September 23, 2017: East Hartford FC

September 23, 2017: New York City Football Club's best claim to moral supremacy over the New York Red Bulls is shattered -- not by success on the field, but by the location of their field.

Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field opened in East Hartford, Connecticut on August 20, 2003. It was supposed to be the 60,000-seat new home for both the New England Patriots and the football team of the University of Connecticut.

But, as it turned out, Patriots owner Robert Kraft was just using Connecticut to get a better deal right where he was, in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts. So the stadium was scaled back to 40,000 seats, and UConn are its main tenant.

New York City FC had to play a "home game" there on September 23, 2017, after 3 years of their fans mocking the New York Red Bulls for playing in New Jersey. They were held to a 1-1 draw by the Houston Dynamo.

NYCFC had to play there again in 2020, but, that time, it wasn’t their fault: Because of COVID restrictions, Toronto FC couldn't play in Canada, and played their home games in East Hartford. But in 2022, because Yankee Stadium and Citi Field weren’t available, NYCFC had to play another "home game" there, 115 miles from Midtown Manhattan. In contrast, Red Bull Arena, in Harrison, is 11 miles from Midtown.

In mockery, a Red Bulls fan made up an altered version of NYCFC's "old-time subway token" logo to read "EAST HARTFORD FOOTBALL CLUB," with the logo used by the NHL's Hartford Whalers before they moved away in 1997. And a Red Bulls supporters group invited the man who played Pucky the Whale, the former mascot of the Hartford Whalers, and since then of Hartford's minor-league hockey teams, to a game at Red Bull Arena, where he got a great reception.

Ever since, Red Bulls fans have mocked NYCFC as "East Hartford FC." But, since 2021, NYCFC fans have been able to remind Red Bulls fans who won an MLS Cup in just 7 seasons, and who has been a charter MLS franchise but hasn't won one in over 25 years.

Through September 23, 2022, the U.S. men's soccer team has played 8 games at Rentschler; the women's team, 9. Liverpool FC, Celtic FC, and the national teams of Brazil, Belize, Cuba, Guatemala, Japan and Venezuela have also played there.

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September 23, 2017 was a Saturday. This was also the day LeBron James called Donald Trump "U bum" on Twitter. I have a separate entry for that event.

These other Major League Soccer games were played that day (with some league games being played the next day):

* The New York Red Bulls couldn't laugh too much, as they lost to the Columbus Crew, 3-2 at Mapfre Stadium (now named Historic Crew Stadium) in Columbus, Ohio.

* The New England Revolution beat Toronto FC, 2-1 at Gillette Stadium in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts.

* The Philadelphia Union beat the Chicago Fire, 3-1 at Talen Energy Stadium (now Subaru Park) outside Philadelphia in Chester, Pennsylvania.

* D.C. United beat the San Jose Earthquakes, 4-0 at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington. They played one more game at RFK, losing to the Red Bulls on October 22, and then used temporary venues until Audi Field opened in the middle of the 2018 season.

* Minnesota United beat FC Dallas, 4-1 at TCF Bank Stadium (now Huntington Bank Stadium) in Minneapolis.

* Real Salt Lake beat the Seattle Sounders, 2-0 at Rio Tinto Stadium (now America First Field) in the Salt Lake City suburb of Sandy, Utah.

* And Vancouver Whitecaps beat the Colorado Rapids, 2-1 at BC Place in Vancouver.

These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 5-1 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto. Sonny Gray was the winning pitcher. Greg Bird and Todd Frazier hit home runs. Aaron Judge went 1-for-4.

* The New York Mets lost to the Washington Nationals, 4-3 at Citi Field. Noah Syndergaard had to leave the game with an injury after only 1 inning. Matt Harvey, scheduled to start the next night, came in on short rest, and allowed 3 runs in 4 innings. Former Met Daniel Murphy led off the top of the 10th inning with a home run.

* The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Baltimore Orioles, 9-6 at Camden Yards in Baltimore.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-2 at SunTrust Park (now Truist Park) in the Atlanta suburb of Cumberland, Georgia.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 11-6 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Cincinnati Reds, 5-0 at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. Eduardo Rodríguez pitched 7 2/3rds innings of 3-hit shutout ball, and Carson Smith and Joe Kelly completed the 3-hit shutout.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Detroit Tigers, 10-4 at Comerica Park in Detroit.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Chicago White Sox, 8-2 at Guaranteed Rate Field (now Rate Field) in Chicago.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat their arch-rivals, the Chicago Cubs, 4-3 at Miller Park (now American Family Field) in Milwaukee. Travis Shaw hit a home run in the bottom of the 10th inning.

* The Houston Astros beat the Los Angeles Angels, 6-2 at Minute Maid Park (now Daikin Park) in Houston.

* The Miami Marlins beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 12-6 at Chase Field in Phoenix.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Colorado Rockies, 5-0 at Petco Park in San Diego. Jhoulys Chacín pitched 6 innings of 1-hit shutout ball, and 4 relievers completed a 5-hit shutout.

* The San Francisco Giants beat their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, 2-1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Madison Bumgarner outpitched Hyn-jin Ryu. Denard Spain went 3-for-4 with an RBI.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Texas Rangers, 1-0 at the Oakland Coliseum. Raúl Alcántara pitched 5 innings of 2-hit shutout ball, and 4 relievers completed a 4-hit shutout. The only run came when Khris Davis led off the bottom of the 2nd inning with a home run.

* And the Cleveland Indians beat the Seattle Mariners, 11-4 at Safeco Field (now T-Mobile Park) in Seattle.

Among the college football games played that day were these:

* Number 1 Alabama beat Vanderbilt, 59-0 at Vanderbilt Stadium (now FirstBank Stadium) in Nashville.

* Number 2 Clemson beat Boston College, 34-7 at Memorial Stadium in Clemson, South Carolina.

* Number 3 Oklahoma beat Baylor, 49-41 at McLane Stadium in Waco, Texas.

* Number 4 Penn State beat Iowa, 21-19 at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa.

* Number 5 University of Southern California (USC) beat the University of California, 30-20 at California Memorial Stadium, Berkeley.

* Number 6 Oklahoma State were upset by Number 16 Texas Christian University (TCU), 44-31 at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

* Number 7 Washington beat Colorado, 37-10 at Folsom Field in the Denver suburb of Boulder, Colorado.

* Number 8 Michigan beat Purdue, 28-10 at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana.

* Number 9 Wisconsin were idle.

* Number 10 Ohio State beat the University of Nevada at Las Vegas (UNLV), 54-21 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus.

* In an all-Top 20 matchup, Number 11 Georgia beat Number 17 Mississippi State, 31-3 at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia.

* Number 12 Florida State were upset by North Carolina State, 27-12 at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, Florida.

* In a rivalry game, Duke beat North Carolina, 27-17 at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

* Notre Dame beat Michigan State, 38-18 at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Michigan.

* Among the service academies, Army lost to Tulane, 21-17 at Yulman Stadium in New Orelans; Navy beat Cincinnati, 42-32 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland; and Air Force lost to Number 22 San Diego State, 28-24 at Falcon Stadium in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

* And New Jersey's team, Rutgers, lost to Nebraska, 27-17 at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska.

And in New Jersey high school football, my Alma Mater, East Brunswick, lost to neighboring Monroe, 21-19 at Hugh Walsh Field in Monroe.