The team departed for California today, as the team transitions from New York to LA for their MLS Cup preparations.  The team departed from Newark, with a stop in Oklahoma City to refuel, which enabled us here at RBR to post these photos before the team actually arrives in LA.  The team is slated to arrive at Long Beach airport at about 5:30 pm PST and train on Friday and Saturday in the warm California sun.

This is Roth’s Write-ups, the post season version. With this exciting last week of the season, I am going to provide a behind the scenes look, from a rookie’s perspective about what is going on in the last couple of days leading up to the MLS Cup. The team is pumped and the morale is very high as we head into our cross country journey to LA. Winning the Conference Championship was an awesome experience to be apart of I’m extremely lucky to be able to go to the MLS in my first season. The celebration on the field was something I won’t forget. Hugging, jumping, chanting, and singing with everyone was so fun. The best part was when we went over to the fans that made the trek to Salt Lake and we were dancing and applauding them. The funniest part about the celebration was that I got nailed in the head by a Styrofoam cup thrown an angry Salt Lake fan. That guy had a very impressive throw. Anyway, more to come from California in the upcoming days. Vamos Red Bulls!

It’s the Super Bowl of US Soccer - Red Bull New York takes on the Columbus Crew this Sunday at 3:30 EST, 12:30 PST.

Catch the game live on ABC, or click the image above to buy tickets to the game - but hurry since they are going fast.  Join the So. Cal RBNY fanclub for a Pregame Tailgate (9am-12:30pm) and Game Viewing Party (12:30pm-3:00pm) on the soccer field at Cal State Dominguez Hills, which shares property boundary with Home Depot Center parking lot.

GO RED BULLS!

Even if you don’t have tickets, come to the tailgate anyway and watch the game with your friends at the on-site viewing party!  There is a rumor that the start time for the tailgate may be moved up to 8am, so get there early and start your day off with a Red Bull mixed with your favorite beverage and root on YOUR team!!

The team went through their final training session Wednesday, as the team will depart for California mid-day on Thursday.  Today’s session lasted a about an hour and half, and saw the team go through finishing drills and some half field drills before retiring to the warmth of the Red Bull club house for a hot shower and more media interviews.   In addition to several print writers, a large contingent of Spanish media was at training today and the team’s Spanish speaking players (noteably Angel, van den Bergh, Pietravallo and Jimenez) spoke with numerous outlets.  Not to be outdone, van den Bergh also spoke with a Dutch outlet.

The team will not train tomorrow, and will leave for the airport at 11:45, arriving in California in the late afternoon, before their final training sessions on Friday and Saturday.

To get you primed for the match, here is the regular season highlight reel that was played at Giants Stadium on Fan Appreciation Day on October 18.  You might note that the opponent that day was the Columbus Crew and the winner of that match?  That’s right!  YOUR NEW YORK RED BULLS!!!!!

Or maybe the boys should try this technique on an Angel free kick:

The team went through a full training session today as they battled the cold weather in preparation for Sunday’s match with Columbus.   Coach Osorio had the players go through some full sided scrimmages, with the players looking sharp and aggressive as they inch closer to kickoff.  Another full media throng attended the session and interviewed the team and coaches, including NBC-4, ABC-7, MSG, and News12NJ, as well as numerous newspaper outlets.

Also, today is last day to vote for Danny Cepero for Goal of the Year.  Danny’s historic goal is among the five finalist, so lets stuff the ballot box!!  You can vote up to 10 times a day, so make all 10 count!  And if you want extra motivation for voting for Danny, let the KC Wizards’ official blog, Hillcrest Road, make the decision easier for you with their plea for ANYONE to win other than Danny.  Not sure where the vitriol comes from, but it makes us want to vote for Danny 200 times.