Primetown on the Road: MLS Western Conference Final: New York Red Bulls @ Real Salt Lake

The date: November 15, 2008.
The location: Sandy, Utah.
The moment: The Red Bulls first ever conference title and a ticket to MLS Cup.

After the historic victory in Houston the week before, I quickly asked to take off the following Friday so I could go to Utah to see the Red Bulls attempt to make MLS Cup. I am lucky that my boss is well aware of my passion for soccer and more specifically for New York Red Bulls soccer and gave me the necessary time off to enjoy the playoff run.


After a week of anticipation, I left my job after working half a day Friday and headed to Laguardia Airport (Triboro Bridge crossing above). Originally, I was supposed to fly through Chicago and then on to SLC. With poor weather on the way at home, Chef Leon, Hockey Trophy, and myself took an earlier flight through Dallas. The one plus side of this flight experience is that I got to pick up a "Don't Mess with Texas" shirt in Dallas. Is there a better state slogan than that?



We arrived in Salt Lake City around 11 PM. We quickly picked up the rental car and were on the look out for a liquor store. Luckily, we stopped at a gas station and learned Utah is one of those states that sells beer in a gas station. ESC's first victory in Utah... ever. Eventually, we made our way to a large neighborhood and found our way to the house. Calling it a house is a bit of an understatement. This place was huge... 8,000 square foot huge. 2 master bedrooms, several other bedrooms, a 60 or 70 foot basement, a theatre room, an amazing kitchen, and even an eliptical machine which the Vezinator is pictured above testing. After some initial conversations, and a couple brewskies, it was time to hit the hay.


Born and raised in the suburbs of New York City in New Jersey my entire life, it's not too often I get to wake up to a viewing overlooking the Rocky Mountains. It's great to wake up and look out the window to the sight of snow capped mountains. Sometimes you need to take a break from the norm and experience something different, that is something Utah can provide. After taking a bunch of photos outside the house, it was time to hit the supermarket and pick up all the necessary supplies for the tailgate. Almost $300 later we left with food to feed 20+ people. Once we got back and began preparing the food, others began to arrive throughout the morning. At about 4 PM we made our way to Sandy, home of Rio Tinto Stadium.


The setup of the parking at Rio Tinto was subpar to say the least. Gravel parking lots sort of in the middle of nowhere. It was a cold day, not crazy windy cold, but it was seriously cold. After all, it was November in Utah. We setup the tailgate and just about as we were ready to eat, we noticed some Red Bull vehicles in the corner of the lot. We went over to them and were lucky enough to be asked to join. They opened up one of the trucks and our eyes lit up... bottle after bottle of hard liquor. Not to mention carton after carton of Red Bull. Enough liquor to keep us wasted for a good 2 weeks. Perfect. It was cold and how else does one get warm... liquor.

Decent crowd on hand. It didn't have the feel of a big game, but certainly to all involved on our end it certainly did. Midway through the first half, Dave van den Bergh sent the traveling supporters into a frenzy as he put home a pass from John Wolyniec to give the Red Bulls a 1-0 lead.

The remainder of the game was absolutely nailbiting. Salt Lake hit the post several times including twice in the final minutes. When the final whistle blew, the ESC was as jubiliant as ever. A trip to our Super Bowl... MLS Cup, was now a reality. Text messages flying in from the East Coast as the boys had done what was considered unthinkable just a few weeks ago. The front office was kind enough to share some championship gear with us as well. After the game, the crowd of very happy RBNY fans waited for the team outside the stadium. Each player received a chant as they walked out of the stadium and onto the team bus. My fondest memory was the ESC doing a full fist pump to the bus. All the players on the bus responded returning the NJ status symbol back to us. Awesome experience, awesome day.




Above is your picture of the folks who made the trek across the country to see RBNY win their first ever conference title. It is moments like this that make supporting a team to the fullest worth while. One game away from winning it all... I wouldn't miss it for the world. To be continued...

Primetown on the Road: MLS Cup Quarterfinals Leg 2: New York Red Bulls @ Houston Dynamo

Cougar Place Drive, Houston, Texas. For the band of brothers and sisters who made the long trip to Houston that fateful weekend in early November 2008, it is a street none of us will ever forget.

As the New York Red Bulls sneaked into the last spot in the playoffs, the team was placed as the last seed in the Western Conference for which rules are too complex at this point to explain. With that said, that placement put RBNY into a 2 game (home and home) series with the two-time defending MLS Champions, the Houston Dynamo. The Dynamo were a team packed with talent... Brian Ching, Rico Clark, Dwayne Derosario, Pat Onstad, and Eddie Robinson. Heck, Stuart Holden was only a substitute off the bench. This was a dynasty if there ever was any in MLS. In the first leg of the series, the Red Bulls took an early lead, but a late Kei Kamera goal gave the Dynamo the draw they wanted, putting them at a clear advantage heading into the home game.

With the aggregate even, we were able to rally a few people together to make the trip to Houston for Game 2. With improbable odds, but a warm weather destination in sight, a group of about 2 dozen agreed to head to the Lonestar State.


On Saturday morning about half the group met at Newark airport to begin the trip. Like any normal flight, drinking commences early on and the group was properly buzzed to go. A chilly stopover in Chicago where we physically had to walk out on the tarmac and switch planes was the only delay to our final destination... Houston, Texas.



We arrived in the space city (they are really big on space/astronauts there as evidenced by the above) some time in the early evening and quickly drove off to the hotel to meet with the rest of the contingent. Our first order of duty was to find some ridiculously awesome Texas BBQ. Well, it's Texas, where the people are big and the portions are even bigger, so that wasn't really a problem. We headed out to Pappa's BBQ and upon entering I met a cute cashier who proceeded to challenge me to eat a full BBQ beef dinner, a turkey po'boy, and a 24 ounce beer. $19.85 and two empty plates later I finished the job. Of course, she bailed before I could claim victory, but another Man vs. Food Challenge went to the boy from New Jersey. Afterwards, we hit up a few bars with pints of many delicious Shiner Bocks before heading back to the ranch or whatever hotel we were staying at. Per the norm, a group of the usuals had a hard time getting to sleep the day before a major game. At 3 AM, a group of us trekked to one of the greatest late night stops in the history of the world:


The one and only Kettle: 24 Hour Breast (I mean Breakfast, but that's what the lights say). When I say this place is great, it is fan-freakin-tastic. Top notch service, top notch food (breakfast/dinner, whatever), and just allowed us to be our ridiculous selves. It's like a Denny's but 5x better. The perfect place to wind down after a long day. After that fun session, debauchery further ensued.



Nobody felt the need to stand at the front desk at 4 AM, so the boys had a little fun in the front lobby such as Cliff riding the world's largest skateboard. At that point, it was time to hit the beds in ode to what would be a historic Sunday.



Gameday... is there anything better? With a 10 AM wakeup and 1030 out, everybody put on their club gear and we headed out to the stadium. Houston plays on the campus of the University of Houston at Robertson Stadium. When at capacity it seats just over 30,000 people... not a bad size venue for a MLS team. Upon arrival, we were directed to what might as well have been Oklahoma. We were way out there in the far lots of the stadium. We even had our own security escort... well 1 man with quite possibly the greatest cop 'stache of all time. Not the greatest of tailgate locations... a vacant parking lot, situated next to a gigantic electrical structure, but that was soon enough over as the march to Robertson commenced.

One of the more fun march ins in ESC History. Never had I remembered being booed this significantly entering a stadium. This is MLS... people boo away supporters? Well, they certainly did in this sold out stadium decked in a sea of orange. The Houston people came to see their side continue on in the playoffs, just like they did the previous two seasons, but today was a different day.



El Battalion (who I regard as the best supporters club in MLS) were in full force. Loud, proud, and with plenty of percussion. These guys know how to rock and roll. But, but... this was not there day. The greatest performance in the career of Dane Richards led to his first playoff goal halfway through the first half. A stunned Houston crowd was later silenced as a penalty kick was given to New York. Juan Pablo Angel took the ball and easily buried it in the back of the net. The Red Bulls now up 2-0 had us (ESC) in a frenzy. Some theatrics from Danny Cepero including a 360 somersault to catch a ball from Brian Ching who had a clear shot at goal got the Bulls thinking they could do this. As the minutes in the second half decreased, ESC and the rest of the contingent were looking at their watches in anticipation of something great. With about ten minutes to go, Dane Richards took a ball short of midfield and went on a darting run abusing Corey Ashe before delivering a perfect cross to John Wolyniec who one timed it to the far corner. Game, set, match. Two time defending champions... OUT. New York Red Bulls... to the conference finals. Wolyniec with one of the all time great celebrations.. can somebody say, "Thriller." That was it folks. A 3-0 thrashing. In my opinion, the best performance in team history. Something for the ages and now just 1 game away from MLS Cup... but first a trip to Sandy, Utah to face Real Salt Lake in the conference final.

Fresh off a victory against the league's top club, there was optimism amongst the traveling fans. That night, after some victory celebrating (including a water cooler dump), we got back to the hotel and the majority booked their tickets to Salt Lake City for what would be another historic night.