A writer walks into a movie producer's office and throws a script down on the desk.
"Do I have a movie for you," he says.
"It's about this down on their luck soccer team that can do very little right for the first dozen years of their existence. They have average almost a coach a season. Players come and go in a revolving door. In their most current season, they stumble, can't win on the road. They lose their captain to retirement. Their teenage prodigy goal-scoring star is sold to a Spanish club for millions. And they lose their goalkeeper and leading defender to drug suspensions on the eve of the playoffs. They barely make the playoffs and go on a run that includes eliminating the defending champions, reach the championship game and ..."
The producer interrupts the writer before he can finish his spiel.
"That's the most incredible, preposterous story I have ever heard," he says. "No one is going to believe it."
Believe it.
It has happened. The New York Red Bulls are only a victory away from winning MLS Cup. It might sound like fiction to many sports and soccer fans who have followed the exploits and misadventures of the original MetroStars and the Red Bulls. It seemed the club could do very little right from the onset.
After yet another amazing, incredible -- whatever adjective you want to use -- the Red Bulls are on the precipice of capturing the 13th MLS title on a run not even a writer with the most imaginative mind could conjure up.
This from a organization that, quite frankly and like it or not, has been a point of some derision in the league, regardless of their name (remember, they started out as the MetroStars before Red Bull purchased the club in 2006). They have had more coaches (11 in 13 seasons) and used more players (202) than any other club. They have found it very difficult to gain any traction in the New York market.
But underachieving has been the club's mantra -- until recently.
Strange forces are working here. It is difficult to fathom exactly what they are, but there are unusual things happening. First came the stunning elimination of the two-time MLS Cup champion Houston Dynamo in their Western Conference Semifinal Series, climaxed by a surprising 3-0 win at Robertson Stadium in Houston, where the Dynamo have been virtually invincible. The came the 1-0 victory against Real Salt Lake in the conference championship at beautiful Rio Tinto Stadium Saturday night.
Look at the youngsters who have stepped up, to name just a few:
• Goalkeeper Danny Cepero, 23, a fourth-round pick in the 2007 supplemental draft (46th overall), the after-thought, less publicized draft, has become the individual story of the postseason. Cepero stepped up after Jon Conway was suspended for 10 games for using banned substances. In his MLS debut, he became the first 'keeper in league history to score a goal in a 3-1 win over the Crew. After a hiccup or two in the 5-2 loss to the Chicago Fire (most of the goals were not his fault), Cepero has stood on his head in the playoffs, surrendering but one goal in three games while accruing a pair of back-to-back road shutouts in the playoffs (a rare achievement, indeed, in the postseason). He was just as brilliant at RSL, making seven saves. And he might have been a bit lucky, watching three balls bounce off the left post.
• Rookie midfielder Luke Sassano, who turned 23 on Oct. 14, hadn't started a game since the 2-0 win against Toronto FC on Aug. 17 ane then became a forgotten Red Bull, appearing in two more regular season games as a second-half substitute. But after the 5-2 regular-season ending debacle of a loss to the Chicago Fire in which Juan Pietravallo played poorly and after Seth Stammler learned he would miss the postseason with a knee injury, coach Juan Carlos Osorio decided to use Sassano in the defensive midfielder role. He could not have done any better, limiting two-time MLS MVP Dwyane De Rosario to no goals or assists in the upset of the two-time defending champion Dynamo and playing very well Saturday night.
• Midfielder Sinisa Ubiparipovic, a second-year pro and 25 years old, had last seen the starting lineup Sept. 6, when the Red Bulls lost at the Fire. Ubiparipovic played some 25 minutes of the 1-1 draw at Real Salt Lake on Oct. 9. When Venezuelan international midfielder Jorge Rojas, the team's playmaker, underachieved, especially in the regular-season finale, Osorio decided to turn to Ubiparipovic to run the show at central midfielder. Like his good friend Sassano, Ubiparipovic has done a tremendous job, not only on the attack, but on defense as well.
And the "old guard" has done its job and then some.
• Juan Pablo Angel, 33, might be best known as a goal-scoring machine, but his presence in the locker room has been vital to the team's success. According to Red Bulls players, Angel is the last thing from a foreign player who is a diva. He may be talented, but he has a blue collar mentality, setting an example as the hard-working player. If Angel can do it, the rest of the team has to fall into line.
• Midfielder Dave van den Bergh -- the other David in the news on the same day the Los Angeles Galaxy signed David Beckham on Jan. 11, 2007 (the Kansas City Wizards traded van den Bergh to the Red Bulls for a third-round supplemental draft choice) -- has been the team's most consistent player since literally the first minute of the season, scoring seven regular-season goals and one in the playoffs (yeah, the game-winner against RSL). Actually, make that the 47 seconds. In the Red Bulls' season opener on April 5. Van den Bergh, 31, stunned the Giants Stadium crowd by connecting for the fastest goal in club history. After taking a pass from Ubiparopovic, van den Bergh found himself with the ball on the left side and let loose a 24-yard shot for a 1-0 lead the game only 47 seconds old en route to a 2-0 triumph.
It just goes to show what can happen when a team bands together in the locker room and out on the field. Yes, it sounds like a cliche, but Osorio, who forged a reputation for his strategy and tactics, has done a marvelous job of rallying his troops, especially after the drug suspensions, which could have ripped apart many a team.
In MLS Cup 2008, the Red Bulls take on the Crew, who are coming off one of the best regular seasons for any MLS club. The Supporters' Shield winners are directed by Sigi Schmid, a crafty, wise veteran coach who knows his X's and O's and how to deal with players. Schmid has an array of weapons at his disposal, including Guillermo Barros Schelotto, who should be the MLS MVP (the winner will be announced Thursday).
The Red Bulls aren't exactly outmatched against the favored Crew. They actually lead the season series, 2-1, winning that home opener and the Cepero goal game. Columbus prevailed 3-1 at their place on Sept. 18.
The Crew is expected to be favored in the Home Depot Center confrontation in Carson, Calif. next Sunday. And if you look at it logically, that seems to make sense.
But just remember this: logic hasn't always prevailed during these topsy-turvy playoffs (no matter which team prevails, the MLS Cup winner will be the first Eastern Conference team to win the championship other than D.C. United, although the Red Bulls have played in the Western Conference in the playoffs).
And being this close, the Red Bulls smell a league championship and are not about to rest on their laurels just yet.
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