Watching the New England Revolution play in front of a big crowd isn’t a common sight, but last Friday it was. The Brazil-Venezuela friendly being played after the Revs match against FC Dallas meant there would be just a few more eyes watching (and just a bit more traffic and drama to deal with outside the stadium).
What those eyes watched was the Revs take a step toward to the top of the Eastern Conference as they posted an other win. Those fans also saw the coach-less Hoops of FC Dallas struggle to record a result yet again. It was a good night, unless you were rooting for the team from Texas (and Brazil for that matter).
SBI correspondent Andrew Karl was at the match and gives us his take on an entertaining and frustrating night in Foxborough (FC Dallas correspondent Casey Corcoran is out of town).
A Gillette Stadium doubleheader to remember and forget
By ANDREW KARL
Thank God I get out of work at three on Fridays. Because if my progressive employer hadn’t graced its employees with early dismissal each Friday of the summer, I probably would have missed both Revolution goals on Friday night. In fact, I may have missed the entire game. A group of season ticket holders behind me, who were unable to leave work early and get a head start on the traffic, made the trip all the way from New Hampshire; albeit arriving 20 minutes into the first half of Brazil vs. Venezuela. The perils of New England traffic, or the consequences of a disconnected ownership and wayward front office?
When the Brazil – Venezuela match was announced, I was excited at the prospect of seeing arguably the world’s best squad in person. But as the reality of the potential traffic situation set in, I grew worried. By moving the New England – Dallas match from Sunday the 8th to Friday the 6th at 6.30 PM was perplexing. Understandably the New England front office wanted to expose thousands of international soccer fans to the MLS product, but the circumstances by which this game was setup made little sense.
Boston traffic is infuriating, relentless, and at times unpredictable. Asking Revolution fans to make it from work to home to the stadium by 6:30 on any weekday night is inconceivable, even without the added traffic caused by 50,000 Brazil fans. While the final whistle of Friday night’s first match was applauded by a nearly full stadium, the opening whistle was only heard by a spattering of fans spread throughout the gigantic arena. I had left my apartment in Brighton and was on the highway by 3:45, but the drive to the stadium, which usually takes a half hour and change, took a solid two hours. Whether you live in Boston or outside of it, it was simply impossible to make the start of the Revolution game without leaving work early.
Why did these games have to take place on a Friday night? Why couldn’t the originally scheduled Sunday fixture remained and the Brazil match be tacked on after the Revs? What was wrong with Saturday even? It just seems to me that pitting traffic for Brazil against normal Friday rush hour traffic is more lethal than a giant man-eating rat from the fire swamp…The Princess Bride is on AMC as I write this.
The difficulties to make the start of the Revolution game, difficulties placed on the fans by the front office’s scheduling decision strikes a chord with me and I’m sure many faithful Revolution fans agree. While I’m grateful for the opportunity to see Brazil, the scheduling of this game just seems disloyal to the true Revolution fan. While the season ticket holder is being ‘rewarded’ by the presence of the Brazilian team, the fan is forced to compromise. That compromise: get to see Brazil but miss some, if not all, of the New England game. That’s a compromise that I don’t like and I’m not sure I’d accept it if given a choice. Would you?
Am I Bitter? Most definitely. But trust because I have good reason to be so. My friends and I decided to have a bit of a post-match tailgate instead of waiting in hours of traffic leaving the stadium. At one o’clock in the morning, when Route 1 traffic finally cleared up, we piled into Tosha’s beat-up Nissan Sentra to find evidence of an attempted car jacking. During the game, someone had broken into the car, left all belongings alone, and tried to hot-wire it. They obviously didn’t succeed but the thing wasn’t starting and all our fiddling with the disconnected wires and plugs beneath the steering wheel were in vain. It took more than an hour to file a report and summon a tow truck. After all this, as my head hit the pillow early Saturday morning, I thought back to what all that traffic, hassle, and parking lot boredom had been for: A Revolution win and a Brazil loss.
The Revs put in solid performances all around, and Sainey Nyassi’s star continues to rise. It was a well earned three points, and a shame that more true fans weren’t able to see the games early goals. Later Venezuela stunned Brazil with a smart game plan and effective counter attacking. Two things happened that night, arguably the two most unlikely and unbelievable of possible scenarios: Adam Cristman scored and Brazil was shutout. While many can say that they’ve seen Brazil play in person, how many can say they’ve seen Brazil fail to score against an inferior opponent? Not many.
@ Elizabeth
The game was far from brilliant. If not for Reis we lose 4-2, at least. We played like absolute crap in the second half.
I am a bitter real fan
or possibly real bitter fan take your pick
Reid,
I did read the entire post…and I asked the questions b/c they were not answered. Of course they were looking out for the bottom line…they are a company…every company looks out for the bottom line…if they don’t they go belly up and do not survive…it is just plain business sense. And I am definitely not a “Patriots/Krafts cant do anything wrong person”. I am at every single home Revs game and Patriots game and also traveled to multiple away Revs game including the past 2 MLS Cups and I have many objections to the way certain things happen within the organization.
The team most definitely needs a soccer specific stadium…all MLS teams should be required to have one…it’s just better football. As far as a better schedule…the league sets those…not each team. The “front office knew what they were getting into from the Brazil/Mexico game last year”?! I remember knowing about that game over a month in advance last year…and this year only found out like 3 weeks in advance…Brazil/Venezuela was signed late so noone can be fully prepared for that…
And the fact that you say good post in a post that discusses none of the game tells me that you are just bitter and not a real fan
Revs fan….I guess maybe that is what I was trying to get at…where was the analysis of the game?! it was absolutely brilliant!! And no mention of that!
Elizabeth, please read his whole article, most of you questions can be answered.
And getting there early for the 1 brazil game you’ll see this year you can do on a friday, for a random revs game, you have to be really dedicated to get out of work at 12 for that. And the bashing from the front office is just, they are looking out for their bottom line but at the expense of the revolution fan.
And everyone listen here… I work in CT, have been a revs fan for years, have no affiliation with the team…. and HATE the front office.
Elizabeth i could be way off target here but you sound to me like a Patriots/Krafts cant do anything wrong person.
As a loyal Revs fan I will continue to support them but until they start doing something for the fans (a new stadium/better game times/april weekend day games) then i will be going to RFK & Giants to support the revs
Andrew great post and i think you speak for a good # of us fans
p.s. the front office knew what they were getting into from the Brazil/Mexico game last year.
Sounds like someone’s been spending too much time on bigsoccer and not watching the actual game. Isn’t this blog supposed to be about the actual play on the pitch?
Andrew,
“The perils of New England traffic, or the consequences of a disconnected ownership and wayward front office?” – Where does this come from?! Seems a bit out of left field to me. You said yourself that there would be over 50,000 fans there…why blame a select few who brought Brazil here?! It seems to me that you are just looking for someone to blame the situation on when it was your own fault. Why would you want to arrive at the stadium only a little more than a mere hour before kickoff? Do you and your friends not tailgate? As someone who woks in the area I started noticing Brazil flags on cars parked in various lots, be them actual parking lots or just sitting there, over 6 hours before the first match. That is dedication to your team. You said you got out at 3, so why not head to the stadium then? What took the extra 45 minutes to get going?
Also,”to find evidence of an attempted car jacking”, why not come out and say that the window was smashed in and the wires were pulled?! Did you file a police report?! Did you inform security?! Did you not notice when you initially got back to the car?! And…to include that in this little bashing of the front office implies some blame…how?!
Also…including something in here about watching the Princess Bride?! What is wrong with you…this is a football post!!
And if I remember correctly…and please correct me if I am wrong…and everyone pay attention here…you werre someone I talked to about season tickets when I called about them last year?! Are you bitter about the past couple games or are you bitter that you are no longer employed by the front-office that you apparently so despise?! Do you no longer talk with anyone that still works there…Do you hate them all so much that you push them under the bus?! What is wrong with you?!
The Revs reliance on Reis isn’t much different than the nats reliance on Tim Howard, isn’t it?
Reis isn’t too old in Keeper years, I dont think Nicol’s even thinking about finding a replacement for him yet. When he does we all know where he’ll come from tho…Wake Forest.
Reis is only 32 or 33 so, as a keeper, he’s got several years left. By then, I’m sure the Revs will have found a replacement. It is true, though, that right now, the Revs are heavily relying on Reis to keep them in games. He’s having to work far too hard for comfort.
only caught the 2nd half but the Revs were VERY fortunate not to allow 3-5 goals in the end… Reis (as always) made some amazing saves….
im curious to see what happens to the revs once Reis retires…. this entire season he has had to come up HUGE on quite a number of games (FCD and DCU’s primetime game come to mind)….