“I was more nervous to watch the games than I am to play in them,” he said. “I turned the TV on and I was like, ‘Why am I nervous all of a sudden?’ I couldn’t explain it.”
When Houston’s home match against Kansas City rolled around Wednesday, Beckerman opted to get updates second-hand. That was a common experience for Real Salt Lake players during their bye last weekend. Over the past two weeks both Dallas and Houston, which flanked RSL in the Western Conference standings entering the international break, played games that knocked RSL below the playoff line.