Less than a month ago, Cole Bassett was in Orlando for the Colorado Rapids’ preseason, prepping for his eighth season in Commerce City. The Portland Timbers came calling in January, and kept peppering Colorado’s front office with offers, according to Bassett.
Eventually, Bassett said, the club gave him a choice: stay in Colorado, where his service had been respected and appreciated but perhaps no longer a fit, or test the waters in another MLS market.
He chose the latter. Twenty-six days later, on Saturday afternoon, he started in the Rapids’ home opener, as was always the plan. Only it was in a Timbers jersey.
“It definitely is weird. I was kind of hoping for a bit more time, but at the same time you get a lot of emotion built up to go out there and perform today, you get a lot of family and stuff that comes back and supports,” Bassett told The Denver Post on Saturday. “It was a meaningful game for me, and I knew that after (the Rapids’) performance last week, they’d be on top of stuff today. … Special to be back, but it was a weird one. I’m glad that it’s out of the way.”
The Rapids treated Bassett to a tribute video before kickoff, which he said he heard in the background during warm-ups but didn’t pay too much attention. The crowd in attendance applauded Bassett, who made 155 regular-season appearances for Colorado, scored 31 goals and provided 22 assists.
Portland was outplayed for the entirety of Colorado’s 2-0 win, the first of Matt Wells’ managerial career. Nobody in green — not even Bassett, who was arguably the Timbers’ best player in a one-assist, all-over-the-pitch win over the Columbus Crew last weekend — could get anything going, aside from a pair of threatening shots which Zack Steffen saved.
And as much as Colorado welcomed its best-ever Homegrown player back to Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, it picked on Bassett in the second half. Every match, fans in the southeast corner of the stadium choose a player to boo whenever they touch the ball. Most of the time, it’s the left winger whenever the opponent attacks south. Conveniently, the stands chose Bassett, who has occupied a central role for Portland but also drifts wide from time to time.
All in good fun, but in some ways a response to Bassett’s eagerness to bury the Rapids in his return.
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After the match, Bassett said he had around 10 jerseys to swap with former Rapids teammates. Midfielder Connor Ronan got the one off his back. Bassett said he’s skipping the plane back to Portland and staying in Colorado for an extra day to catch up with friends and family. One of those might be Rob Holding, who said Bassett was instrumental in helping Holding settle after his transfer to Colorado last summer.
While Bassett spoke to media after the match, Rapids forward Darren Yapi interrupted to give Bassett a hug in passing. Steffen also caught up with him in the tunnel after the match.
“It’s great to see him. We miss him, but we’re really happy for him,” Steffen said. “It’s something that everybody has to do in life: You’ve got to take the next step into the next chapter and challenge yourself. Really proud of him for taking it head on, and we wish him the best.”
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