The New York Red Bulls site is up now. For a team that didn't exist until today,it's curious to see that they drew with Chivas 3 days ago (someone forgot to photoshop that metrostars crest and edit the copy), lost to houston (same), waived Leitch and Regan, and ~~re-~~acquired Steve Joley (can you say he's returning to the Red Bulls or is he a Red Bull newcomer?). Someone at the Ministry of Truth is not working hard enough!\  

One of my favorit bloggers from Cafe Hayek is having a "back-and-forth on inequality" at the Wall Street Journal Econoblog.  Is the "growing" inqueality really a problem or threat to our society. I'm not convinced, and I think its usually misused as an umbrella for other societal problems (ie inequality of opportunity, which is different). See also "Is there really an income gap?".

Is inequality a serious social problem? Everyone seems to think so. Heather, you conjure up the same frightening image that is constantly referenced in media accounts of government data -- an elite slice at the top getting all the gains while the rest of us get crumbs. The middle class is being hollowed out; we're becoming a nation of haves and have-nots.

But the data you cite (and the data cited relentlessly by those who would use inequality as an engine for social change) mask what is really going on.

Via Bruce's Belly, it looks like the sale of the Metrostars to Red Bull is all but done. Red Bull, yes the one that gives you wings, also bought a team in Austria and totally rebranded it. I've left comments on a couple blogs with my thoughts, but its worth summarizing them here.

The team also will be re-branded -- before its season kicks off at D.C. United April 2. The Metros' 10-year history is expected to be will be history -- wiped out -- sources said, as happened to SV Wüstenrot Salzburg when it was transformed into Red Bull Salzburg after the energy drink company bought the Austrian First Division club April 6, 2005.

The Metros have been THE problem franchise since the inception of the league, a combination of bad management, failed player recruiting, and bad mojo overall. What more can you say about a club that gave Bob Bradley and Jaime Moreno, among others, the worst season(s) of their careers?

A fresh start in New York could be good for the league, although the initial publicity from this transaction may not be positive. It could be this year's Chivas USA. And if the new owners turn the team around and win some hardware, well, that wouldn't be wholly positive for the league either.

Still, MLS is not at the point that they can turn away a new investor with deep pockets, especially for a major media market, and cost center, like New York. I suspect that the collapse of DC United's sale also made AEG more willing to make this deal, although I have nothing to back up that hunch. 

Since DC will open the season against the ~~Metrostars~~ Red Bulls, is there anything we can do to goad our rivals? Wear red sashes, matador, or "running-with-the-bulls-in-pamplona" gear? Chant "Toro! Toro!"? What else?\