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One day, many years ago, a girl who loved to travel met a boy who loved soccer. This blog is their story.
The day I met my husband, I could never have guessed that our relationship would take me all over the world following the US Men’s National Soccer team. We met the night of his last game as a college player at Carnegie Mellon University, so it took me a while to figure out just how into soccer he was. He told me about being a soccer referee and player, but as our relationship developed, it became clear that he was not your ordinary couch riding soccer fan.
It was in 1994 at our first World Cup together that I could see our adventure unfold. We went to the games in Chicago together and I was completely in love with the experience. I loved watching the soccer, but it was the culture that was the most amazing part of the experience. People from all over the world, in traditional dress, singing songs, face painted, all coming together to celebrate this huge sporting event. I was hooked.
On the way home, I presented my plan to Doug: “You love soccer and like to travel, I love to travel and like soccer. Let’s go to every World Cup, no matter where it is in the world. We’ll see the world, and we will always be a part of this.” And the rest, as they say, is history.
We have had hundreds of adventures through France in 1998, Korea in 2002, and Germany in 2006. Like any addict, soon the World Cup wasn’t enough. We’ve been to games all over the US and to Azteca Stadium in Mexico City. We’ve been there for great games and sucky games. And we’ve seen a million crazy things. This blog is about those adventures. Along the way I’ll share stories about our past adventures, and about the ones about to take place in South Africa this June.
There are a million places online where you can get the stats and analysis about the games. I’m sure I’ll have game info on here, but mostly I write about the soul of soccer ultra fandom. What it’s like to travel to a World Cup. The experience of being a fan in the stands and on the streets. I hope you’ll get a glimpse of what it is that keeps me following US Soccer.
Soccer....Family Style 