), but slowly
realized this Rhinos team had failed to bring home a championship for the first
time since 1997. It was also the only time it didn’t make the finals of either
the A-League Championship or the US Open Cup… other than 1997.
If you think the references to 1997
seem a little repetitive, they’re included to serve a purpose. These 2003
Rhinos, who launch their season this Friday night, May 2, against Atlanta at
Frontier Field, are kicking it all the way back to their formative years in
more ways than one. Doug Miller is back at forward. Billy Andracki is the starting
goalkeeper. There’s a chance Yari Allnutt will resume his career midway through
the summer. But the biggest stumbling block for fans to overcome will be the
lack of a banner to hoist on Friday night. Just to put it in perspective, this
will be the first home opener without a pre-match trophy presentation since
J.Lo was on her first husband, and long before Rock ‘n’ Roll Jeopardy host Jeff Probst ever dreamed of saying “The
tribe has spoken.”
But you can think about it this way:
The last time the Rhinos didn’t produce a bright, shiny trophy, they developed
a “take no prisoners” attitude the following year, when they burned
through the A-League, winning their first 13 straight on the way to a 24-0-4
record, and nearly toppling the Columbus Crew in the second round of the USOC
in a home heartbreaker made even more special by the non-stop driving rain.
Those Rhinos ran roughshod over four playoff opponents by a combined score of
17-5.
But
lately, Rochester would need somewhere around half of a season to net that many
goals (they had just 38 in 28 regular-season matches in 2002). Fans have had it
with the never-ending parade of quality strikers who put up gaudy numbers with
other teams only to be restrained and frustrated by Coach Pat Ercoli’s
defense-first style of play. (And fans get even more agitated when those same
strikers put up equally gaudy numbers once they leave Rochester.) This year
will be different, Ercoli promises fans. The team will be faster and more
offensively minded. Additions include Richmond’s David Hayes on the left flank
and a pair of forwards: Revolution castoff Ian Fuller and Miller, who is still
the team’s all-time leader in points and goals despite not playing in Rochester
for the last three seasons.
Miller was the league MVP in 1997,
which was also the last time Andracki started the season as the team’s
number-one goalkeeper. Last year, Rochester’s biggest problem in the net was
deciding who should start and who had to ride the pine. Pat Onstad and Scott
Vallow decided to alleviate the burden of decision by both bolting to MLS this year. With a defense as strong as the
Rhinos’, even Soccer Sam could do well between the pipes. Scott Schweitzer and recently
named captain Craig Demmin return in the middle, but look for Yuri Lavrinenko
to slide out of the crowded midfield to the left defensive back position now
that the dearly departed Mali Walton has flown the coop.
Did I
say the midfield was crowded? It’s actually crammed almost to the point of
exploding. It was pretty jam-packed last year. But in 2003, potential starters
are going to resemble a throng of clowns packing themselves into a tiny car.
Noodles, Seesaw, Oopsie, Flopsweat, Hoohaw, Jitters, and Sir Widebottom can be
replaced by Lenin Steenkamp, Stoian Mladenov, Temoc Suarez, Kirk Wilson, Jamel
Mitchell, Maurizio Rocha, Fred Commodore, Hayes, Fuller, and Lavrinenko. And
don’t forget about Allnutt.
So
what’s the bottom line? Goalkeeping is a little questionable, the defense will
be solid, and there are more than enough options everywhere else. If Ercoli can
pick a starting XI and, barring injury or suspension, stick to it, this Rhinos
team will be just as strong as any other Rhinos team. But Ercoli’s history of
shuffling his lineup might leave everyone, save a few regular starters, very
unhappy. Pick 11 players and stick with them, or we’ll be seeing more part-time
players putting up part-time numbers now, and then lighting up the scoreboard
next year when they jump the fence for greener pastures (like John Wolyniec,
Steve Butcher, and Eduardo Sebrango, among many others).
Here’s a look at Rochester’s
conference opponents. We’re predicting the Rhinos will finish second in their
division, behind Montreal, but beating the Impact to face Richmond in the Eastern
Conference finals to face either Seattle or Portland. Just so you know what
kind of seers you’re dealing with here, last year we picked a
Rochester-Richmond semifinal, with Milwaukee running away with everything in
the West.
Around the A-League
ATLANTA SILVERBACKS
Last season: 13-2-13, 62 points; lost in the first round of the playoffs.
Key departures: Just like last year, Atlanta got rid of most of its team this past off-season.
These guys go through players like Colin Farrell goes through starlets. Ditched
talent includes Brian Piesner (A-League First Team), and a couple of former
Rhinos: Carlos Parra and Jamel Mitchell.
Notable newcomers: There is one you may remember from Rochester’s pre-season (Charleston’s Mac
Cozier) and a couple of notable ex-MLSers (the Metros Martin Klinger and New
England’s Shaker Asad, the latter of whom will miss Friday’s match due to a red
card suspension). Other than a D3 Greenville call-up (Scott Mora) and some
college kids, there isn’t much happening down in the 404.
Bottom line: Complete
team overhauls have worked for Atlanta approximately zero times over the past
several years, and there is absolutely no indication it will work in 2003,
either. The S-Backs should be the whipping boys of their division. On paper,
they look even worse than Syracuse.
Rhino killers? Rochester has faced Atlanta eight times and never lost. Here’s an even more
impressive stat: In the four matches Lenin Steenkamp has played against the
S-Backs, he has five goals and an assist. That’s as many points as Robbie
Aristodemo had in all of 2002.
Funniest name: Lucas Okolie, whose last name sounds like something stupid Flanders would say
when he’s agreeing with you.
Projected finish: 8-6-14; 5th place in the Southeast Division and out of playoff contention.
CHARLESTON BATTERY
Last season: 19-6-3, 89 points; lost in their first playoff series (for the fifth year in a
row).
Key departures: Raul Diaz Arce (5+3=13), John Jones (4+2=10), Justin Evans (3+3=9), Mac Cozier
(3+0=6), Morgan Zeba (1+4=6).
Notable newcomers: Richmond’s Josh Henderson (11+2=24) and a gaggle of 2002 MLSers: forward Jamar
Beasley (Chicago) and defenders Ted Chronopoulos (MetroStars) and Rick Titus
(Colorado).
Bottom line: The
defense barely needed upgrading (Dusty Huddock was Goalkeeper of the Year and
Mark Watson Defender of the Year, with Linval Dixon making A-League Second Team
in 2002), and the offense is loaded, cocked, and ready to fire. The Battery’s
big question mark is the midfield, which will suffer from Zeba’s departure. Can
Ryan Trout (8+4=20) and incoming New Zealander Blair Scoullar pick up the
slack? We say yes.
Rhino killers? Surprisingly, no. Including postseason results, Rochester owns Charleston, with
a 9-0-1 record.
Funniest name: Trout — not because he scored eight times last year, but because he shares
his name with a fish. Here’s something not so funny, though: He was a
last-minute Rhinos roster cut in 2001. D’oh!
Projected finish: 15-7-6; 1st place in the Southeast Division and losing in the divisional finals
to Richmond.
CHARLOTTE EAGLES
Last season: 10-4-14, 50 points; lost in the first round of the playoffs (on penalty kicks).
Key departures: Caleb Norkus (3+1=7), Rhino relative Dwayne Demmin.
Notable newcomers: No big names here. A handful of college kids and draft picks, and two guys from
the fourth-division Chicago Eagles (Jonah Long and Jason Acres, the latter of
whom made First Team All-League in 2002).
Bottom line: The Eagles, who have the misfortune of playing in a very strong division, are
the side that has seen the fewest off-season changes. That’s good. But
Charlotte really needed to add another scoring threat and a solid defender to
compete with Richmond and Charleston. That’s bad. A .500 record would be a
decent target.
Rhino killers? They’re the biggest Rhino killers ever, boasting a 3-0-1 record against
Rochester, including a humiliating 3-1 shellacking at Frontier last August.
Funniest name: You’d think this would be tough with Norkus gone, but it’s not. We have a tie,
between Mark Pinch and Dustin Swinehart.
Projected finish: 9-7-12; 4th place in the Southeast Division and out of playoff contention.
MONTREAL IMPACT
Last season: 16-3-9, 72 points; lost in the second round of the playoffs.
Key departures: Patrice Bernier (4 goals and 6 assists for 14 points), Giuliano Oliviero
(1+5=7).
Notable newcomers: Chris Lemiere (4+1=9), who led Calgary in scoring last season, teenage
sensation Sita Taty-Matondo.
Bottom line: With former Rhino Eduardo Sebrango returning to his pre-Rochester form
(18+0=36) and Sutton allowing less than a goal per match, it’s surprising the
Impact didn’t go further in 2002. Of our Canadian friends, Montreal has lost
the least and gained the most, and with four potentially creampuff matches
against Syracuse, they should be Rochester’s closest divisional competition.
Remember, the Impact accounted for three of the Rhinos’ eight losses last year.
Rhino killers? It’s all about home-field advantage. At Frontier during the regular season, the
Rhinos are 8-1-3. But at the Claude they’re only 1-0-8.
Funniest name: David Fronimadis, which, roughly translated from the French, means “loose,
runny cheese.”
Projected finish: 16-6-6; 1st place in the Northeast Division and losing to Rochester in the
divisional finals.
PITTSBURGH
RIVERHOUNDS
Last season: 8-5-15, 41 points; did not qualify for the playoffs.
Key departures: Jeff Houser (4+1=10), Mike Apple (3+1=7), ex-Rhino Henry “The Gut”
Gutierrez (2+2=6).
Notable newcomers: Charleston’s Justin Evans (3+3=9), Virginia Beach’s Ricardo Villar (4+1=9), and
Livonia’s ex-Rhino Aleksey Korol.
Bottom line: Pittsburgh jettisoned a lot of dead weight (Gutierrez, Mario Gori, Brian
Johnson) and, for the first time in recent memory, hasn’t raided the ghosts of
MLS past to stock its roster. If the team’s back line can give Randy Dedini a
break, and its Brazilian strikers (Villar and Thiago Martins) can cough up nine
or 10 goals apiece, they might be in business. But it’s likely to be more of
the same in Pittsburgh this year.
Rhino killers? Hardly. Rochester is 8-2-2 against the R-Hounds.
Funniest name: David Flavius, who was Chuck D’s second choice for a sidekick when he started
Public Enemy.
Projected finish: 7-7-16; 4th place in the Northeast Division and out of playoff contention.
RICHMOND KICKERS
Last season: 13-6-9, 65 points; lost in the league championship.
Key departures: Josh Henderson (11+2=24), David Hayes (8+2=18), Marco Ferruzzi (7+1=15).
Notable newcomers: Milwaukee’s Jason Russell (2+2=6) and ex-Rhino penalty-kick expert Greg
Simmonds (6+6=18). Some say the latter was on the Kickers’ payroll as early as
last September.
Bottom line: It’s hard not to notice the departing firepower, but if Simmonds follows the
Eddy Sebrango model of having huge years before and after doing time in
Rochester, Richmond should be just fine. Plus, they still have Kevin Jeffrey
(7+5=19) up top.
Rhino killers? The Rhinos own a 5-0-2 record against the Kickers in the regular season, but
were unable to put them away in the 2002 playoffs (drawing on the road and at
home, and eventually losing on PKs).
Funniest name: Ihor Dotshenko. It’s not even close.
Projected finish: 15-5-8; 2nd place in the Southeast Division, beating Charleston in the
divisional finals, but losing to Rochester in the conference championship
(hopefully on a penalty kick).
SYRACUSE SALTY DOGS
Last season: Did not compete.
Key departures: n/a.
Notable newcomers: They’re all new, Einstein. Familiar faces include Judah Cooks (Atlanta), Lars
Lyssand (San Jose), Carlos Semedo, and Shaun Tsakiris (both New England).
Bottom line: It’s pretty rare for a first-year side to make any kind of positive impact, but
considering Coach Laurie Calloway’s remarkable job last year for the D3 Des
Moines Menace (they went undefeated in league play and took the Rhinos to
overtime in the US Open Cup), I suppose anything is possible. Then again, any
team with a canine logo tends to play like dog crap.
Rhino killers? They’ve never played, but probably not.
Funniest name: Tommy Tanner. ‘Nuff said.
Projected finish: 5-6-17; 5th place in the Northeast Division and out of playoff contention.
TORONTO LYNX
Last season: 10-5-13, 48 points; did not qualify for the playoffs.
Key departures: Niki Budalic (12+1=25), Milan Kojic (2+4=8).
Notable newcomers: Argentine scoring sensation Sebastian Barclay, Dutch defender Jan Veenhof, the
deadly SARS virus.
Bottom line: The Lynx will only be as good as their signings, which could either bring them
to the next level or find them struggling to end the season with a winning
record. Ryan Lucas (a late-season addition in 2002) teaming up with Barclay
might be enough to offset Budalic’s departure for Orebro SK.
Rhino killers? Like Montreal, it hinges on where the match takes place. Rochester is 10-0-2 at
Frontier, and 4-3-6 in Toronto.
Funniest name: Veenhof does have a girl’s name, but we’re picking Barclay instead. Because
it’s such a manly sounding name for somebody who’s this much of a frigging
theatrical crybaby.
Projected finish: 10-6-12; 3rd place in the Northeast Division and losing in the first round of
the playoffs.
VIRGINIA BEACH
MARINERS
Last season: 6-3-19, 29 points; did not qualify for the playoffs.
Key departures: Ricardo
Villar (4+1=9), Gary Glasgow (1+5=7).
Notable newcomers: Two little strikers named Roy Lassiter and Dante Washington, who rank,
respectively, 1st and 10th on the all-time MLS goals-scored list (odds they’ll
both be around at the end of the year: 10,000-to-1). The Mariners also nabbed
Rhino castoff Hamisi Amani-Dove, in addition to Minnesota’s Jakob Fenger
(8+5=21).
Bottom line: The Mariners were sorely lacking in firepower last year, and they’ve attempted
to remedy that situation by adding Lassiter and Washington. But signing MLS
has-been forwards doesn’t always work out. Right, Charleston? Still, if this
team clicks, it might have a decent run at the table. Not good enough to
overtake Richmond or Charleston, though.
Rhino killers? Rochester is 2-0-1 lifetime against the Mariners, whether from Virginia Beach
or Hampton Roads.
Funniest name: Fenger. C’mon, fans — show him your favorite Fenger when you see him at
Frontier this summer.
Projected finish: 9-8-11; 3rd place in the Southeast Division and out of playoff contention.
After three years,
it’s finally Miller time again
If there was ever a
quintessential Rhino, it’d have to be Newark, New Jersey-native Doug Miller.
He’s the only league MVP (1997) to have played for the team, and even though he
hasn’t been with the Rhinos for the past three seasons, he’s among the leaders
in most of Rochester’s all-time offensive categories. Now that other players
have finally caught up to him, Miller is back to protect his place in the
pantheon of great Rhinos.
Any true fan of the team still gets
goosebumps when they daydream about Miller’s second-half hat-trick against
Montreal on July 12, 1996 (the first ever event at Frontier Field), or how he
came off the bench in the 1999 US Open Cup final against Colorado to net the
game-winner just a few minutes later.
Is there still magic left in those
legs? If the pre-season is any indication, the answer to that question is a
resounding “Yes.”
City: Isn’t the real reason you’ve been gone for three years
because Scott Schweitzer scares the pants off of you?
Miller: (laughs) Yes it is! I lived with Scotty in 1995, and ever since then, he scares
me.
City:
How closely have you followed the
Rhinos since you’ve been gone?
Miller: Here and there. Obviously, in 2001, when I played in Hershey. I always knew the
guys on the team, so I knew from talking to them how things were going.
City:
Did you come to any matches, or watch
any on television?
Miller: I went to one game when I was gone, and watched a few on TV. When something you
love is taken away… you don’t know what you have until it’s gone, so “out of
sight, out of mind” was my motto. It was a pretty difficult thing.
City:
How do you think the team has changed
since you’ve been gone?
Miller: I think the guys that have been here are more mature, more composed. The
younger guys and the newer guys are a great group of hard-workers, very
talented.
City:
What do you think the problem is with
the goal-scoring drought?
Miller: I think they’re creating the opportunities, but not finishing them. They
brought in a lot of players that can do that, and hopefully, we’ll have a
plentiful amount of goals.
City:
Do you think an entire cast of new
forwards coming in every year is the answer?
Miller: No, I think you’ve got to find a system that the guys play well in. We’ve got a
bunch of guys that can play in this system pretty well.
City:
Did you get many offers from other
teams during your break?
Miller: No, I wasn’t going anywhere. This is where my home is — my wife is from here.
This is the perfect situation for me. I’m back and I’m very happy to be back.
City:
What’s your favorite moment as a
Rhino?
Miller: The 1999 US Open Cup — July 14, 1999 [a 1-0 win over the Chicago Fire]. I could
list a lot of them, and that’s why, when my career does come to an end, I want
it to be in a Rhinos uniform.
City:
What do you think of people who say
you’re past your prime?
Miller: Well, we’ll just have to see (laughs). It’s time to put up or shut up. That’s
the challenge as an athlete. People sometimes think you’re over the hill or too
old. The greatest thing about being an athlete is being able to prove them
wrong.
City:
What do you think of PaeTec Park?
Miller: I’m excited. I can’t wait for it to happen. Hopefully, they’ll break ground
before even August.
City:
Is your wife going to come back, too,
and join the Rhinestones this year?
Miller: We’ve got two beautiful daughters, so she’s got her hands full with that.
Meet the new Rhinos
Name: Fred Commodore
Position, 2002 Club:
M, Ghana
Have you ever seen a
real rhino? No
Best hair on the
team? Mladenov
Worst hair on the
team? Sedgewick
Favorite club/team?
Borussia Dortmund
Favorite player? Jan
Koller
What’s in your CD
player? Reggae
Who’s going to win American Idol/Survivor? 205
Name: David Hayes
Position, 2002 Club:
M, Richmond
Have you ever seen a
real rhino? No
Best hair on the
team? Mladenov
Worst hair on the
team? Sedgewick
Favorite club/team?
Real Madrid
Favorite player? Luis
Figo
What’s in your CD
player? Sean Paul
Who’s going to win American Idol/Survivor? Rube-Dog
Name: Ian Fuller
Position, 2002 Club:
F, New England
Have you ever seen a
real rhino? No
Best hair on the
team? Mladenov
Worst hair on the team?
Schweitzer
Favorite club/team?
Newcastle
Favorite player? Alan
Shearer
What’s in your CD
player? Moby
Who’s going to win American Idol/Survivor? Rob
This article appears in Apr 30 – May 6, 2003.
