Fans

For the team, one of the best ways to prepare for a season is to be uninterrupted by weather - that's why so many MLS teams - including the Rapids - often spend much of the preseason in warmer climates. For the game day production crew - and other departments - it doesn't help when the players aren't around.

The production crew needs the players for photo shoots or video interviews - things you see on the scoreboard on gamedays. The marketing department needs photos or videos even earlier (you may have already seen some of the billboards around town). The media department has their own early deadlines, as they have a short window to submit their media guide content (as complete as possible) and get the books in time for the start of the season. And of course, for event like the Supporters Forum or last night's Rookie Season Ticket Holder Orientation, we need to wait for the guys to be around.

So back to the photos / videos. In order to facilitate it, the players were split into two shoots (you'd be surprised how long it takes to shoot some of this stuff). If you've seen the billboards and spots running on 9News, Pablo and Conor were in the early shoot - taken before the team left for California. Today we were able to squeeze in the rest of the team - before they leave for Hawaii.

It's somewhat of a guessing game for the staff, because with a large group of players - we don't know who will make the final roster or not. So we try to fit in as many guys as possible to have their photos ready.

The shoots took place at the Pepsi Center on the Denver Nuggets practice court. As you see in the photo above - which is clearly taken with a phone camera (the pro photographer was busy) - Quincy Amarikwa, Ross LaBauex, Andre Akpan, and Wells Thompson are playing a game of Knockout while they waited their turns. Hunter Freeman (left) and Joel Helmick (right) give us a sneak peak at the 2012 uniforms.