Red Bulls Gameday Feature

WHAT'S IN A RED BULLS NUMBER?

When you look down from your seat during a match, or when you are watching the team play on television, how do you distinguish one player from another? Do you recognize them by their faces, or their running styles, or where they are on the field? Or, like many of us, you recognize them from the numbers on their backs?

Numbers on uniforms have been how we have differentiated one player from another, especially in the era of television and, probably more importantly in the last few decades, the era of team jersey sales and marketing.

We sometimes take for granted why a certain player wears a certain number. Why did Pele wear number 10? Why does David Beckham wear number 23? Maybe more importantly to Red Bulls fans; why the heck does Jeff Parke wear number 60?

The reasons behind how players end up with their numbers are many. Some players have worn a certain number their whole lives, and continue that in their professional careers, which can make things interesting when players change teams.

Other players choose their number based upon the number worn by their favorite players, and their favorites are not all soccer players. In other cases, the player just accepts whatever number the team assigns them, while others end up with numbers almost by default.

Every player story is slightly different. Some are mundane, others are quirky, some are poignant, and some outrageous.

Most stories start out the same way. I wore this number or that number growing up/in college/with my last team (in most cases, that number was 10 or 9 - no surprise there). The stories go down different paths, however, when the player in question arrives at his current team, in this case, the New York Red Bulls. Let's take a closer look at the Red Bulls' roster, talk to some of the players, and find out how they came to represent the number on their backs.

Rookie defender John Gilkerson states that, "I was number15 in college, but number 15 was taken here (by John Wolyniec), and since I was moving from college to the pros, I figured up one level, up one number."

Fellow Supplemental Draftee Danleigh Borman has a slightly different version of that story, for as the South Africa native explains, "I was number 16 all four years in college, and when I got here number 16 and number 12 were open, and I thought about keeping the same number. I asked John Gilkerson for some advice and he said 'Go with 12' and in the meantime he wanted number 16 all along. He tricked me out of that number, but it's ok."

Another first-year player, SuperDraftee Luke Sassano, went a different route in selecting his number, but his story begins the same as Gilkerson's. "Well, number 10 was taken, surprisingly," Sassano joked. "Number 2 was my fallback, but that was taken as well, and number 32 just popped into my head. Magic Johnson is my favorite basketball player, so I figured I would convert that to soccer, and then I realized that I was the 32nd pick in the draft, so it added to it somewhat."

Jozy Altidore's journey to number 17 has a similar sound, for as the striker noted, "When I got here, that was all that was left. Looking back now it makes sense, because I was 17, my address was 17, and I was pick number 17 in the draft."

For several players on the team, this is not their first MLS side, and for some its not their first time in New York, which is how forward John Wolyniec came back full circle to uniform number 15, since "15 was the number I wore with the MetroStars, so I figured when I came back home, I would try and get my old number back."

Goalkeeper Zach Thornton wore number 18 his first go-around in New York, but it was already being worn by Jon Conway when he rejoined the team for this season. But that was not an issue for the veteran goalkeeper. "When I get to a team, I have a couple of ideas about uniform numbers," noted Thornton. "I wore 18 when I first joined the league with New York, but I also like 24, which is the number I wore when I played lacrosse in college."

Carlos Mendes' journey to number 4 takes on a more familial tone. For as the back explained, "I wore 6 in college and at Rochester, but that number was taken by Seth (Stammler). 4 is a good defenders number, and I have one brother and two sisters so there are four of us. It kind of just fit."

Most players grew up wearing a certain number and, obviously have an affinity towards a certain digit. When given a chance to wear that number as a professional, they are very comfortable with their decision. "I wore number 8 when I was growing up in the youth system," Sinisia Ubiparipovic remembered. "When I got here and number 10 (his number in college) was taken, I decided to go back to number 8. The number reminds me of the old days."

Hunter Freeman's story is very similar. Freeman stated that "I wore number 3 in club soccer, and when I got here the number was available, so I grabbed it. I wore number 13 when I was really young, so I wear that when I get to play for the national team."

Freeman's possession of the number 3 effected how Chris Leitch ended up with number 33, since, "My number has always been 3 for as long as I can remember. The reason is that my older brother wore number 3, and I wanted to be like him, so every sport I played growing up I wore the number 3. My first year in college (at the University of North Carolina), Eddie Robinson (now with the Houston Dynamo) had it, so I went with my dad's college number, 5, and when I got here I looked for 3, but since Hunter had that so I figured, double your pleasure and went with number 33. I tried to get the number from him, but he wasn't budging."

Each player had a journey towards the number they wear for the Red Bulls, but none was more circuitous than Jeff Parke, who is on his fourth number with the Red Bulls in just five seasons with the team.

When asked about his somewhat odd choice of uniform number, Parke explained that, "It started out with years of my number being taken by older guys. I started with number 12 when I started out in the league. I had that number for a year before (Jeff) Agoos took it. Then I had number 5 before (Steve) Jolly came. The year after that I had 23 until Ronald (Waterreus) came and I was basically told, 'get a new number'. So after going though that for a few years I wasn't sure what to do about a number. One night I was out with some friends and one of them said, 'You should just pick a number that nobody has. You were picked 60th (Parke was the final selection in the 2005 MLS draft) so just grab 60.' I haven't seen a 60 anywhere in the world, so I feel fairly safe with this number. It's a number that will always remind me of where I was drafted and where I came from.

For Parke, this season is the first in his five with the team and in the league that he has been able to keep his uniform number. With the league draft no longer extending to pick 60, and with no other player in MLS, and possibly the world, wearing number 60, things look pretty safe for the central defender.

Every player's uniform number tells a story, and that number often comes to be as associated with the player as his name and, often times in soccer, his hair style. So the next time you are following the Red Bulls and see a certain player wearing a certain number, you will not only recognize the player by the number on his back, but you will be able to identify with the player BECAUSE of the number of his back.