With so much attention being paid to TFC's upcoming win-and-they're-in Champions League match versus Dallas, it's been easy to forget that the MLS regular season is still going on.
You remember the regular season, right? It's that competition in which Toronto have never finished in good enough position to advance to the playoffs. And this year will be no different.
Awesome.
That said, the famed Red Bulls -- one of the most mis-managed teams in the history of the league -- are in town.
TFC fans know all about mis-managed teams, they do support Toronto FC, after all. But for all of the bungling and almost comedic lows that the Reds have gone through in their nearly five seasons of existence, this year's New York side makes 2007-2010 TFC look like Barcelona by comparison.
The Red Bulls were crusing along in MLS for the first three months of the season, scoring goals in bunches and reaping the benefits of a free-spending ownership who have never been afraid to bring in the big names.
Then the bottom fell out -- they started losing or drawing games with startling ease, they traded away a guy who now leads the league in goals (of course, so did TFC), their diamond-in-the-rough American central defender got found out as a fraud, and their star Mexican DP threw everyone on the team under the bus. The goals also dried up for their other star DP, and their over-paid, geriatric goalkeeper (also a DP) got himself injured almost upon arrival.
All of that craziness added up, and the once high-flying New Yorkers are on the cusp on not even qualifying for the playoffs, a preposterous notion given the team's budget and their position on the table just a few short months ago.
And now Toronto have the opportunity to shovel a few more spades of dirt onto the Red Bulls' slowly-lowering casket.
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
To be fair, Hans Backe's beleaguered side are currently on a bit of a revival of late. They've won two of their past three matches, doing just enough to hold on to that tenth and final post-season spot. But they are hardly the team to be feared as they once were.
Toronto will be looking for a bit of payback either way. The Reds were thoroughly dismantled with the two teams last met at BMO Field, a 4-1 win for the visitors back in August of 2010. And of course, TFC were routed again this season, getting drubbed 5-0 at Red Bull Arena a couple of months ago.
That 5-0 scoreline is identical to the 2009 end-of-season debacle at old Giants Stadium, where a seemingly playoff-bound Toronto FC epically crumbled to the then-moribund Red Bulls.
Needless to say, there's a lot of recent history for TFC to draw upon for motivational purposes in regards to what would otherwise be a meaningless game.
The chance for a turning of the tables is now squarely there for the taking. Toronto can help spoil New York's fading playoff hopes with a win Saturday night at a chilly BMO Field.
It'd be a nice little bit of redemption in a season that has had very little of it.
Toronto FC v. New York Red Bulls
Saturday, October 1, 2011. 7:30pm EDT.
BMO Field. Toronto, ON.
Watch: TSN 2
Listen: Sportsnet Radio FAN 590, FAN590.com
Rudi Schuller contributes Toronto FC and Canadian national team content to the 24th Minute. He is MLSsoccer.com's beat writer for all things concerning Canada's men's national teams, and has contributed to Goal.com and other soccer media. Follow Rudi on Twitter, @RudiSchuller.