NYC FC will play three years at Yankee Stadium, to which your author asks: “Why is this a big deal?”
Neil W. Blackmon
Player #30 in our “32 Players to Watch at the 2014 FIFA World Cup” list coming tonight, but let’s get the lay of the land after an exciting week of soccer in the United States, which saw some compelling action in MLS and the opening of the North American Soccer League’s spring season. We start, however, with a big story that has nothing to do, as of yet, with the play on the field…
New York City FC will play in Yankee Stadium for at least three years, this news first courtesy of Andrew Das and David Waldstein of The New York Times. Predictably, the reaction to this on Twitter was full of snark and skepticism, and with some merit; after all, nothing says “high-level soccer” like a set piece in the shadow of Gerhig and Ruth and Monument Park. One rather compelling tweet on this story:
https://twitter.com/shinguardian/status/455856302367842305
Three things are striking about NYC FC’s “decision” to play at Yankee Stadium (the quotes around decision should at least hint at where I come down on this):
First, it is another striking blow to Garber’s supposed expansion commitment to sides that have stadium plans in place. NYC FC has always been a not-so-quiet indictment of Garber’s famed “stadium-first” expansion sentiments, but this just makes the whole thing look even more messy, and it perhaps comes at the worst possible time, given that MLS likely will award a team to Arthur Blank and the city of Atlanta this week, and the Atlanta club will play in the Falcons new football stadium. Obviously, the rules have been different for NYC FC and will continue to be– such is life when you’re bankrolled by Manchester City and the Major League Baseball financial equivalent of Manchester City- the Yankees.
Second- and the reason for the quotes around “decision”- it isn’t as if NYC FC had much of a choice. Sure, there was some talk about playing the matches at one of the piers, Chelsea (not that one), for example- but that was just talk. The reality was the team needed a place to play and CITI Field, owned by the Mets, was a non-starter because of NYC FC’s affiliation with the Yankees, and Harrison, New Jersey was a non-starter because the last thing NYC FC wanted to do was ask the team that will be their rival if they could borrow their field for a couple seasons. That left Yankee Stadium, somewhere on Long Island, and perhaps Hofstra (where the Cosmos play) as possibilities and of those only Yankee Stadium was truly realistic. This was less a “decision” than a necessity. And as a guy who has lived in multiple boroughs and might move the family back, the criticisms surrounding how you get to Yankee Stadium are silly too. Yes, the traffic is terrible. Take the train. There are trains from the tri-state area that end up in the South Bronx. End of discussion.
Third, and this is where I’m likely to lose people who have been reading and nodding– this isn’t all that bad a solution. Another @shinguardian tweet to help bring it full circle:
https://twitter.com/shinguardian/status/455872975560925184
I’m using that one because the main criticism people have of NYC FC playing in Yankees Stadium is about the main tenant in that building being who they are. There’s a laughable chicken before the egg thing going on with that criticism, however. The Yankees are the Yankees and they’re going to overshadow every professional sporting franchise in American sport, be it NYC FC or the New York Giants. Think I’m getting carried away? Fine. Take the Pepsi Challenge and buy a NY Post or better yet, New York Times the week of the NFL Draft. See what team leads the papers and what team gets the smaller window story on the front page. The Yankees are king even in a NFL universe. NYC FC was going to have to deal with that anyway; the good news is they’ve got Yankees bankroll behind them rather than as a straight competitor.
And, by staying in New York, they retain the “brand” they wanted– NYC FC, not Long Island FC, or “Red Bulls Little Brother FC”, etc. New York City is, in my view, the greatest city in the world. It’s also one of the greatest cities to watch soccer in, as this fantastic piece by Braden Ruddy entitled “Global Soccer, Global NYC” demonstrates. NYC FC will flourish with CITY branding. Yankee Stadium retains that in the interim far better than any alternative solution.
Events like the Cosmos Copa at Pier 40 demonstrate NYC’s soccer-craze, and the viability of NYC branding.
Beyond that, there’s silly talk about infield lines and football lines and field turf and while it’s not desirable, no question, it is a Twitter talking point, meaning: snarky people on Twitter whine about the infield lines or the football lines and then watch the Sounders play in September anyway. They’re going to whine about it on NYC FC gamedays but business will go on as usual, with Jason Kreis and Manchester City and the Yankees brass all helping NYC FC play attractive soccer, and in the end, it’s the soccer folks will write about, not the infield dirt. If getting made fun of on Twitter is going to derail NYC FC, well, they’ve got more serious problems.
Finally, the @shinguardian tweet demonstrates the other issue with the infield/football/sharing with the Yankees criticism that is important to understand: it’s about context and what is systemically worse for the franchise. Training grounds and facilities dictate your day-to-day operation– as long as NYC FC have first-class facilities for the day-to-day, they’ll be ahead of other franchises in MLS. Where you play on match day is a concern, but not a primary one, especially in the short-term.
Shifting gears, Clint Dempsey built on his heroics against Portland with an even better performance this weekend against a very good Dallas team.
I think there’s some inevitable decline on the horizon, just because these types of numbers aren’t sustainable for too long and you have to factor in the “Dempsey loves big games” element when you’re talking about Seattle vs. Portland and Seattle vs. Dallas. But even a mild regression to the typical Clint Dempsey mean is a positive thing for US Soccer fans. Here’s his spectacular free kick goal if you missed it…
Another positive? The play of Maurice Edu, who scored a late equalizer for the Philadelphia Union this weekend and is the biggest reason the Union are off to a fantastic start to the 2014 campaign. Edu is in form and Klinsmann must notice– it would be shocking if Edu isn’t in the 30 man send-off camp, especially with Danny Williams again battling injury overseas. I’m not certain how Edu makes the team– but given his positional flexibility and the US’ dire situation at centerback, it’s certainly not out of the realm of possibility.
A couple of other things worth thinking about:
— Carlos Bocanegra has really steadied the Chivas defense. Given the fact that the US is Matt Besler and pray for help at CB right now and the presumed # 2, Omar Gonzalez, was practically back passing to the other team last weekend, is it fair to question Klinsmann’s decision to put the longtime American captain out to pasture early in the World Cup cycle? Is Gonzalez that much better, or is Goodson that much better, than the aging but steady Bocanegra? I lean towards yes but only based on age and gut feeling. There’s certainly no evidence of it on the field at the current moment.
— Jozy Altidore’s move to Sunderland can only be characterized as a disaster, and it was, in fact, by Jonathan Wilson at FOX Sports this morning. A good read, and to further grasp how bad things are- remember this: In England, they don’t tell Emile Heskey jokes anymore. They tell Altidore jokes.
Liverpool honored the Hillsborough departed this weekend. Then they moved a step closer to winning the Premier League…
Finally, the ESPN Documentary on the Hillsborough disaster airs tonight on ESPN in the United States. The show cannot air in England because of the current inquest that is still ongoing into what happened that fateful day 25 years ago in Sheffield. I’d encourage folks to watch, if only for the following reason: if you ask an average American soccer fan what Hillsborough was– they’d probably tell you that a stadium issue and collapse killed a bunch of soccer fans. It is unlikely they know more than that. And yes, at base, that’s what happened. What is absolutely jarring is what happened before and what happened after, and the manner in which both the FA and the English press covered the story in its aftermath. Since then, much has been learned and the focus has shifted to unmasking the truth about that horrific day– and the film, poetically from what I’ve heard, covers all angles.
It’s worth thinking about this way though– had Hillsborough not happened, we may not have a Barclay’s Premier League. The disaster shed light on the need for massive stadia upgrades and with that need came a need for more money. Television, above all, represented the capital frontier for such an endeavor, and changing the structure of English football was necessary to make a massive television deal possible. Without Hillsborough, it might not have occurred. Point being, for so many reasons, most of all the fact that 96 people went to a soccer match that day and never came home, the event is that seminal. It’s a “Where were you when?” moment not just in English soccer, but English history, and the documentary will be worth your time.
Comments, as always, are yours.
Neil W. Blackmon is Co-Founder and Co-Editor of The Yanks Are Coming. He can be reached at nwblackmon@gmail.com and you can follow him on Twitter at @nwb_usmnt.