Jay LaPrete/Associated PressEddie Gaven, right, spent three years with the Red Bulls franchise, when the team was known as the MetroStars.

Leave it to Eddie Gaven to move from New Jersey to Columbus, Ohio, and not really see much of a difference.

"The people maybe move a bit slower, but that's about it," the seemingly always laid-back midfielder said. "It's not that much different than Jersey."

Things, however, are much different for Gaven.

The Hamilton native will start for the Crew when they take on the Red Bulls in MLS Cup Sunday in Carson, Calif.

Gaven is now a solid performer in MLS -- which is something the Red Bulls franchise (then known as the MetroStars) thought he would be when they drafted him as a 16-year-old in 2003. It just didn't work out that way.

John Munson/The Star-LedgerRed Bulls goalkeeper Danny Cepero will face a team that scored 50 goals -- second most in the MLS this season -- when the Red Bulls meet the Columbus Crew Sunday in MLS Cup.

Red Bulls coach Juan Carlos Osorio spent the entire season mixing and matching his defenders, playing three in the back for a while, then four.

Along the way, he had to deal with injuries, suspensions and poor play and incorporate midseason acquisitions.

Three games into the playoffs, it looks like he finally got what he has been looking for.

"In well-rooted American sports, defense means titles, and it wins titles," Osorio said. "I'm very pleased with the way the guys are performing now."

Jennifer Brown/The Star-LedgerSpanish-language broadcaster Ernesto Motta has been with the New York club in a variety of roles for its entire 13-year history. On Sunday, he will finally get to call an MLS Cup.

"Next season is going to be different."

Then he smashed his microphone on the ground.

"I was almost in tears," Motta recalled Tuesday. "I was frustrated, but that's how I felt."

Steve C. Wilson/Associated PressRed Bulls' head coach Juan Carlos Osorio celebrates with forward Juan Pablo Angel after their Western Conference Final win. The New York franchise has had a much bumpier history than their MLS Cup opponent, the Columbus Crew.

So as two of Major League Soccer's charter franchises prepare to play for MLS Cup for the first time Sunday in Carson, Calif., why is the Crew considered a model franchise while the Red Bulls have the reputation as the joke of the league?

"To put it bluntly, it was overpromise and underdeliver," said Red Bulls sporting director Jeff Agoos, who played with the MetroStars in 2005, the final year of a 10-year career that saw him win five MLS Cups (four with D.C. United, one with San Jose). "There was a lot of inconsistency and a lot of change. The one constant was change. And there still has been that, to be completely honest.

Steve C. Wilson/Associated PressDave van den Bergh celebrates after scoring the winning goal in the Red Bulls' 1-0 Western Conference final victory last weekend -- just their third road win of the season.

For those of you who felt it would take a miracle for the Red Bulls to reach the MLS Cup this season after just one road victory all year, winning the past two playoff games in Houston and Utah by a combined score of 4-0 was the answer to your prayers.

The team, however, felt differently.

Douglas C. Pizac/Associated PressRed Bulls midfielder Dave van den Bergh celebrates the win over Real Salt Lake. He scored the winning goal in the 1-0 triumph.

SANDY, Utah -- There was an unlikely dance partner late Saturday night in the middle of the visitors' locker room of Real Salt Lake's Rio Tinto Stadium.

But the Western Conference championship cup played the part in stride as members of a jubilant Red Bulls team took turns swaying to the beats of Kanye West, embracing the cup as though it were a beloved friend.

It still might sounds odd to say it: The Red Bulls will play for the MLS Cup on Sunday in Los Angeles. The Red Bulls are Western Conference champions.

Might take another day or so to really sink in, right?

Steve C. Wilson/Associated PressRed Bulls midfielder Dave van den Bergh celebrates his goal against Real Salt Lake.

SANDY, Utah -- It's improbable and unlikely, but it's oh, so real.

The New York Red Bulls will play for the MLS Cup.

Yeah, those Red Bulls. The fourth seed in the MLS Western Conference playoffs. The team that finished a game under .500 on the season. The team that failed to deliver in postseasons past when expectations were so high.

But a nothing-to-lose approach Saturday night led to a first-half goal from Dave van den Bergh and a 1-0 victory over Real Salt Lake earned the Red Bulls, in their 13th season, their first trip to the MLS Cup final.

"It was ugly, it was lucky, but for the franchise we're going to have to take it any way it comes," van den Bergh said.

New York will meet the Columbus Crew on Nov. 23 in Los Angeles.

Bill Kostroun/Associated PressRed Bulls defender Kevin Goldthwaite, left, and Real Salt Lake defender Jamison Olave argued during the second half of a match in September.

After a season of inconsistent play capped by an improbable first-round playoff victory, could the Red Bulls actually be overconfident heading into Saturday night's Western Conference final against Real Salt Lake in Sandy, Utah?

"Now it's my job to keep their feet on the ground because the confidence now is quite high," Red Bulls coach Juan Carlos Osorio said. "You can tell in practice that all the guys, looking at the way we're playing, that everybody feels comfortable on the ball, and that's great, but we have to respect Real Salt Lake."

Star-Ledger Red Bulls' beat writer Frank Giase breaks down the MLS conference final matchups:

Douglas C. Pizac/Associated PressReal Salt Lake coach Jason Kreis counts Red Bulls coach Juan Carlos Osorio as a valuable mentor during the rough early going as a rookie coach.

Fortunately for Kreis, along came Juan Carlos Osorio.

"I have a tremendous amount of respect for Juan Carlos Osorio," Kreis said via conference call Wednesday. "He was one of the first coaches to offer himself and his time to me. When he was with Chicago last year, before a reserve game, he offered his thoughts about what his team was doing well. In some ways he has taken me a little under his wing, and I'm appreciative for that."

Andrew Mills/The Star-LedgerCarli Lloyd, a Rutgers grad and gold medalist on the U.S. Olympic soccer team.

After all, Jerseyans have been a big part of the women's and men's national teams the past two decades, regulars in Olympics and World Cups.

The NCAA Tournament? That's a different story for Garden State teams.

Jeff Zelevansky/Getty ImagesRed Bulls coach Juan Carlos Osorio

There have been two shining moments in the history of the MetroStars/Red Bulls, and Juan Carlos Osorio has been there both times.

And while that pretty much sums up the franchise's 13 years, it also speaks volumes about Osorio's contribution.

On Sunday, in Osorio's first year as head coach, the Red Bulls stunned the two-time defending champion Dynamo with a dominating 3-0 victory in the second leg of their Western Conference semifinal series in Houston.

A few weeks ago, the Red Bulls were coming off a season-ending beat-down by the Chicago Fire and were lucky to back into the playoffs a couple of days later.

On Sunday in Houston, during a 3-0, first-round playoff upset of the Dynamo, they were celebrating the series-clinching goal by dancing to hits from the '80s.

That's how quickly things can change in Major League Soccer, where history has shown that any team that qualifies for the playoffs has a chance to win a championship.

Julio Cortez/Associated PressRed Bulls forward John Wolyniec dances as he celebrates a goal against the Dynamo in the second half of the Red Bulls' 3-0 victory.

The Red Bulls pulled off arguably the greatest victory in their 13-year history Sunday with a 3-0 defeat of the Houston Dynamo, and will play Real Salt Lake in the Western Conference Championship next Saturday.

The victory was a stunning upset -- one of the biggest in MLS Cup Playoff history.

It came against the defending MLS champions and Western Conference regular-season winners, and marked just the second time the Red Bulls advanced out of the first round.

It was the team's second-ever road playoff victory.

And it was just the Red Bulls' second victory away from home this season.

Chuck Myers/MCTLuke Sassano is one of the Red Bulls' better -- and cheaper -- players.

In a league where the salary cap often strangles teams at critical times, money will be of no concern Sunday when the Red Bulls play their most important game of the season.

When the Red Bulls take on the two-time defending champion Dynamo in the second leg of their Western Conference semifinal in Houston, a lot of high-priced talent is expected to be on the bench in favor of players making a fraction of their salary but who are in better form.

"The coach makes the decisions," said rookie midfielder Luke Sassano, who will earn $17,700 this season. "In the beginning of the year guys were injured and I got my chance. I'm going to listen to whatever he has to say and respect it. If it's my time to play it's my time to play."