MLS Thursday Night: LA Galaxy v New York Red Bulls

By: Bob | October 18th, 2007

Loyal readers of this little ol’ blog will know that all season long we have tried to do our part to promote the beautiful experiment we like to call MLS Thursday Night. Truth be told, it hasn’t always been easy. Some weeks the games have been less fun than a root canal. But watch we must because dammit the notion of a soccer game of the week on national television is one that every red blooded human should support. All of the hours we have spent on this endeavor will be rewarded this Thursday evening. We get to watch a game of importance, if you consider the MLS playoffs important, which you should.

A few weeks ago we all would have scoffed at the notion of a game featuring the LA Galaxy would matter in the least. David Beckham was out with an injury, the team looked like it couldn’t win a Sunday league game and the marks in the loss column were accumulating. Funny how a five-game winning streak can change everything. Well that, and the fact that there are a lot of mediocre teams in MLS this season.

The Galaxy control their playoff destiny and while they don’t need to win this evening, they really do. The game is at home, New York has nothing to play for, and anything less than three points will leave them looking to other teams for help. These two teams have played twice this year with the Galaxy winning 3-1 in the US Open Cup and the Red Bulls winning 5-4 in front of 66,237 in New York in what was probably the MLS game of the season.

Will tonight’s game live up to expectations? Will Beckham have an impact? Will the ESPN crew go two consecutive sentences without talking about Beckham? Some things to keep an eye on while you tune in:

1. Cobi – While I’ve personally never been a fan of Cobi Jones (other than in the final minutes of the World Cup game against Mexico in 2002 when he took the ball to the corner and let the Mexicans kick the shit out of him), the old man for the Galaxy does deserve his due. He’s an original member of the league and an original member of the Galaxy. This could be his final game in front of the LA faithful.

2. Motivation – Will the Red Bulls have any? They already are locked into a playoff encounter with the New England Revolution. Juan Pablo Angel is one goal behind Luciano Emilio in the race for the Golden Boot (if that is what it is called in MLS) so he could have some personal incentive (if he isn’t rested), but what are Bruce Arena and the boys hoping to get out of this one?

3. He’s bald, he’s shit – And his head looks like a tit. That is Brian Hall. He is the referee selected for the contest. If you watched last week’s MLS Thursday Night affair you got to know Mr. Hall very well. He pranced around and got more camera time than a braless singer from a has-been girl band. Will he stamp his influence on the game tonight? The smart money is he will be very involved.

Your thoughts and predictions on tonight’s game?