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La Guerra De Viento
I'm glad to say this time, the bus pickups, went off with a hitch. Everyone was at the New York City stop on time and everyone was at the NJ stop on time. I picked a NJ spot way in Western Jersey for three reasons - (1) it was right off 80 on the way to Columbus, (2) they allowed us to park our cars overnight and most importantly (3) it was FIVE minutes from Dimitri's place. Never the less, if you had to bet who was the last person to show up at the NJ pickup, who would you put your money on?
Halfway through the drive, Steve decided to compare ipod lists with the bus driver and began to play some music. Somehow this shorted out the power to the tv monitors and we would not be watching anything else for the rest of the trip. Thanks alot! He did entertain us for a while with some witty comments as our tour guide thru Bumblef*ck, PA. Unfortunately, his DJ skillz still need some work.
The whole ride to Columbus, the weather was holding out. Until we reached about 30 minutes outside of Columbus, and that is when we started to hit the rain. The weather was always going to be a big factor in today's game. Everyone remembers the first US-Mexico game in Columbus played in the low teens during February of 2001. The Mexicans dubbed it 'La Guerra Fria', the Cold War. It was so cold for El Tri that they didn't even bother to come out for warm ups. Many were expecting the same environment for this game and some even were hoping for snow. Instead we got balmy temps in the 50s with 30-60 mph wind gusts, severe wind/tornado warnings and intermitten whipping, driving rain. Rather than getting another Guerra Fria, we got 'La Guerra de Viento' (the Wind War) instead.
It was a good thing he did too. The bus became a refuge of sorts with everyone hanging out in bus and running into it when the heavy winds and rains came. In between, there was some light drizzle and beautiful rainbows to be seen all around. We enjoyed the good eats of Chef Leon who had prepared hot dogs and chilli for everyone. We also hassled the streams of Mexicans who were walking past us with "dos A Cero," "Corea" and "Stole my sombrero" chants. We broke out the banner We eventually made our way into the stadium. I had an extra ticket in my hand but no one was around looking for it (more on that later). This was the first time we had been to Crew Stadium since they put in the stage behind the North Goal. They had installed temporary bleachers just for the game and that is where we would be, right under the stage roof. AND Thank God for that roof over us. Not so much for me, but if we did not have that roof covering, the flag would have been soaked. The thing weighs about 90 pounds dry, imagine it soaking wet. Not to mention, where does one find the space especially in the winter time to dry out something that big. With the covering, the flag was able to stay relatively dry tucked up under the roof.
With the man advantage, the US seemed to take the foot off the peddle a bit and let Mexico somewhat creep back into the game. They didn't really have too many outstanding chances but the US didn't dominate the way you would like when you are up a man. Late in injury time, Michael Bradley collected a ball and fired a hard but savable shot. With the soccer gods looking down, somehow Oswaldo Sanchez judged the ball wrong. 2-0 to the USA. The ball wasn't even in the back of the net yet and you could hear the "Dos A Cero" chants coming from our section. It was beautiful. No one had to be told to sing it....everyone knew to sing it.
We made it back to the lot and shortly after the bus appeared. One by one everyone began filing in and got on the bus. Except one person. The one person whose cell phone number I did not have. And no one knew where Paul was. No one had seen him for quite some time. I walked all the way back to the stadium and there was no one around. The game had been over for an hour now and the lot was emptied. Maybe he had taken the shuttle to the US Supporters Bar. Maybe he got a ride from someone he met. We didn't know. The only thing we could do was go to the hotel and hope that he would show up.
When we got to the Waffle House, we learned that "in these tough economic times" even strip clubs are forced to close down. There was another bar across the street from the hotel so some of us went there and some stayed at the Waffle House to eat first. There were some Mexican fans in front of us at the Waffle House waiting to be seated. They turned around, saw all of us, saw our 2-0 shirts and promptly left the place. It was great. It was quite fun showing off our shirts to all the Mexicans. We even had a few Mexicans staying in our hotel, looking all sad and depressed. We made sure that we unzipped our jackets and walked by them with the 2-0 [dos A cero] showing. That will never get old. Later on we all met back up at the bar and enjoyed some drinks and played some pool with a few locals until it closed.
Back at the hotel, Todd and I were still drinking and went for a walk. By this time it was like 4 in the morning. To our suprise, we stumbled upon Elvis passed out, sleeping Indian style in a litty cubby by the Vending machines. Apparently he went back to the hotel when we went for Round 2 at the Waffle House and didn't have a key. All drunk, he knocked on the wrong room door, and woke up a bunch of Mexicans by mistake. Whoops! And that wasn't his first encounter
After being up nearly 23 hours, I finally went to bed. The next thing I know, Kenny is telling me its 8:10am. OH SHIT. The bus was suppose to leave at 8am. Out of the 8 people who were sleeping in the two adjoining rooms, not one of us woke up before 8am. We all had to hurry to get our shit together and out to the lobby and to the bus. Luckily there were still a few other people not ready yet and eventually around 8:45am, we had everyone on the bus and ready to head home. The ride home sucked with nothing to watch (Thanks again Steve) but we made it through. Verost even managed to fix the bathroom door before we left the bus. All in all it was another successful bus trip.
Ed Kirwan
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Columbus, OH -
Will they or won't they? That is the question everyone was asking as soon as the draw was announced in late 2008. Will they put the US-Mexico game in Columbus again or won't they and pick another venue like Seattle or Salt Lake City. In the end after all the politiking, the game ended up right where it should be: Columbus, Ohio. For the third straight cycle, US vs Mexico would be played here. And not many Mexicans have good memories from the first two times; the teeth-chattering memories of a 2-0 defeat on a frigid day in February 2001 and the embarassing memories of watching the US qualify first for the 2006 World Cup in yet another 2-0 defeat are the only memories they have. They would leave Columbus a third time with new 'dos A cero' memories fresh in their heads.
Off the heels of our success with the NJB Bus trip to Washington, DC, we decided to be ambitious and do 
The bus was leaving rather early the day of the game at 6:30am from NYC, so I invited Binks to stay the night at the house so he wouldn't have to drive all the way up from VA the wee hours of the morning. Little did I know that he would be keeping me up to the wee hours of the morning by not making it to my place until almost 1am. By the time I got the bed, it was almost time to wake up and head into the city.
The ride to Columbus was going to be a longer one than normal. While some people decided to take it easy, watch the 2001 US v Mexico game on the TV and not go too crazy too early, others on the bus had a different idea. And by 9:00ish Matt, Jay, Konrad, Binks, Verost and even Rob (YES Rob) were drunk and singing songs about being drunk at 9:15, 9:15, 9:15, 9:15. Those not on the trip could have been 
The back of the bus also need a little work as somehow for the second straight NJB Bus Trip, we managed to locked ourselves out of the bathroom again. Only this time, Matt wasn't passed out inside, there was no one inside. We had to pull over so the driver could unlock the door. We wouldn't have too many more problems getting into the bathroom though because shortly after someone broke the door removing it from the hinges. And that wasn't the only thing that was broken! Somehow a metal rod from the escape hatch just happened to fall on someone's head. No one knew how it happened. I think I know how ----->
The original tailgating plan was to try to meet up with all the other US Supporters at the VIP lot but the rains turned the grass parking lots to mush and since we didn't have VIP passes, no NY/NJer could get close to that lot. Instead everyone just parked right by one of the entrances of one of the other lots. Our driver did some smooth NY talking, saying he was just dropping us off and got us into the parking lot for free. He then proceeded to sit with his hazards on for 2 hours while we tailgated.
that Brent and Corey had made 4 years ago and were holding it up high for all the entering Mexicans to see. We were also showing off our new 
The game was played in relatively good weather conditions. It was still very windy but we got a lull in the system and for the 2 hours the game was played we didn't get any rain. The game itself was a pretty entertaining affair. The first half had many more chances than the previous two games in Columbus. Tim Howard was forced to make a crucial save 3 minutes into the game. Different game if Mexico goes up early. The US eventually took control of the game with the midfield tandem of Michael Bradley & Sasha Kljestan dominating the middle of the field. The US was tenacious on defense and never let the Mexicans get any breathing room when they had the ball. Frankie Hejduk was seemingly everywhere. A few minutes before halftime, the hard work was rewarded. Frankie won a corner kick and once again the US got the best of Mexico on a set piece. A corner to the far post was put back into the middle by Landon Donovan. Gooch got his head on it and his attempt was saved, but Michael Bradley was in the right place at the right time to bury the ball into the net. 1-0 to the USA. "Uno Mas, Uno Mas" we chanted.
The 2nd half was more of the same with the US hounding the Mexicans whenever they had the ball. After a foul by Rafa Marquez, Dimitri looked at me and said "I hate that effing guy. Dirtiest mutha effer around." Two minutes later, Marquez was ejected following another dirty play. After Mexico blew their best chance to equalise, Marquez got a red card for spiking Tim Howard in the knee going up for a challenge. He really is the dirtiest mutha effer around.
Once we all collected ourselves from the after game celebrations of "Dos A Cero," we had the unenviable task of folding the BAF in the very high wind gusts. There was no way we were folding it in the stands, so we brought downstairs under the temporary bleachers. It wasn't enough room but it was going to have to do. AND even with the cover we had we could barely keep the flag taught long enough to fold it. We somehow managed to get it into a shape that resembled a triangle and fit it into our bag. While we were doing this, my phone was ringing and vibrating off the hook with everyone who had already left the stadium asking where the bus was. It was very annoying. If they had actually stayed and help fold the flag, they would haven't been standing outside in the rain not knowing what was going on.
The trip back to the parking lot sucked. We had to bring the BAF back to the bus, we had a pretty long walk and the winds and rain had picked up again to the point where it was coming in sideways and hurting. It was like being in a low grade hurricane or tropical storm. Rob, like always, wanted to be the hero and carry the thing the whole way to the bus but it was a long trek. Todd and Sack decided to help out although we couldn't tell if they were carrying or draging the thing.
Everyone checked in and all did their own thing. Some found rides or called taxi's and went to Cladaghs. Others were exhausted and just passed out in their rooms. Todd and I cleaned out the bus a little bit and brought all our crap inside. The flag was a bit wet so we brought that inside to try to dry it a little. By the time we got done doing all that, Paul showed up at the hotel. Paul had wandered towards the stadium with Corey, Brent and the others. He thought Corey had his ticket, but he didn't. I did. Paul never made it back to the bus, so the extra ticket I had was his. He managed to scalp a ticket after the game started for $3 and made it inside. After the game, I'm not sure where he exited but he was looking for us and couldn't find us. He eventually hailed a taxi and was able to get back to the hotel.
I was relieved. I didn't have to worry about it anymore and could finally go out drinking. It was a little too late to wait for a taxi and then get to Cladagh's so we just stayed local. There was a nearby Waffle House with a strip club right next to it. A match made in heaven we thought. We rounded up about 10 of us and headed out. The wind was unbelievable. It was pushing us amongst other things down the road. It was pushing shopping carts and the cart return stations all across the Giant Eagle parking lot. We passed the entrance ramp for Rt 71 South and it was closed. We later learned that the wind had knocked down a power line and started a fire at the Motel 6 right off the highway. Good thing we didn't stay there!
with Mexican fans that night. Earlier at another bar he was at, he got into a 10 minute argument with some Mexicans in the men's room about how he could cheer for the USA instead of a Latin-America country. Jeff had to go and get him. I'm sure there are more stories from the trip and that there will be many more stories revolving around him in future trips. Elvis is a proud American.
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