Nothing can ever be simple for the New York Red Bulls, can it? The start time for tonight's US Open Cup quarterfinal against the Chicago Fire, originally scheduled for 8:30 PM, has been moved up to 6 PM. The change is apparently due to a lighting storm which caused a power outage at Toyota Park, meaning that the game cannot be played under the stadium's floodlights.
The first news emerged when Red Bulls' left back/centerback Mike Jones tweeted this:
@mikewhojonesy: Chicago changed the game on us to 5:00 [Central Time] somehow and tried to screw us. But now we're super pissed so even better for us. Leeeggoo
Which was followed by this from striker Corey Hertzog:
@HertzogRBNY06: Game Change to 5 p.m. Ct!!
Before the club finally confirmed the time change:
@NewYorkRedBulls: The start time for tonight's @USOpenCup match vs. @ChicagoFire has been moved up to 6:00 PM ET. Watch the match live on chicago-fire.com
Red Bulls fans may remember a similar problem at Red Bull Arena earlier this season, before the game against Chivas USA. However, in that case, the kickoff was delayed, the power was restored, and the match was played as normal. Except for that part about Chivas winning.
No matter the kickoff time, we'll still have our usual live match thread here, so check back around 6 PM this evening for the fun of watching our C team get knocked out of the cup. Defeatism is punishable by death. Forza.