American Sports Part III: Soccer

I know, I know … football. But when in Rome etc etc.

A couple of weeks ago I saw that the New York Red Bulls were travelling to nearby Ohio to play the Columbus Crew. Well, I say nearby, I had to drive for around 3 hours to get there from here in Indianapolis. It was a really boring drive too; straight line East and stayed on the same road for around 160 miles! At one point I went past a sign for London, wasn’t sure if I was hallucinating …

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was actually only going to the game as I thought it would be a chance to watch Thierry Henry, who used to play for Arsenal and is one of my favourite players of all time; he now plays for New York. That didn’t happen however as I found out through Twitter, the day before the game, that he wouldn’t be playing due to a hamstring injury. Thierry! I was gutted but still made the drive.

When I arrived at the ground I was impressed at how smart it looked, and also surprised at the amount of people in the car park having barbecues! They smelt so good. Later I would realise why everybody was wrapped up in coats, scarves, and some stupid ear protector things…

Around the outside of the ground there was plenty of activities for kids to keep them occupied and I was even given a free match day program … certainly different from a trip to any ground in the UK.

Once inside, I took my seat. A very good seat actually. Right behind the team benches and almost smack on the halfway line. Then the Americanisms started. There were cheerleaders, foam hands, fireworks, marching bands, an old guy singing the Star Spangled Banner and then, finally, the game started!

I actually wish the pre-match entertainment had just continued, because it was a terrible game. As bad as the game was, the atmosphere was good. There was a group of fans in the far corner making a lot of noise and banging drums, but unfortunately for me there was a young girl a couple of rows behind me with a vuvuzela. I bought one online during the World Cup and was crap with it; luckily she was too. The game must have been the longest one I’ve ever watched, it seemed to go on forever. I don’t think I was helped by the weather … and soon realised why everyone was wrapped up so warm. I was frozen. I started to wish that I had some of the daft looking ear muffs. Kind of.

Finally the full time whistle went and, although it was a terrible game, it was a good day out and an experience. The ticket was $50 plus a booking fee, so it wasn’t cheap. But then again I was in the ‘posh’ seats.

So that’s soccer, basketball, and American football down … baseball and ice hockey to go.