They’ve handed out all the hardware. The expansion teams have had their draft. 2017 is only a few days away. So it\u2019s the perfect time to look back on the year we\u2019ve just experienced and ask what stood out. Not what was \u201cthe best\u201d, whatever that means, or \u201cthe most important\u201d. But instead what, looking back years from now, are the three things we will remember about the 2016 season. Here are mine.<\/p>\n
Anybody who witnessed the excitement of the historic first derby<\/a> on Mother\u2019s Day 2015, who endured the pain of letting the second<\/a> slip through our fingers at home, who watched the Red Bulls sweep the series in a third straight derby loss<\/a>, and then who watched this season begin with the brutal May beatdown<\/a> at Yankee Stadium, will remember for decades to come when the team finally \u2013 finally \u2013 got the Red Bull monkey off their back. At least a little.<\/p>\n Sure, the Red Bulls were coming off of a tough road trip and they looked tired and disorganized. And sure, NYCFC celebrated in a way that might have been a bit over the top. But years from now, as the matches pile up, and we\u2019re all greyed and weakened by age and are trotted out to relate what it was like when the rivalry was young, we\u2019ll point to this match, when NYCFC played as a team, when they held fast, when they won. When it was a great day in the Bronx.<\/p>\n I actually missed the debut of NYCFC\u2019s first round draft pick (and thus blissfully missed the entire \u201cMay Massacre\u201d) but every person who I asked about the match, from supporters to players to press and beyond were in agreement. The only bright spot was Deb Harrison\u2019s little boy. He\u00a0hustled, created, and above all was a supremely talented breath of fresh air on the pitch, even as the rest of the team looked as if they had given up.<\/p>\nJack Harrison\u2019s Debut<\/h3>\n