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U.S. Open Cup: Red Bulls at D.C. United (Match Night Commentary)

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The New York Red Bulls have made the trip down I-95 to take on D.C. United in a U.S. Open Cup play-in match at RFK Stadium.

The Red Bulls are coming off a 1-1 tie vs. Houston while D.C. United also managed a late equalizer in its 2-2 tie vs. Chivas USA.

Both teams are resting starters, though the Red Bulls look to have fewer starters in their lineup for tonight's match. Juan Pablo Angel did not make the trip, while Mac Kandji and Kevin Goldthwaite are on the bench tonight.

I will be providing commentary and analysis throughout the match so feel free to follow along. As always, you are welcome to share your own thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.

Enjoy the action:

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FINAL- D.C. United 5, Red Bulls 2. A masterful first 26 minutes by D.C. and an atrocious first 26 for the Red Bulls. The visitors saved some face with a solid second half, but Osorio will walk away wondering whether he shouldn't have had a little stronger lineup out here tonight.

Chris Pontius with the two goals but Boyzz Khumalo was arguably the most dangerous player on the field for D.C. His speed torched the Red Bulls repeatedly.

For the Red Bulls, John Wolyniec is the clear choice for MOTM honors. He showed great heart, and a surprising passing eye.

That's all for me tonight. Feel free to share your thoughts on the match in the comments section below.

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93rd minute– Easy save for Wicks.

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93rd minute– Red Bulls free kick and Rojas lines it up. 

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91st minute– This one is all but over and D.C. will move one step closer to defending its U.S. Open Cup title. The Red Bulls will turn their attention toward Sunday and a crucial match vs. Chicago.

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90th minute– Three minutes of stoppage time.

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89th minute– Oduro latches on to  chipped pass and hits a SOFT shot. Wow. It's getting painful to watch him play.

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87th minute– If Osorio was hoping to get some answers about his bench tonight I think it's safe to say he got them. Some players stepped up, others showed that they need to be waived.

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84th minute– Don't think we'll see a miracle comeback, but the Red Bulls have been the better team in the second half. Small consolation, but this game could have gotten REALLY ugly. 

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82nd minute– Ubiparipovic is in for Borman.

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81st minute– Tonight's attendance: 5,056.

Why Ubiparipovic instead of Kandji? Good question. I don't think Osorio wants to risk Kandji in this game since they absolutely need Kandji to have any chance against Chicago.

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80th minute– Burch is in for Pontius, so much for the hat-trick. Ubiparipovic is set to come in.

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79th minute– Pontius is lurking and I can see him finishing his hat-trick. Not much possession though from D.C. in the past 15 minutes.

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78th minute– Zimmerman has been good tonight, clean touches, confident on the ball, probably already better than Pietravallo.

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77th minute– Memo to Jeff Agoos: If you don't waive Dom Oduro and sign Johnny Exantus, Red Bulls fans may burn down Red Bull Arena before it's finished.

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76th minute– Wicks just CLEANED OUT Borman on a challenge, Borman did a full flip.

Will we see Kandji for Oduro? The Red Bulls need to.

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75th minute– Sassano SO CLOSE, sends a shot JUST wide.

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74th minute– Wolyniec breaks in on goal but lays it off instead of trying the tight angled shot. His pass is picked off. That was close.

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72nd minute– D.C. is struggling to generate chances now that Gomez and Fred have gone to the bench. Khumalo has basically been the lone remaining threat lately.

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70th minute– Wallace and Richards having some words, but the ref interjects.

I'll say this, I've never seen Wolyniec pass as well as he's passed tonight. He's been like the Staten Island Zidane tonight. Yes, you can laugh at that. 

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69th minute– Dane Richards with a strong challenge to take the ball away from Wallace. He's stepped it up tonight.

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68th minute– The All-University of Maryland battle isn't the only clash of college teammates here. Andrew Jacobson and Luke Sassano were midfield teammates at Cal.

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67th minute– John DiRaimondo comes on for Brian Namoff, who deserves credit for playing in this one after starting in the Chivas USA game in LA on Saturday.

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66th minute– Red Bulls free kick is headed wide.

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64th minute– Hindsight is always 20/20 but I can't help but wonder how this game goes if Rojas and Goldthwaite start for Pietravallo and Boyens. 

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63rd minute– The Red Bulls fans at RFK are jumping for joy. They also let off a flare, which was promptly confiscated.

The Red Bulls get away with a clear handball in the box, but the play happened too quickly for the ref.

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61st minute- GOAL RED BULLS!!!!!!!!!!!!! Jorge Rojas converts the PK. D.C. 5, Red Bulls 3.

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61st minute– PENALTY!!! A D.C. handball gives the Red Bulls a penalty kick.

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59th minute- Wolyniec delivers a great pass to Rojas on the left wing, but Rojas misses inches wide with his shot.

Wolyniec is the Red Bulls MVP tonight. I know that's not saying much.

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59th minute– For those wondering, it was Mendes who Pontius out-jumped on his second goal.

Rodney Wallace is coming in for Fred and we're going to have an all Maryland battle on the wing between Wallace and close friend Jeremy Hall. I'm pretty sure Hall is glad that Fred left this game.

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55th minute- Khumalo is just TOO fast for the Red Bulls tonight. He's been a terror all night.

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54th minute– D.C. United 5, Red Bulls 2. I think we'll see two more goals this game.

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53rd minute– Carlos Mendes was injured but he's up now. The Red Bulls do have a sub left (It's four subs in U.S. Open Cup play). 

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52nd minute- GOAL DC!!! Pontius with a header. Too easy. D.C. 5, Red Bulls 1. And the comeback is halted.

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51st minute- Wolyniec flicked one into the air toward Rojas, who hit a nice left-footed shot past Wicks. Red Bulls are in a 3-5-2 that looks like this:

—————Oduro———Wolyniec———-

Borman————–Rojas——————Richards

————–Sassano—-Zimmerman—————

Mendes————-Goldthwaite————-Hall

———————-Cepero———————- 

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48th minute- GOAL RED BULLS!!!! And it's Jorge Rojas, who volleyed home a pass from Wolyniec. D.C. 4, Red Bulls 2. Uh oh.

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48th minute– Tom Soehn deserves some credit tonight for playing the speedy duo of Khumalo and N'Silu against the glacial Boyens and not so quick Mendes.

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47th minute- Andrew Jacobson came in for Christian Gomez at halftime.

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46th minute– Oduro comes right out and strips a player in the box and lays off a nice pass to Richards, who hits a WEAK pass to a D.C. defender. Oduro looks like someone who knows his job is on the line.

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HALFTIME– Red Bulls fans will be unhappy that Mac Kandji won't play, but I think the white flag is up and it's time to let these guys sink or swim. Oduro will have every opportunity to show something this half. Zimmerman will also get a chance to show what he can do. 

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HALFTIME– Red Bulls are making three subs at halftime. Out are Khano Smith, Andrew Boyens and Juan Pietravallo. In come Jorge Rojas, Nick Zimmerman and Goldthwaite. I know it's easy to say now, but Rojas and Goldthwaite should have started this match. I really wonder if Boyens will ever play for this team again.

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HALFTIME– D.C. 4, Red Bulls 1. D.C. United dominated midfield, destroyed the Red Bulls offside trap and put this one away in 30 minutes. The Red Bulls have been awful at the back, but Wolyniec has looked good. Richards has shown some flashes, but other than those two, there aren't many Red Bulls heading into the locker room feeling good about their performances.

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45th minute– Wolyniec strips a D.C. player, then springs Oduro with a nice pass, only to have Oduro send a shot right at the keeper. Oduro is useless.

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42nd minute– Khano Smith has been utterly useless today. For someone who mouthed off about being unhappy with his playing time he sure didn't do much for his case.

And just as I say that, Smith almost scores, but has Wicks stop his shot with a great save.

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39th minute- Hey, Red Bulls corner. Go crazy folks.

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37th minute– D.C. fans are overjoyed. Why? Well, A) They're smoking a hated rival, B) they're doing so without several starters and C) they just won free wings at a local eatery because D.C. scored four goals tonight.

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35th minute– So much for this being a chance for Smith and Richards to stake claims for starting jobs. Both have been invisible offensively and outworked defensively.

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34th minute– I'm starting to wonder if there's any way Chris Pontius isn't on the U.S. national team's Gold Cup roster in July. The kid looks good.

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32nd minute– I'm sure the Red Bulls will point out that their lineup had no starters in it, but D.C. has just two starters from Saturday (Namoff and Pontius). To be fair, though, Christian Gomez and  Fred aren't exactly your usual bench players.

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31st minute- Dane Richards finally shows up and makes a nice run, delivers a cross, but it's smothered by Josh Wicks. 

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30th minute– You have to feel for John Wolyniec, who finally gets a start, and hasn't looked bad, but is surrounded by players who look completely overmatched.

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28th minute– Juan Carlos Osorio will wear the goat horns for this one because he put out a starting lineup that had no chance of winning. I get that yo are focused on Chicago on Sunday, but against a rival like D.C. you can't just throw out a team with ZERO starters.

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28th minute– Have no fear Red Bulls fans, Jorge Rojas is coming into the match. He may not create any goals, but he might be able to start hitting D.C. players in the face with elbows. 

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26th minute- GOAL D.C. UNITED!!!!!!! And it's FRED with the finish. He just torched Jeremy Hall, then got a tad lucky when Cepero came out and challenged and the ball ricocheted right back into his path for an easy finish into an empty net. D.C. United 4, Red Bulls 0.

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25th minute– D.C. looks very good tonight, moving well in attack and pressuring all over the field on defense. This 3-5-2 is toying with the Red Bulls. 

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24th minute– This game is bringing back memories of a 2003 match D.C. won 6-1. All it needs is a bad goalkeeper blunder (jinx).

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23rd minute– To call the Red Bulls defense horrific does a disservice to horror. 

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23rd minute- GOAL D.C. UNITED!!!!! Brandon Barklage with the finish, buries a loose ball off Cepero. D.C. United 3, Red Bulls 0.

Wolyniec nearly responds but his shot is blocked.

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20th minute– Andrew Boyens is TOO slow to play against a speedy forward like Khumalo, but the blame lies in midfield, where there isn't enough pressure on the ball. Gomez laid off a perfect through-pass to Khumalo. 

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18th minute- GOAL D.C. UNITED!!!! Thabisu Khumalo with the finish. D.C. burns the off-side trap BADLY and Khumalo breaks in on goal, beats Cepero, and sends his shot at goal. Jeremy Hall tried to save it but just buried it into the net. 

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16th minute– D.C. has beaten the off-side trap with regularity on the flanks, but can't find the final pass to put this one away. It looks like it's coming though.

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15th minute– Boyens nearly has a Tony Sanneh-like blunder at the back, but gets bailed out.

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13th minute– The Red Bulls have taken to bypassing the midfield with long balls, but Dom Oduro is pretty well useless in the air. 

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11th minute– D.C.'s crowd is small, but vocal, and they're enjoying this one.

D.C. dominating possession, and the midfield trio of Gomez, Pontius and Fred is too good for this group.

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10th minute– Without Angel, Rojas and Celades, this REd Bulls squad has ZERO creativity in attack and I'm not sure where a goal will come from.

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9th minute– Red Bulls are fielding a team with ZERO starters from Saturday's tie vs. Houston, and it shows.

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8th minute- GOAL D.C. UNITED!! And it's Chris Pontius with a free header off a corner kick from Christian Gomez. Too easy. D.C. United 1, Red Bulls 0.

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7th minute– D.C. is shredding the Red Bulls on the counter, and with perfectly-timed runs from midfield.

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6th minute– FRED MISSES FROM POINT BLANK RANGE. Pontius beats the off-side trap and sets up Fred on the doorstep, but he manages to hit it over the bar. Red Bulls got lucky there. 

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5th minute– Pietravallo's first challenge actually doesn't draw blood. He stripped Pontius clean. Promising.

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4th minute– Pontius is sitting deep in midfield and looking to spring the D.C. forwards. Interesting spot for him.

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3rd minute– D.C. United's formation looks more like this:

————Khumalo—–N'Silu—————

——————–Gomez——————–

Fred———————————Barklage

———McTavish——-Pontius————

John———–Janicki————-Namoff

——————Wicks———————-

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1st Minute– We're off. 

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PRE-GAME– The ref tonight is Mark Madlecik, who as far as I know, isn't Hispanic, so we should avoid that controversy tonight (kidding).

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PRE-GAME– We're about to kick off here. About 30 Red Bulls fans have made the trip and are stationed in the upper deck. You can hear them loud and clear because the actual overall crowd is miniscule tonight. Surprising for this match-up. Maybe D.C. fans are tired of watching their team beat the Red Bulls.

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PRE-GAME– for those who haven't heard, Jorge Rojas has had his red card suspension extended by one game and he has been hit with a $750 fine for his red card and delayed departure from the field in Saturday's 1-1 tie vs. Houston. OUCH. Also, Rojas is here, but starting out on the bench. 

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PRE-GAME– Here is D.C. United's lineup:

————Khumalo—–N'Silu—————

——————–Gomez——————–

Pontius———————————-Fred

———————Barklage——————

John—-Janicki——-McTavish—Namoff

——————Wicks———————-

BENCH– Kocic, Burch, DiRaimando, Jacobson, Wallace, Moreno, Quaranta

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PRE-GAME– Here is the Red Bulls lineup:

———–Oduro——Wolyniec————

Smith———-Sassano————-Richards

—————Pietravallo———————

Borman—-Boyens—-Mendes———-Hall

—————–Cepero————————

BENCH– Conway, Goldthwaite, Rojas, Kandji, Ubiparipovic, Mbuta, Zimmerman

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PRE-GAME– It is a beautiful early evening at RFK Stadium and the crowd has yet to arrive. This place has been a house of horrors through the years for the Red Bulls and it could be again tonight.

Comments

  1. You have a really tough time with sarcasm don’t you? All we are missing is the creativity in the midfield, so obviously we will do better with him. How is St. Louis doing this year? Ohhh wait….nevermind….

    Reply
  2. Rankings never mean anything. You’re ignorant to even believe they do. Especially the SBI ranking, means nothing.

    Maybe once good old Becks gets back to the league, you guys in LA will actually get your full 3 points! But thats only a maybe …

    Reply
  3. hahahaha conspiracy. Your wrong St. Louis, this isn’t just the SBI ranking, this actually means everything but nice try.Same Old Red Bulls….Always Losing.

    El Nino…. one-nil. Nuff said.

    Reply
  4. “Thats for thinking NY is better than LA.”

    Sean, that comment was completely out of place. Maybe if LA wasn’t involved in a conspiracy, they would have a higher ranking.

    However, this is only the SBI ranking, get over it.

    Reply
  5. I’m going to add one other indictment of JCO–his decision to go with the offside trap this game. You’ve got two frontline players (Gomez and then Pontius playing in a Pirlo like positions). Both are good with the ball, sharp, unselfish, have good vision. You have two fast players on the frontline (who really aren’t going to create chances other than speed). This is not a team to try and go with an offside trap against, especially with a 4-man line (3-man line much easier to coordinate. But you’ve got to figure Gomez and Pontius will have the timing down. To play the trap against this lineup is playing with fire.

    So dumb moves by JCO–to start the game with Rojas on the bench, and to try and play an offside trap with a 4-man line against this lineup.

    Reply
  6. Ives

    what was the deal with X in belgium…i understand from some ya boards that he struggled there…how has he been at training here? really better than oduro?

    Reply
  7. I put this loss on the head of JCO. Sure, the players play and own the ultimate result on the field. But with Olsen injured and Simms rested (not even on the game roster), center midfield defense could be exploited (Gomez isn’t going to defend). Rojas would have had space and time–when he has both he’s effective.

    Second half was a story of Rojas on (which led to service, possession and chances for RBNY) and Gomez and Pontius off (makes sense–they’re both starters and you don’t want to play them the entire match).

    It was clear that RBNY took this match seriously. And when the frontline got some service and the midfield provided some possession, suddenly we had a game here. But absent Rojas or some other creative force in the first half, the team looked dead.

    RBNY didn’t need to have Kandji on the field to win this one. They just needed 90 minutes of Rojas. I think that might have produced a win for RBNY instead of a near blowout with a nice comeback.

    Reply
  8. as I said yesterday, NYRB doesn’t care about this tournament, at least not compared to DCU. note that every player starting for DC has started at least one match this season. what do you expect?

    ________________________

    I’m sure that’s why the Red Bulls suck.

    Reply
  9. “87th minute- If Osorio was hoping to get some answers about his bench tonight I think it’s safe to say he got them. Some players stepped up, others showed that they need to be waived.”

    can you e-mail him and tell him that, please?

    Reply
  10. 77th minute- Memo to Jeff Agoos: If you don’t waive Dom Oduro and sign Johnny Exantus, Red Bulls fans may burn down Red Bull Arena before it’s finished.

    Don’t forget Duka. WE NEED ALL THE HELP !!

    Reply
  11. If they televised theses games anywhere, maybe somebody would care about them. If it was on matchcenter, I would watch it.

    Reply
  12. 5-2, great.

    Joe W,

    I’m a RB fan and no excuses period. You’re on the field and you play to win.

    Just a fyi…..the Managing Director of Red Bulls, Eric Stover, spoke to us before the season and flat out said the organization doesn’t care and doesn’t take this competition seriously.

    I don’t agree with him, but he’s not asking for my opinion.

    Reply
  13. My mistake Ives, I just assumed the people who cover the teams have some sort of connection to them. Plus, you always seem to be rooting for them in all your posts, so I just took a wild guess.

    Maybe upset wasn’t the right word- disappointed? No, not it. Eh, It’ll come to me. But thanks for the sarcasm anyway! It’s very enjoyable.

    Reply
  14. NY Bloated Bovine really really don’t care about playing. But you at least have one goal. Some self respect would be good for you cows!

    Reply

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