It was a special night on Broadway, as Red Bulls faithful braved the rain to meet their club up close and personal at the adidas Sport Performance store in SoHo Tuesday night. The eager fans started lining up outside as early as 5:00 PM, roughing the rain and wait for more than two hours for the chance to meet players from their favorite club.
Eric Vivedor of the Bronx was one of those people outside. When asked what brought him out to the store, the answer was simple for him. “The whole team,” he said. “I think this squad is one of the most solid squads I’ve seen in a while.”
He brought with him a homemade wooden plaque of the Red Bulls’ logo, an original item he made with his father, which he was fortunate enough to later get signed.
“We’re big fans,” he said. “We don’t miss a game, and we’re out at the stadium, section 106.”
Then there was Connor Mastericola and Evan Martin, who drove through two and half hours of traffic from Oakridge, NJ, to stand in the rain for another hour, before finally getting the chance to meet the club. For the two fans that have followed the team since their days playing at Giants Stadium, every second of the drive and wait was worth it.
And then there were the contest winners; in this case Brian Kane, Sam Kilb and Justin Bennett. The trio came out on top in the all in for new york Photo Challenge, which ran through the Red Bulls’ Twitter account during the week leading up to the team appearance. Kane’s photo saw him pose next to an adidas Nitrocharge display, topped off with a Red Bulls jersey. Kilb's photo was taken with college friend Nicholas Chavez during their time as students at Stony Brook University, wearing Red Bulls gear in the middle of a snowstorm. Chavez, a proud fan of the club since 1998, introduced Kilb to the team during their time at school and he has been a fan ever since.
You could find a million different words to sum up the night. “Awesome,” “amazing,” “unbelievable,” were just a few we heard over the course of the event. But perhaps season ticket holder Jeffrey Wierzdicky of Union, NJ summed the night up best.
“It’s a chance to meet the guys I get to watch every week face to face,” he said. “It’s a unique opportunity that doesn’t come along all the time, it’s great that they were able to put this on for us. “
