It’s been a long time, folks. Too long, too long. Sometimes it feels like the MLS off-season is longer than the Trail of Tears. “But,” you say to me, “you follow an English team! Your season never ends!”

The team I follow is Newcastle United, people. You want to talk tears, we’ll talk.

But enough of that foreign mish-mash and jibber-jabber. Our own top flight league has restarted and restarted in quite a fashion thanks to Seattle. But we’ll get to that in a little bit. This time around you’re ... Continue Reading

I write this as a homage to all the Riders who headed down to dirty Jersey last weekend. This is for the men, women, and children, who threw themselves into the pit, simply known as The Swamp.

Now I have traveled to this gloomy destination as many times as my young life would allow, and each time it has fit its bill tremendously. Overcast skies, cold rain, and dumpster aroma, all contribute to this aura of awesomeness. And by awesomeness, I mean complete dump. Lets face it, Giants Stadium got its nickname because it was literally placed in the middle of ... 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

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

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

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

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

So here I am with a new blog on a site that I have no idea how many people read. I know the subject has to be the New England Revolution but other than that the choice is mine. With no real direction and the knowledge that my writing will be compared with the other bloggers on this site I know that I need to figure out my niche. I had hoped that this would come easy, I would sit down and the idea would just jump into my head. I know I don’t possess the Matt Reis-like wit ... Continue Reading

What is up?! I don’t know about you, but I am sure as hell excited to be part of the first blogs here on the Midnight Riders site. Since this is the first installment of Craig’s Corner, let me inform you of the path that I plan on taking for most of the season. Please don’t be frightened, we don’t throw streamers or insults from this corner.

I will be writing about what some would say is the most important part of a match day, the tailgate.

Thats right, the tailgate. Not the ball, not the players, not the hype of the ... Continue Reading