{"id":3941,"date":"2011-03-23T17:01:12","date_gmt":"2011-03-23T21:01:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/?p=3941"},"modified":"2011-03-23T23:47:41","modified_gmt":"2011-03-24T03:47:41","slug":"lucky-ducks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/?p=3941","title":{"rendered":"Lucky Ducks"},"content":{"rendered":"

To\u00a0butcher\u00a0a\u00a0perfectly good\u00a0line from Chazz Palminteri’s A Bronx Tale<\/em>: If it wasn’t for bad luck, the Revolution wouldn’t have had any luck at all last season.<\/p>\n

Think about it. The club employed\u00a0three starting keepers, struggled to score during an embarrassing nine match stretch\u00a0between May 5 through June 27th in which they were blanked eight times,\u00a0conceded crucial points down the stretch\u00a0after\u00a0leaking\u00a0late goals against Dallas and Salt Lake in back-to-back matches, and dropped\u00a0a small collection of matches\u00a0by the scores of\u00a05-0, 4-0, and 3-0 (twice).<\/p>\n

And that doesn’t even touch upon the\u00a0surge of injuries that engulfed the squad from top to bottom.\u00a0Sure, injuries are a part of the game and impact every team, whether they’re good, bad, or mediocre. No club can stay 100% fit throughout\u00a0a 30-game season.<\/p>\n

But, when Taylor Twellman, one of the best goalscorers the league’s ever seen, is shelved for the entire season and Steve Ralston, the MLS Ironman himself,\u00a0returns after a brief spell in St. Louis and promptly breaks his arm two minutes into his encore, well, it almost seemed as if something sinister was afoot.<\/p>\n

Whether it was\u00a0dark forces\u00a0or simply a series of odd coincidences, it was\u00a0clear that the Revs couldn’t buy a break with a blank check last season. At least, not with all of\u00a0the black cats,\u00a0shattered mirrors, and spilled salt\u00a0that must have lingered around the Revolution locker room.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, last season is over, and with it, their astounding run of bad breaks (both figuratively and literally)\u00a0and terrible luck. At least, that’s the way it looks this early in the 2011 regular season.<\/p>\n

For proof, just look at Sunday’s match\u00a0against the Galaxy – the same Galaxy that\u00a0claimed the 2010 Supporters’ Shield.\u00a0One of the highest scoring offenses hosting a club that allowed a league-worst 50 goals last season. Talk about a mismatch of epic proportions. This one had “Galaxy victory” written all over it the moment the league announced its 2011 home openers last December.<\/p>\n

Then, something startling happened. On their first set piece of the season, Marko Perovic placed a perfect ball to Shalrie Joseph, who nodded it into the net\u00a0for the 1-0 lead in the third minute.\u00a0What was that?<\/em> Whether it was pure skill or sheer serendipity,\u00a0one thing was clear:\u00a0\u00a0it\u00a0probably wouldn’t have happened last season.<\/p>\n

There was more. Thirteen minutes later, with the Galaxy surging inside the Revolution end, Juninho scored the equalizer.\u00a01-1. Bookies rejoiced. Order was restored. Right?<\/p>\n

Uh, wrong. During the scoring sequence, referee Hilario Grajeda saw something so egregious that he whistled Mike Magee for a foul inside the box, thus nullifying what would have been a goal in most circles. Even after numerous views of the alleged\u00a0offense,\u00a0one question remains unanswered: what did Grajeda see?<\/p>\n

However,\u00a0the\u00a0Galaxy were determined their avenge their lost goal. In the 23rd, the Revolution defense collapsed after David Beckham sent a dangerous free kick into the box. After the ball bounced around the area, Magee put one through to an open goal. Vindication. There was just\u00a0one small problem, though: he and two of his anxious teammates were offside.<\/p>\n

Although the Revs\u00a0eventually conceded a controversy-free goal\u00a0after a\u00a0Juninho\u00a0masterpiece\u00a0in the\u00a039th minute, they nearly claimed the game-winner in the second half.<\/p>\n

With a Zack Schilawski shot deflecting his way, Joseph went one on one with Galaxy keeper Josh Saunders before the skipper pounded it off the post in the 65th minute.\u00a0Perhaps the tough luck had\u00a0simply\u00a0stuck\u00a0on the berm side of the Home Depot Center?<\/p>\n

But, that theory didn’t hold for very long.\u00a0With the score still knotted at\u00a0one apiece, the\u00a0Galaxy were bitten again on the other side of the field in\u00a0stoppage time. In the 92nd minute, substitute Juan Pablo Angel took a hold of a Beckham pass and put it past Reis before the linesman – you guessed it – whistled\u00a0the Colombian striker\u00a0offside. Three goals nullified in less than 90 minutes.<\/p>\n

When it was all said and done, the Revolution were the luckier than a teeny bopper with a backstage pass to a\u00a0Justin Bieber concert. And it was more than just the\u00a0bad goals or the quick lead.<\/p>\n

Had the typically-sunny Southern California weather cooperated, it’s likely that the potent Galaxy attack would have easily dug in and put a\u00a0legit\u00a0three-spot on the board. Simple as that.<\/p>\n

In addition to the weather,\u00a0what the heck got into\u00a0Revolution manager Steve\u00a0Nicol? Not only did\u00a0he bypass the\u00a0standard 4-4-2, but rather, unleashed a 4-3-2-1\u00a0opting for Schilawski up top over\u00a0Ilija Stolica. A\u00a0gamble? You bet. A lucky one at that, too.<\/p>\n

Last year, the Revolution were maddeningly predictable. Although it’s only the first\u00a0of 34 games on the schedule, it looks like the boys in blue\u00a0may have banished the bad luck monster. And they did it against one of the strongest clubs in the league. On the road. In the pouring rain. And they\u00a0came within inches of pocketing three points.<\/p>\n

If Sunday’s rain-soaked\u00a0affair against the Galaxy proved anything, it’s the idea that the bad\u00a0luck\u00a0the Revolution\u00a0battled\u00a0last season seems to have\u00a0finally subsided. And not a moment to soon.<\/p>\n

After all, sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After their 1-1 draw to L.A., the Revs can finally thank their lucky stars.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3962,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[8,3],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nesoccertoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/ducks.jpg?fit=460%2C360&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3941"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3941"}],"version-history":[{"count":34,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3941\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3997,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3941\/revisions\/3997"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}