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Brass Bonanza Forever
The NJB Bus was of course full for the trip. Joining the usual suspects of Ed, Dimitri, Rob and Nik were Dave making his second NJB Bus trip in a row, quickly becoming a regular and two newcomers: Robb and his friend Jeff. We met Robb & Jeff at a few Metrostars tailgates and what do you know, Robb gets a job working for ADP with Rob, Dimitri & Ed - in the same department no less. It took some doing to get us all off for the day; we're sure Our plan was to head up to Hartford to some bar called Vaughn's to have a few drinks with other fans before the parking lot opened at 4. We didn't make it to the bar with much time to spare. We got stuck in traffic a few times on Rt 84 heading up there and as we found out, when you gotta go, you gotta go. Being stuck in all this traffic reminded us of the last game vs T&T (also played in New England) when we got stuck in standstill traffic on I95 4 years ago. We were able to enjoy one drink and then we headed to the 'Rent.' Besides we had way too much FREE beer to drink anyways.
We headed into the stadium to watch the warm ups and to set up the 30 x 60 ft flag. Upon entering the section, Ed was approached by a Connecticut State Cop who told him that he shouldn't leave his bags unattended. We tried to explain to him what was in the bag and why it was there alone but the Cop just wanted to show off his authority. Apparently someone thought is was a bomb. Whatever. Drew Carey was there again on the field with his camera. Some genius started the chant "Carey Carey Buy us a Beer." Now Brent's chant of "Mimi's a Mexican" down in Mexico City was good, but this one was pure gold. Literally. Drew reached into his pocket, pulled out $200 and bought beer for anyone who wanted it. As Rob so eloquently stated - "Whats the point of having money, if you can't enjoy spending it."
Long Live the WHALE!
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East Hartford, CT - Hartford will always hold a soft spot in the hearts of the NJB. Rob's favorite hockey team was and still is the Hartford Whalers. From their Fudgie the Whale logo & green pants in the 80s to such greats as Darren Turcotte, Chris Pronger and Keith Primeau in the 90s, it is easy to see how Rob could fall in love with such a great team. Did we mention that they played their games in a shopping mall? Once we were old enough to drive, we made a annual winter excursion to Hartford to catch a game. It was always a good time but unfortunately our tradition was put to a screeching halt when they moved the team to North Carolina in 1997. Screw you Andy Mead! Screw you very much!
our company can't wait for all us to request time off next June. Our trip started with everyone waiting around for Dimitri. We were suppose to meet up with Robb and Jeff in Parsippany at 11:00am but D, in typical fashion, didn't show up at Ed's house til 11:00am. After stopping for gas and spending $70 freaking dollars to fill up the van, we finally reached Robb & Jeff around noon.
It was nice to have a game back on the East Coast. Within easy driving distance of both NYC and Boston, we recognized a lot of familiar faces. Monty, Evan and a bunch of Riders were there. Rishi was there, in Cowboy Boots??? Lukas and his crew were there. Jon came down from Mass from the game. The NYC/ESC crew was representing in full effect. Shit, we were even parked next to Greg and his dad who live 10 minutes away from us in NJ. And we had our NJB Bus. We had our grill, our chairs, our flagpole, our tunes & our jumper cables ready to go. Of course with the game on the East Coast, that also meant alot of DC fans would be coming up for the game. And since they cheer for a team that doesn't even play in one of the 50 states, many of them have some sort of inferiority issue and feel the need to stick out at games wearing their DC gear instead of wearing US gear to show unity with the rest of their fellow fans. Well you know what, we decided that a little NJB style Drive By was in order. That's right, we have club gear too, we just choose not to display it to stand UNITED with our other fans. We're sure the irony in that statement is lost on them. In the end, we live in a free country so feel free to wear what you like to the games. We'll cheer with you for the US, just don't be surprised to see us laughing at you when you get kicked out instead of having your back.
We don't know what it is about the New England area - wait, yes we do, it's because they're all a bunch of Yuppies - but when it comes to tailgating, NE blows. Another parking lot where no ball playing is allowed. Well we never adhered to that edict in Foxboro so why should we here. After about 15 minutes of kicking the ball around, security came up to Rob and told him to stop. Rob, not known as one to have a good repour with the law, said no. "Show me something in writing," he said. Sure enough 10 minutes later, the same guy came back on a Golf Cart with his Supervisor. He proceeded to hand Rob a printout of the stadium policy and told him to stop. We got SERVED! What happened to the free country part from above?
It was easy to see how the US could overlook this game. With Mexico on the horizon, all the talk was about playing Mexico in Columbus not about playing T&T and securing 3 pts. The US came out early to show that they had no such problem and within 2 minutes had taken the 1-0 lead. A well slotted ball from John O'Brien found Bobby Convey streaking down the left side. His cross found Brian McBride and he redirected it into the net. Deja Vu anyone? This really was turning into 2001 T&T all over again. However, that was it in terms of goals for the rest of the game. Late in the first half, Trinidad went a man down so the US was up a man almost the rest of the game and still couldn't add another although a clearly onsides Taylor Twellman goal was disallowed. He is just snake bitten with the US ala Jason Kreis. The US had chance after chance and just couldn't finish. They were one mistake away from squandering 2 pts. Luckily that didn't happen and the US won 1-0. Maybe they did start thinking about Mexico a little too early.
While the score line wasn't as high as we would have liked, the result was all that mattered at the end of this day. The US was now 3 pts away from qualifying for the World Cup. A win vs Mexico will clinch it - for both teams! And since both teams are running away with 1st and 2nd and are almost locks to qualify, this at least adds some excitement to the game. We beat them in the last World Cup, lets beat them to this World Cup too. A big thanks to all who contributed photos. See you all in Columbus!
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