MLS Thursday Night: FC Dallas v Red Bull New York

Entering its third week I think it is safe to say the MLS Thursday Night has become an American tradition that ranks up there with driving large automobiles, eating fatty foods and cursing the demise of The Simpsons. Kids are staying up late to watch it, people are cutting out of work early to tune in, and even the intolerable ESPN announcers are making themselves tolerable. The only thing that sucks is that these games, well at least last week’s at Columbus, are being played in largely empty stadiums. Perhaps the tv broadcasts are so good that everyone is just choosing to stay home.

Will that change tonight in Dallas? I hope so. This is actually a good soccer match-up and if you follow MLS you should be interested in seeing how it plays out. Red Bull New York’s tradition of utter mediocrity appears to be in jeopardy this season. They could actually be a good team. In fact, I think they are a good team. They have two wins and a draw in their first three games and they lead the Eastern Conference (can we do away with the conferences already and go to a single table?). Indeed, Red Bull New York have gotten off to a fine start even without Juan Pablo Angel, who is still waiting for a work visa.

The Red Bulls face an FC Dallas side that is leading the Western Conference. They are a veritable MLS scoring machine with 7 goals in their first four games. It shall be fun watching how their offense fairs against a New York defense that has yet to yield a goal. These two teams met 11 days ago in New York and the Red Bulls did some stomping in their 3-0 victory.

Here are a few more things to keep an eye on during the great MLS Thursday Night experiment:

1. The New and Improved Adu – The 17-year-old New York striker Jozy Altidore is like Freddy Adu only he can play. Bruce Arena and others are cautious to hype the young lad but if he continues to knock in goals like he has the past two games it is only a matter of time before he starts attracting attention beyond MLS.

2. The Carlos Ruiz Drinking Game – Since Thursday night is officially the start of the weekend you have my permission to go ahead and crack a few open. Every time FC Dallas forward Carlos Ruiz is offside is a drink. Every time he is offside and then complains to the referee is a half chug. Every time he is offside, complains to the referee and then goes down the field to kick a Red Bull player is a chug. This game is best played if you don’t have to drive an automobile or operate heavy machinery.

3. Read his lips – I once spent a game in very close proximity to former US national team and current New York coach Bruce Arena. Let’s just say that he taught me some vocabulary that would make a sailor blush. Have fun watching ESPN pan in on the Bruce while he is at pains not to curse the world on national television.

Enjoy the action and by all means feel free to chime in with your thoughts in this space. If we don’t watch it and promote it who else will?

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Category: MLS, World Football