Two weeks ago, the Men In Blazers Media Network announced a live event in New York City that would celebrate the Hudson River Derby. To be honest, the all-star lineup announced at the time was a head-scratcher. It featured Men In Blazers imperator Roger Bennet, Karl-Anthony Towns and Josh Hart of the New York Knicks, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and Emil Forsberg of New York Red Bulls, Michael Bradley of New York Red Bulls II...and exactly nobody from New York City FC.
NYCFC fans will be relieved to learn that players from the blue side of the city will be there. Multiple sources disclosed to Hudson River Blue that New York City will indeed participate, but the actual players are yet to be determined. Once those names are confirmed, a follow-up announcement will be made.
"Men In Blazers: Live! In New York" will take place on Friday, September 8, at Terminal 5 in Manhattan. Doors open at 6:30 pm ET, and the show will begin at 7:30 pm ET. General admission tickets cost $20 and can be purchased here.
The late announcement has us wondering here at HRB headquarters if the delay was a tactical maneuver by the New York City comms team. Did they wait to see who the Red Bulls would start before deciding who to send to Terminal 5?
Choupo-Moting and Forsberg form the spine of the RBNY attack, accounting for 24 of the team's 42 goals. Will NYCFC neutralize them with goalkeeper Matt Freese and defensive midfielder Aiden O'Neill? New York City have allowed just 32 goals so far this season, the second-fewest in the Eastern Conference and the third-fewest in Major League Soccer — Freese and O'Neill could trouble a Red Bulls attack that was held scoreless in their last two games. Besides, both of them are good talkers.
Oliver Strand
Do they send Tayvon Gray, the team's cut-up/chatterbox? He can keep possession of the conversation, but he might be vulnerable to a quick one-liner. Do they look to the bench, and call on Seymour Reid and Maximo Carrizo? After all, head coach Pascal Jansen is known for his youth development. Or do they send collegiate players such as Kevin O'Toole (Princeton University) and Nico Cavallo (UCLA), whose seminar experience could give them an edge when speaking onstage?
The next installment of the Hudson River Derby will take place on Saturday, September 27, at 7:30 pm at Sports Illustrated Stadium (Red Bull Arena to you and me) in Harrison, NJ. It will be the 32nd meeting between the two clubs in all competitions, and the 26th regular-season matchup. So far, Jansen has a perfect record of 1W-0D-OL against the Red Bulls, with two goals scored and zero goals allowed.
