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.

March 8, 2015: New York City FC Debut

March 8, 2015: New York City Football Club, an expansion team in Major League Soccer, play their 1st competitive match. They play Orlando City Soccer Club at the Citrus Bowl (now named Camping World Stadium) in Orlando, Florida. Mix Diskerud scores the franchise's 1st goal in the 76th minute, but Brazilian legend Kaká equalizes in stoppage time, and the game ends, 1-1.

On March 15, they played their 1st home game, at Yankee Stadium, and beat the New England Revolution, 2-0.

NYCFC was founded in a joint partnership between City Football Group (80 percent) and the New York Yankees (20 percent). City Football Group also owns Manchester City FC in England, Melbourne City (formerly Melbourne Heart) in Australia, Montevideo City Torque in Uruguay, Yokohama F. Marinos in Japan, Girona FC in Spain, ES Troyes in France, Lommel SK in Belgium, Sichuan Jiuniu in China, and Mumbai City FC in India (in the city formerly known as Bombay).

The owner of 70 percent of City Football Group, and thus of 56 percent of NYCFC, is Mansour bin Zayed bin Sultan bin Zayed bin Khalifa Al Nahyan. Better known as Sheik Mansour, he is the Deputy Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, and the brother of Khalifa bin Zayed. the President of the UAE and the Emir of one of the Emirates, Abu Dhabi.

So, for all intents and purposes, these teams are owned by an entire country. Not just any country: One of the richest countries in the world, with an economy based on oil and, let us tell the truth, slave labor. 

To make matters worse, in that 1st season of 2015, some NYCFC fans were caught chanting neo-Nazi slogans. Worse still, on August 9, the 1st time NYCFC went to New Jersey to play the nearby New York Red Bulls, they started a fight outside Bello's Pub in Newark, the main Red Bull fan bar. They got the hell beaten out of them. And the Red Bulls won, 2-0.

Because of their blue shirts, Red Bull fans called NYCFC the Smurfs. City fans pointed out that at least they actually played in New York City, calling the Red Bulls "the Jersey team." Fans of the team once known as the New York/New Jersey MetroStars, and who still called themselves "Metro," taunted them with the song: "Fuck off, N-Y-C-F-C! You ain't got no history!" And "Shit club, no home!" The word "plastic" was bandied about as well.

NYCFC finished that 1st season with 10 wins, 17 losses and 7 draws, 8th in the Eastern Conference, not good enough for the MLS Cup Playoffs.

In 2016, they improved to 2nd in the East, but on May 21, the Red Bulls went into Yankee Stadium and slaughtered them, 7-0. City were eliminated in the Conference Semifinals by Toronto FC. In 2017, they were knocked out of the Conference Semifinals by the Columbus Crew. And, because the Yankees needed Yankee Stadium for their Playoffs, NYCFC were forced to play their last 2 "home games" elsewhere. One was at the New York Mets' ballpark, Citi Field.

The other was at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Connecticut. That's 118 miles from Midtown Manhattan. That broke the record forced on the 1973 and '74 New York Giants, who had to play at the Yale Bowl in New Haven, Connecticut, 76 miles away. Compare that to Yankee Stadium (6 miles away), Citi Field (10) and Red Bull Arena (12). Their fans' right to mock the Red Bulls and their fans for not playing their home games in New York City had completely dissolved.

At their next home game, the Red Bulls' ultras held up a banner combining the logos of NYCFC and the long-gone Hartford Whalers hockey team, reading "EAST HARTFORD FC," and even invited the man who played the Whalers' mascot, Pucky the Whale, who entertained the crowd.

In 2018, they got to a restructured MLS Cup Semifinal, before losing to Atlanta United. In 2019, they lost to Toronto FC in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Because the Yankees got to the American League Championship Series again, NYCFC had to play what turned out to be their only Playoff game and one U.S. Open Cup game at Citi Field.

The COVID epidemic, and the Orlando-area "bubble" it forced on MLS for the 1st 3 weeks of resumption resulted in "home games" away from Yankee Stadium that were none of NYCFC's fault. And then came, to NYCFC's most ardent fans, the ultimate indignity: They had to play home games at Red Bull Arena. They even had to play another game in East Hartford, although that also wasn't their fault: Canada's COVID restrictions kept Toronto FC from playing at home, so they played NYCFC at Rentschler Field. NYCFC got knocked out of the Playoffs in the 1st round, by Orlando City.

It had been 6 seasons, with all the resources that come from the Emirati royal family, and with all the resources that come from being in the world's biggest market. They'd had some legendary players: Frank Lampard from England, Patrick Vieira from France, Andrea Pirlo from Italy, David Villa from Spain. And yet, they hadn't even gotten to an MLS Cup Final. True, the Red Bulls had been around for 25 years, and had only been to 1 Final, and lost it. Which is disgraceful. But they didn't have the kind of expectations that City did.

In 2021, they pretty much split their schedule between Yankee Stadium and Red Bull Arena, and finally put it all together: They made the Playoffs as the 8th and last seed in the Eastern Conference, but eliminated Atlanta United, the New England Revolution and the Philadelphia Union, before going to Portland, Oregon for the MLS Cup Final. After extra time ended 1-1, they beat the Portland Timbers on penalties, 4-2.

It was the greatest day in NYCFC history, and the most embarrassing day in Red Bulls history -- and they weren't even playing.

Through the end of the 2021 season, they have played 102 "home games" at Yankee Stadium, 17 at Red Bull Arena, 3 at Citi Field, 3 at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex outside Orlando, and 2 in East Hartford.

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March 8, 2015 was a Sunday. There were 2 other MLS games were played on that day. The New York Red Bulls gained a draw against Sporting Kansas City, 1-1 at Sporting Park (now Children's Mercy Park) in Kansas City, Kansas. And the Seattle Sounders beat the New England Revolution, 3-0 at CenturyLink Field (now Lumen Field) in Seattle.

There were 7 games played in the NBA:

* The Brooklyn Nets lost to the Utah Jazz, 95-88 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

* The Orlando Magic beat the Boston Celtics, 103-98 at the Amway Center in Orlando. (It's now named the Kia Center.)

* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Chicago Bulls, 116-105 at the AT&T Center in San Antonio. (It's now the Frost Bank Center.)

* The Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Toronto Raptors, 108-104 at the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City. (It's now the Paycom Center.)

* The Charlotte Hornets beat the Detroit Pistons, 108-101 at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan.

* The Dallas Mavericks beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 100-93 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. (It's now the Crypto.com Arena.)

* The Golden State Warriors beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 106-98 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena (then named the Oracle Arena).

There were 6 games in the NHL:

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the New York Rangers beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 1-0 at the United Center. Derick Brassard scored the game-winner, just 32 seconds into overtime.

* The New Jersey Devils beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 5-2 at the Prudential Center. Adam Henrique scored 2 goals.

* In another "Original Six" matchup, the Boston Bruins beat the Detroit Red Wings, 5-3 at the TD Garden.

* The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Edmonton Oilers, 7-4 at the PNC Arena (now the Lenovo Center) in Raleigh.

* The Ottawa Senators beat the Calgary Flames, 5-4 in a shootout at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa.

* And the Colorado Avalanche beat the Minnesota Wild, 3-2 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.