I’ve gone on at length about my concert experience –
mainly because it’s extensive enough to discuss at length. Here it’s the opposite: I can address this issue because of my
relative lack of experience. I don’t
consider myself a sports fan, although I do watch the NFL and the Super
Bowl.
Football. I grew up in Maryland in the 1970s, though
never became a Redskins or Colts fan.
This was when the Vikings were doing fairly well, going to three Super
Bowls with Fran Tarkenton – I’m too young to remember their first Super Bowl
against the Chiefs, but in any case that was with Joe Kapp, as Tarkenton was playing
with the NY Giants at the time.
I’ve seen several concerts at RFK Stadium, but no Redskins
games. My only visit to M&T Bank
Stadium was a recent Metallica show, which I enjoyed.
College. I went to
University of Maryland, College Park, from 1986 to 1990. Byrd Stadium is large and conveniently
located, and us students were given good deals on tickets to ensure a stadium
packed with a loyal home audience.
Moreover, the QB at the time was Neil O’Donnell, who later went on to
play for the Pittsburgh Steelers, continuing UM’s tradition of providing the NFL with halfway
decent quarterbacks like Boomer Esiason.
University of Maryland vs. ?,
Byrd Stadium. Probably freshman
year. I can’t remember the ACC rival or
the outcome. I did enjoy the
atmosphere. I was up in the stands,
behind the endzone. I was probably NOT
drinking.
NFL. Washington Redskins vs ?,
FedEx Field. I
went with my brother. We were up high on the sides, perhaps
accompanied by his son, my nephew, Ian.
I can’t remember the outcome.
Even though the Vikings are in a different division than the Redskins,
occasionally they come here to play during the regular season, e.g. week 10 of
last year – I can’t recall why I didn’t bother to go to that game.
Baseball. I’m not a big fan of baseball, hardly ever
watch it – even the World Series – and virtually never attend in person. I could scarcely drum up enthusiasm for the Orioles
or the Nationals. I’ve been past Camden
Yards dozens of times without ever going inside it. But I have seen two games, both of which I
enjoyed.
Nationals vs. Phillies, Nationals Stadium. Philadelphia is close enough so that the
audience was 50% visiting team fans. The
Phillies won. Matt took me with
Ian. A good time overall.
Yankees vs. Orioles, Yankee Stadium. I went with Dave, who is a Yankees fan and
we enjoyed it, notwithstanding the loud PA system. The Yankees crushed the Orioles 16-3.
Basketball. Not a basketball fan at all, and I’ve never
seen an NBA game. Nor do I plan on it.
Georgetown, UM. In the 70s, we went to a Georgetown game
with our friends, the O’Connells. I don’t
know why (maybe a birthday party event). What I recall was spending the
game making fun of the players.
Later on, I went to one Terps game at Cole Field
House. Not bad, but not compelling either. The Terps won the NCAA Final Four in 2002,
which I paid attention to at the time, but I generally do not follow them. Generally I went to Cole Field House to jog around the concourse for exercise.
Hockey. Guess what, not a hockey fan, of the Caps or
otherwise. However, I have been to a
few games.
Capitals vs. Rockies, Cap Center. Late 70s, a group of us kids went and
enjoyed it.
Ottawa ‘67s vs. Sudbury Wolves. In 1991 I visited my buddy Sean, ASP class of
’86 like me, who lives in Ottawa. He
felt (correctly) the visit wouldn’t be complete without a hockey game. At that time the Ottawa Senators did not yet exist
(coming online the following season), so we went to a minor league game. I enjoyed it.
Soccer. Despite growing up in Paris, and visiting
London several times back then, I resisted the call until a Brazilian (former) girlfriend,
a proud carioca, infected me with this damn virus, in 2000. Since then I’ve seen a few soccer games.
DC United vs. LA Galaxy; DC
United vs. Bayer Leverkusen (exhibition); Barcelona vs. AC Milan
(exhibition). All were at RFK, the only
times I caught sporting events at what used to be the Redskins’ home
stadium. All were enjoyable, if only
marginally memorable. We have yet to
develop sufficient enthusiasm and passion for the game to produce any hooligans
– as The Simpsons have noted (Groundskeeper Willie: "You call this a soccer riot???") - so our soccer experience is fairly tame by international standards.
Flamengo vs. Fluminense,
Maracana Stadium, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
While this wasn’t a final, it was a regular season game between Rio de
Janeiro’s archrivals, at the famous stadium in Rio. We were in the lower tier (tourists) while
the die hard fans were up in the second tier.
One half was red and black, chanting MEN-GO! (Flamengo), the opposite side, in dark green and
maroon, responding NEN-SE (Fluminense).
This traditional rivalry is called “FLA-FLU”. Now-retired soccer star Romario, previously
linked to Flamengo, was actually playing for Fluminense. Flamengo scored an early goal, responded by 3
from Flumimense, so apparently it was game over for the Mengão. NOPE.
They wound up scoring three more goals, ending up in 4-3. Those of us familiar with 0-0 being an
acceptable result for a non-final game will remark at this, as did the headlines
of the local papers afterwards.
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