New York Red Bulls: Luke Rodgers and Tim Ream Appear at NYFEST

New York, NY - During last Saturday's NYFEST, New York Red Bulls forward Luke Rodgers and defender Tim Ream made an appearance at Pier 40 as guests. In a partnership with the Tribeca Film Festival, Umbro and The New York Cosmos, NYFest is New York City's first Film & Entertainment Soccer Tournament.

With the Red Bulls dominating their last two opponents, San Jose Earthquakes and D.C. United by a score of 7-0 both players were in high spirits. Their presence alone symbolized the potential of philanthropic goodwill if both the the New York Red Bulls and the New York Cosmos both competed in Major League Soccer.

With the weather mostly horrific for the day, soccer fans as well as the competing teams unitedly endured and braved through the weather for charity. Due to their participation, the event raised $25,000 for underprivileged children who are affiliated with nonprofit organizations that provide soccer-based programs.

One fantastic moment of the NY Fest was how both Red Bulls players took a photo with a team participating in the celebrity match. This gesture alone really represented while a potential Red Bull-Cosmos maybe explosive, there's always going to be the "Children over Club" mentality.

Luke Rodgers posed with the "Home Team" consisting of Ritchie Williams, Anderson Silva, John O'Brien, Steve Nash, Tab Ramos, Ethan Zahn, John McEnroe, Andrew Shue and Claudio Reyna.

Tim Ream posed with the "Away Team" consisting of Jeff Agoos, Giovanni Savarese, Gale Harold, Gilad Bloom, Ian McKee, Frank Whaley, Eli Freeze, Russell Pain, Eddie Louis, Ethan Hawke and Tony Sanneh.

While neither player participated in the "Celebrity Match" both took a moment to address the children who participated in the soccer clinic. Both players represented the Red Bulls well as they eloquently answered any questions the children had.

While the Red Bulls-Cosmos debry maybe a few years away from now, there's plenty of evidence why the Red Bulls and the Cosmos could co-exist and be respectful towards each others causes. In the end, it's the children of the New York/New Jesey who win.

Cesar Diaz covers Soccer for LatinoSports.com. He's also a Columnist for USSoccerPlayers.com; your source for American Soccer news brought to you by members of the U.S. National Team. Easily accessible, you may reach Cesar at [e-mail] and at Twitter at @CoveringSoccer.