|
Return of the NJB Goes to Washington
With the NJB BUS out of commission, first we needed to figure out how we were going to get to DC. Rather than just all driving down separately, we thought of going bigger, doing something we had never done before....rent a charter bus. This would be a great way to catch up and mix the old guard with all the new blood. We thought of going PIMP style in a limo bus but that turned out to be way too much money. We had alot of interest at first and toyed with the Normally on a bus trip to DC I would be heading to the New Jersey spot but this time I needed to be in the city to meet the bus and the driver. We got lucky and got a Russian bus driver who loved soccer. He was very excited when he found out why we were going to Washington. He thought we were all heading down for a protest rally...I guess he gets alot of those. He said if he had known he was going for a soccer game, he would have worn his jersey. Since we had someone back out last minute, we gave him the extra ticket we had. I don't think the driver realized how lucky he was going to have it...
Speaking of friends, Dimitri was very adament about where he sat on the bus. With everything I had to worry about with this trip, where people were sitting was not up there on my list. It was a priority on his though. He even went as far as to make a faux seating chart of the bus and print up "Seat Reserved" signs for me to place on the seats. Well, he too was running a little late along with Rob. So out of the all the people not in the lot waiting for the bus in NJ when we pulled up (Dave & Nik were parking), all were my closest friends going on the trip and all had "reserved" seats. After about 30 minutes waiting at the MetroPark station, Robb, Jeff, Rob & Dimitri finally showed up and we were on the way to DC. Needless to say, their seats were all taken by the time they got on the bus.
Normally on our bus rides, a hat gets passed around to collect an additional tip for the bus driver. Instead of just doing that, we thought we'd try something a little more fun and decided to hold a 50/50 raffle with prizes. We had four total prizes. The club donated a NJB t-shirt and NJB scarf. The one and only Thomas Binkley donated a USA Jozy Altidore jersey. And of course, we had the 50/50 prize money. It worked out really well and we collected over $350 towards the raffle. Congrats to the lucky FECKS that won. You know who you are...and the rest of us hate you.
While the taigate was in full effect, Rob, Jon and I went inside to set up the flag and to meet the US Soccer Communications team. Jon had come down from MA to stay for the weekend and for the game of course. He was pretty excited because US Soccer had asked us to film our game day experience for them. They were We set the flag up, got the video tapes from US Soccer and Jon even got his desired press pass, although I don't know how drunk he really was...Rob on the other hand, that's a different story. Now that he is drinking, he is alot funnier on these trips...but I digress. We returned to the tailgate, just in time to get some food, kick the ball around a bit and head into stadium.
Putting a trip together like this makes me realize and appreciate how much work/bullshit Corey and other people in his position have to put with organizing bus trips and things like this. You can post ALL the details 27 different ways and there will still be people who don't bother paying attention and will be calling you asking where to go and what time. There will be people who say they will go until its time to pony up the cash and there will be people asking how are we getting tickets or in one case actually buying tickets themselves, even though you tell everyone a ticket is included. And then you have your friends........
But the trip was a blast. I am sure we'll be doing it all again next year somewhere vs someone in the HEX.
Ed Kirwan
Movies
Pics
Thanks to Everyone who contributed photos
|
Washington, DC - As soon as the draw and venues were announced for this Round of Qualifying, this was the date we had circled. The one date on the East Coast where we could get big numbers to the game. This was also the first weekend qualifier in DC since 2001 and the first weekend qualifier not at an ungodly early start time since 2000. Alot has changed since then. Members have come and gone. Palermo is now married with a kid, Mikey moved from PA to VA to NJ back to VA, Stick had dropped off the face of the earth. Shit, we didn't even know Dimitri yet in 2000. I was hoping we could have a reunion of sorts and bring back all the old guys for another trip to DC.
idea of doing two buses. We eventually settled on one bus, a standard 54 passenger charter bus, with two stops - one in New York and one in NJ. Unfortunately alot of the old guys couldn't make it for the same reasons they rarely make it out now, but the new blood did not disappoint and with them and the remaining old guard/ESC crew, we were able to easily fill the bus with 50 soccer crazed US fans.
As we were entering the Lincoln Tunnel, I got a call from Robb & Jeff. They were half way to Metropark but had to turn around because they forgot some things. Some things, being ALL of my stuff. I had met Robb the night before to hand off the grill, streamers, dvds, raffle prizes and everything else big that I needed to bring on the bus. Apparently 12 hours later, this was something that he had forgotten?? These are my friends, I was thinking.
The ride to DC was a fun one. We hit a little bit of traffic but not that much. We ran into a little bit an issue when someone 'locked' himself in the bathroom and we didn't have a key but luckily our wonderful singing was able to wake him and 'open the door.' Scarves were made of this guy for a reason! We all got pumped for the game watching "Victory," past US-Mexico games and of course by drinking. The bus resembled a bar type atmopshere with people standing in the aisles throughout the bus conversing and drinking. Perhaps not having reserved seats wasn't such a bad thing after all.
We arrived at RFK and ended up in the same lot we normally end up in for Metro games down there. Since we don't really get along that great with DC fans, we thought it best to set up our own tailgate in the lot we were in and not head to Lot 8 where the Screaming Eagles were hosting their big tailgate for all the visiting fans. While it would have been nice to see some of our friends from other cities, this seemed to be a better option for us. One thing I will say though is after going to LA and Chicago for the past two US qualifiers, it was nice to see the local supporters play host and actually welcome other US fans to their city. I may not agree with how some DC fans conduct themselves on US game days,but I will give credit to them when its due.
Chef Leon took care of the food and had sausage and pepper sandwiches for everyone along with some fantastic macaroni salad. If I were starting a restaurant, he'd be the first person I'd hire. Well I don't have enough money for something like that, but I did have a ESC Drunk of the Week scarf though. It was another Thomas Binkley donation to the trip. I couldn't think of anyone better to give it, especially considering Schneiderman has too many to begin with and Chef will never have a chance to win it because he's too busy feeding us while the rest of us are busy drinking. So on the way home, I gave it to him. Thanks to him for doing what he does.
starting something new and wanted us to do a trial run, so to speak, and who better for that than Jon. Getting as drunk as possible and still getting a press pass became Jon's goal for the day...As soon as we find out what US Soccer did with our footage, we'll be sure to post links to it for all to see. In the meantime, 
It was nice being on a sideline for a change watching the game instead of behind one of the goals. I was thinking its easy to see how DC has big supporters groups. Outside of the winning factor, who wouldn't want to watch a game from here. Great sight lines, the stands hopping...I had been in the ends so long, I think I forgot what a player looked like up close. That being said it also made it very tough to be in unison with other supporters. Most games all the supporters are in the ends in a vertical section so all the noise funnels down and others can pick up what is being said. RFK doesn't lend itself well in this regard. With all the groups spread across horizontal, the noise didn't travel the way it needed to and for all the chest pumping that goes on about who was the best, you couldn't hear anything outside of what was going on in and around your section only. It's been a problem for almost every US game at RFK. They've tried moving the US fans to the left and to the right of the DC groups and it really doesn't make that much different. There are alot of rowdy fans but never are we really on the same page.
The first half of the game also proved how hard it is to try to make alot of noise without a drum. We did a very admirable job but 50 voices and a cowbell will only get you so far. I tried telling Corey and Harold to bring their drums and I could take them in early with me but they were weary of leaving them and getting stolen which is understandable. Without a drum though, you can't generate the noise and its tough to command attention to start up the songs & chants. Luckily for the 2nd half one of the guys from the newly formed Delaware Valley Infantry came into our section with his drum and we were able to be much more effective the 2nd half. Kudos to him for leaving his guys for the good of the group. It was beautiful - the First, Second and Third States all working together.....and the 11th State too. Brent, what took you guys so long to get onboard?
Oh and there was a game too. The US was never in danger of losing this game and with the win, they are now guaranteed advancement next year into the Hexangonal. With Cuba reeling with two players defecting before the game and a total of zero points so far, it was more a matter of when and how many we would score. It took the US 10 minutes to get the first goal and 20 minutes more to get the second...both from the foot of Run DMB. Cuba got one back right away, the first goal we've concended in Qualifying, but once they received a Red Card send off, the game was done. The US added 4 more goals in the 2nd half, most notably the 5th goal of the game scored by Jozy Altidore in his first Qualifier appearance. The game also marked the first cap for Jose Torres, who chose to play for the US instead of Mexico. A True American if I ever met one.
After the game was over, we took the flag out to the concourse and folded it in record time - we had a bus to catch. We made our way back to the bus. The driver managed to see from the 35th minute on, so he was pretty happy too. We had a few problems getting everyone back on the bus, Tim apparently wanted to ride home on the Borough Boys bus and Paul didn't want to get on the bus. We found him wandering outside the RFK parking lot fence. Once we got everyone on the right bus and we had the right head count, we were on our way home and I could finally relax and really start drinking.
