Colorado Rapids, what up?

The Rapids looked pretty good overall tonight in their win against RSL. I'm starting to think, against my better judgment, that they might just be for real this year. Is 2008 the year Clavijo finally gets over the hump? What happened in the offseason?

Christian Gomez has instantly made this team better. Everybody keeps going on with the Gallardo v. Gomez comparisons, and Gomez is winning all of them right now. He's not the player Gallardo is, but he might be the more effective player in MLS due to his more direct style. Regardless of the Gallardo comparison, Gomez adds a completely different element than anything Colorado had last season.

Omar Cummings is turning into quite the effective goalscorer. Add in the nice wing play of Jacob Peterson, Terry Cooke, and Colin Clark (who I'm really starting to like the more I see him) and this team could finally realize its potential.

The defense still worries me a little bit, but having a veteran like Mastroeni in front of them helps out a lot.

There's still plenty of soccer to play, but I see no reason for Colorado to not be near the top of the standings at the end of the year.

Thoughts?