4/17/2004
Metrostars 3-2 DC Scum
Wow, that was some experience.
First off, the height of ridiculousness, and Exhibit A in why New Jersey sucks so bad in general. I have to take a bus from Weehawken, NJ to the Port Authority bus terminal in NYC, to get the bus to Giants Stadium, which is like 10-15 miles away (or something like that) away from Weehawken. There is no way that I know of to get between the two otherwise. And, because the Nets were tipping off against the Knicks the same time as the Metros kicked off with the Scum, the Port Authority was a fucking nightmare.
Oh, and of course, since Freddy Fucking Adu was playing tonight, that meant that the Metros probably outdrew the Nets by a pretty healthy margin. All told, 31,000 showed up at Giants Stadium, half of them there just to see the new guy on the other fucking team...but, if it helps the sport in this country, I'll learn to deal with it.
Now, I got half-season tickets from my brother and his girlfriend as a Christmas present, and the seat itself is great. It's like 20 yards away from midfield, and like 15 or 16 rows up from the field. I can easily read player names on the back, see facial expressions, lip-read a little (especially when the ref yells at people), so in that respect, it's awesome. And, the knowledge level out with the casual fans isn't as horrendous as I thought it would be...there were three Jamaican dudes in front of me who definitely know the game (even if they complain a little too much), and there's a lovely older couple that sit on my right-hand side, who have been going since season two. They were awesome...they knew their shit, didn't yell at the team for every little thing they did wrong, and were nice, pleasant people...perfect fans, really.
But, oh my fucking god, the guy on my left is going to die before the All-Star Game. Picture Larry David, from Curb Your Enthusiasm. Give him curly gray hair, kinda white-afroish, but balding in front. Give him an even more grating, annoying voice than Larry David's. Now, imagine him loudly complaining at every turnover, every missed defensive coverage 70 yards away from our own goal, shit, everything, really. The guy literally does not shut up for a single consecutive minute of the game...it really made the experience almost unbearable. I have a really long fuse, and my friends will tell you that I'm generally a happy-go-lucky, pleasant kinda guy. But my god, I swear if this keeps up, I will jiu-jitsu choke him and throw him into the opposition's bench (which I could easily do) by the 5th game I spend there.
Luckily, it's only half-season passes, so I can spend the other half standing in my usual section (behind the home goal) with the really crazy fans, the Empire Supporters Club (www.empiresc.com). I kinda missed being there today, especially because it was the first derby day of the year.
Enough of that stuff, what about the game? And, what about me continuing to rip off the late, lamented @FC Online Fanzine?
DC passed very well in the first half, and Dema Kovalenko really had a blinder -- he terorized Craig Ziadie down the left flank for the entire 45. Their goal, when it came, was inevitable to say the least. It was a kind of gristly bundled-in thing, but they count just as much as the Owen wonder strikes. Also, it should be mentioned that as much as they can be dicks on the bigsoccer.com boards, the DC fans who made the trip really did contribute to the atmosphere. Both the Screaming Chickens (OK, OK, the Screaming Eagles) and La Norte were represented, leaving only Barra Brava without a presence for them. They were in pretty fine voice most of the way, even as the tide turned in the second half. They're still wankers, though!
The Metros managed to survive the first 45, and whatever Jeff Bradley said, it fucking WORKED. The boys came out storming in the second half. Joselito Vaca and Amado Guevara didn't have the best first half in the world, but they bossed the midfield from the second half whistle on. Mike Magee had to come off at the interval for some reason, so new Jamaican striker Fabien Taylor came on to partner with John Wolyenic up front. All he did was score two goals to give us the lead, and they were no less than we (and he) deserved. They weren't any prettier than DC's first (the second being a pretty big softie from their backup keeper, Warren), but they were exactly the kind of garbage goal that we never got last season. Then, up 2-1, John Wolyenic did the same thing he did last year, score a Goal of the Year contender. Amado Guevara whipped in a thunderous cross, and Woly got on the end of it with a diving header that no keeper on Earth could stop. He also crashed into the goalpost doing it, showing exactly the kind of character guy he is. It's odd, because he's more the prototypical center forward, scoring with his head and whatnot. But man, awesome, awesome goal.
Oh, yeah, then that Freddy Adu guy came on, and everyone cheered. Good god. HE'S ON THE OTHER FUCKING TEAM. All credit to the kid, though. He was in the right place at the right time, and made no mistake when an easy tap-in chance came his way from a pretty nice cross from....Jaime Moreno, I think. I don't know HOW he was left that open, but still, he took his chance well. As someone said, everyone won today (except for DC, but fuck them)....we won cause we won the game, and MLS won cause Freddy Adu scored, which is all SportsCenter is going to show from the game, of course.
Fine. Fuck Adu, fuck SportsCenter, fuck DC United, and fuck SportsCenter again. We're 2-0 now, rolling along very nicely, and hopefully we'll tonk New England too when they come to town next weekend. I'll be in Section 101 (the Empire End), chanting "You suck, asshole!" during the other team's goal kicks. Man, I've missed that!
First off, the height of ridiculousness, and Exhibit A in why New Jersey sucks so bad in general. I have to take a bus from Weehawken, NJ to the Port Authority bus terminal in NYC, to get the bus to Giants Stadium, which is like 10-15 miles away (or something like that) away from Weehawken. There is no way that I know of to get between the two otherwise. And, because the Nets were tipping off against the Knicks the same time as the Metros kicked off with the Scum, the Port Authority was a fucking nightmare.
Oh, and of course, since Freddy Fucking Adu was playing tonight, that meant that the Metros probably outdrew the Nets by a pretty healthy margin. All told, 31,000 showed up at Giants Stadium, half of them there just to see the new guy on the other fucking team...but, if it helps the sport in this country, I'll learn to deal with it.
Now, I got half-season tickets from my brother and his girlfriend as a Christmas present, and the seat itself is great. It's like 20 yards away from midfield, and like 15 or 16 rows up from the field. I can easily read player names on the back, see facial expressions, lip-read a little (especially when the ref yells at people), so in that respect, it's awesome. And, the knowledge level out with the casual fans isn't as horrendous as I thought it would be...there were three Jamaican dudes in front of me who definitely know the game (even if they complain a little too much), and there's a lovely older couple that sit on my right-hand side, who have been going since season two. They were awesome...they knew their shit, didn't yell at the team for every little thing they did wrong, and were nice, pleasant people...perfect fans, really.
But, oh my fucking god, the guy on my left is going to die before the All-Star Game. Picture Larry David, from Curb Your Enthusiasm. Give him curly gray hair, kinda white-afroish, but balding in front. Give him an even more grating, annoying voice than Larry David's. Now, imagine him loudly complaining at every turnover, every missed defensive coverage 70 yards away from our own goal, shit, everything, really. The guy literally does not shut up for a single consecutive minute of the game...it really made the experience almost unbearable. I have a really long fuse, and my friends will tell you that I'm generally a happy-go-lucky, pleasant kinda guy. But my god, I swear if this keeps up, I will jiu-jitsu choke him and throw him into the opposition's bench (which I could easily do) by the 5th game I spend there.
Luckily, it's only half-season passes, so I can spend the other half standing in my usual section (behind the home goal) with the really crazy fans, the Empire Supporters Club (www.empiresc.com). I kinda missed being there today, especially because it was the first derby day of the year.
Enough of that stuff, what about the game? And, what about me continuing to rip off the late, lamented @FC Online Fanzine?
DC passed very well in the first half, and Dema Kovalenko really had a blinder -- he terorized Craig Ziadie down the left flank for the entire 45. Their goal, when it came, was inevitable to say the least. It was a kind of gristly bundled-in thing, but they count just as much as the Owen wonder strikes. Also, it should be mentioned that as much as they can be dicks on the bigsoccer.com boards, the DC fans who made the trip really did contribute to the atmosphere. Both the Screaming Chickens (OK, OK, the Screaming Eagles) and La Norte were represented, leaving only Barra Brava without a presence for them. They were in pretty fine voice most of the way, even as the tide turned in the second half. They're still wankers, though!
The Metros managed to survive the first 45, and whatever Jeff Bradley said, it fucking WORKED. The boys came out storming in the second half. Joselito Vaca and Amado Guevara didn't have the best first half in the world, but they bossed the midfield from the second half whistle on. Mike Magee had to come off at the interval for some reason, so new Jamaican striker Fabien Taylor came on to partner with John Wolyenic up front. All he did was score two goals to give us the lead, and they were no less than we (and he) deserved. They weren't any prettier than DC's first (the second being a pretty big softie from their backup keeper, Warren), but they were exactly the kind of garbage goal that we never got last season. Then, up 2-1, John Wolyenic did the same thing he did last year, score a Goal of the Year contender. Amado Guevara whipped in a thunderous cross, and Woly got on the end of it with a diving header that no keeper on Earth could stop. He also crashed into the goalpost doing it, showing exactly the kind of character guy he is. It's odd, because he's more the prototypical center forward, scoring with his head and whatnot. But man, awesome, awesome goal.
Oh, yeah, then that Freddy Adu guy came on, and everyone cheered. Good god. HE'S ON THE OTHER FUCKING TEAM. All credit to the kid, though. He was in the right place at the right time, and made no mistake when an easy tap-in chance came his way from a pretty nice cross from....Jaime Moreno, I think. I don't know HOW he was left that open, but still, he took his chance well. As someone said, everyone won today (except for DC, but fuck them)....we won cause we won the game, and MLS won cause Freddy Adu scored, which is all SportsCenter is going to show from the game, of course.
Fine. Fuck Adu, fuck SportsCenter, fuck DC United, and fuck SportsCenter again. We're 2-0 now, rolling along very nicely, and hopefully we'll tonk New England too when they come to town next weekend. I'll be in Section 101 (the Empire End), chanting "You suck, asshole!" during the other team's goal kicks. Man, I've missed that!
