When we looked at the qualifying schedule, I was excited that at least one game was while the kids were on break from school, since we always have more fun at games as a family. We have friends in Denver, and I figured by late March, maybe the weather would be warming up (ha!). We decided to spend the week in Denver, making art and spending time with friends. It was gorgeous all week, sunny and warm, and we had so much fun playing outside, going for walks, and hanging out.
We started out the day at The British Bulldog, AO Denver’s bar, where the kids fueled up on Sheppard’s Pie and burgers. Once they were fed, they were willing to join in a round of leading “Everywhere We Go” chant standing on their bar stools. My daughter gave me a “can I curse?” look, and I smiled and nodded, knowing it would be a huge hit. We got to the line “We are the US, the might f*$%ing US” and when the kids dropped the F bomb, the bar went absolutely nuts, and the rest of the chant was lost to applause and high fives for our kids. It was a proud moment for me as a supporter mama. If you have video of that chant, PLEASE message me!
My son, Captain America
We headed to the tailgate and to set up the tifo and Midwest Mama flag. The kids changed in Captain America and Betsy Ross costumes, and started to take turns charming people at the tailgate and warming up in the car. The day started in the upper 40s and sunny, but by the tifo set up at 3:30, it was cloudy, windy, and quickly getting colder. But we had a great parking place, plenty of food and beer, and many friends we don’t often get to see. We were having a blast. Captain America was getting amped up for the game, and was directing people to “take the stadium!”
I must give props to my local group, American Outlaws Des Moines. When I agreed to be the AO contact for Iowa back in 2007, I imagined that the AO chapter would be the 4 people in my house, and maybe one or two more. I never dreamed that we would become an official chapter, with road trips to games where there would be more people from AO DSM than some of the largest supporter chapters in the US. I’m so proud of what this “little” group has become.
The game itself was bananas. I can’t even tell you what happened on the field. We scored at the far end,but I only know that because I watched the net for when it rippled as the ball struck it. The snow flakes were huge, and the stands were filled with slush. It was some of the craziest weather I’ve seen, but seriously Costa Rica, I have a kindergartner and a 4th grader, and they whined less about this game than you are. It’s called a home field advantage, welcome to CONCACAF!
In case you ever wonder how that huge flag gets in and out of the stadium, it’s by us at AO Des Moines. My family (my husband in this case) carries that flag all over the US to games. We get to the stadium four hours early to set it up, and we stay late to fold it up (often with the help of locals, thanks SO MUCH to the guys that helped in the snow and slush last night!) It was even heavier last night than it was in Tampa, because there was only so much snow we could shake off. It’s currently drying in the basement, not really sure how we’ll get it re-folded for the drive home, assuming we eventually get to leave the Denver snow globe!
I’ll post more photos later, I’m going to go spend some more time making art with our host, local artist, Tanya Keith (find her work here), Wish us luck driving home. This one last photo is thanks to Daniel Petty of The Denver Post. My husband and I kiss like this at the final whistle of every game, but no one has ever caught us before. It’s like we renew our vows of our 18 year marriage at every US Soccer game, but I’ve never had a “wedding photographer” catch us! Much appreciated, Mr. Petty!
Disclaimer: I’m Jewish. I may live in Iowa, and know many Catholics, but at the end of the day, there’s a whole bunch I don’t understand about the significance of today’s events at the Vatican. None of this is intended to disrespect the seriousness of this day for my Catholic friends.
Because really, yesterday started out as a running joke. There’s a seagull on the Vatican roof! It has a Twitter account! Sigh…the whole thing of waiting for smoke signals. It’s tough for me to understand the whole religious significance of an event that’s pretty out there in practice. Not that Jews don’t have our own strange traditions, but usually there’s delicious food involved, which I think makes it more accessible. I digress….
So the new Pope is announced, and we, my two kids and I, were running errands and catching snippets of the story via NPR. I caught that the Pope was from Argentina, which I thought was cool because there’s some really great Rabbis and Cantors from there, so I’m absentmindedly thinking that the new Pope has something going for him culturally speaking. My daughter was saying “I thought a Pope was where you go to drink.” No honey, that’s a “pub.” It was about as satisfying as Pope announcements can be for a nice Jewish girl.
Then the soccer jokes started, mostly from my friend @WeberKing, another Jewish USMNT fan: “Move over Maradona, there’s a new guy claiming to be the “Hand of G-d.”
“Sepp Blatter just announced that the new Pope is from Qatar. Sorry US and England”
Then another friend posted a comment wondering if the Pope was a fan of Boca Juniors, River Plate, or perhaps Newell’s Old Boys? All first division teams in Argentina, and kinda cracked me up, envisioning a serious Bishop going nuts over a soccer game. That made me pretty happy, and it wasn’t too hard to imagine, a guy growing up in Argentina being a soccer fan. I mean, giving up sex is one thing, but G-d wouldn’t ask anyone to give up football, right?
So I posted this joke to break up a serious Pope discussion on another friend’s page, and in response, he linked me to this gem: “New Pope Suffers for Argentine soccer club San Lorenzo.” No. Effing. Way. This is amazing. The Pope is a football fan. With a supporters card no less! I can’t really say that this is going to make me convert to Catholicism or anything, (Now if San Lorenzo starts crushing it, you’ll have my attention) but not knowing anything else about him, I’d rather have another supporter in any job. I know he’s got a pretty crappy record on gay rights, but personally, I don’t look to the Catholic Church for leadership on much, least of all gay rights equality. Just don’t take away my birth control options, and we’re cool for now, Pope Francis.
FoxSoccer’s Facebook page posted this image with the announcement that the 2014 World Cup is 500 days away. Let’s just say we were more excited about this than the kids’ 100th day of school Friday. 500 DAYS!!
It’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for, USMNT Fans! It’s been torture, waiting for US Soccer to give us some news. Sure, we all wanted to know where Hex games are before the holidays for our eight nights of airline and game tickets, or Santa delivering gifts of gas money and hotel rooms. But at least now we have some information on where we are headed in the Hex! Read on:
LINCOLN, Neb. – American Outlaws, acting unilaterally, is pleased to finally announce the home game sites for the final round of qualifying for the 2014 World Cup Finals. Due to the fact that the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) has not announced game sites, the nation’s premiere fan organization signaled where the group will convene on each game day in the hopes that the team will follow suit.
March 22, 2013 – Costa Rica – New York, N.Y. (Rucker Park)
June 11, 2013 – Panama – Des Moines, Iowa (Hatton Cottage)
June 18, 2013 – Honduras – Savannah, Ga. (East River Street)
September 10, 2013 – Mexico – Washington, D.C. (J.Edgar Hoover Stadium)
October 11, 2013 – Jamaica – Green Bay, Wisc. (Lambeau Field)
Home qualifiers start in New York City with a March 22nd match against Costa Rica. Historic Rucker Park will host the first home match of the hexagonal round at Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Stadium. Tickets for the contest will be available by contacting Fat Joe and Slim on the corner of 155th St. and Frederick Douglass Blvd.
For the first time in the history, US Soccer will play in Iowa as the Yanks hit the Heartland where it hurts by playing in Des Moines, Iowa. Infamous Hatton Cottage will host the match in the first match at the small pitch. The teams will play a 3v3 match on the grounds of the Victorian-Style Hatton House which will host the Outlaws Pre-Game Party & Clam Bake.
A week later, Jürgen Klinnsman’s team will be in for a street fight against Honduras on the cobblestones of Savannah, Ga. In a surprising choice, the Outlaws have chosen to come to the Hostess City of the South because drinking is allowed on the streets and the cobblestones of the city’s riverfront are much smoother than any football pitch in Central America. The city was founded in 1733 as the first Capitol of the Penal Colony of Georgia.
On September 10th, the Yanks host hated rival Mexico in a special one-off home game at the temporary J. Edgar Hoover Stadium which is located in the courtyard of the J. Edgar Hoover Building in Washington, D.C. No admission will be charged for the contest and fans from both nations will be welcome in the first international match held on Pennsylvania, Ave.
The United States’ final home qualifier will be against Jamaica in Green Bay, Wisc. Historic Lambeau Field will host its first international match against the Reggae Boys on what is expected to be a frozen tundra. The game in Wisconsin will be the Yanks’ first trip to the state since falling to East Germany in 1990, 1-2. That game was played in Milwaukee.
For more information about ticket packages, please visit TheAmericanOutlaws.com. The official US Soccer Hexagonal Schedule will be released on March 21st, 2013 in order to give supporters plenty of time to sort out travel plans. All games will be shown on BeIN Sport. If you don’t have BeIN Sport, don’t worry, nobody else does either.
**Many thanks to my AO brother “Big Fudge” for the write up, and the Des Moines hat tip, in response to my lamenting the lack of information. Maybe if I ask US Soccer as nicely for information, they’ll write me a press release too. C’mon Sunil….tell us where we’re going this year!
Filed under: International Soccer, Supporter Culture, US Soccer | Tags: Guatemala, Livestrong, US Soccer, USMNT
We got to Kansas City last night and are headed to the stadium for what should be one of the best US Soccer atmospheres ever. We went to the Open Cup final in KC, and I was blown away by the atmosphere Sporting has developed for their MLS club. Fireworks, tifo, singing….this is not the supporter culture of their Wizards past. Tonight should be fantastic.
We got to the stadium at 10 AM to hang banners, set up the Midwest Mama stadium flag, and help American Outlaws lay out their stadium wide tifo. The usual security briefing is “don’t do this, don’t do that…” But at Livestrong Park, we were instructed that their goal was no arrests, no ejections, and a stadium so loud, the players wouldn’t be able to hear the final whistle. I’ve never working with stadium front office that’s so supporter friendly.
Combine that with supporters coming in from all over the US, and it’s lining up to be a great night. This is a special game for our family, not just because we get to see some old friends we usually only see at World Cups, but it is our family cap #97, 98, 99, and 100. (37 for Tanya, 31 for Doug, 20 for 10 year old Betsy Ross, and an even dozen for 5 year old Captain America…he outgrew the Uncle Sam outfit). So look for us by the Midwest Mama flag, singing our hearts out to victory and on to the Hex!
Filed under: FIFA, International Soccer, US Soccer | Tags: Jamaica, US Soccer, World Cup Qualifier
The Jamaica Home/Away roadtrip is underway! Yesterday, I watched my husband referee Minnesota Soccer’s win over Western Kentucky, and today, we fly to Montego Bay for the away leg of the qualifier. We’re off to a great start.
Our airport shuttle driver was Mexican, and was as excited as we were to talk CONCACAF soccer, even though I opened the conversation with “Didya see the US vs Mexico game in August?” He liked my rendition of Mexican beer ads in Spanish, and I think was impressed that a couple Americans were so familiar with the history of the biggest rivalry in CONCACAF.
We arrived at the airport in our USMNT jerseys, Doug’s vintage 2002, and mine the current Where’s Waldo? We were through O’Hare security in record speed when a guy in business attire stopped me and said “Nice jersey, are you coming from or going to a game?” I’ve never been stopped by an average American who knew 1. What a US Soccer jersey looked like and 2. Their playing schedule. You’ve come a long way, America, and you’re making me proud. Just think, my kids could grow up in a world where soccer fans aren’t the lowest form of American sports fan….
Next stop: Jamaica, for cliff diving, Blue Mountain coffee, rum, a reprise of our 1995 honeymoon, and hopefully, an excellent soccer game.
Since 1994, I’ve counted my life in four year increments. In some ways, everything in my life is planned around the ebb and flow of the World Cup schedule. The qualifying build up, the anticipation of ticketing phases, the glorious tournament, and then the two years of darkness, when we have nothing but Gold Cup, friendlies, and Olympics (or not) to enjoy with our National Teams. So it’s pretty difficult to contain my excitement with the soccer on tap today.
As my friend Monty posted on Facebook this morning, “There are some great days that bring excitement each and every year. Then there are days like today that only happen once every four years … the first day of qualifying for the (2014) World Cup in Brazil starts today.” For people like us, the wait for “games that count” is over. The USMNT Road to Brasil starts tonight here in Tampa with our game vs. Antigua and Barbuda. It doesn’t really matter to me that this should be an easy game for the US, and we’re probably going to get soaked in the rain tonight…just so long as the wait is over.
As if that’s not enough, today also kicks off Euro 2012, with the host Poland playing Greece in Warsaw, which means a month of excellent European soccer. It’s a tournament second only to the World Cup in excitement….as I’m writing this, it’s 10v10, missed PK, tied game….it does not suck.
And who better to spend it with than my soccer family? I am staying with Andy Gustafson, one of the guys I met in Korea 10 years ago. Also with us is Jon Strauss, another World Cup traveler, and meeting us later, Rishi Bagel, who not only hits the World Cups, but joined us at Azteca for the game in 2005. For me, this is like a family reunion all wrapped up in soccer. It’s going to be a beautiful weekend, no matter what the weather.
A ripple went through the soccer world this week, as we passed the 10th anniversary of the US vs Portugal game in the 2002 World Cup. I smiled every time I read a “10 years ago I was….” post on facebook or Twitter, and I teared up watching babyfaced Landon Donovan in his disbelief scoring on the powerhouse on Portugal. As I thought about my “10 years ago today…” I got a little nostalgic.
Ten years ago, I was five months pregnant, with my darling girl, Aviva. I had taken the long flight to Korea with my husband, trying to keep my ankles from swelling on our way to our second foreign World Cup. We knew a few people from Iowa that would be in Korea, and we had met a few people through the “Yanks in Korea” Yahoo group (remember those days?) but otherwise, we were on our own. We headed out to the bar where Americans were meeting up, and came across many of the people that we continue to travel with to this day. It was like another world from where we are today. I had no idea the potential that US Soccer would display at that World Cup, and had no idea the bonds we would forge that day would lead to lifelong friendships with so many people.
US v Portugal would be my first time taking my daughter to a USMNT match (we called her’s “obstructed view seats”) and would start a lifetime of taking my kids into the supporters section. I remember her doing what felt like a full 360 spin when we hit the “wall of sound” that was the Koreans chanting in unison at the US vs Korea game. I remember cradling my belly at the US vs Poland game when it looked like we were headed home, all our work in the previous two matches for nothing.
I realize now, ten years later that there will never be another World Cup like that for me, where the unknown wonder of what was to come for our family and the team I love was so full and bright. I have loved every time I’ve brought my kids to games, but I find it hard to imagine a World Cup so far exceeding my expectation, now that the bar has been raised so high. It was a great experience to see the Germany Weltmeister through my then 3-1/2 year old’s eyes, and to travel South Africa with so many good friends was fantastic, but ten years ago, I was that pregnant girl in Korea, and I had the time of my life.
***If you want to read more about our trip to Korea and you can’t wait until I finish the book I’m writing about our travels, pick up a copy of Andy Gustafson’s “23 Days in Korea.” He is one of the people we met at that first game, and tells a great story of his trip, albeit misspelling my name and totally misrepresenting how that cab WAS mine! It is otherwise a great read. You can buy it here.
Soccer....Family Style 