Newest Red Bull Survived Baptism By Fire

The Red Bull Park saga has generated lots of heat, and more than a little heartburn, but according to the San Diego Union-Tribune help is on the way. Erik Stover, the 35-year-old manager of Qualcomm Stadium, who recently distinguished himself by "converting the facility to an evacuation center during October's wildfires," has reportedly accepted a position as "vice president of operations and general manager at Red Bull Park in Harrison, N.J."

Here's the full story, but any guy who chipped in during the chaos of the Southern California wildfires by "trying to track down DVDs to play on the Jumbotron for the kids," is alright by us. As long as his former tenure as assistant VP of Ops at Giants Stadium didn't include any of this nonsense. We want Red Bull Park to be loud and enthusiastic, not crude and misogynistic.

In other news, Red Bull Sporting Director Jeff Agoos has come up with a plan for the upcoming MLS Draft that includes finding players who are "driven," "professional," "innovative," "humble," "self-confident," and "decisive." Goose would also like "people who understand what the vision is, who want to be winners and are good people." Alrighty then. We'd settle for someone who can play the ball into space for Juan Pablo Angel and/or Jozy Altidore, but that's just us.

Also, over the holidays it was announced that Claudio Reyna is staying and John Harkes is leaving, which is a bit of a bummer since Claudio made about $1.25 million more than Johnny and they scored the same number of goals: zero. More recently, Jon Conway re-signed with the Red Bull, which is good news, so long as he doesn't reprise his hilarious role as Tim Conway next season. Oh, and those three staying, leaving, re-signing links are courtesy of the brand-spankin' new Soccer By Ives, the must-see website for American soccer fans. Don't forget to tip your waitress (YouTube).