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Newsday, Melville, N.Y., Sports Watch Column: Fresh Start for Raging 'Bulls'

Posted on: Friday, 31 March 2006, 06:00 CST

By Neil Best, Newsday, Melville, N.Y.

Mar. 31--The other day we plunged a hand into an icy tub of Red Bull cans, in a room full of true believers, and drank the Kool-Aid.

Well, it sort of tasted like Kool-Aid, if it were mixed with liquefied Jolly Rancher candy, carbon dioxide and a dash of cough syrup. But trying the vitamin-infused, caffeine-added concoction seemed like a good idea given the matter at hand:

Getting into the spirit of Red Bull's purchase of the soccer club formerly known as the New York / New Jersey MetroStars.

In short, the "energy drink" has provided the jolt our area's Major League Soccer franchise has needed pretty much since the day it was born a decade ago.

That was evident Tuesday when the team gathered for its first official event as the New York Red Bulls, a bilingual, season-opening news conference at a Manhattan jazz club that attracted many more reporters than the previous year.

At the center of it was president and general manager Alexi Lalas, the former U.S. star. He used words not often heard among GMs, such as "stoked," to describe his mood since the purchase March 9.

"It's a seminal moment for our team and for our sport for what it represents," said Lalas, 35, who keeps his red hair tamer than in his playing days. "It has a lot of people fired up, a lot of people talking."

That itself is a huge step. As the MetroStars, the team never won an MLS title, rattled around in mostly empty Giants Stadium and failed to transform enough young soccer players into spectators.

The MetroStars were one of five teams owned by the Anschutz Entertainment Group and often seemed to get lost in the crowd.

Now they have the backing of an Austrian company with the experience of renaming and reinvigorating a club in that country, as well as money and creative, aggressive marketing expertise.

"Ultimately, everyone who opens up a Red Bull in this area is going to figure out they're associated with a soccer team," veteran goalkeeper Tony Meola said.

Red Bull reportedly paid about $100 million for the team, and a half interest (plus naming rights) for a soccer-friendly stadium to be built in Harrison, N.J. It said its aim is to reach fans of a "sport of the future" and added, "Our desire is to create one of the top clubs in the world."

At least its name and logo nicely fit a team - more so than, say, the New York Cablevisions.

This is a World Cup year, so soccer will be in the spotlight, especially if the U.S. plays well; it currently is ranked fifth in the world. But the trick is translating that into a popular domestic league.

A winning, well-marketed team in the New York area would help. The Red Bulls open Sunday at D.C. United. The home opener is April 8, and the team plans game-day events Lalas said will offer fans "a spectacle the likes of which they have never seen."

Lalas said "MetroStars is not a dirty word" and the franchise will not forget that era. But the hope is Red Bull can wake up the echoes of a more distant time.

Said Lalas: "They are committed to bringing the spectacle of the Cosmos back, that kind of excitement with regards to the game of soccer."

That lofty goal will test the energy (and money) produced by the sweet stuff in all those little cans.

Strange but true: Bonds series comes due

The strangest TV event of the year keeps getting stranger.

ESPN's behind-the-scenes series "Bonds on Bonds" is set to debut Tuesday, but the network is doing all it can to keep its news outfit separate from the spectacle.

Recently, that put SportsCenter in the position of quoting Daily Variety quoting what Barry Bonds will say in the first episode.

Former ESPN executive VP Mark Shapiro, appearing at the World Congress of Sports Tuesday in New York, took note of that awkward moment and called the entire Bonds project "a terrible precedent to set." He said he rejected a similar idea when he was at ESPN.

Oh, well. The ratings will be boffo, so what else matters?

In sunnier news from the feisty folks at ESPN Original Entertainment, Long Island will host a regional qualifier Sunday for its series chronicling an international darts competition.

All comers are invited to the Holiday Inn in Ronkonkoma, where a single-elimination event will be held to pick one of 16 U.S. qualifiers for the finals in May. Arrive before noon to register.

Just wondering: Whom can you trust?

SportsNet New York has promoted itself as the ultimate TV source for local sports news, a title it must earn every day from now until the end of time.

That's journalism, at SNY just as it is at Newsday. Earning and keeping trust is a tough racket.

Yesterday was a positive early sign. With exhibition games in progress on SNY, YES and ESPN, only SNY posted a split screen carrying Bud Selig's steroids news conference. (ESPNEWS had it, too.)

After the news conference, the Mets announcers engaged in a frank discussion of the situation.

SNY's programming and technical operations remain works in progress, and it has yet to add either of the big satellite providers, although DirecTV is believed to be close.

It starts to count Monday. We'll be watching.

Best's bets: Wolff opens a baseball trove

Facing an Opening Day shadowed by "Game of Shadows," turn the dial on the nostalgia machine up to 11 and enjoy a gentler diversion: "Legend to Legend, Conversations with Bob Wolff," a DVD from News 12's resident pillar.

Wolff, 85, compiled interviews in the late 1950s with everyone from Mickey Mantle to Ted Williams to Senators owner Clark Griffith, who tells of being a town team mascot in 1876.

1876!

One highlight is a trip to the apartment of several Senators, where Bob Wiesler does the dishes in a frilly apron and Ed Fitz Gerald cooks meat loaf. (Let's see you get A-Rod and Jeter to do that, Bob.)

The unvarnished first generation of TV players explain their crafts, from Nellie Fox on bunting to Hoyt Wilhelm on the knuckleball to Luis Aparicio on base-stealing. (Much of the material appeared on an MSG Network series several years ago.)

"The charm to me is no frills, no graphics; this is exactly how it was, and all on first takes," Wolff said. "They all spoke like human beings, like friends."

Tough century so far

The MetroStars' average attendance in 2005 was the lowest this millennium. Figures since 2000:

Year Average

2005 15,077

2004 17,195

2003 15,822

2002 18,155

2001 20,806

2000 17,621

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Copyright (c) 2006, Newsday, Melville, N.Y.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: Newsday, Melville, N.Y.

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