First XI: Wrecking ball
Red Bulls playing final Giants Stadium match before moving into new facility in '10
"Bring on your wrecking ball!"
For Red Bulls/MetroStars fans this is truly a day of celebration. For me, a New Jersey native and soccer zealot, it's been 13 years of wishing the local team had a better home than the one in the Meadowlands. Yes, even in Year One of MLS, when I worked as the director of communications for the MetroStars, I wanted out of Giants Stadium. It's not a knock on the people who work there or the location. Here it is, in one sentence:
It's never been a good soccer stadium.
Oh, I know those are fighting words for many old Cosmos fans, but I'm part of the Cosmos Generation, too, and while a few magical nights when the place was packed back in the late '70s provide some nice memories, it's not enough to sway me. Aside from the 1994 World Cup, when they actually had the time to put in a Bermuda grass playing surface -- one where the grass actually took root -- Giants Stadium has always lacked the one thing necessary for a real, professional soccer game: A good playing surface.
The beginning of the end for Giants Stadium as an MLS venue was late in the 1996 season when the MetroStars had to conclude their inaugural season (and the playoffs) on AstroTurf. Sure, Rob Johnson might have been able to score on a 40-yard lob against the Revs when he took advantage of a turf hop, and Antony DeAvila seemed to enjoy playing on it, but the overall game took a beating. And, in one way or another, it was that way for the MetroStars and Red Bulls from then on.
MLS games just never looked right at Giants Stadium. In addition to the ever-changing playing surface, the corners were too tight. Where stadiums like RFK found a way to situate the supporters in reasonable proximity to the rest of the crowd, at Giants Stadium, the faithful members of the Empire Supporters Club were placed on this virtual island behind the goal, all alone. During the team's best seasons this wasn't so bad, but during some of the down years, as attendance numbers dwindled, the visual was depressing. A season-ticket holder for several years after I left the MetroStars for ESPN, I stopped going to the games. It got too depressing going there.
For years there was talk of a new stadium but I grew cynical. "I'll believe it when I see it," I said (and wrote) many times. Well, I am very happy now to be a true believer.
My friend Dan Ryazansky, who has run the site MetroFanatic.com since the inaugural season, has put up his 10 best and 10 worst memories of Giants Stadium and I agree with all of them. I'm not so stubborn that I won't admit to witnessing some moments of greatness during the years that MLS games were played in The Swamp. Remember Clint Mathis' stunning goal against Dallas in 2000?
How about John Wolyniec's brilliant strike in 2003?
I was there for both of those. I was also there for Giovanni Savarese's bicycle kick goal against Tampa Bay in the MetroStars first-ever win at Giants Stadium.
Yet even as I sat there back in '96, with close to 40,000 in the stands, it never felt right. It became even more evident a few years later when Columbus opened up the gates to Crew Stadium and, of course, when the Galaxy opened up The Home Depot Center, and more and more MLS clubs put the game on display in better soccer facilities.
It's time that New York (and New Jersey) gets to see the game in a new light. I won't be there on Saturday night when the MetroStars host Toronto FC in what will be the final MLS game at Giants Stadium, but I'll raise a glass nonetheless. For my friends who've endured and still go to the games. Enjoy one last tailgate party in lot 16A. Talk about the good times and the bad ... that's what being a fan is all about, right? The good times wouldn't feel as good if you didn't lose once in a while. The future is bright now for the Red Bulls and soccer fans in the Metropolitan area. Your new home awaits.
Bring on your wrecking ball.
Jeff Bradley is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine. Send your comments and complaints (200 words or less, please) to Jeff at jbradleyespn2003@yahoo.com and he promises to read (but not respond to) all of them. The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author's, and not necessarily those of Major League Soccer or MLSnet.com.
