Andrew Shue

On April 20, 1996, 46,826 fans turned out for the MetroStars' first ever home game. Those 46,826 fans went home disappointed, as a last-minute own goal gave birth to the Curse of Caricola, and set Metro up for the ongoing 12 years of if not failure, then indifference, on and off the field.

On June 9, 1996, 53,250 packed Giants Stadium on a Sunday afternoon, only to see the Galaxy undress Metro 4:0 behind a hat-trick from future whipping boy Eduardo Hurtado and a last minute goal from some rookie named Ante Razov, assisted by "Melrose Place" star Andrew Shue. It was that bad. A week from that game, only 18,404 showed up, and Metro lost again. It's hard to say how many have been back since.

And that has been Metro history in front of large crowds, with some exceptions. That 53,250 against the Galaxy still stands alone as the stand-alone Metro home game record, as from that point on doubleheaders were needed to bring in the huge numbers. The only game to top that number was the Miami match on May 23, 1998, which featured two goals from Jim Rooney, and the promise of the Scotland-Colombia clash just days before the start of the World Cup. That 4:2 win is one of two positive results in the top seven of Metro home attendances.

To find a recent negative one, you don't have to dig far back, as last year's midweek match against Dallas on May 24th got 52,425 into Giants stadium, good for third all-time. To most of those, there to send off Ecuador to the World Cup against Colombia, the Metro game was just an afterthought, as they could probably care less as Taylor Graham single-handedly turned a late lead into a 2:1 loss.

So that has been the story of Metro's ochlophobia (a fear of crowds, if you are wondering). The optimist says, draw a big crowd with a second-game gimmick, and if Metro plays well, those fans will return. Sadly, that notion seems misguided, for even when Metro win, the fans don't come back. Take the Miami match in 1998; the next game drew just 8,826, a decline of almost 48,000(!). Or the Chicago match on May 31, 2005, when a late Amado Guevara winner sent what was left of the 50,807 crowd into a frenzy; the next match, against hated rival DC, saw only 15,125, or 35,000 less.

That Fire game in 2005 was coupled with David Beckham's first appearance in Giants Stadium, as England played Colombia (there's that Colombia again). Now, flash forward this weekend, as more than 50,000 are expected to see Beckham and the Galaxy. Metro? Metro is an afterthought. Come see Beckham! Buy Beckham shirts! Oh, so there is a home team here? Well, sadly, to play a soccer game, you need two squads.

We saw a similar thing last year, when 79,002 showed up to see Metro play Barcelona in a match which does not count towards overall attendance because the game was a friendly. But Barcelona is Ronaldinho, Messi, and 100 years of glorious history; one can forgive, if not completely understand, ignoring the home team for a one-shot game like this. But the Galaxy, Alexi Lalas' big mouth be damned, is not Barcelona. In fact, this year's Galaxy is propped only by the pathetic Salt Lake in the MLS table, and has won only three league games all year. The crowd there to see Beckham will be hard-pressed to name two other starters for the visiting side (we'll give them Landon Donovan). But how many starters can they name on Metro?

And when the dust settles and the Galaxy match is over, and either Metro gets over their ochlophobia and wins, or stays true and loses, will those fans be back? History tells us that they will not. And when Metro struggles to break five digits during the next home game at the cavernous Giants Stadium, we'll be reminded that it's not ochlophobia that is the problem. The problem is apathy. Apathy for the local soccer team.