San Diego

Just got back from training in San Diego this week. It was my first time in San Diego and I was really stoked to be in a beach city. Consequently, I took to the beach everyday after training. Unfortunately, I had to rely on my camera phone for snapshots, so the quality leaves a little to be desired. Monday, I headed over to Coronado and walked the beach:

Coronado lies on a peninsula right off the coast of San Diego. To get there, you've got to cross the Coronado bridge which provides a real good view of the bay and the San Diego skyline.

And I am officially a beach snob. The sand on the San Diego beaches is brown with specks of black mixed in. I couldn't help but think of how white and fine the sands at Siesta Key, Florida are. If you're thinking of going to the beach this summer, consider Siesta Key. You'll find it hard to vacation at any other beach. That's not to say the beaches weren't nice in San Diego. There are stretches of lighter sand and the surf is definitely much better than anything you'll find in Florida. I give them a snobbish 4 out of 5.

Tuesday, I was able to get to Mission Beach, but no pics. Wednesday, I took off to Pacific Beach, which has a really cool landscape in that you've got cliffs that drop off to the beach:

Since I flew out Friday afternoon, I figured I needed to get to the beach one last time since I don't know whether I'll get to see the beach again this year. Here's the sunset at Mission Beach:

And for this beach lover and aviation fan, the training facility location could not have been more ideal. It was literally situated at the east end of the single commercial runway at San Diego International airport. When jets would power up to take off, our training room would literally shake and our instructor would pause until the plane made it on down the runway. Our parking lot ran alongside the jet blast deflectors, to give you and idea of how close we were to the runway, and from there you could watch the big boys land. Here's an Alaska Airlines (Boeing 737):

Here's a closeup of a United Airlines (Boeing 757?) jet's underbelly:

I was also able to to make it out to the Gas Lamp district which reminded me of downtown Athens, GA - bars and restaurants galore, packed into a couple of blocks. And I quite possibly found my culinary dream mile - Old Town. My hotel was in Old Town, which is sort of a rustic part of town with the main strip lined entirely with Mexican restaurants. It took some serious discipline not to eat dinner there every night.

All in all, a great trip. And to top things off, I finally made Silver Medallion!

Summer Softball

A tad late, but here's a pic of our Sunday summer league softball team, Twinkies. We were quite possibly the most successful team in the league that couldn't give two #$%&'s. Here's our "candid" shot after our final game that decided the Sunday league champ.


The winner of the match went on to face the Saturday league champs. Unfortunately, the team that knocked us out of contention for the weekend league title did not go on to win it all, so we weren't even able to say we were sent home by the eventual champs. But like I said, we could give two #$%&'s.

King of Beers

One surprising note about the World Cup in Germany: Budweiser was, in most stadiums, the only beer you could buy. Of the five stadiums where I got my beer and brats on, only one served a German brew. It just goes to show that even arguably the best beer in the world has no chance against a deep sponsor budget.

...which brings me to my only gripe about this German World Cup: There was no personality, local or otherwise.

Germans are the masters of planning and organizing and it must be said that this World Cup ran smoother than any in the past. Although they get high marks in organization, they failed miserably in event entertainment and trying to create some semblance of German flair, if there indeed is such a thing. This World Cup could have been held on the island of Bore and you would have never known the difference.

I attended six matches in total and each followed the same sterile template. No entertainers for pre-game. No special guest appearances for halftime. Nothing. There was no reason to get to the match early or hurry back from concessions for halftime. All you got for pre-game was the same sequence of World Cup sponsored music videos and PSA's. Halftime was more of the same with a dash of first half highlights. And when the final whistle blew, the same exact song was blasted...every time.

I wasn't expecting a marching band or twirlers on the pitch, but give me at least something to write home about. Bring Pele out to midfield to say a little something. Bring out a freestyle soccer juggler. Fly in the kids from one of the FIFA-sponsored villages in Africa to play a quick 20 minute match during halftime.

I think the Germans were so concerned with the mechanics that they forgot the fun.

You Heard It Here First

In my last blog, I mentioned the Silverbacks and their new stadium. Here's a pic I took of the Silverbacks in action last Friday against the Charleston Battery, a contest the Backs won 1-0.

The pitch is made of the latest generation of artificial turf material, similar to what the Dome in Atlanta has recently installed.

The stadium is in the first of three stages of development. The stadium currently seats 3000 and will eventually accommodate 15,000 by the end of the third stage...which just happens to be the minimum required number of seats for an MLS stadium.

Coincidence? I think not.

You heard it here first: Look for Atlanta to be a part of MLS' expansion plans.

USA vs. Ghana

For the US to make it out of the first round, a couple of things had to line up in our favor. From two games, we were only able to muster 1 point. Ghana had done us a huge favor the previous week by providing probably the biggest upset to date in the tournament, beating the Czech Republic 2-0. The best scenario would have Italy beating the Czechs and the USA doing their part in beating Ghana in the last set of group matches. Any other scenarios would have involved goal differentials and calculations beyond my comprehension.

Like always, I got to the stadium early to avoid the crowds. Here's my first pic from my seat:

Today, I was pulling out all the stops. I had the UGA visor on. I bought an American flag...and wore it. I even flexed for the cameras, baby. I was feeling it.

Here again is the obligatory Kasey Keller warmup pic. He always walked onto the pitch to loud chants of "Ka-sey Kell-er!"

Once I was situated, I noticed the woman's jacket in front of me. Holy cow, it was like I was timewarped back to World Cup 1994. She was obviously a diehard, longtime fan and like me, was wearing something she thought would bring the team some good luck:

And here's the team warming up:

One of the things I've loved about the US fans is their signs. Here's one honoring the absent Pablo Mastroeni who was ineligible for the game on account of his red card from the Italy match. Pablo had a major lapse of judgment and tackled an Italian in our offensive third. Normally, you'd only see a foul like that when the opposite team was on attack. The sign of the match goes to the individual who created this sign that reads, "Free Pablo." It may be hard to make out in the photo.

Here are the starters warming up:

Typically, I'll throw up a picture of the field during the national anthems but this time, I have to make a comment. To date, I've heard a couple dozen national anthems being sung during opening ceremonies and every time I attended a US match, there was a very noticeable difference in how the opposing fans sung their anthem, and how the US fans sung theirs. I know we as Americans love our national anthem, but never was it clearer than when it was sung at US matches. It seemed as though the entire stadium was singing along.

And here's the kickoff:

If you follow soccer at any level of intensity, you know what happened.

I decided when I started this blog that I wasn't going to dissect the match. But one thing begs mentioning: the officiating. Captain America Claudio Reyna was taken down outside Keller's box, Ghana took advantage of a suspicious no-call, charged on Keller and scored the opening goal. Dempsey equalized a couple of minutes before halftime and the US was feeling the almost improbable was probable. Word was already spreading in the stands about Italy's 1-0 lead against the Czechs. The Italians were doing their part in getting the Americans to the knockout stage and the momentum on the field in Nürnberg was swinging in our direction. That is, until the German ref, known in the soccer world as one of the best, called a foul on Gooch while heading the ball out of Keller's box and pointed to the penalty line. We were in utter disbelief. The two players did not touch. Gooch simply headed the ball out and the Ghana player took a dive that convinced the ref to totally change the makeup of the match. Even from the stands it was clear that no contact was made, especially none that would warrant a foul.

I could only imagine the mood in the locker room at halftime. To our credit, we did almost everything we could during the second half against a team that employed every time wasting tactic in the book. A McBride header hit the post. An Onyewu header cleared the top post by inches. What hurt the most was that a ref's call decided the outcome and you can do very little to beat a ref.

It was over. We lost. A run to the quarterfinals would not be repeated and US fans, who spent thousands of dollars getting to Germany, came away having witnessed only 2 US goals, one of which found it's way into the goal off an Italian boot.

The progress we made this time around didn't manifest on the field, but rather in the stands. This World Cup saw the emergence of the the US fan. Never before had so many Americans traveled abroad to see their team play in a World Cup. It was great being a part of soccer history.

So now what? More soccer. I've got MLS Direct Kick and the Atlanta Silverbacks are underway in their new digs (RE/MAX Greater Atlanta Stadium). And then there's that other form of football that starts early September in Athens.

Here's the USMNT showing their appreciation one last time. See you guys in 2010:

Arrival in Nürnberg

The very next day after the Serbia & Montenegro vs. Ivory Coast match, I was off to Nürnberg for the USA-Ghana match, their final and crucial first round test, and to catch up with an old colleague and friend of mine from my Deutsche Telekom days (wow, I sound like a corporate veteran). Here's my buddy Bernd and myself at O'Shea's Irish pub in downtown Nürnberg. www.yanks-abroad.com had organized a get-together for all US fans, so we dropped by.

I brought along the UGA visor for extra added luck and I finally got my first comment on it...from a techie. Go figure.

Good ole Bernd and myself:


After treating his thirsty American bud to some suds and Nürnberger brats, Bernd pointed out how the town's fountain had been given a facelift by a local (I think) artist. The artist took some old soccer stadium seats and built this:


After spending time catching up with Bernd, I was off to Franken Stadion. It was great seeing Bernd again after 3 years and I was excited to see his family later on that day.

Serbia & Montenegro vs. Cote d'Ivoire

Okay, I've got some major catching up to do here. The second to last match I took in on June 21st was on paper, a very meaningless match. Serbia & Montenegro and Ivory Coast had already been eliminated from the tournament but I had a good feeling that both teams still had something left to prove. In fact, it turned out to be the most exciting non-US matchup I attended. Soccer fans, don't forget Ivory Coast; even without Drogba, they are the real deal. They are quick, highly skilled on the ball, and extremely athletic. Drogba, Ivory Coast's marquee player, was ineligible for the match on yellow card accumulation, but he was hardly missed.

Now, since it's been some time since the match, unfortunately, I don't remember many of the major play-by-play details, but I'll give it my best.

It rained for most of the match, which made the pitch play fast. I was amazed at how each team was still able to handle the ball in the less than ideal conditions. Cote d'Ivoire's last goal was on penalty kicks, which may lead some to believe that the win was undeserved, but that's the farthest from the truth. Ivory Coast was the better team in the second half and a goal would have fallen regardless of the reckless Serbian play that resulted in the penalty kick.

3-2 was the final score and another African nation made their exit, this being the most impressive by far. Ghana would be the final African nation and the only to make it to the knockout stage of the tournament. Ahem, more on that later.

Here are some pics from the match:

Allianz Arena lit up in a neutral color:

My perspective of the field. I had the "obstructed view" ticket category. The obstruction was the net that caught any errant, $120 would-be souvenir soccer balls from reaching the crowd:

National anthems:

Again, proof I was there. Brought along the UGA visor, you know, to represent:

Kickoff:

Action shots, including an Ivory Coast PK. Notice the Serbian fan holding up three fingers. During their national anthem, all Serbian fans held up their arms in the air like this: