Slow starts are stopping Revolution

By Frank Dell'Apa, Globe Staff  |  April 20, 2004


The Revolution continue to be proficient at dampening enthusiasm at the sta=
rt of the
Major League Soccer season. They have won only one season-opening game, on =

March 29, 1997, in Dallas, in their nine seasons. They have won a season's =
second
game only twice, and not since 1999. In nine years, the Revolution have a 3=
-13-2
record in their first two matches of a season, and they have gone winless i=
n their first
two over the last five seasons.


Only once have the Revolution won in their first two matches of a season wi=
thout the
benefit of an own goal by the opposition; on April 3, 1999, Joe-Max Moore's=
40th-
minute score gave New England a 1-0 win in Kansas City.


A 3-1 loss to San Jose Saturday at Gillette Stadium reaffirmed there is lit=
tle reason for
Revolution supporters to be hopeful at the outset of a season.


Much of the reason for the team's slow starts has been climate. The Revolut=
ion have
opened their seasons on the road each year of their existence, the MLS unwi=
lling to
risk attempting to sell a match in Foxborough in the early spring, with the=
high risk of
cold and/or moisture. That road trip becomes virtually, and once even liter=
ally, an
extension of preseason training camp. This means the team is away from home=
--
usually very far away -- for most of six weeks. This season the Revolution =
opened in
Los Angeles (a 3-2 loss to the Galaxy April 4), then had a week off before =
their home
opener against the Earthquake.


Preseason camps have taken the Revolution to several foreign countries, whi=
ch has
been positive in terms of experience and possibly has paid off in preparing=
the team
for the long term. But in the early going each season, the Revolution appea=
r to be
behind their opponents in many ways, not just in the scoring column. Once t=
he
Revolution find a rhythm, their fortunes improve markedly. Statistics indic=
ate the
change occurring by the fifth game. In the 34 games in the first month of t=
heir nine
seasons, the Revolution have won six times and have just 24 points. In eigh=
t Game 5s,
the team has a 5-2-1 record, including a 5-1-0 mark from 1998-2003.


"It is still too young a league to draw any conclusions," Revolution genera=
l manager
Craig Tornberg said. "And you have to look at other cold weather teams' sta=
tistics."


According to MLS statistics, the Revolution have the league's worst cumulat=
ive record
after two games of a season, after three, and after four. Cold-weather team=
s included.


Said Tornberg, "This is one of the things we look at when determining how a=
nd where
we do our preseason."


The Revolution experienced a successful training camp but had barely enough=
players
available for their concluding exhibition game March 17 in the Azores. The =
Revolution
then went to New Orleans with a full roster but found inadequate playing su=
rfaces,
then lost central defender Carlos Llamosa (left knee ligaments) in the seco=
nd half of
their final preseason game. In 2002 and '03, the Revolution's most successf=
ul
seasons, the team experienced top-level competition and training sites in B=
razil.


Nearly every MLS team annually leaves the country to train, partially for c=
ompetitive
reasons, partially for promotional reasons. But the Revolution are among th=
e few
teams with no choice but to leave home for several weeks.


Could the situation change? Would the MLS schedule a Revolution season open=
er at
Gillette Stadium, transforming the weather factor into an advantage for the=
home
team?


"It could if the league went to a winter season," Tornberg said. "But as lo=
ng as the
league is structured as it is, the immediate future suggests we will start =
the season on
the road. We have to be realistic about where and how to draw fan support. =
If we are
able to fill out our opening day the way other sports can, that will lead u=
s to looking
at preparing our pitch earlier.


"When the day comes that there is so much anticipation in the offseason tha=
t people
will buy tickets, we can think about opening at home."