November 23, 2008: The New York Red Bulls Lose Their 1st MLS Cup Final

The Captains, holding hands with the mascots,

leading the teams out: Frankie Hejduk of Columbus,

and Juan Pablo Ángel of New York

November 23, 2008: For the 1st time in their history, the New York Red Bulls of Major League Soccer reach the Final of the MLS Cup. It doesn't go so well.

The Red Bulls were a founding member of MLS in 1996, using the name of the New York/New Jersey MetroStars until 2005. In 2006, they were bought by Red Bull, the Austrian soft-drink maker, and rebranded as Red Bull New York. The American media, while sometimes using the initials "RBNY," usually sticks to North American convention, calling them "the New York Red Bulls" or just "the Red Bulls," and the initials "NYRB."

Fans of the team's original rivals, Washington-based D.C. United, call them "The Pink Cows." Many New York fans have resisted the rebranding, and still wear their old MetroStars shirts to games, and refer to the team as "Metro" for short, as they always had.

Under any name, they had not reached the MLS Cup Final until 2008. Their closest call was a trip to the Semifinals, in 2000. But, in 2008, under manager Juan Carlos Osorio, with Captain Juan Pablo Ángel, a fellow Colombian, as leading scorer, they finished 5th in the Eastern Conference, beat the Houston Dynamo in the Quarterfinals, and beat Real Salt Lake in the Semifinals.

The Final was to be held on neutral ground, at the Home Depot Center, in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, California. This is no longer done: Since 2011, the Final has been held at the home of the team with the better regular-season record.

The opponent was the Columbus Crew, another charter member of MLS, also in their 1st Final, winners of the Supporters' Shield for best overall record in the regular season, and seeking the 1st league championship for any major league team from Columbus, Ohio, ever -- unless you count the Columbus Bullies, who won the Championship of the 3rd American Football League in 1940 and '41. (That league folded due to World War II. The AFL of the 1960s was the 4th league with the name. And the NHL's Columbus Blue Jackets have rarely done well.)

The game kicked off at 3:30 PM, Eastern Time. It was scoreless for the 1st half-hour, but Alejandro Moreno put the Crew on the board in the 31st minute, and it was 1-0 Columbus at halftime. John Wolyniec, popular with Metro fans as he was a local boy made good, from Staten Island, tied the game in the 51st.

But just 2 minutes later, the Crew went back ahead, on a goal by Chad Marshall. The Crew's Captain, Frankie Hejduk, put the game away in the 82nd. Final score: Crew 3, Red Bulls 1. Guillermo Barros Schelotto, an Argentine of Italian descent, assisted on all 3 Columbus goals, and was named the game's Most Valuable Player, as he had been for the league in the regular season.

Having previously won it with the Los Angeles Galaxy in 2002, Siegfried "Sigi" Schmid became the first manager to win the MLS Cup with two different teams. Before the founding of MLS, Schmid led UCLA to the College Cup, the NCAA Championship for men's soccer, 3 times.

Born in Germany, and raised in Southern California, Schmid then left the Crew to become the 1st manager of the revived Seattle Sounders, and returned to the Galaxy before heart trouble forced him to retire. He and Bruce Arena, due to both men having "coaching trees" that extend throughout MLS, are known as "the godfathers of American soccer." Sigi died on Christmas Day 2018, at the age of 65. Within weeks, MLS renamed its Coach of the Year award for him.

Schmid remains a beloved figure in the league. The Crew were favored to win the game. And no one has ever alleged that they used unfair tactics to win, or that the referees blatantly favored them. So Red Bull fans don't begrudge the Crew the win, or consider them to be a rival team. (The Red Bulls have enough rivals: In descending order of hate, D.C. United, New York City FC, the Philadelphia Union, the New England Revolution, and the LA Galaxy.) Still, the fact that the MetroStars/Red Bulls have, through 2022, played 27 seasons and reached only 1 MLS Cup Final, and lost it, is galling.

The Red Bulls crashed in 2009, putting together the worst record in the League. It was their last season on the hard artificial turf, and in front of the vast unsold seats, at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands of East Rutherford, Bergen County, New Jersey. In 2010, they moved to a venue over which they had ownership and control: Red Bull Arena, in Harrison, Hudson County, New Jersey, across the Passaic River from Newark, the State's largest city, and closer to their fan base of Irish, Italians, Portuguese, Brazilians, and various Latin American ethnicities in the Newark-Harrison-Kearny corridor.

The Red Bulls, more often than not, have reached the MLS Cup Quarterfinals. But, since 2008, they have only reached the Semifinals in 2014, '15 and '18, and never again reached the Final. Nor have they ever won the American version of the FA Cup, the U.S. Open Cup, losing the Final in 2003 and 2017. They have won the Supporters' Shield, for best overall record in the MLS regular season, in 2013, '15 and '18, so they are not without trophies.

But they are known for their postseason collapses, losing games to teams they were favored to beat. Of the original 10 MLS teams, 9 are still in existence, and 6 of those have won at least 1 MLS Cup. The Red Bulls are not one of them.

To make matters worse, there are teams that have been founded since that lone Finals appearance that have won it, including, to Metro fans' horror, New York City FC, an expansion team that began play at Yankee Stadium in 2015, and winning it in 2021. The Red Bulls have dominated the regular-season series between them, but don't have an MLS Cup. "The Smurfs" (for their light blue uniforms) have one.

With all the resources at their disposal -- they are owned 80 percent by Manchester City, and 20 percent by the Yankees -- they should have reached more than 1 Final by now. But then, with all the resources at their disposal -- Red Bull aren't exactly hurting for cash, and they're also in the New York market -- so should the Red Bulls.

*

November 23, 2008 was a Sunday. Baseball was out of season. These NFL games were played that day:

* The New York Giants beat the Arizona Cardinals, 37-29 at University of Phoenix Stadium (now State Farm Stadium) in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, California.

* The New York Jets beat the Tennessee Titans, 34-13 at LP Field (now Nissan Stadium) in Nashville.

* The Baltimore Ravens beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 36-7 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

* The Atlanta Falcons beat the Carolina Panthers, 45-28 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

* The Minnesota Vikings beat the Jacksonville Jaguars, 30-12 at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium (now EverBank Stadium.)

* The New England Patriots beat the Miami Dolphins, 48-28 at Dolphin Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida.

* The Houston Texans beat the Cleveland Browns, 16-6 at Cleveland Browns Stadium (now Huntington Bank Field).

* The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Detroit Lions, 38-20 at Ford Field in Detroit.

* The Chicago Bears beat the St. Louis Rams, 27-3 at the Edward Jones Dome (now The Dome at America's Center) in St. Louis.

* The Buffalo Bills beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 54-31 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Oakland Raiders beat the Denver Broncos, 31-10 at Invesco Field at Mile High (now Empower Field at Mile High).

* The Indianapolis Colts beat the San Diego Chargers, 23-20 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.

* The Dallas Cowboys beat the San Francisco 49ers, 35-22 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

* The Washington Redskins beat the Seattle Seahawks, 20-17 at Qwest Field (now Lumen Field) in Seattle.

* The preceding Thursday, the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 27-10 at Paul Brown Stadium (now Paycor Stadium) in Cincinnati.

* And the next night, on ESPN Monday Night Football, the New Orleans Saints beat the Green Bay Packers, 51-29 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay.

There were 5 games played in the NBA:

* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Golden State Warriors, 89-81 at the Wachovia Center (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Toronto Raptors, 118-103 at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto.

* The Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Detroit Pistons, 106-80 at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan.

* The Denver Nuggets beat the Chicago Bulls, 114-101 at the Pepsi Center (now the Ball Arena) in Denver.

* And the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Sacramento Kings, 118-108 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.

There were 2 games played in the NHL. New York wasn't more successful in either of them, but New Jersey was: The New Jersey Devils beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 7-3 at the St. Pete Times Forum (now the Benchmark International Arena) in Tampa. Dainius Zubrus scored 4 goals for the Devils. In the other game, the Nashville Predators beat the Carolina Hurricanes, 5-2 at the RBC Center (now the Lenovo Center) in Raleigh, North Carolina.

October 6, 1894: America's 1st Professional Soccer League

The 1894 Philadelphia Phillies... soccer team.

October 6, 1894: The American League of Professional Football, the 1st pro soccer league in the United States, begins play. The 1st game is played in Philadelphia, at the home of the Phillies, what would later be known as Baker Bowl. The New York World, Joseph Pulitzer's splashy, sometimes trashy, newspaper, prints this story: 

Philadelphia, Oct. 6 -- The championship season of American League Professional Football opened here this afternoon on the Philadelphia baseball grounds, with a game between Philadelphia and New York's clubs.

The visitors won by a score of 5 to 0. Two halves of 45 minutes were played.

After 40 minutes of play in the first half, Connolly of New York kicked the first goal.

In the second half, the home players did not back each other up properly, and New York had little trouble in making four more. Gavin scored two and Lupton scored two.

There was a good crowd present, and the liveliest interest was maintained. The New York XI showed excellent teamwork, and the coaching of their captain Trainor had a good effect.

The sporting public in this vicinity are not going to die of heart disease caused from over-enthusiasm for professional football.

Still, it seems to be gaining in popularity. It is an open question whether football can succeed baseball.

There were 6 teams in the ALPF, all named after the baseball teams in town. In alphabetical order: The Baltimore Orioles, the Boston Beaneaters, the Brooklyn Bridegrooms, the New York Giants, the Philadelphia Phillies and the Washington Senators.

Baltimore won their 1st 4 games by a combined margin of 24-3, but couldn't afford to stay in business, and had to fold. Since the standings were decided by points, 2 for a win and 1 for a tie, the standings were as follows: Brooklyn 10, Baltimore 8, Boston 8, New York 4, Philadelphia 4 and Washington 2. A dispute with a competing soccer authority and the depression of the 1890s combined to prevent a 2nd season in the Autumn of 1895.

New York and Philadelphia would become important cities in American professional soccer, and both would have teams in the American Soccer League, the original North American Soccer League, and, with the 2010 establishment of the Philadelphia Union, Major League Soccer. But Americans simply have never cared enough about soccer to put in on the same level as baseball. That would not be the case with the game we call "football."

*

October 6, 1894 was a Saturday. The baseball season was over. Hockey was all-amateur. And basketball had barely been invented. But there were college football games played. Among them were the following:

* Army beat Amherst, 18-0 on The Plain at West Point, New York.

* Harvard beat Andover, 46-0 at Soldiers' Field in Boston.

* Michigan were held to a 12-12 tie by the Michigan Military Academy, at Regents Field in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

* The University of Chicago beat nearby Northwestern, 46-0 at Marshall Field in Chicago.

* And in New Jersey, Rutgers beat Lafayette, 12-10 at Neilson Field in New Brunswick.

In England, there was professional soccer, including Woolwich Arsenal, which would one day move to North London and became the Arsenal team I support, beating Lincoln City, 4-1 at the Manor Ground in Plumstead, then in Kent, now in Southeast London.

July 4, 2023: Major League Soccer's Biggest Crowd

July 4, 2023: Major League Soccer has the biggest crowd in its history, in one of the league's defining cities.

NOTE: While these entries are dated 2022, I decided to backdate the posting dates of events from 2023 onward to the same date in 2022.

The league's first attendance record was, of course, set in its first game, but it lasted a long time. On April 13, 1996, the Los Angeles Galaxy beat the New York/New Jersey MetroStars, the team now known as the New York Red Bulls, 2-1 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, in front of 69,255.

That record lasted until September 16, 2017, when expansion team Atlanta United got 70,425 fans for a game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, against Orlando City, which ended in a 3-3 draw. They managed to keep raising the record until the 2018 MLS Cup Final, when they topped out at 73,019 for their 3-0 win over the Portland Timbers.

On March 5, 2022, that expansion team got topped by another expansion team. Charlotte Football Club moved into Bank of America Stadium, home of the NFL's Carolina Panthers. Their 1st-ever home game attracted 74,479, a new record. With some appropriateness, the opponent was the 1st-ever MLS regular-season hosts, the Galaxy, who emerged victorious, 1-0, on a 77th minute goal by Efrain Álvarez.

But the record was reclaimed by the Rose Bowl on the 4th of July, 2023. The establishment of Los Angeles Football Club in 2018 led to an intra-metro-area rivalry named not El Clásico, like the one between Spain's Real Madrid and FC Barcelona; but El Tráfico, for the L.A. area's awful traffic.

The derby was first played at what's now named Dignity Health Sports Park in suburban Carson on March 31, 2018, and the Galaxy won a thriller, 4-3. LAFC play at BMO Stadium (formerly Banc of California Stadium), built on the site of the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, next-door to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. So, like the newer New York City FC says to the New Jersey-based New York Red Bulls, LAFC, despite being the newer team, can claim to be the real team of the city, because they actually play in the city.

The Galaxy lead the league with 5 MLS Cup wins, most recently in 2014. LAFC won the MLS Cup in 2022, so they came into this game as defending Champions.

The Galaxy wanted to reclaim the MLS attendance record, so they recommended that their 2023 season opener, set to be an El Tráfico, be moved to the Rose Bowl. MLS management agreed, but bad weather forced the game to be postponed. They decided to play it on the national holiday. Attendance was 82,110, breaking the old record by over 7,000 fans.

Tyler Boyd put the Galaxy on the scoreboard in the 26th. Ilie Sánchez equalized in the 57th. Ricard Puig scored for the Galaxy in the 73rd, and his goal held up as the winner: LAG 2-1 LAFC.

"It felt like it should," said LAFC head coach Steve Cherundolo said after the game. "It felt like a playoff game and a real game that matters not just to the 22 players out on the field, but to 82,000 people here and around LA. It's fantastic and a great atmosphere for everybody who was here tonight."

LAFC have expressed interest in playing a game they would host at the Coliseum, or at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. Renovations have meant that the Coliseum no longer holds over 100,000 people, but SoFi can, supposedly, be expanded to that many.

*

July 4, 2023 was a Tuesday. These 4 other games were played in MLS that day:

* Orlando City beat Toronto FC, 4-0 at Exploria Stadium in Toronto.

* Inter Miami and the Columbus Crew played to a draw, 2-2 at DRV PNK Stadium in the Miami suburb of Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

* D.C. United beat FC Dallas, 1-0 at Toyota Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Frisco, Texas.

* And the Colorado Rapids and the Portland Timbers played to a draw, 0-0 at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in the Denver suburb of Commerce City, Colorado.

And these Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles, 8-4 at Yankee Stadium II. Gleyber Torres and Jose Trevino hit home runs, in support of Clarke Schmidt.

* The New York Mets beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 8-5 at Chase Field in Phoenix.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Boston Red Sox, 6-2 at Fenway Park in Boston.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Washington Nationals, 8-4 at Nationals Park in Washington.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 3-1 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.

* The Miami Marlins beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 15-2 at LoanDepot Park in Miami.

* The Cleveland Guardians beat the Atlanta Braves, 6-5 at Progressive Field in Cleveland. David Fry singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Detroit Tigers, 1-0 at Comerica Park in Detroit. Ryan Noda singled home the winning run in the top of the 10th inning. The A's used 4 pitchers to pitch a 6-hit, 10-inning shutout: JP Sears (7 1/3rd innings), Lucas Erceg (2/3rds), Shintario Fujinami (the 9th inning, and the winning pitcher) and Trevor May (10th inning, save).

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Chicago White Sox, 4-3 at Guaranteed Rate Field (now Rate Field) in Chicago.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 7-6 at American Family Field in Milwaukee. Nico Hoerner singled home the winning run in the top of the 11th inning.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Kansas City Royals, 9-3 at Target Field in Minneapolis.

* The Houston Astros beat the Colorado Rockies, 4-1 at Minute Maid Park (now Daikin Park) in Houston.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Los Angeles Angels, 8-5 at Petco Park in San Diego.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 9-7 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* And the Seattle Mariners beat the San Francisco Giants, 6-0 at Oracle Park in San Francisco. Logan Gilbert pitched a 5-hit shutout.