Metro history can be broken into chunks, "eras", if you will, that we can name after a defining personality. 1996-99, The Stillitano Era: the bumbling GM whose many failures set the top for Metro's early struggles. 2000-03, The Mathis Era: the talismanic striker who took himself and Metro to heights previously unseen, that ultimately fell short. That bleeds into 2003-06, The Guevara Era: the temperamental maestro who made Metro work... when his head was in it. 2007-10, The Angel Era: the dying days at Giants Stadium, when the Cherubic Assassin was often the only reason to show up, transitioning into 2010-14, the Henry Era: the period that turned Metro into into a winner by the sheer willpower of the greatest player to wear the shirt. 2015-18 is the Marsch Era, as the coach reeled off two (well, one and a half) Shields while seemingly setting up the club for success. Seemingly, because 2019-23...

The Barlow Era? We say this without any hint of irony or Stockholm Syndrome. For what player exemplifies the complete mediocrity of the last five years better than Tom Barlow, a striker who couldn't strike? No, he was not as bad a player as some say. He was not as good a "defensive forward" as others attest. He was "Big, Strong, Fast", but one needs more than that to succeed. He was a "monster". He was arguably the most divisive player in team history. Ultimately, he wasn't good enough, just like the rest of the team around him.

As MLS keeps evolving and improving, Metro had been left in the dust. Those Shields of the Henry and Marsch Eras are quickly fading from memory, as we spent year after year of barely eking it over the playoff line, only to lose in the Round of 16. Average, at best. The Barlow Era.

Well, the Barlow Era is over. Its namesake has been shipped off to Chicago, where we wish him the best, just not against Metro. Perhaps the Windy City will kick in that latent scoring power. (It will not.) But most importantly, perhaps the Red Bull brass finally saw the errors of the past five years and decided to move on from Barlow and the mediocrity he symbolized.

There is another name we could give to 2019-23, labeling it for another person recently departed... the Hamlett Era.

Let's just stick with Barlow.