"Best Reason The Metrostars Should Build A Stadium In Harrison, NJ Brilliant,innit. Because it would be reachable by public transportation, unlike that NFL dump in East Rutherford. Because ersatz hooligans could take over the entire PATH train, go to a game, then a curry shop and do a runner.It would make our pal Tony Blair quite proud, and the MLS would no longer be an embarrassing co-tenant victim if the ever-crooked NJSEA." Just thought some of you would like to read this.
Woohoo!!! Finally the ESC Firm can take the tube to the grounds, hit the pub crawl, and take over the effen town! Glory to the Metros!
"Best John Huston Real-Life Sports Movie Moment The oval in Queens. It’s the mecca of pick-up soccer and regional leagues bearing teams with kooky Anglophile spoof names and some pretty good game action. One fine day during the Champions tour in July, a few Manchester United players showed up to have a kick around with whoever was there. Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs were out punting with the punters. Oy mate, ever seen the Yankees do that with the local softballers? No word on bodyguards or security for these soccer superstars slumming it in Queens." Except Giggsy wasn't there. Good call, anyway.
New York Press has given Metro great coverage in the past as well. From the archives: Best Sports Website Serving the Silent Majority Of Soccer Fans www.graferspants.com "Trouser Gallery. Somehow connected with the already excellent Metrofanatic.com, the only site worth checking for local fans of the long-neglected New York area Major League Soccer franchise called the MetroStars, Graferspants.com is what the nerds at Stanford and Michigan and Illinois intended way back when when they invented the Internet. See, there is nothing more obscure than being a backup goalkeeper in the MLS, and that is just what Port Washington-native Paul Grafer was, the back-up goalkeeper for the MetroStars. This site defines the man, who is well-coiffed and actually looks like he could be a sommelier at Vong or somewhere that used to be trendy. When Grafer first appeared on the scene, the vocal members of the Empire Supporters Club–the Anglophile rowdies who stand behind the Metros’ home goal–noted his rather unnecessary penchant for long black pants. This site has all the details about said garment, which apparently was pilfered and has traveled to the far corners of the Earth, as documented by actual photos on Graferspants.com. At presstime, Grafer, who now wears the standard short pants, was pressed into service to help the Metros avoid becoming one of the two teams in the 10-team MLS that did not qualify for the "playoffs." So if the Metros do make it to the postseason, it will be by the seat of Paul Grafer’s pants, and may God and former Metro joke Kerry Zavagnin bless us all. " http://nypress.com/15/39/news&columns/mediapolitics2.cfm
They even covered an ESC offseason event: Soccer Dads - The Metros’ brain trust rallies the fans. Outside Nathan Hale’s bar on Murray St. just off Broadway is a classic "dig we must for a greater New York" construction site, the kind that used to appear in Mad magazine. On a blustery Saturday afternoon in February, the orange-clad workers were digging away at most of Murray St. and looked to be the only souls stirring in this chilled canyon. Inside Nathan Hale’s, though, on this Saturday in early February, soccer fans had gathered for a dig of their own. These were MetroStars supporters, and with the team’s home opener still some 60 days away, they’d assembled to watch the broadcast of the U.S. national team’s friendly match against Argentina played in sunny Miami where streets are not called "Murray." They were also hoping to increase their ranks with a humble membership drive. .... http://www.nypress.com/16/8/nyc/nyc2.cfm