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DC United Fans FURIOUS That Sandy Forces Playoff Swap With Red Bulls
By
Dan Dickinson
Published Nov 1, 2012
Modified Nov 1, 2012
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By
Dan Dickinson
Published Nov 1, 2012
Modified Nov 1, 2012
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Add another sporting event to the list of things ruined by Sandy! With Red Bull Arena blacked out and Harrison largely inaccessible from mass transit, the Red Bulls seemed unlikely to serve as host for the first leg of the Eastern Conference semi-finals this Saturday. Wednesday afternoon, Major League Soccer announced a swap in dates of the home-and-home playoffs series. DC will now host New York on Saturday, November 3rd, while New York will now host DC on Wednesday, November 7th.
This change effectively hands New York the home field advantage in the series. With a Saturday game likely to draw a bigger crowd—New York having drawn terribly over the 2012 season on Wednesdays—the advantage may be marginal at best. But should the game go to overtime, those extra 30 minutes—and potential penalty shootout—would be held in Harrison. That's assuming that Red Bull Arena is fully functional again by next Wednesday; the league is still pursuing alternative venues in the area should that not be the case. Here's what one player, right winger Jan Solli Tweeted:
Sandy doesn't paint nice pictures!! And this is earlier today! twitter.com/JanGunnarSolli…
— Jan Gunnar Solli (@JanGunnarSolli) October 30, 2012
In a conference call held immediately following the announcement, the league described the decision as not easy but necessary, given the conditions. Commissioner Don Garber stated "This is a tough decision, but one that we think is much bigger than the sport of soccer," noting that the league offices in Manhattan remained without power and likely would remain closed for the rest of the week. Garber also promised that the change brings a "competitive impact" on DC, and that the league "will try to do things to minimize that impact." A larger away allocation of tickets for away fans will be made for Wednesday's game, and there are rumors that the league may be paying for buses to bring up additional fans.
Still, DC United fans refused to let this go quietly, even when faced with the fact that THERE WAS A HURRICANE. Tone-deaf cries of a conspiracy rang out on Twitter, and many DC fans pledged to boycott both games. We've gathered some of the best/worst of their reactions below.
It's safe to assume that should RBNY end DC United's playoff run, this swap will be held as a cross to bear by the Barra Brava for the rest of eternity. Because you know what's more important than towns in full crisis, with area mayors begging for assistance? You know what's more important than letting police officers focus on rescuing people in need rather than managing traffic going into an out of a stadium? DC United's second place finish (by ONE point, I might add) that somehow earns them the right to play on through a tragedy like there aren't 34 people dead and counting. Screw human decency—DC wants another star on their jerseys!
Ahem. (We've been assured by cooler heads that this isn't a uniformly held attitude across the DC fanbase—and that many have expressed support or understanding for the situation.)
Tickets are available for the leg at RFK; NY's supporters groups are scrambling to assemble buses down for the game on short notice. While tickets for the Wednesday game are available, RBNY has reported issues with their ticketing system, and their ticket office (which is inside the stadium, naturally) is closed. Both games will be televised on the NBC Sports Network.
Tagged
dc united
evacuation zone
hurricane sandy
mls
new york red bulls
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Dan Dickinson
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