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San Jose Earthquakes at Red Bulls: Running Commentary

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Good afternoon everybody. It’s an overcast day in New Jersey as we prepare for the final MLS match of the weekend, with the Red Bulls playing host to the San Jose Earthquakes.

San Jose is coming off its first win of the season while the Red Bulls are coming off a disappointing 1-1 tie vs. New England.

I will be providing coverage from the match, including some pre-game tidbits. If you want to follow the match, please feel free to do so here.

Share your pre-game thoughts below and I will be back with the lineups after 2pm.

Enjoy the match.

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FINAL- Red Bulls 2, Earthquakes 0. And Jozy Altidore scores his first goal with the final touch of the match, finishing off a great give-and-go with Wolyniec.

Impressive performance by the defense, Altidore and Claudio Reyna, who put in a complete performance controlling things in midfield.

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94th minute- GOAL RED BULLS. JOZY ALTIDORE FINISHES HIS SECOND GOAL OF THE GAME. Assist to John Wolyniec.

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90th minute- Garcia clears a goal-bound Wolyniec shot off the line. Wolyniec catches Cannon off his line and sends it toward goal only to have Garcia race in and clear it away. That’s two goal-line clearances today for Mr. Garcia.

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89th minute- The Red Bulls need to find a way to avoid the mistake in the last minute.

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87th minute- Referee Michael Kennedy with a terrible decision to stop play and give a yellow rather than play advantage, which would have given the Red Bulls a deserved breakaway.

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81st minute- Shea Salinas comes in for Ivan Guerrero.

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79th minute- GOAL RED BULLS. Magee converts the penalty kick, hits it perfectly to the left. Red Bulls 1, Earthquakes 0.

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78th minute- PENALTY RED BULLS- Altidore taken down in the penalty area by Cochrane. Great pass from Wolyniec to spring Altidore.

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78th minute- San Jose is knocking the ball around now. They’ll be content with a tie.

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76th minute- Goldthwaite’s injury is a strained back.

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75th minute- Mendes coming in for Goldthwaite.

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75th minute- Goldthwaite limping off, he’s coming out.

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72nd minute- Goldthwaite is hurt, looks like a shoulder.

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71st minute- Look for Borman to replace Van Den Bergh pretty soon.

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69th minute- Today’s attendance: 9,053. Remember folks, that number includes tickets distributed, meaning the people who stayed home with tickets still count, and there were PLENTY of those today.

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67th minute- For those of you keeping track at home, that gives San Jose four former MetroStars/Red Bulls on the field. Peguero, Jason Hernandez, Joe Vide and Ramiro Corrales.

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66th minute- Peguero for Grabavoy on the next stoppage.

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65th minute- Peguero looks ready to come into the match.

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62nd minute- Jeff Parke hits a wide-open header right to Joe Cannon on a Reyna free kick. That was a wasted chance.

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61st minute- Corrales with a yellow card for fouling Jozy Altidore in the open field.

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59th minute- Goldthwaite is fine and back on the field.

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58th minute- Kevin Goldthwaite is hurt.

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57th minute- Red Bulls keep on knocking but can’t score or test Cannon.

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52nd minute- Magee gets his head on a corner kick but sends it high over the bar.

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46th minute- Red Bulls with a dangerous free kick on the right side of the field, about 25 yards from goal. Van Den Bergh’s kick doesn’t find anybody.

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46th minute- Mike Magee in for Sinisa Ubiparipovic and Joe Vide in for Gavin Glinton.

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HALFTIME- Red Bulls 0, Earthquakes 0. The Red Bulls controlled the bulk of the possession, but couldn’t put any real dangerous shots on goal. The Earthquakes have to be happy going in tied. They’re in position to steal a win in the second half, particularly if Peguero Jean Philippe can come on and create some problems.

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45th minute- Red Bulls look a little worn out right now.

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41st minute- Parke streaks in to head home a corner kick but his header goes over the crossbar.

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40th minute- The Red Bulls midfield has played very well today, which is due at least in some part to San Jose not having any real strong defensive-minded midfielders in its set-up.

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38th minute- Reyna has his shot cleared off the line after a beautiful give-and-go with Dave Van Den Bergh. Cannon gets a hand on Reyna’s shot, slowing it down enough for Nick Garcia to race in and clear it away.

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37th minute- Good stuff from the Red Bulls this game, but nothing in the final third. Claudio Reyna is running like a man possessed. I wonder how much he’ll have left for the second half.

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30th minute- Sassano with a shot that’s deflected out for a corner. Nothing comes from the corner.

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29th minute- And Joe Cannon finally gets a touch.

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27th minute- It should be stated right now that anything less than a win by the Red Bulls would be disastrous considering the good starts that so many Eastern Conference teams are off to.

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25th minute- The Red Bulls are pressing but have yet to create a real good chance on goal.

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21st minute- Effort certainly hasn’t been a problem for the Red Bulls, who have been hustling all over the field.

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20th minute- Kamara is okay and back on the field.

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18th minute- Looks like Kei Kamara is hurt.

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17th minute- Goldthwaite with a perfect slide tackle on O’Brien.

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16th minute- Stammler with a great intervention in the penalty area on Guerrero.

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14th minute- San Jose with a long free kick.

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12th minute- Both teams are struggling to string together a good sequence of passes.

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10th minute- San Jose corner kick.

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8th minute- A long Red Bulls free kick is headed wide.

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6th minute- Rookie Luke Sassano with an open look near goal but sends his side volley high.

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4th minute- Leitch is back in and looks fine.

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2nd minute- Chris Leitch is injured after a collision in the peanlty area. Looks like his left knee.

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2nd minute- And we’re off.

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PRE-GAME– Today is Jeff Parke’s 106th game for the club, tying him for fourth-place all-time with Tab Ramos.

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PRE-GAME- Cloudy and 54 degrees today.

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PRE-GAME- The teams are taking the field. And the crowd is….not here. Okay, so maybe there are a few thousand fans hers.

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PRE-GAME- Jozy Altidore vs. Ryan Cochrane. That will likely be the match-up that decides the winner today. Cochrane is a seasoned veteran but Altidore is a beast. If San Jose uses Nick Garcia on Altidore I think Altidore’s speed will be too much for Garcia. Now, this all hinges on the Red Bulls actually getting Altidore some service.

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PRE-GAME- So you’re wondering why Chris Leitch is starting, right? Well, as I stated last week, he did a decent job of defender on the right wing against New England. Against San Jose, I think his speed will be an asset against Ivan Guerrero. He is a better option than Carlos Mendes in this match-up.

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PRE-GAME- Just overheard on the walkie talkie of a Red Bulls operative in the press box: "I’ve got a Gary Smith here from Arsenal looking for a media credential." "Arsenal?" "Arsenal Football Club." Hmmm, I wonder (not really) who Arsenal is here to see (assuming the whole thing wasn’t a hoax). And yes, there is a Gary Smith who used to be a scout with Arsenal who is now an assistant coach with the Colorado Rapids.

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PRE-GAME- For those of you wondering, yes, Jean-Philippe Peguero is in uniform. It wouldn’t surprise me to see him get on the field today.

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PRE-GAME- Keys to the game today? Dealing with Ronnie O’Brien is high on the list and it wouldn’t surprise me at all to see Seth Stammler and Dave Van Den Bergh swap roles on occasion to put the tenacious Stammler on O’Brien. San Jose doesn’t have the deadly playmakers in central midfielders who will beat you with quickness so Van Den Bergh can afford to play in the middle with Ubiparipovic.

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PRE-GAME- Here is San Jose’s lineup:

————-Kamara—–Glinton—————

Guerrero——————————-O’Brien

————Corrales—Grabavoy————-

Riley—-Cochrane–Garcia—–Hernandez

———————Cannon——————

BENCH- Burpo, Vide, Denton, Johnson, Peguero, Salinas, Cunliffe

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PRE-GAME- Here is the Red Bulls lineup:

————-Altidore—–Wolyniec———–

VDB—————-Reyna————-Sassano

————Stammler—Ubiparipovic——–

Goldthwaite——–Parke————-Leitch

———————Conway——————

BENCH- Thornton, Freeman, Mendes, Brunner, Magee, Borman, Megaloudis

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PRE-GAME– I’m at Giants Stadium and I think it’s safe to say the crowd will be sparse today. We’re less than an hour from kick and the stadium is basically empty. I saw some crowds making their way into the building but it’s going to be a small crowd, and a potentially record-setting crowd.

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Comments

  1. Didn’t check all the comments since my last post. Thanks for all the hate, can’t say I’m surprised. I’ll let time be my adjudicator.

    Furniture – glad to hear the game will be at TFC and not Giants stadium. My bad. Eurosnob? I’ve never understood this “argument.” I don’t see how comparing leagues and players makes one a snob. I’ve followed and supported MLS for quite some time now; I don’t see how stating the obvious, that the league is quite average in comparison to other ones makes one a “Eurosnob.” I watch the different leagues for different reasons but don’t need to delude myself into thinking MLS is something it isn’t. How that makes one a snob, I fail to understand.

    Reply
  2. Your argument was that the trip to the stadium was responsible for the lack of fans in seats. It’s clear that people know how to get to the Meadowlands, and if there is a quality product, they will make it a priority to get there. Many people make it to Giants Stadium every year for a variety of reasons. I hope the Red Bulls can get more people there and that the team succeeds on and off the field.

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  3. Where’s that Jacob guy? At what point does the evidence of your own eyes overturn your oddball assumptions about what a superstar soccer player should look like?

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  4. Jacob, you and I have different perspectives on the “hype”. Jozy is an above-average MLS player and one of the so-very-few American-bred successful strikers. Is he Messi, Ronaldo, Rooney, or anyone like that? That is to say, a superstar? No. ANd I really don’t think anyone outside of Shep Messing is saying that.

    I don’t know what press you are reading about EJ, but everything I read says he is over-rated, needs to challenge himself, and learn to read the game better. People have been saying that for at least the last two years. Who has been saying he’s The Answer? Because I want to laugh at them and mock them every time I talk about them.

    Personally I think you are reacting to what the media is saying (by which I mean the band-wagon-itis of TV commentators) and choosing to trash Altidore for their hyperbole. But since that’s me playing pyschologist without a license I’m not going to push that view too hard.

    Give that the kid is 18, it probably makes sense just to watch him play and enjoy how he does what he does, which he does pretty damn well for MLS, I have to say.

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  5. MK, your comments about how Giants and Jets fans go to Giants Stadium was a shot at fans.

    You’re moving the goalposts yet again, just as you did on the Olsen issue. This conversation, such as it is, is over.

    Reply
  6. I haven’t taken a single shot at Red Bulls fans – I’ve been saying that the better your team does the better the league will be. It is the responsibility of the ownership to get the best team on the field and to get fans in the seats.

    Reply
  7. Litmus test: anyone who calls Jozy overhyped or compares him to E.J. automatically knows nothing about football.

    Jozy was awesome, today, demonstrating ability both running at defenders as well as skills with his back to goal. He has better turns than any other American right now. That failure to play-on was a terrible call by the ref.

    Reyna was also tremendous. He was seemingly everywhere and really distributing and winning balls.

    Parke had a great game – looking very solid and frustrating the heck out of Kamara.

    Sassano was godawful. Not sure what Osorio sees in this guy. Maybe it’s just early.

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  8. Not stressed out in the least, MK. I’m just sick of hypocrite front-runners taking cheap shots at fans, when the culpable party is the management of the team.

    We have great fans. We have terrible management. And Giants Stadium has been a pitiful place to play.

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  9. Don’t sleep on Jozy! I’ve been saying we need more unselfish play from Woly. That makes 2 passes from Woly to make a game changing difference.

    Well Done NYRB

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  10. You’re really stressed out about this, aren’t you Haig? If I followed a team only because it won trophies, I would have abandoned Philly years ago.

    Reply
  11. MK, he didn’t even PLAY for DC until 1998, but you tied a bunch of stuff together (you went to the first game, the stands bounce, attractive soccer) with the only local tie being Olsen. So for two years, there was no local tie, and you ignored a local tie to the Metros.

    It’s easy to draw fans when you win. You are a case in point.

    Reply
  12. Wow, I didn’t realize how ugly Giants Stadium is for soccer. I’ve no idea how anyone plays soccer on that field… it’s horrible. It just looks like they’re playing on concrete.

    Altidore isn’t overhyped. I think he’s show good recognition of how good he actually is. That is, waiting to go to Europe.

    Reply
  13. I watched Matt Knowles and Vermes play for the Kixx growing up – I guess since Olsen was a little closer to my age and I’d seen him play through travel soccer in the area, I was more of a fan of his.

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  14. Nathan – fair enough, I’m just expressing my opinion, which seems to go against the prevailing one (as was the case with Eddie Johnson). I may be proven to be wrong or right in the future as Altidore’s career unfolds.

    The last point I’ll make will be in response to your questions. Yes, I saw his goal last week. The shot was fantastic–as I said, he does have good technique. What people fail to mention is that he actually lost the ball in the middle of his run but got a lucky break as it came back to him… Better lucky than good : )

    U-20 World Cup? Well, that’s U-20… Please don’t misunderstand, I DO think he’s a solid, certainly above average player. It just seems that he’s being made out to be a superstar–THAT, he is not. I do hope that he moves abroad sooner than later because he’s become quite stagnant and needs to learn some new new things against some new (tougher) competition.

    I certainly see potential for him, I just don’t see what all the hype is all about right now.

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  15. I think Jacob’s making some sort of perverse statement about the fickleness of supporters. I really can’t imagine anyone would seriously rate Altidore the way he claims to.

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  16. Jacob, you and I will have to respectfully totally and completely disagree.

    Did you see last week’s goal from him? Or his very first strike in MLS as a 16 year old? Or did you watch him in the u-20 World Cup?

    As these are opinions, we’re both going to have ours. But I just can’t get with yours.

    Reply
  17. Considering I am a die-hard fan of the Flyers, Phillies, Sixers, and Eagles – none of whom have won anything in my lifetime – I hardly think I’m the front-runner type. The trophies are nice, but I was still at the games in ’00, ’01, and ’02 when they couldn’t get into the playoffs.

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  18. Altidore was fouled by the last defender in the box (not counting the keeper). Doesn’t that deserve a yellow? Anyway, Magee takes the PK and scores with a well-taken shot.

    Reply
  19. Willingboro NJ native Peter Vermes, by the way, the most important Philly-area national team player between the early 1950s and, uh, Ben Olsen.

    Oh, but maybe you can’t support local players when they’re from the other side of the river.

    Reply
  20. “The question was why do I support DC over Red Bulls – Olsen has been on the team for the majority of the team’s existence. Didn’t realize there was an argument to be had about it.”

    You don’t *have* to argue about it, you could just cop to being a front runner instead of giving some story about being there for your homeboy. Just say it – if Rob Johnson stays on his feet in ’96, if Peter Vermes slides the golden goal home in the rain in Foxboro, you’re a Metro supporter for life. That’s fine. No shame in it.

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  21. Nobody is solely blaming the stadium location for the problem, but it’s a huge obstacle to overcome for a team that was started from scratch and has always played there.

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  22. “What I am saying is that it is a mistake to blame poor attendance solely on the location of the stadium.”

    But no one is really doing that – at best you’re taking one person’s comment here (I guess, I’m not going back to look) and extrapolating it to everyone and everything.

    Various people (myself included) have wasted immense amounts of time and energy and electrons trying to chronicle the complex of reasons why this organization continues to list at a precarious angle. Can’t speak for anyone but myself: I don’t care to go through it all again. In fact I hardly give a damn. But go do a search on MF, or BS, or other places if you’re that interested in all that.

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  23. The question was why do I support DC over Red Bulls – Olsen has been on the team for the majority of the team’s existence. Didn’t realize there was an argument to be had about it.

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  24. “I have been a player, coach, and avid fan for well over 20 years”

    And apparently a psychic for at least 13 years. When are you going to address being called out on your support for DC in 1996 being due to Ben Olsen, who didn’t join the team until 1998?

    Reply
  25. Clearly some of you aren’t getting my point – I have been a player, coach, and avid fan for well over 20 years, and I am in no way comparing our growing league to the NFL. I have been having the “you can’t compare the two” talk with every non-soccer fan I know for as long as I can remember.

    What I am saying is that it is a mistake to blame poor attendance solely on the location of the stadium. Give fans a reason to make the trip to see you.

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  26. cbr – I agree with the gist of your post. Surely, Altidore would score more goals with a better supporting cast.

    That still doesn’t change the fact that there is little special about him to justify the ridiculous amount of hype he gets.

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  27. Having supported this team from day one, I know this sort of game. It’s the kind of early season matchup against a weak team that we seem on the verge of winning, then we give up a late goal.

    I have a feeling there’s a soul-killing loss in the offing, the kind that underscores how totally screwed up this team is.

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  28. jozy overhyped? luca toni or drogba would have trouble scoring goals with the horrible midfield rbny has.

    this game is just a mess

    Reply
  29. Nathanhj – I’m talking about the fact that Altidore is overhyped. He’s a pretty average player with good size and above-average technique for MLS standards. Outside of READING about how great he is, I’ve yet to see it myself–everytime I’ve watched him play he has been very disappointing.

    He’s basically the new Eddie Johnson (who I also called out as a fraud when his hype machine was rolling) but to be fair, I think Altidore is more technically gifted than Johnson. In truth, I can’t understand how anyone who has consistently been watching Altidore play can think he’s anything special.

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  30. “Exactly – if there were a tradition of success and a consistently entertaining team on the field, people would take the trip more often.”

    Sure, there’s a lot to be said for success and tradition: the NJ organization has had very little of the former, and has nuked whatever there was of the latter. If you want to make legitimate comparisons/thinly-veiled parochial dick-swinging about MLS in NY/NJ versus the Giants, wait about 60 years or so till its somewhat evened up, k?

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  31. MK, the Giants played in New York City, in Manhattan (Polo Grounds), the Bronx (Yankee Stadium), and Queens (one season at Shea) prior to moving to the Meadowlands, for FIFTY YEARS.

    Metrostars/RBNY have played one single game in NYC, an Open Cup semifinal in 1997, at Columbia University’s soccer stadium. The attendance was around 500.

    How hard is this to understand?

    Reply

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