Coffee with the Caps, Friday February 11

Good Friday morning Caps fans. It’s been a long, long week in our neck of the woods — hopefully things are kinder where you are. Either way, we’re almost home free.

It was a busy week for the Caps as well, as they continue their preseason preparations in sunny southern California.

That included a 0-0 draw with USL side New Mexico United, with not a ton to report. At least we have some highlights to sink our teeth into this time; you can watch them below.

The Caps made a couple moves to shore up/potentially shore their goalkeeper situation. One of the moves was expected, as the team brought back Isaac Boehmer, likely to slot in as the third keeper and break glass in case of emergency option.

And the team is kicking the tires on Andre Rawls, formerly of San Diego Loyal of USL. It appears Rawls was a very good USL keeper, though this admittedly doesn’t mean much when it comes to making progress at the MLS level. If he is the backup, one imagines the plan really is to install Thomas Hasal as the number one, as Rawls doesn’t strike me as someone who will be upsetting the pre-existing order of things.

The final news item is much more somber and it comes not from San Diego but from a courtroom in North Vancouver. Former women’s Canadian U-20 and Caps coach Bob Birarda pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual assault and one count of sexual touching.

I can only imagine the unspeakable sense of reliefs survivors must feel in the wake of this news. It is the first domino to fall in terms of holding individuals accountable for years, if not decades, of enabling horrific behavior.

The Caps’ statement reiterates their commitment to participating in the outside investigation of the organization’s actions and complicity in the whole affair. We reiterate our hope they continue to take the opportunity for accountability seriously.

Our thoughts, as always, are with the survivors in this case.

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