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| Here Come the New York Red Bulls! |
By Steve Lepore
Wednesday, March 08, 2006 |
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I know soccer isn't the biggest thing in everyone's minds, at least not until the World Cup this summer in Germany. But a grave injustice is about to be dealt to the passionate fans of the Meadowlands' MLS franchise, the New York/New Jersey MetroStars.
They are about to be bought by an energy drink.
The energy drink franchise, Red Bull, has started buying sports teams. It began in Austria, when the trendy Hollywood drink company bought an Austrian soccer team, SV Austria Salzberg. This is a team that had over 70 years of history, and Red Bull wiped it out. Also, they bought Salzburg's hockey team and two Formula 1 teams, as some of you may know who follow that sport, Jaguar Racing is now Red Bull Racing, and Minardi is now Scuderia Toro Rosso.
This is what will happen to the "Metros," as their affectionately known by the 15,000 or so that fill the lower bowl at Giants Stadium on Saturdays; especially those in section 112, the Empire Supporters Club. They run a website, MetroFanatic.com, that was developed before the team was even called the MetroStars. The team's ten-plus year history will be done with, and while the MetroStars have been the New York Rangers of the MLS, it is still a good history filled with international stars who have graced the MLS stage.
The worst part: the team will be renamed the New York Red Bulls.
Seriously, the New York fracking Red Bulls. Imagine if this happened in another sport. Who would pay money to see the Red Bulls take on the Capitals, Wizards, or Nationals? In any other league, this would be considered a joke.
But nothing's low enough MLS. A league that has come up with ridiculous names like Real Salt Lake, Houston 1836 (a team that was renamed recently to the almost-as-ludicrous Houston Dynamo) and FC Dallas, in an attempt to look more like the European leagues. Fair enough -- the foreign names bring some interest in the non-traditional markets. But this is Northern New Jersey, where people give a crap about soccer. Where U.S. Nationals Tony Meola, Tab Ramos, and John Harkes all grew up in the same town, Kearny, NJ. This is the home of "Soccertown U.S.A."
The fact that sports giant AEG, which owns the team currently, is willing to sell off a more traditional team name for a jersey decked out in drink ads is just awful. Living here in Jersey, it will definitely diminish my interest in ever going to a game again.
So, why should you care? Because if they start at soccer, who's to say other companies won't start naming sports franchises after themselves, and do we really want to live in a world where tonight's big game is the New York Pepsis vs. the Boston Cokes?
-SFM-
Steve Lepore is a columnist for SportsFan Magazine.
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