Last night was the third installment of the Hudson River Derby for 2015; the contest which pits the New York Red Bulls (NYRB) and the new MLS franchise of New York City Football Club (NYCFC). In a match that appeared be favoring NYCFC in the opening 15 minutes, NYRB was able to secure a 2-0 victory with goals being scored by Bradley Wright-Phillips (21st minute) and Felipe (85th minute).

The match as a whole was uneventful, but as is the case with most MLS matches, the referees were at the center of yet another poor officiating night and controversy. The awful officiating aside, the opening 15 minutes in which NYCFC’s illustrious yet aging midfield was able to piece together chance after chance, ultimately coming up empty handed. Frank Lampard and Andrea Pirlo at times flashed their excellence and brilliance on the pitch; however, by the end of the match it was evident that the NYCFC faithful had grown tired of Lampard’s sloppy and lazy play. For this writer, the match still provided the fan base with reason to be excited; not only is their one New York football club that continues to compete at the highest levels of the MLS in the NYRB, but it is growing very obvious that NYCFC will stop at nothing to ensure that their team is relevant not only in years to come, but in their first year as a franchise. Unfortunately, not all good things come without the bad; as in life and nature, there is a course correction that occurs with too much positivity – a negative aspect will always surface to balance the scales and ensure that there is never too much good.

In the case of the NYCFC and NYRB franchises, this negativity and the perverse actions of few have cast a shadow on the “rivalry” that is the NY Derby. For this writer, in order to have a rivalry there MUST be history; a history that has pitted one side against another, a history that includes players leaving one side and betraying another, a history of on the field flare ups and fights. The NY Derby lacks ALL of this as NYCFC is in their fledgling stages of life and has only been a part of the MLS for less than one year.

In their few months in the MLS, many NYCFC supporters have already created and maintained a reputation as being “punks” or “fan boys”. If you read this writer's previous piece on the rift amongst NYCFC supporter groups, you will understand what “fan boys” are – if you didn’t, a short synopsis would be bandwagon fans who know very little about the sport they support or the teams they support yet try to force their agenda down your throat. The question that needs to be asked is, why are these supporters so die hard about a franchise that has yet to not only prove their worth or mettle in MLS, but has yet to truly do anything outstanding for the supporters group as a unit?

For NYRB, you rarely hear about the supporter groups, specifically the Viking Army. Yes, the fans are raucous in the stadium, but this writer has yet to see an instance where they have caused an uproar or altercation. It's possible that this writer is naïve to the history of the Viking Army and other supporter groups within NYRB, but he has not seen their moniker grace the covers of news journals or magazines to date. Maybe this is due in part to the fact that the NYRB stadium was erected in an area of Harrison, NJ that is reminiscent of the post-apocalyptic world of Mad Max, or maybe it’s because they are about the soccer – either way, he is sure there are ugly past events this writer  is unaware of.

Regardless of the supporter groups and their criminal history or lack thereof, one thing stands clear: the rivalry that exists is as forced as they come. Yesterday, while watching the match, Twitter and Facebook erupted with videos of confrontations amongst supporter groups in local bars surrounding the stadium. The video that on Youtube (Fans fight in Newark before Red Bulls - NYCFC Soccer Match) shows roughly 50 people throwing trash cans, fists, and even a shoe (honestly baby, who throws a shoe?). Why did this go down the way it did? Did an NYCFC supporter mock the haircut of an NYRB supporter?

NYRB as an organization is only 20 years old and NYCFC is less than one year old. Aside from location, how could there possibly be a rivalry? To date, no NYCFC players have abandoned their side for the winning NYRB club and no NYRB stars have crossed the river to play in the Bronx. Also, there have been no memorable on field altercations.

For most around the country, a rivalry needs to include a past and also include two competitive teams, not a team that is still figuring out how to manage their midfield full of International stars who are just a few short years away from receiving their AARP cards. The rivalry is forced and quite honestly makes a mockery of what good sports rivalries are.

New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, New York Giants and anyone in the NFC East, Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals, and keeping it soccer related,the Northwest derby between Liverpool and Manchester United. Each of the listed rivalries has decades full of history, fights, and even off the field commentary that usually includes someone’s mother, sister, or wife. What the listed rivalries also tout are their successes and championships; each team in the rivalry has a winning history, in order to have a rival, each side must win; thus far, the NYRB have earned the maximum of nine possible points against NYCFC in their three matches played in 2015, meaning that NYRB is currently undefeated against their cross river rivals.

Could this rivalry take hold in as little as 5 years? Absolutely! But first, NYCFC must at the very least be able to beat NYRB in at least ONE match – so far, they are unsuccessful; which makes this writer believe that the rivalry has been entirely created by the supporter groups of NYCFC who continue to feel it necessary to strong arm their way to the center of the conversation in order to feel relevant. Alas young fan boys, your time will come, one day you will be at the epicenter of MLS and probably watch as your team hoists the MLS Cup over their head. However, until then, take your medicine and understand that although you are from NYC, your franchise is still in it’s infant stages and currently in 8th place in the Eastern Conference having earned only 24 points – 12 points behind the NYRB and currently tied for the 4th worst record in the MLS.

The rivalry amongst the NYRB and NYCFC will materialize one day, but for now, NYCFC supporters need to take a step back and allow their franchise to grow and build without the constant scrutiny from the NYPD and the city of NY. NYRB fan’s – you lot can sit back and enjoy the show that NYCFC continues to create as you seem poised for yet another visit to the MLS Cup Playoffs. Until those cross river rivals of yours can actually win a match, they are simply your younger and immature brother – be nice to them as one day they may be bigger and badder than you after all. Cheers!