Cleaning House...

New beginnings.  I'm giving this another shot.  It's funny considering that my first, new post has to do with the recent changes of my favorite sports teams, The New York Red Bulls.  Regardless of what Chuck Klosterman says, I'm a die hard fan of soccer in America.  Major League Soccer has come a LOOOONG way, from it's humble beginnings after World Cup '94, to the waves of stars coming from abroad (some consider them past their prime), the MLS is now the third most attended sports league in America...  To summarize, in your face Douche!

But that's not what this is about.  It's about dedication.  Soccer fans define fanatic.  It takes a dedicated group of people to be a fan of "the beautiful game".  More specifically, The Supporters. NYRB has three core groups: Empire Supporters Club, Garden State Supporters, and The Viking Army; although each team within the league has their own psychos, I want to focus on my psychos.

*Note, I am not a card carrying member of any of these clever groups, I just enjoy the antics.

ESC has been around since before the beginning.  When the league was announced, these people formed BEFORE the first match was played.  I remember watching them at my first Metrostars game, I didn't get it when I was a kid, but totally get it now.  The other two spartan groups formed pretty recent in terms of age, but haven't shown any infancy in terms of dedication.

Look at that. You ever see anything like that at a Yankee game?

These groups spend countless hours, doing charity work, painting signs, embracing their team, it goes beyond fanaticism.  Not to mention money.  Traveling with the club across country, buying equipment, buying merchandise, tickets, food, beer, hotel rooms, gas, buses; it surpasses anything I've seen in any other sport.  If you've ever needed a reason to watch a match live in person, it's the Supporters.

Before I get any further, let's talk about the "pink elephant in the room".  This team has a corporate sponsor.  Pretty much everything has a corporate sponsor, but as far as professional sports teams in the United States, this is the only team with the sponsor in the name.  I hate it.  I hate that the only sports team that I like, has a beverage name, and a shitty beverage at that.  Other than mixing it with vodka, have you ever had a Redbull?  It tastes like piss.  But you know what, I don't care.  They could be called the "New York Baby Punchers", I'll still follow this team to my grave...

I'd rather see this...

Instead of this

In 2010, we got our home. Redbull Arena opened it's doors and we left the regime of Giants Stadium.  I call it, Our Cathedral.  It's my place of worship.  Like every start of a season, people came in droves.  The first few matches had near sellouts, with them dwindling as the season carries on and even though we finished 1st in the conference, and were eliminated in the semi-finals.  Hearts broken.

2011 saw much of the same, minus "the summer of draws".  We finished 5th in the conference, and again, eliminated in the semi-finals.  Hearts broken.

2012, stronger play, nearly unbeaten home record, finishing 3rd in the conference and elimination in the semi-finals.  Big shocker there...  Hearts borken.

It should come to no surprise that we have the highest payroll in the league.  Big names bring big paychecks, right?  I mean, look at the Yankees, highest payroll in all of baseball, they buy championships, why shouldn't we?  Well, that doesn't ring true. The Yankees didn't win the World Series, the Giants did, and they place 7th overall in payroll.  But look at the track record.  The Yankees have 27 World Series Titles.  Our league is young (not even 20 years old), so it's really no comparison, the Yankees have been a baseball team for over 100 years, I would HOPE they'd have 27 titles, and I hate the Yankees.  Not necessarily the team, mostly the arrogant fans. Actually, I just hate Yankees fans. Not all of them though... ARGH! I'm running in circles. I digress.

So if money equals titles, where's ours? 

Thierry Henry, arguably one of the greatest living players, is the captain of our team, and yet on the pitch during play, if you watch closely, runs when he wants too.  I mean, sure he's not as fast as he used to be and honestly, when you see his resume, he has nothing to prove in the soccer world.  But I mean, if the league and club owners want the rest of the world to take the MLS seriously, we have to treat it like a serious league and not a retirement league.  

Henry still has it though, I'll give him that.

Aside from the olimpico goal, everything you've just seen was quality service. It wasn't just "Henry being Henry", and I'm not saying anyone could've done it. But watch it again and you'll see 3 instances of solid passing to him in open space. Also, nothing against the goal from the corner, but, I coach a U-13 team and I have a kid in 7th grade that did that, just sayin'... (Edit: Original video has since been deleted, hopefully this stays up for a while.)

Quote - Empire of Soccer

“When you’re in a competition or and you play on a team, you want to win everything you can. It’s very important to win it for the franchise and the fans, because they’ve been waiting a long time to have it,’’ said Henry, acutely aware of the team’s 16-year title drought.

Quote - New York Post

“We want to win it for the fans. They’ve been suffering for a little while. We know it’s not easy to win in New York, but we’re going to have a go this year and first off think about making the playoffs, that’s the most important thing. But again, don’t get it twisted. I want to win the MLS Cup.’’

Then stop throwing your hands up in frustration when something doesn't go right, Murphy happens, deal with it. You've won the World Cup for Pete's sake! You like mentoring players? Well nothing against Connor Lade, but mentor Strikers, instead the club makes the decision to send a promising player away on loan. Corey Hertzog played 20 games in a 3rd Division league and scored 11 goals. With some "Henry Time" he could've been a contender... And don't blame this on the fact that it wasn't up to him, because you know he has influence. I'll admit though, watching Henry and Lade juggle at practice is a sight. It reminds me of a father playing with his son in the backyard.

But this isn't a Sunday league. It's pro soccer...

Which brings me to now. This afternoon it was announced that NYRB wouldn't be renewing the options for 10 players. This comes after the release of the Sporting Director, Head Coach and Assistant Coach... What is going on???

Among the players released are fan favorites Stephen Keel and Jan Gunnar Solli. Who wasn't released? Rafa Marquez and Roy Miller, two players who the majority of fans despise. Just check out the comments.  I've spoken with Rafa, and in broken English he said, "I want to be the best, I want to be Champion" after a devastating loss to rivals DC United. Well, stay healthy. On the pitch you look like you don't want to be there and you're just collecting a check.

What's left for us? What does the future hold?

Well, I hope Petke stays on as Head Coach. The man knows this league and American soccer. I love that big names like Kaka want to come to this league, but we need more development of our homegrown players. We need to stop treating this like a retirement league, or the bastard child of Premier Leagues around the world.  We need to actually "Develop" our players, not send them away.

Stephen Keel had a hell of a season in 2011, making 16 appearances and 13 starts. Watching him in the defensive box was a sight to be seen and due to his flowing locks, he wasn't hard to miss.

Solli (not a homegrown player) had some nasty footwork. Making 12 appearances this year, he scored 2 goals. That's not bad, considering Roy Miller is probably one of the reasons for our failure to advance pass the semi-finals.

Maybe the Front Office should take a little nod from the Sounders, since they like to adopt our supporting skills...