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D.C. is talking about it. Toronto is in the cross-hairs. Chicago does better without it.

New York still not really getting it.

It was a beautiful Sunday on Memorial Day weekend in New York City (I assume it was the same in North Jersey). Blanco and a quality Chicago Fire team were on hand to battle out the upper half of the Eastern Conference. Three points could give some swing in the standings.

There was even more potential drama, but I don’t expect the casual fan to understand the whole Bradley, Osoria, Conde, Marmol connections. And it is all about that elusive creature, the casual fan, don’t ya know?

I was sitting at home with the windows open. Yep, missed another game–I suck. Instead I sat in front of my TV doing some work at home to get ahead of the schedule before I go on vacation… so, in turn, TIAS won’t be (some good stuff planned for the next three weeks so check back).

So, at home, windows opened. The lone tree in a neighbor’s courtyard–this sad piece of blacktop crammed between three buildings–glistened in the reflected afternoon light and bounced in the breeze. I cling to that tree for sanity in the cold canvas of brick and glass out my window. The TV was bathed in the sun’s glare; making matters worse: MSG doesn’t show Red Bull games in High Definition (HD) even though they offer a HD channel (yet still no GolTV in Manhattan—don’t get me started on cable companies and penny pinchers who keep me from watching everything in HD).

The sun drops behind a building, reviving my television’s picture just as the camera catches a swatch of the crowd. One of the announcers says it looks like a lot of walk-up tickets were sold. What, I thought. The place looks empty.

14,754. That’s the official attendance, placing it about average for RBNY this year. Giants Stadium has held as many as 17,000 for the home opener and as few as 9,000 against San Jose a few weeks ago. 14,754 doesn’t sound terrible, but even on the TV, where the camera seems to avoid crowd shots at all costs, the empty seats began outnumbering the fans on certain angles. The number really is not bad at all considering it was a holiday weekend known for backyards and beaches, not taking the family to a monolithic construction lot with a dying stadium as its centerpiece.

The draw of Blanco (the Blanco bump? Or is that the name for that butt-trap he used on Sunday?) didn’t appear so much on TV. Several sources who attended the game told me there didn’t appear to be more than a few dozen people outwardly attending to see the Mexican star. A few others said they saw a whole bunch. While trying to estimate the math–maybe take away a few thousand at best?–you have to wonder how deflating it is for the Red Bull players to continually play to even decent attendances in a what appears to be the biggest stadium in the world when less than 50,000 fans show up.

It’s a question that has yet to be answered–just wait for the new stadium conscientious defenders might say–but it would be interesting to see the power a great crowd could have on this Red Bulls team week-in week-out. The team is not looking good, not running good. If they were Cole Trickle, the Red Bulls would be having sponsor trouble.

This team in flux could use a pick-me-up.

New coach, injured Angel, Claudio is on his farewell tour, new (and changing) strategies and tactics, rookies and roll players starting games out of their typical position, and Altidore, the anointed boy-king, still just a boy but picking up the physical and mental bumps and bruises. Did I mention they lost 5-1 on Sunday, their lone goal coming from substitute Altidore after being down 5-0?

Aspirin for everyone. Passed out like streamers at BMO field. Pre-game celebration in Toronto, post-game medication in New Jersey. You decide which one you would rather pay to be a part of.

Something even stronger might be in order before the sweltering heat and sea-level humidity swallows the Meadowlands.

Induce a coma?

When you wake contracts will be expired, transfer fees collected, bank accounts replenished. The team will have had a season under Osorio and hopefully a better sense of identity. The latter of which will be given a beguiling boost by–hey have you heard?–a new stadium.

In the meantime, let someone else worry about selling Altidore and moving on, about whether it’s time to start considering just how detrimental this degenerative inflammatory arthritis is to Angel, about how to celebrate Reyna’s retirement, and about who to put where in a line-up without consistent midfield or defensive leadership. The ghastly difference on the scoreboard Sunday wasn’t half as wide as the player gap. Chicago wrought total domination at every position. The Fire might be the best MLS club on paper. Forget the Designated Player midfielders (Blanco v Reyna), who is the Red Bulls’ Gonzalo Segares?

And if you are of a certain ilk, living on a certain side of a river, you can take solace in the fact that when you wake up you’ll be that much closer to a second MLS team in New York City.

Of course you might miss some really good soccer, even from the Red Bulls. Maybe Jozy stays the season and finds his feet. Maybe Angel gets his vertebrae in order. Maybe Osorio gets the team in order. Maybe Reyna decides to leave it all on the field and comes out the second half of the season with guns passes blazing.

Such is sport. True Red Bulls fans will be there, agonizing if need be with the bitter medicinal aftertaste - all the sweeter the taste of victory when it finally arrives.

It would just be nice if there were a few more Red Bull fans out there. This team needs them, but I’m lost now as to where and how they find them. I guess you wait for the new stadium. Like Osorio on so many fronts, that’s the only option you’ve got right now.

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banner photo of Giants Stadium crowd courtesy of ISI Photos