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Rivalries aren't born, they are made, which is what we were reminded of these past few days by the first two meetings between the Philadelphia Union and the New York Red Bulls.
There was no history to speak of when these teams met. No decades of facing each other in USL play. No case of coaches or veteran players facing their former teams. No hometown boys coming home.
In short, there wasn't of a backdrop and none of the ingredients necessary to make a derby truly memorable. The more than 15,000 fans that did make it out to Red Bull Arena last Saturday, and the 3,000 who braved the cold on Tuesday night, were treated to matches that were about as friendly as you'll find in a derby. They were both entertaining (and both 2-1 Red Bull victories), but they were far from the intense affairs Northeast sports fans have come to expect from New York-Philly matches.
The reality is that true animosity is something that is built over time. Once the teams have had some heated matches, and unforgettable results, and cases of one team knocking the other out of playoff contention, or players knocking each other out, then maybe we'll start to see some of the passion you might expect from rivals just two hours away from each other.
Unfortunately for the Union-Red Bulls rivalry, there has been no soccer equivalent to keep the passions burning among the soccer fans from those regions. The closest you'll get to true long-standing animosity is from the many D.C. United fans who converted to Union fans once Philly joined MLS.
The Red Bulls probably carry more of the blame for the lack of sizzle at these recent matches because they were still working on rebuilding a strained relationship with area soccer fans after years of disappointments and a nightmarish tenure at Giants Stadium, a forgettable period capped by last season's painfully awful performance.
The Red Bulls are doing their part, starting the season 4-1 in league play (including Saturday's 2-1 win against Philly) inside the club's beautiful new stadium, but it is clear the $200 million facility won't be filled without the help of some marquee signings this summer.
Whether it is Thierry Henry, Raul, Alessandro Del Piero, or some Brazilian or Portuguese stars brought in to tap into the area's large Brazilian population, some stars need to be brought in to make the most out of the new building.
Philly fans aren't blameless for Saturday's lack of buzz either. As Red Bulls head coach Hans Backe pointed out after the match (which could be construed as subtle trash talk, another rivalry must), there had been some belief that as many as 5,000 Union fans would make the trip north to help cheer on their team.
The crowd of Union fans in the upper deck of Red Bull Arena looked closer to 500 than 5,000. That's a disappointing figure when you consider what Toronto FC fans have done in recent years with their trips to Columbus (a road match that has become an annual pilgrimage of more than a thousand fans, a stunning tradition considering the distance between Toronto and Columbus).
The Union-Red Bulls rivalry already seems to be lagging behind the Union-D.C. United rivalry, but part of that has to do with a variety of factors ranging from the many former D.C. people involved with Philly (from head coach Peter Nowak to former D.C. midfielders Fred and Andrew Jacobson), to the many former D.C. fans who dropped their allegience to become Philly fans.
Having D.C. play in the first Philly home game also helped that rivalry, with more than a thousand D.C. fans making the trip to Lincoln Financial Field.
Time will tell how the Red Bull-Union takes shape, and we aren't likely to see the I-95 derby grow some teeth until New York fans make the trip south to brand-new PPL Park on Oct. 16th in a match that could have playoff implications.
While the Red Bulls-Union rivalry is still in its infancy, MLS is lucky in that it will soon be inheriting a trio of established rivalries in 2011, when Portland and Vancouver join MLS.
Portland, Seattle and Vancouver all enjoy long-standing rivalries with each other, stemming back from the days of the North American Soccer League, and kept alive by years of competing against each other in the USL. All those years of matches, and visits to opposing stadiums, are what will make the Pacific Northwest rivalries instant hits when they reach MLS next season.
For fans in the Northeast, matching the rivalries of the Pacific Northwest will take some time, but as we have seen in other professional sports leagues, the New York-Philadelphia rivalry is always among the most passionate and popular. It isn't there yet in MLS, but having just been born, the Red Bull-Union rivalry will need to grow up before taking its place among the league's best.
Ives Galarcep is FoxSoccer.com's newest senior writer who will be covering U.S. Soccer and MLS.
