Discounting Cup Competition: #RedBullMonday #RedBullOut
In the summer of 2011 New York’s original MLS club had yet to win a single legitimate trophy in its then 15-year history. The ‘Curse of Caricola’ loomed large in those days and the fans were praying that they would taste some sort of success in the near future.In the middle of the MLS season, New York won it's opening round Open Cup match to reach the final eight. On July 12, 2011, the unfortunately named New York Red Bulls traveled to Chicago to play the Fire in an Open Cup quarterfinal. The Fire were one of the league's worst teams that season. Winning the game would put NY within a game from just the third final in club history and within two wins of their first legitimate trophy. It was all set up for one of those magical cup runs that NY fans had long dreamed for.There was one major problem…only 14 players traveled (4 short of a full squad for those of you counting at home) and most of those were reserves. Oh, and head coach Hans Backe decided to stay home too. It wasn't an illness that sidelined the Swede, he just...decided not go. In other words, New York was deliberately discounting a fantastic chance to win its first trophy in its tumultuous 15-year history.Why on earth would any legitimate soccer club deliberately harm its chances at winning a major trophy, let alone one that hadn’t won a damn thing in its history? Apparently, there was a directive from Red Bull headquarters in Austria to ignore the Open Cup. “It's a nuisance”, the energy drink said. So Backe stayed home, as did top assistant Jan Halvor Halvorsen. The team of backups was coached by the combination of Carl Robinson (still a player!) and a guy who went by the name of Mike Petke.