Believe it or not, we’ve finally got our webcam at the new stadium up and running. It took an unbelievable number of hours and work to finally get going (you would really be amazed if you knew all the technological and logistical hurdles we had to jump in order to get the thing finally going!), but thanks to the great work of our web guru Jason Fredericks and the guys at Wasatch Electric, we finally solved the issues. Click here to check out the new spot we’ve got (and before you ask, the “smudge” in the middle is actually a scratch on the plexi-glass covering the lense and as Davy Ratchford assured us today, it next on the docket to be fixed.) Anyway, now you’ve got no excuse to not know the progress going on in Sandy. We know we’ll be watching it religiously. We can’t wait to get in there.

Well, we’re about 15 minutes from kickoff up here on the Hill and the teams are just wrapping up their warmups. We’ve got the lineups here in front of us and look out, there’s a ton of talent out there tonight. Houston’s got their A team taking the pitch, and RSL is no different. If this one isn’t entertaining we’ll be shocked (but at least we’ve got fireworks after the game.) Check ‘em out…

Real Salt Lake

GK - Nick Rimando; DF - Ian Joy, Nat Borchers, Jamison Olave, Chris Wingert; MF - Kyle Beckerman, Kenny Cutler, Javier Morales, Andy Williams; FW - Robbie Findley, Kenny Deuchar

Bench
Chris Seitz, Tony Beltran, Matias Mantilla, Yura Movsisyan, Alex Nimo, Tino Nunez, Kevin Reiman

Houston Dynamo

GK - Pat Onstad; DF - Wade Barrett, Patrick Ianni, Bobby Boswell, Craig Waibel; MF - Brad Davis, Ricardo Clark, Stuart Holden, Brian Mullan; FW - Dwayne De Rosario, Brian Ching

Bench
Corbin Walker, Corey Ashe, Kyle Brown, Geoff Cameron, Franco Caraccio, Richard Mulrooney, Chris Wondolowski

10th minute: Just over 9 minutes in and there’s nothing really to talk about yet. Neither team has had even a sniff of the goal yet, solid defending’s been the story.

17th minute: And Real gets the first real chance as a great combination from Javi to Kenny, sees the big Scotsman nod the ball right into the path of a streaking Beckerman at the six. Kyle’s first touch left him seriously wanting however, and a great opportunity went with it.

25th minute: Another great chance for RSL as Robbie beats the Houston defense to a long ball and corrals the ball before an onrushing Onstad can get to it. His lay off to Beckerman however sees the shot cleared off the line by a Dynamo defender. Look for Robbie’s speed to be a huge asset tonight, the Houston defense doesn’t look ready to deal with it.

35th minute: It’s been all Salt Lake for the last few minutes. Real continues to move the ball well and just needs that last ball to unlock the D.

Halftime: We’ve reached the break level at 0-0. RSL had the better opportunities but was unable to capitalize in the final third. Houston is a potent offensive team and the Real defense has look nothing but solid so far. If they can keep it up, a good result should be in the cards.

59th minute: RSL continues to be the aggressor here in the second stanza. They’ve have, again, earned a handful of dangerous opportunities, highlighted by a point-blank Deuchar header that Onstad parried away. At this rate they’ve got to put one of these in!

64th minute: We’ve got our first RSL substitution, and it’s rookie Tony Beltran replacing Bomma in the midfield. Head Coach Jason Kreis looks to be taking advantage of Tony’s speed down the right side, as Houston’s defense has had trouble adapting to Robbie so far.

74th minute: Things are getting crazy here. We’ve got our second RSL sub of the night with Tino Nunez taking the good Dr.’s spot up top. It’s gotten pretty chippy in the last few minutes.

81st minute: We’re checking out for the next little bit. We’ll be back after the final whistle to give you the rundown of the final 10 minutes.

The Javi and Kyle Show just keeps on growing. This week ESPN asked the pair to throw together a little opening for their MLS Primetime broadcast tonight. We’re hoping it makes the show, no guarantees, but it’s definitely possible. Anyway, whether it makes it in or not, you’re not going to miss out, because we’ve got it here just for you. Check it out below…

Update: If the Game Guide wasn’t quite enough to satisfy your RSL fix, we’ve got more for you. Check out the video preview of tonight’s affair we’ve got posted below to see what the guys think of the match.

It’s a big day today in RSL land. The squad has a chance to vault into first place in the Western Conference with a victory. It’s the third time this season we’ve been able to say that, but the first time that the match has been at home. An important fact considering the guys are unbeaten in Salt Lake this year. It’ll be a great matchup tonight, as the two time defending champion Houston Dynamo are in town for their first meeting with RSL this season. Click here to read all about the game and what you can expect to see with the official MLS Game Guide…

P.S. If the game’s not enough to get you excited, we’ve also got a great fireworks displayed lined up to celebrate tomorrow’s Fourth of July holiday. Seriously, what’s better than that? A battle for first place, great atmosphere, and some fireworks to boot! Everyone should be there tonight.

Tune into Park City TV (Comcast channel 102) at 6:00 p.m. tonight to catch RSL defender Nat Borchers as he dishes on all things Real Salt Lake. Nat will join host Ori Hoffer on tonight’s edition of “Mountain Views” on PCTV. Check out what Nat’s got to say about RSL’s big first place showdown tomorrow night.

We told you we had another contest lined up for this afternoon. Well we weren’t lying… here it is. In partnership with Bargain Banners, we’ll be printing some fan driven signage to be displayed in the stadium. We need your help though, what do you want to see? Strike back below with your best ideas. The winning quote will be made into an in-stadium banner and earn the writer a pair of tickets to the RSL vs. Columbus contest on July 12. We want the most imaginative and amusing stuff you can come up with. Don’t hold back, let’s see what you can do…

As some of you may have heard, our technical staff has granted midfielder Matias Cordoba’s request to pursue other opportunities playing in his native Argentina. The 23-year-old midfielder left the team after Monday’s training session and will assess his options moving forward. In his short stint with Real Salt Lake, Cordoba has made 7 appearances and 2 starts in the 2008 campaign. Matias was an absolutely stand-up guy and someone we always enjoyed talking to. We would like to wish him the best going foward.

Okay, we’re not actually going to give you a chicken dinner, but we’ve got something even better - two tickets to Thursday night’s showdown with the Houston Dynamo. Congrats to DK whose “Hey! do you see the refs head up there?” comment captured the spirit of our contest perfectly. It was concise, perfect in context, and hilarious. Thanks to everyone who participated and stay tuned as we’ve got another contest ready to be unveiled a little later this afternoon.

Make the jump to see the original contest and read all the great captions…

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We here at Behind the Shield are just a small slice of the RSL and soccer related content on the world wide web. When it comes to daily soccer reading/watching we’ve got a handful of sites that we regularly check out and thought it was about time to share those with you. If you check out the blogroll (yeah, that’s the official term for it) on the right side of the page, you’ll see a selection of links to our favorite spots. They’re separated into two categories; RSL Links and World Soccer Links, pretty self-explanatory, huh? If you frequent this handful of sites regularly, you will surely stay apprised of all the important soccer news out there.

P.S. We surely missed some important links (we put those together in a matter of moments), so feel free to chime in with your suggestions and we’ll add those that we like.

As you can see, the post below was a bit confusing and we have gotten a fair number of comments requesting clarification. So we’ll try it again. We got back together with the people in the know and went through the details one more time, so here we go…

We actually have a pair of separate offers, which is where he confusion started earlier. The first is our free gas giveaway. Fans at the Thursday game against the Houston Dynamo will be able to enter a drawing for 3 free years of gas and a Real Salt Lake car wrap. The BargainAutoWraps.com folks will be out and about all over the stadium throughout the game, so all you’ve got to do is sign up to win. The second offer is for anyone interested in wrapping their vehicle with a design of their choice. Make a $350 deposit on a vehicle wrap at the game and you will receive a $100 discount on your car wrap and a pair of tickets to a future Real Salt Lake game (note: the wrap is your own design, not a Real Salt Lake wrap.) Car wraps are a great promotional tool for small and large businesses alike, so hop on the band-wagon and get your brand out there with BargainAutoWraps.com.

With gas prices soaring above $4 a gallon, we’ve got an offer everyone should love. Fans can sign-up July 3^rd for a chance to win FREE GAS for 3 years and have your vehicle wrapped by Real Salt Lake and BargainAutoWraps.Com. Those who put down a $350 refundable deposit to have your vehicle wrapped at the game July 3^rd will receive a $100 discount, a pair of Real Salt Lake tickets and the chance to win the grand prize of a free RSL/BargainAutoWraps.Com wrap and FREE GAS for 3 years! Must be present to win.