That's On Point: The Web Site

Let's get right with it -- the NY/NJ Metrostars/Red Bull New York has single handedly killed the sport of soccer in the world's biggest media market -- New York City.

Recently, I was returning from a trip to the Big Apple via MetroNorth train back to the Constitution State. Considering my frugalness, spending somewhere in the neighborhood of $4.95 USD on a periodical didn't make sense. (No, I don't care how to get 'Great Abs' and or anything about Carrie Underwood's latest diet tips. Sue me.)

That meant my entertainment for the cramped, uncomfortable train ride home would be staring out the window. (Note: MetroNorth does not have one, single, solitary comfortable seat. Do I smell class-action lawsuit? Who's with me!?)

This got me to thinking of riding through the Dutch countryside last summer doing the very same thing -- looking out the window. Along the trip, I noted how nearly each and every stop had a football/soccer stadium within view. The world famous Stadion Galgenwaard in Utrecht, baby!

Wouldn't it have been interesting should, somewhere along the way that the New York Tri-State area embraced association football and it developed along the way of say, London, were numerous clubs populate the heavily populated area. A team in The Queens (Park Rangers), a team in the Bronx, a team in Fordham, a team in Connecticut, etc. If this happened things like realistically traveling to away games could have become a possibility.

Obviously, this never happened for too many different reasons to list. Could there have ever been a major league of any sport, solely in a region?

Instead, the New York area is home to one, 'major league' club -- the (now) Red Bulls. In 12 years of existence, it'd be hard to find one decision the franchise did correct.

And after all this futility, that's why only some 7,000+ turn up to attend Juan Pablo Angel's home debut earlier when the team actually looked liked it's finally gotten its act together.

Let's look at some of the lowlights:

* Lothar Matthäus -- Probably the sole reason the league stopped trying to import 'name' players until that certain Beckham fellow. In 2000 the league, apparently trying again to prop up the New York franchise, brought in the 150-time capped, 38-year-old German for a boatload of bucks (and brautwurst). Who in the league office thought that an aged, German international would create a buzz in the Big Apple probably has since lost his job and is now selling roses on Garden State Parkway offramp.

Matthäus was so bad and basically flaunted that he was simply taking a check that the league was very wary of bringing in any guys with a flashy European pedigree. (Let's not even mention when the club brought in Brasilian 'legend' Bronco back in the mid 90s.)

* Giants Stadium -- There is no disputing this, the Meadowlands is the worst place to watch a soccer game of its class of stadia. From soup to nuts the concrete nightmare has no redeeming qualities. None. It's expensive, it's too big, it mutes any atmosphere 20,000 people could create etc. During the summer, there's few places less inviting to a sunny afternoon than Giants Stadium.


The biggest and latest infraction -- artificial turf. It's not like Claudio Reyna is made of steel AND THEN you drop him onto synthetic grass. Come to your senses and listen to Shepp Messing, please! Let's not even talk about when the gridiron lines reappear.

In all honesty, the team would have made going to see them a much better experience if, shudder, they chose to play at Rutgers University or something.

* Track record -- Look, if the Kansas City Wizards can win an MLS Cup with Tony 'Biff' Meola in goal, why couldn't the Metrostars? This team hasn't even reached an MLS playoff conference final. And this is from a league with, at times, 10 teams. If there was promotion/relegation incorporated in MLS, this club would probably have dropped out of the 'Football League' were this England. (Oh wait, the Metros did win the vaunted, hallowed, 2004 La Manga Cup.)

* Coaching Wasteland -- 'Don't cry/ Don't raise your eye/ It's only coaching wasteland.' ... It's fitting that Giants Stadium sits in the middle of a swamp. Look at some of the coaches that have gone up in flames coaching in the shadow of the Apple -- Carlos Queiroz, Carlos Alberto Parreira, Bora Milutinović, Bob Bradley and now Bruce Arena. Yes, coaching a club team in MLS is a totally different animal, but Parreira did in fact coach Brasil to the 1994 World Cup. (Then again, he was in charge for their flop in 2006, too. Obviously the Metro-curse lives.)

Let's pray Big Bruce Arena is immune to this.

* The 'New' Stadium -- Metro area fans have waited for years on false promises and pie-in-the-sky dreams of a stadium for the team to call its own. Red Bull Park, might actually be a reality in Harrison, NJ., but apparently its being constructed over a site that Tony Soprano's crew is dumping asbestos. And now it'll be delayed until, September 2008...2009...2010?
At the very least, the stadium will have a closed, European feel, instead of some of these gray, concrete nothing 'SSS' propping up across the land of the free.

* Corporate Synergy at it's best -- It's not like the Metrostars had a ton of history on their side, but when Austria-based Red Bull took over and rebranded the team in a name of an energy drink...well...that's just not going to fly in the United States. (It's worth noting the Metrostars name was derived from a media company.)

The New York media, which the team would love to cater to, will never accept a major league team named for an energy drink. Guys like Mike Lupica can't be bothered to do their homework, so it's an easy cheap shot to fill out a column. This isn't the Nippon Ham Fighers of the Japanese Central league or some team from the Republic of Korea named after the local automotive plant (Paik Industries FC would have a nice ring to it). Yes, in today's age most professional teams are rich, corporate guys' playthings. But in America, at least, no one wants that flaunted in their face. Least all by a man that goes by Didi Mateschitz.

It also doesn't help that Red Bull's garish logo dominates the front of the team's shirt unlike any other logo in the world. It's literally moving under the arm pits.

Buying my Clint Mathis replica is not an option. Maybe if the shirt advertised for the sugar-free Red Bull.


* Media misses -- There are quality guys that do the mostly thankless job of covering the team (Michael Lewis, Ives Galarcep to name two) yet in the big New York media, their work basically goes unnoticed, pushed somewhere between the horse racing line and WNBA coverage. And this says nothing that the team registers about one mention per calendar year on sports radio station WFAN.

You'd think someone out there could figure out a way to get the media to pay attention -- free massages in the press room? Yet considering how continually crummy the Red/Stars have been, can you blame editors for ignoring them and their communist sport?

So let's see, add up all these things and you see why in 12 years the Metro/Bulls have killed off soccer in New York. Let's hope that MLS is wise enough to realize the area could support another team, like Los Angeles, and revive the Cosmos or something. Then again, New York's had its shot to some degree. Another city, say Philly, deserves the franchise more than us.

Maybe when Beckham arrives this summer people will start to pay attention, or when Red Bull Park finally opens. (Perhaps Tony Soprano will be buried under the away-team six-yard box.) Until then, us fans in the New York area are stuck with a soulless team in a soulless arena that basically a shill for an energy drink, which seemed to be selling just okay in the first place.

Finally, beyond and ration thought and comprehension, the one-and-only Arthur M. 'Pops' Cardillo -- a man that's watched more Metro/Bull games than 99.9999999997 percent of planet Earth -- thinks that in a matter of years the team will be on par with the old Cosmos and be regarded as one of the world's best.

See, that's what happens to a brain when it watches that much hopeless, fruitless soccer -- pure mush.

Me, even with the addition of MLS 2007 May Player of the Month Juan Pablo Angel, I'm not holding my breath.

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Other Stuff

** It's a FIFA Weekend, so the great three-way race in Spain for La Liga takes a week off. The Real Madrid/Barcelona/Sevilla sprint resumes June 10. It'd be a shame if a key contributor (cough cough, David Beckham) gets hurt whilst on International duty. FSC has a pair of Euro qualifiers Saturday -- Spain/Latvia and Germany/San Marino...let's see the Tuetons go for 20-0 this time. Also, there's that Beckham fellow returning to the 'Three Lions' to play Brasil in a friendly. Expect the English media to be whipped into a frenzy regardless of the result.

This link runs down the basics of the weekend. Enjoy.

From a personal standpoint, I'm a little turned off by some of these internationals. Yes, it's a nice collection of 'star' players in one place, but rarely are the games all that competition or entertaining. That's just me though.

** That said... a semi-new look USMNT faces China on Sunday Saturday night at Spartan Stadium (8 p.m. EST, ESPN 2, good news Dave O'Brien scheduled for a Yankee/White Sox game Monday so hopefully Chubbs won't be around in San Jose).

Better yet, let's call this a flat-out experimental lineup.

Of note, the roster for the game lacks any MLS players, aside from Chivas USA players. Bob Bradley only picked three forwards for the team -- Ante Razov (he's still alive?!) and newcomers Kamani Hill and Charlie Davis. I've seen Hill play once or twice as a sub for Wolfsburg. Davis, couldn't tell you anything. Ok, he's from New Hampshire.

Defensively this US team looks sound and even with fringe Manchester United player Dong Fangzhuo it's hard to envision China mounting much of an offensive threat. That said, offense might be hard to come by for the USMNT as well. This will be the first game in a while without Landon Donovan, for better or worse.

The attacking onus is going to fall on Clint Dempsey and DaMarcus Beasley. Michael Bradley and Benny Feilhaber ought to see a lot of action too.

Personally, this game really doesn't mean anything considering the totally experimental lineup trotted out. If anything, it ought to get the team used to seeing nine, 10 players behind the ball in advance of the Gold Cup.

As usual, I simply want to see players with smiles on their faces, giving a good effort and maybe even taking a crack from 20, 30 yards. There is nothing to lose here, so it's not too much to ask. Let's see some damned teamwork and maybe an executed 1-2 pass?

For what it's worth, I have a picture of the 2005 Gold Cup winning team staring at me from an FSC calender as I type this. Here are a couple of the luminaries on that squad: Santino Quaranta, Brad Davis, Gregg Berhalter, Josh Wolff, Chris Armas and (gasp) Tony Sanneh. Remember this was less than two years ago. Amazing how much the roster/player pool has turned over. In a lot of ways it's like when Bruce Arena took over back in 1998ish, bringing it tons of new guys for their first caps.

Finally, let's hope a lot of Earthquakes fans turn out to Spartan Stadium to show the suits at the MLS office what they took away from a pretty damned passionate group of supporters. San Jose deserves a team. 'Nuff said.

We'll have some brief postgame stuff about this match sometime Sunday. Stay tuned.

** Like I've stated before, I'm not posting something every time there is a transfer move or rumo(u)r this summer in Europe. I just won't do it. That said, Manchester Utd. made a couple moves worth noting, finalizing the Owen Hargraeves move from Bayern and adding Portuguese duo Anderson and Nani. Hope those two are familiar with the term 'Carling Cup.' If anything, Anderson is an improvement over Kieran Richardson on the outside.

** Not sure where exactly on this here Internet I read this first, but Fulham FC is pulling its shirt deal with French manufacturer Airness in favor of the home to His Airness Michael Jordan, Nike.

Not a huge deal right?

But with three Americans on the roster, you'd think Nike, the club, etc. would like to sell some Clint Dempsey shirts en mass, in the States. The man they call Deuce, is a pretty big Nike guy pre/post 2006 World Cup. You'd think they'd like to sell some shirts and make some of that sweet, sweet moneycake.

** Lastly, there are actually a lot of semi-interesting MLS matchups this weekend. Colorado at Toronto ought to be good, if only for the crazed, Syrup Brigrade at BMO. Red Bulls/Kansas City is a battle for positioning in the Eastern Conference (yay!). DC United/Galaxy (FSC, 10 p.m.) is tilt between the league's two banner franchises from each coast of the country. Let's hope Max Bretos is on hand for this one. On Sunday there are two MLS mini-derbies with FC Dallas/Houston and Columbus/Chicago.

Labels: MLS, Soccer, USMNT