Live Sports

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. 

Funny enough, this was on the same day as the Patriots-Panthers Super Bowl – yes, the Janet Jackson Bowl.  We had the bus drop us off close to Ipanema, because the Super Bowl was NOT – shock horror, I know – being televised on local TV, so we had to watch at the Lord Jim Pub.  I wound up getting drunk on hard cider, spending all my cab money on that (cider being three times as expensive as draft beer, but much less filling) so I walked from this pub, on the border of Ipanema and Leblon, all the way to Leme, which is at the other end of Copacabana.  [Much like the time I walked home from the New 9:30 Club after a Monster Magnet show, the Metro had closed, so I went down 14^th Street, across M Street to Key Bridge, and home to Rosslyn, though nowhere near as drunk as I had been in Rio].  

Soccer Jerseys

I suppose most people collect something or other in the course of their lives. In addition to CDs, I also collect soccer jerseys. I’ve lost count, but as of now I have something like 40 of them I’ve accumulated since June 2000.

In the Beginning. I was on my first trip to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in June 2000. It was winter there, though winter means 70 degrees, fog on the beach, and it gets dark at 6 p.m. We were staying in Copacabana, and I was just getting to know the city and all about it. I learned its four premier teams were Flamengo, Fluminense, Botafogo, and Vasco de Gama. On that trip I got my first jersey, the red/black home jersey of Flamengo; by the end of the trip I had my second, Botafogo (black/white vertical stripes). And I was hooked.

Teams. I rounded out the RJ collection on the next trip (New Year’s Eve 2000-2001) with Fluminense and Vasco, then spread across Europe: Arsenal (UK), Bayern Munich (Germany), as well as French, Spanish, and Italian teams. I stayed away from national (World Cup) jerseys, with the exceptions of Brazil (5 stars after 2002), Poland, and Romania (1973 version). I even managed to get the Iron Maiden variant; after so many rock bands made baseball and hockey jerseys for themselves, Iron Maiden – die hard fans of West Ham United (east London) – decided to make their own soccer jersey.

Rivals. I do commit the heresy of collecting and wearing the jerseys of mutual rivals: Arsenal v. West Ham and Tottenham, Flamengo and Fluminense, Schalke & Borussia Dortmund, Real Madrid and Barcelona. I tend to pick the most important teams and cover the bases.

Brazil: Flamengo (x2), Fluminense, Botafogo, Vasco (RJ), Cruzeiro (MG), Santos (x2), São Paulo FC, Palmeiras, Corinthians (SP), Atletico Paranaense (PR), Internacional (RS) + Seleção (5 stars)
England (Premier League): Arsenal (x4), Tottenham, West Ham, Chelsea (London); Manchester United, Liverpool, Newcastle
Germany (Bundesliga): Bayern Munich (x2), Hertha Berlin, Schalke '05, Borussia Dortmund, Hamburg FSV (x2), Werder Bremen (x2), Vfb Stuttgart, Bayer Leverkusen, FC Kaiserslautern
France (First Division): Bordeaux, St Etienne, Paris-St Germain, Olympique Lyonnais (x2), Olympique Marseilles
Italy (Serie A): AC Milan (x2), Inter Milan, AS Roma (x3), Juventus, Fiorentina
Spain (First Division): Real Madrid (x3) & Barcelona
Romania: Steaua Bucuresti, and national team (1973)

Personalized. Most of mine have either blank backs or a number and no name. Until recently Brazilian teams didn’t put the players’ names on the back. Occasionally I’d get a personalized jersey: Giovanni Elber (Brazilian) with Bayern Munich; David Beckham (two Real Madrid jerseys); Ronaldo (Brazilian) w/Real Madrid; Ronaldo (Portuguese, aka Christiano Ronaldo) with Manchester United; Kaka (Brazilian) with AC Milan; Ronaldinho (Brazilian) with Paris-St. Germain, etc. I tended to pick Brazilian players with European teams, with the obvious exception of Beckham.

Home/Away/3rd. Teams have a home jersey (usually dark), an away jersey (usually light, often white), and sometimes a third jersey (odd color) to wear when their home/away jersey is too similar to the opposing team’s away/home jersey. I’ll pick whichever one strikes my fancy. Santos (Brazil – Pele’s team) has a home jersey which is plain white, so my two Santos jerseys are the away versions with black/white vertical stripes. Neither of my AC Milan jerseys are the standard red/black home jersey.

Sponsors. What’s remarkable about soccer jerseys is that unlike with US sports teams, they have corporate sponsors on them, a practice which began in the 80s; by comparison the jerseys of the 70s and earlier look rather dull and sparse. Many of the sponsors are insurance companies, Internet companies, cell phone carriers or companies (Siemens Mobile or T-Mobile), and even beers – Carlsberg, the Danish beer, sponsors Liverpool, and Holsten, a German beer, sponsored Tottenham. Emirates, the airline from Dubai, has been sponsoring a few teams lately, notably Arsenal.

Comfort. The shirts are extremely comfortable, made of the latest high-tech fabrics to breathe well; and I always get the short-sleeved versions anyway. They’re great to wear in the summer or on the treadmill at the gym. They also often have collars, so they’re almost like polo shirts.

Sources. Most of the time I ordered them from Subsidesports, a company in England with a great selection, plus they do a great job of personalizing the jerseys. Almost all of my Brazilian jerseys were purchased in Brazil. A few I bought from stores here and there, but it’s rare to find a store in the US that carries these. There was a very brief time a few years ago when the local Foot Lockers and similar places carried them when it was a brief fad, that is long gone. Finally, I’ve ordered some jerseys from the teams themselves, which lets you get a 100% authentic jersey with any player’s name on it. The official jersey has the team crest embroidered, and is of noticeably better quality than some knockoffs - as with most things in life, you get what you pay for.