DC @ NY POSTPONED (because 1 team wouldn't play) Until 11/8/12

i've been to maybe 3 games all year, mostly as an excuse to see some friends as a spectator of the game. Any passion I had for the former club here has long evaporated.

 

I noticed watching from home that there were DCU personnel helping in the snow removal. I mean, really. RBNY purposely did nothing to clear the snow (it's impossible! look at it come down!) to get the match postponed. It was obvious when Backe went on NBCSN live to cry a big cry that the RBNY crew were told not to work too hard. Hopefully these mealy-mouthed mother********ers don't prosper from this cheating, but probably will.

And this incident totally blows a hole in MLS original argument for the switch in the first place. MLS had no problem with NBC changing the broadcast to tonight and moving the first leg of the final to Sunday. All those scheduling problems just disappeared. Poof! Also, the Big East tournament was moved from RBA to PPL Park in the blink of an eye. Turns out it doesn't take weeks to schedule something at PPL Park; that it's a soccer specific venue with electricity and everything ready to go.

 

Funny how a guy who hates RBNY is so quick to come to RBNY's defense.

 

Here's the link to the article about the field's drainage and heating system. Make of it what you will.

http://www.newyorkredbulls.com/news...nt_id=6480718&vkey=pr_rbn&fext=.jsp&team=t107

 

Not defending them at all. But as someone that lives here and currently lives with friends because I lost my home to flooding and understands first hand the impact of the last and current storm I have a hard time placing the real blame for this mess anywhere else than MLS's doorstep.

They screwed up bigtime and its had nothing but adverse effects on the series and the fans.

 

i dont want to comment because i dont want to say the same things other people have said.
just going to say MLS ********ed up bad, over and over with this series.
Why drag a bunch of people up to NY to see that debacle, especially when the intensity of the storm was clear for days.
I feel for the few interns they had out there shoveling snow, but that is so far from "prepared" it's embarrassing.

 

Backe didn't want to play. Olsen did. In such a situation, the team that refuses to play forfeits the game.

 

The middle one I remember well. That's Gianluca Vialli scoring for Chelsea against Tromso of Norway in a UEFA Cup Winners Cup group stage match in the fall of 1997. Chelsea went on to win the competition in May of 1998.

 

Yes, if MLS didn't cancel it. If they ordered the game played and Backe still refused to play, yes RB has to forfeit. That isn't what happened though..MLS canceled it well past a reasonable time t do so, when they should have done so on Tuesday. The risked the safety of hundreds of traveling fans, that is inexcusable to me.

http://www.nydailynews.com/bondy-red-bulls-fans-snowed-article-1.1198543

 

LoL. He was a supporter and some others were also. It was a joke watching 15 or so people try to clear the field.

I am pissed about last night. What they did to those of us that made it out and you guys was complete BS. No reason that game should not have been played, none. Especially after people made it out there and they kept saying it was on, lots around the stadium were open and blah blah blah. They play CL games in Russia in snow, on frozen fields, in single digit temps. They put everyone's safety at risk traveling to the game, fans and people who work at the stadium. It should have been canceled early in the day if it was going to be.

Now I am out two days of work, lose my overtime from earlier this week for calling out sick today, out tolls, parking, and gas which isn't so easy to come by in NJ. To top it off my truck broke on the way home. Thank you RB and MLS.

 

I was waiting for Benny to have the team go on the field nd have pre-game warm up as usual and show all fans, viewers and team/league officials that this game could be played.

Then NYRB would have looked foolish waiting around in the tunnel. This may have forced the hand and gotten the game started.

 

hmmmm, interesting...

"Page not found"

Double interesting...

From the Red Bull Arena wikipedia page (last updated Sept 19, 2012 @ 8:12, I predict that changes)

The underground drainage and turf-heating system installation began on August 18, 2009.

The footnote provided is the link above

 

i walked around for about 20 minutes with a different group of RB fans until we finally found them - about a block and half away from Penn Station, not in the direction of the stadium. Then their short bus drove through the drop-off lane in front of the train station, so it took another 15 minutes to get through that traffic.

It was completely incompetent that NYRB would put a transit advisory on their website telling people that there would be shuttles to the stadium and then not put up a big sign in the train station telling people where those shuttles actually were. Still not as incompetent as the snow clearing operation, though.

I'll be back tonight, and am just going to walk to the stadium, it wasn't that bad a walk back.

 

I can't believe anyone would say they did.

 

Apparently your concern for the safety of hundreds of traveling fans only includes fans of RBNY, a team you allegedly hate.

 

I took some time away from here to let my anger come down a bit. This whole ordeal has been very disappointing. The lack of respect for our team and our fan base has been very disappointing. I place this blame on mls and the lack of leadership and the I will also place blame on dc united and our leadership. Our owner should have been on the phone with mls hq. He is not just simply the owner of the team, he is also the person solely responsible to all the fans of his team. He is responsible to stand up for our interests and to get angry for us. When we as a fan base feel that mls is taking advantage of our team he should be out front explaining directly to us what he is doing to fix this problem.

With the realities of when our league plays we know that games played late in the year in open stadiums will have bad weather. There must be in place very clear and specific rules and regulations about when to and not to play due to weather. Rbny should have been simply been given option to field the team or forfeit. Where is our owner? What is he doing? Why isn't he talking to us? Where is his anger? Its bad enough we keep getting screwed with an owner who can't afford our team and can't get us a SSS , but now he doesn't even care enough to call mls and yell at somebody.

Just keep it up. Go ahead keep this crap up. Keep punishing your fan base. Keep jerking us around. See what you get! You already got a vanishing fan base. Keep it up and see what else you get! Because obviously you are just simply trying to flip this team. You show no interest in dc united. Just hoping dc will build you a stadium so that you can sell the team for a profit. Let's see if dc will build a stadium for a team that has ever decreasing attendance and a vanishing fan base. Let's see who would want to buy a team like that. Come on keep it up! I dare you!

 

article on the installation of the turf heating system

http://redbullsreader.wordpress.com...ng-system-begins-this-week-at-red-bull-arena/

and here http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2009/10/sod_being_laid_at_new_red_bull.html

RBNY 2012 media guide, page 10, under Aug 18, 2009 entry http://pressbox.mlssoccer.com/sites...files/New York Red Bulls 2012 Media Guide.pdf

God I love the internet...

 

Our owner was in the stands with us, actually. I have no doubt he has things to say and people to whom he wishes to say them.

 

Will Chang was in the stands banging on a drum last night. Saying he doesn't care about this team or its fans is completely insane.

 

Interesting, I didn't know about the Big East tournament move. Yeah, the claim by Garber that PPL was not a viable option always struck me as BS. The Union controls that venue and I have no doubt that they could have made it ready for a game either this last Saturday or last night.

MLS has gone out of its way twice now to give the Red Bulls a home game at RBA. Putting aside whether or not that was a good move, given the problems around the storm, the RBs last night showed an utter lack of good faith in their efforts (or lack thereof) to make the field playable. They didn't want to play because they were afraid they might lose a perceived advantage. They didn't like the fact that DC had such a large visiting fan contingent. So, Backe and the RB front office did everything in their power to make sure the game didn't happen. It was an incredibly cynical move and showed the utter lack of class and sportsmanship exhibited by Backe specifically and the RBs as an organization generally.

 

From that NY Daily News article:

Still we outnumbered them.

Thx,

Jay!

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/more-sports/bondy-red-bulls-fans-snowed-article-1.1198543#ixzz2BeFT69pa

 

Being in the stands is one thing. Where is his press conference? Where is his buying a page on washingtonpost and apologizing to the fan base? As an owner he has a responsibility to make sure he protects his team and it's fan base and the integrity of the product. Maybe I shouldn't say he doesn't care. Maybe I should say he just doesn't care enough!

And to all you apologists...look around you during the games. Have you noticed that fewer people are going? That things just don't seem the same like they did back in the day. That's cause others feel just like I do or worse. I at least still go to many games...but I have noticed.

 

yeah, 17,500 people showed up on saturday with 3 days notice... sellout of the last game of the season... this fanbase is really shrinking.