Midnight Riders Blogs

I came across the Free Beer Movement while listening to an episode of Waiting for Gaetjens, a podcast co-hosted by Revs color analyst Greg Lalas.  In a nutshell, the idea behind the Free Beer Movement is the best way to get people to become fans of American soccer is to lure them to a game with beer:

Like Soccer? Enjoy Beer? Have Friends? Do they enjoy beer? Do they like soccer?

If you answered “yes” to the first four questions, but “no” to the last one, then this is the site for you!

Welcome to the Free Beer Movement where ... Continue Reading

Do you smell what I smell? Do you see what I see?

That chicken breast is juicy and plump, dressed in the fabulous gown known as Italian spices and garlic herbs that have been soaked in lemon juices ready to be taken off by your palette that has been watering for almost half a year.

Those steak tips have been marinating in the fridge for a while now, and you cant wait to throw them into the crock-pot where they will absorb even the tiniest amounts of carrot, potato, ... Continue Reading

Well the time has come and gone for the Revolution this season, and for the first time in 7 years, they will not make a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals.

All in all, you have to look at it as a positive campaign, even thought the ultimate goal was not reached. The loss of players a certain times in the year seemed to have just enough impact to erase the Revs hopes of reaching the MLS Cup for an unprecidented fourth straight year. Fortunately, the tailgating season does not stop there as you can easily replace the pain of seeing ... Continue Reading

First things first - TeamOps security is the biggest fucking joke I have ever encountered.

That being said, I have decided to turn this week’s blog into…

Tailgating: SuperLiga Style

Sunday 7/13 vs Santos Laguna: A

Oh man. A late game start is the first ingredient to an absolutely glorious tailgate. The second is weather. Now if you have been reading my posts vigorously, you know how much I have been complaining about the lack of cooperation from Mother Nature for our pre-game festivities. Not on Sunday though. The sun was shining, the wind was calm, not a cloud in the sky. ... Continue Reading

            Taylor Twellman, Kenny Mansally, and a bunch of guys you’ve never heard of but play for our team managed to brave the monsoon conditions down in New Britain last week, handing the Richmond Kickers a 3-0 caning in front just under 4,000 folks. The offense was provided by reserve team young’uns like Joe Germanese (24) and Sam Brill (22) with one for good luck knocked in by Twellman, while Chris Tierney (22) notched two assists on the night.

The rain was apparently a serious mess according to the, oh, 10 or 15 text messages about it ... Continue Reading

Ahhh, another successful venture into the chilly Razor.

Last night’s match against an upstart Toronto side had fans coming from each side of the border, which led to an incredible tailgate. No surprise though, there always has to be something that doesn’t quite push the tailgate into that “A” range. At least this time it was something that nobody can control - the weather.

Almost all the tailgates that we’ve had this year include some sort of lame weather. Cloudy. Rainy. Cold. All the above. And the ones that did have nice weather were the games that the scheduling geniuses placed in ... Continue Reading

The U.S. Open Cup is a rarity in the soccer scene in this country. It’s a tournament with rich history (something we’re short on with soccer here) that goes all the way back to 1912 when Sir Thomas Dewar bequeathed a trophy to spur interest in the sport on this side of The Pond. The tournament has survived leagues coming and going. It is one of the oldest knock-out domestic cups in all of world soccer. New England, in particular, has a big role in the history of the Cup with legendary teams like the Fall River Rovers, Fall ... Continue Reading

In the spirit of M. Shyamalan’s new film, there is a “happening” going on. What in the world could it be?

There were no emails in my inbox regarding my column.

Now this means one of two things. Either you have a huge lack in ideas, or you’re not reading. Now most of you are intelligent individuals, so I am going to go with the lack of reading. So… TELL PEOPLE ABOUT THIS BLOG!!!!

Seriously, this is written for you – the fans. I am here to help the rookie fan or the seasoned veteran with their tailgate experience. ... Continue Reading

author’s note: This piece originally appeared as part of Mr. Fran Harrington’s final for his art school degree and is reprinted here with his kind permission. Also because I wanted more people than just his professors to read it.

In the middle of the seventh decade of the 20th century, those vaunted Seventies, young people in the Western World rose up against the established cocaine-and-caviar cruise control rock and roll was set on and began a movement later known worldwide as punk rock. In it’s heyday “punks” were scoffed at, attacked in the street, their records banned, their singles and ... Continue Reading

Well here goes number 2.

We’ll start by grading the last tailgate: D+

Honestly, midweek games are probably the worst time to have a game, so knowing my (or the Riders) luck, we have 5 this year. Sigh. With the game time slated for 7:30 in Foxboro, I knowingly took a half day from work just to be able to enjoy the full tailgate time, which starts at 5:30, allowing for delays in traffic. I mean seriously, we live in (or around) Boston, so we know how terrible traffic is and can be.

Long story short I ended up ... Continue Reading