USA - Cuba: RFK Stadium, Washington DC

The first ever New Jersey Brigade sponsored bus trip took place in October 2008 as the crew from New Jersey and New York invaded the nation's capitol to support the United States in its World Cup Qualifying match against Cuba.

We took off from New Jersey around noon for the 730 match, a packed bus it was. Lots of beer and other fun beverages in tow. As with any bus trip, there is lots of chanting, movie watching, and drunken folks. The usual contenders were on top form.



We arrived at RFK Stadium around 3-4 PM. Our favorite Virginia native met us in the lot with an entire car filled with beer. Most excellent way to continue the day.

During the tailgate, we were greeted by a surprise guest. None other than Nashville host... Ben aka Maaaaaan 2.0. Ben (pictured in the red jersey below) drove all the way up from Tennessee for the match. Another dedicated US fan down for the cause of supporting his country to the fullest.





A Chef Leon sponsored tailgate followed and about an hour from game time we entered RFK. A solid atmosphere. Smoke bombs even made an appearance that night, much to the chagrin of the local security team.


The United States played a terrific game highlighted by a goal from Jozy "King of New York and Jersey" Altidore and the international debut of Jose Torres. NKB Leader and all around USA Fanatico, Kirwan, approves of this performance.

The United States 6-1 victory marked their sixth consecutive victory in World Cup Qualifying and clinched their spot into the final round of qualification.

Crowd was lively and properly cheered on the boys. After the game, Freddy Adu came around signing autographs for all in attendance.

A long day of partying, singing, and seeing the US dismantle Cuba, it was that time to take the bus back home. The boys were tired as evidenced below.

My Lack of Postings - USA - Trinidad in Chicago (September)

I'll be the first to admit, I am lazy. Make that... very lazy sometimes. I had taken a hiatus from updating this blog. Well, it's time to get back into the fold.

Where did I leave off. Oh yeah, USA - Trinidad in Chicago.

After being in Chicago from Saturday through Tuesday doing all sorts of shenanigans (see prior posts), it was finally gameday.

As is the case with many of our NY/NJ crew road trips, Chef Leon was gracious enough to spearhead a tailgate effort. Even with a shoddy grill (thanks Home Depot for selling us 1/2 a grill), the Chef was willing to put together a wide range of tailgate items. My memory is fuzzy, but it was quite an effort. After preparing everything the morning/afternoon of the match, guests arrived at ESC House - Chicago style: Chris from North Carolina and Chris from NYC.

With parking lots not opening until 4 PM, we had plenty of time to stop for beer on the way to the stadium. Arriving at 430 (amazing considering the road traffic around Chicago) or thereabouts, we met up with Kirwan, Goalkeeps Greg, and Pastor Jeff in the lot and began the usual festivities: eating, drinking, talking soccer, and shenanigans.

Chef Leon (wearing USA Hat) talking to fellow tailgaters at Toyota Park in Bridgeview.

One of the regular shenanigans is our "Human Google Map." Everyone lines up around by location of their hometown and we take a picture. Started in Chicago during this trip, it is a recurring theme which you will see in future posts. Anyway, here's our Chicago tailgate map:

Fina (Long Island on the left, Flip in the middle from Brooklyn, Leon/Chris on the right from Manhattan, and Chris all the way down from North Carolina in the back. Picture taken from the north.

Eventually, Rishi (pictured below) and his party bus crew showed up to add to our numbers and to our party atmosphere. Finally entered the stadium around a half hour before kickoff. Drum in tow, even with small numbers we were able to lead most of the section in song.

Rishi in the white jersey/USA bandanna in the midst of the USA section at Toyota Park.

The USA was dominant in this game winning by the final score of 3-1. Two things that stood out: the 15 minute Ohhh USA to end the game. Doing one chant for that long kept the energy going to end the match making it a very good atmosphere for that period of time. One of those goose bump kind of moments.

The second item, related to the first, is that Chef Leon was banging the drum so hard with the stick that the stick broke in half at the final whistle. I have no picture evidence to support this, but I can assure you it happened.

USA Supporters Section in Chicago

After the game, a bizzaro moment occurred. Some girl walked up to us in the parking area asking for directions, meanwhile she was bleeding badly from her one hand. When one our guys commented that she was bleeding, she put her hand behind her back and continued conversing. When offered a towel, she proceeded to walk away.

Quickly, Stadium Security forced us to leave the stadium area. They were a real pain to deal with and for those who have been to Bridgeview I'd like to know if security has forced you to leave the parking area within an hour of a game ending.

We arrived back at the house, where some of us chose to hit up a post game destination. Completely blanking on the name of the bar, but we partied with the NJB Crew reminiscing of the game and discussing future matches (including August 2009's USA-Mexico game in Mexico City which I will be attending). We ordered some local pizza. I never had Chicago pizza before, so this was a treat. Huge pie cut into little squares. Excellent and recommended.

Afterwards, we took a taxi back to the ESC House. It was around 130 AM at the time and most of the guys went to sleep as we had a 6 AM flight home.

A few friends we had met in Chicago were interested in hanging out one last time, so one other guy and myself decided to pull it together and go out one last time in Chicago with them. As the locals know, most bars close at 2 AM in Chicago. However, there are a few places open until 4 AM.

Needless to say, by the time we left the house we had to hit a 4 AM joint. So, we get to one about 5 blocks away. A couple local brews in and some reminiscing about good times in the Windy City it was close to 330 AM. We walked back to the house and said our goodbyes.

As I had to be awake by 415, I had about a 30 minute window to get some shut eye. As we had a full house that night, there was little space in the house. I just laid down on the patio and closed my eyes. Needless to say, that was the greatest return flight ever from a trip. I remember about 5 minutes of it.

All in all, great trip. It wasn't long until the next adventure: Washington DC for USA-Cuba which I will recap in my next post.

P.S. - The month long ride that was the 2008 Red Bulls Playoff Run.

Where Have I Been?

The last month has been as good as any month in recent memory.

The Red Bulls have done something they have never done before... qualify for MLS Cup. I have been travelling each weekend during the Red Bulls historic playoff run and will post later tonight my experiences from Houston and Salt Lake City as I attended both road victories.

Wednesday is the USA's last match prior to the Hexagonal draw that will determine who the US will play in the final round of World Cup Qualification.

And Sunday is the big enchilada... New York vs. Columbus. MLS Cup 2008 in Carson, CA.

What a week it is going to be? Sound off.

Viejo Chicago: The Off Days

A day after traveling to Chicago to see the Red Bulls lose on a pathetic giveaway goal to the Fire, the only acceptable response was to drink our faces into the ground... and that is what we did.

With the start of the NFL season upon us, there was no better way to spend our time than at Chicago's German-American Festival. As one of the guys put it, "we went from Chicago to Munich in 10 blocks and didn't even have to go through customs." We got there sometime in the middle of the afternoon. After a couple of liter beers, things started getting more interesting as we met the gentleman below now referred to as "10 Cent," a true P.I.M.P. if there ever was one.




I vaguely remember it started getting dark outside and after 5 or 6 liters of Hofbrau, we were leading all the dances and songs in one of the tents. At one point, Chef Leon decided it would be funny if someone took a dive into the large pile of ice laying on the ground. With $50 on the line, I surely wasn't going to say no. See my ice dive here.

At around 10 PM, the German Festival ended and a few of the peeps ventured back home not able to fight through the boozefest and continue on. Went to a lounge called Rodan that had a DJ playing techno all night. Pretty decent atmosphere for a Sunday night. Went somewhere else after that which was open to 4 AM (most places close at 2 AM and a few open at 4. You have to ask around about the 4 AM places).

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On Monday, the boys decided Ist Miller Zeit! To translate, "It's Miller Time." Yep, we made the 90 mile trek to Milwaukee to hit up the Miller Brewery. The place is damn impressive. It's a 5-6 block square campus.


Here Chef Leon and myself (NJB holla!) are pictured in front of the Miller Truck. The tour was decent and presented some quality photo opportunities. The beer sampling was better than other tours as they actually give you three full beers. No costs. Not bad.

Afterwards, we drove through Milwaukee looking for the oldest bowling alley in the United States: Holler House. What we found was a not completed two lane alley that looked straight out of the movie Kingpin. Would have been historic to grace the lanes of this fine establishment, but it was not meant to be.



After the brief stop at Holller, we ventured to Miller Park to pick up a game of the Brew Crew. A really nice stadium with a retractable roof which was gold as it had been drizzling on and off all day. Most of the fans' attention was on the Packers-Vikings game taking place simutaneously, so it was amusing to hear a random cheer throughout the game knowing it was when the Packers had made a big play, caused a turnover, or scored some points. Too bad for the Brewers, as they blew the lead in the 9th and lost the game to Cincy. Definitely a good idea to check out Milwaukee when you're in Chicago, but I wouldn't recommend doing more than 1 day there. I just wish we had the time to hit up Madison and University of Wisconsin. Now, that would have been the shizzy hizzy.



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Tuesday was a fairly relaxed day as we decided to stay in town and save ourselves a bit in anticipation of the US/Trinidad match on Wednesday. Took the crappy, above ground subway into the main part of the city and spent a ton of time around Millenium Park. New York has a beautiful skyline, but Chicago's is not too shabby either.


Millenium Park is a cross between Central Park and Rockefeller Center. I won't spare you with all the details, but I spent a half hour walking through some giant pool that had water spitting out of a computer mouth.



We drank some more and headed over to the Southside of Chi-Ca-Go for the White Sox/Blue Jays game. Had some excellent tickets courtesy of CBS Chicago (Thanks CA!) where we were seated about 20 rows from the field behind homeplate. Cool experience seeing Ken Griffey Jr. actually playing live. Without those injuries, he could of shattered Aaron/Bonds HR record.


Later this weekend, I'll discuss the big game: USA/Trinidad WCQ from Toyota Park in Bridgeview, IL. I'll go through some of the chants and highlights from the match that you wouldn't have seen on your screen at home.

Until then, a NJ Fist Pump for Michael Bradley for his goal against T&T.

Viejo Chicago: Day One

It was a sunny Saturday in Chicago, when ESC NYC and ESC NJ Fistpump stamped its tickets to the Second City.

Upon arriving, Fina, Flip, the Chef, and myself headed from O'Hare to our destination, Wrigleyville, the land of Bratwursts, blondes, und traffic. It didn't take us long to reunite our rivalry with El Tri as we flashed our favorite score in front of a stand selling Mexico flags in Viejo Chicago.

After picking up food, drinking supplies (yes, there was a jager purchase), and a poor Home Depot purchase, we drove back to the airport to pick up the Meow Pump. At the point we dropped our bags at the haus and headed out towards the game. A stop was made at the Omni Hotel to pickup local expert and historian El Polaco. Several minutes of weekend gridlock rush hour traffic later, we finally got on the highway headed for Bridgeview, home of the Fire.

For those who have never been to Bridgeview, I wouldn't call it a Cosmopolitan paradise. Upon entrance, I thought I was at a county fair or rewatching a scene of the James Vanderbeek masterpiece, "Varsity Blues" with the massive gravel lots. *Cue Foo Fighters*

The stadium itself is a nice facility. Roof over the sideline seats added a nice touch. The brick facade in front also makes it unique in the American soccer landscape. We were situated in Section 134 located in one of the corner sections in the stadium. We were able to stand in the first row and were able to chant at will, but had to keep it New England clean. The 12 of us who were there sang throughout the entire match doing the usual cast of songs: We Love You, Forza Metro, Soy del Metro, and Dale Me. Thanks to those back east for the complimentary messages during the game, much appreciated. For those that didn't see the match, RBNY lost a tough 1-0 game to Chicago. A bad clearance by Diego Jimenez allowed Stephen "They call him IT" King to put away an easy chance to give the hosts the victory. Section 8 does some nice things with the flags, but overall they did not play a huge role in creating a loud atmosphere at Toyota Park. As a comparison, I'd suggest that the DC Supporter Groups are visibly louder than those in Chicago.

Highlight of the game was a token appearance by everybody's favorite reservist David Roth. Youtube's got it on tape. (Thanks Tilt.)


After the game, the group along with Pinto and the Reichert sisters ventured off to The Globe Bar to watch a replay of the USA-Cuba match. Mr. GPS told us it was a 5-10 minute walk from Aarhus (that's house for those not familiar with Denmark). Over half an hour later, we arrived at The Globe.

Not a bad bar. It reminded me a bit of Nevada Smith's, but less of a college crowd. It was pretty full when we arrived shortly after midnight. The match was historic as the US entered Havana and left with a 1-0 victory. Props to the small contingent of fellow Americans who found a way into Cuba and sang for the country. Hopefully, we will see you in Chicago.

Once we hit the 80th minute, the party truly began as the first shots of Tequila made their way to the ESC Boys. Several beers, shots, and songs later, we closed out the bar. Luckily, there was a quality Mexican joint two blocks down the road that allowed us to refuel with amazing burritos. There's not much better than a 3 AM burrito. The bars had closed up for the night and we finally headed back to Wrigleyville to call it night.

Some other notes of the trip so far:

• On Sunday, we left from Chicago to Munich and we only traveled 10 blocks. No customs either.
• The ultra zoom in of Google maps.
• Local celebrity and sensation 10 Cent.
  
• Ice Diving
• Three Hour Song and German Dance
• Acknowledgement of the Hat
• Miller Campus
• German Fistpump
• Holler House
  
• Cerverceros
• Brew Crew

More updates later. Pictures and videos when I return to Jersey. Until then, I leave with you this 10 Cent inspired moment.

Time for an Update

It's been awhile since I have written, but there are somethings to update. Most importantly, the US-Argentina game has been officially booked!

The US will play Argentina at Giants Stadium, Sunday, June 8. Tickets are not on sale yet, but we should receive some official word sometime this week.

On Saturday, the ESC hosted a MLS Kickoff Party at the Kearny Irish American Club which I would say was a solid success. More details in the AM.

Primetown: Nashville Reflection

I finally have some down time after a hectic couple days to reflect a bit on the Olympic Qualification Final and the trip in general.

On Sunday, some of the ESC NYC Crew were looking for a place to watch the big EPL games. However, unlike NYC, nothing in Nashville opens before 11 AM. And I mean any day of the week.

Luckily, we got into the Big River Grill but were forced to watch college hoops (not a bad second option) because the bar did not have Fox Soccer Channel. Eventually, we walked across the Cumberland River and made it to the stadium for the tailgate. It was a relatively small tailgate organized by ESC Ben and 4Winds (who drove down to Nashville in the trailer). The food was aplenty burgers, dogs, etc. But the highlight of the tailgate was the 4 racks of ribs brought by Maaaaaaan 2.0. Absolutely amazing. They definitely went down well with the bottle of jager I brought to the game.

Inside the stadium, the atmosphere was darn good for a meaningless game. The Hondurans came out strong, but the US contingent was solid. I'd say the stadium was 60% Hondurans/40% US supporters. We out sang the Hondos for much of the game, but once they hit that wondergoal in extra time, some of the US supporters were stunned and the Hondos cheered in full force making for a great atmosphere.

It was a disappointing loss, but not much further than what I suspected when Freddy Adu and Jonathan Spector left to go back to Benfica and West Has respectively.

After the game we headed to Bosco's for some post game chow. After singing for 90 minutes and jumping around, it was definitely time for another meal. At Bosco's, I had my most bizarre moment of the evening where I ran into an old friend from college who was living in Nashville. I heard he moved down there, but definitely didn't expect to run into him at a random restaurant. He works in the music industry, so where else would a guy end up than the Music City.

Eventually, we said goodbye to our hosts for the weekend. MetroFlip and I headed to the Springwater for $2.00 pints of Shiner Bock and discuss our time in Nashville. Finally, it was time to call it a night and a trip.

On my way home Monday morning, I was going through security at the airport. Right after I went through security, I saw none other than US goalkeeper Chris Seitz, then forward Robbie Findley, and then defender Patrick Ianni. I couldn't let the moment pass so I did a little US chant and talked with the boys for a few moments wishing them luck in Beijing. Cool moment and definitely a great way to end my trip to Nashville.

It won't be too long until I'm posting again, MLS kicks off this weekend and the ESC is hosting an event in Kearny, NJ. It is also the day of the Old Firm match which I'll be watching with my Rangers buddies at the Kearny Scots Club. Looking forward to that. Till next time... C'mon US!

When I'm able to upload some Nashville videos onto Youtube, I'll post them here. There are a couple of really good ones including the singing of the Olympic song and one of the smoke bomb that was let off. Hopefully, I can get those uploaded later this week.