Come On England!

Tired, hungry, and bored, the two minutes I took to stop and smell the roses turned out to be the best decision I made in recent history. I walked out of the gates of the park and saw a group of England fans headed my way (my detective skills told me so due to everyone wearing an England national jersey). My map didnt have Wembley on it and it looked like these guys knew where they were going. So I asked them how to get to Wembley and one of them (wearing a yankees hat of all things) started to point out the directions. Noticing that Wembley was off the map and I clearly was from out of town he extended an invitation to have a beer and enjoy the pregame atmosphere with him and his friends. I duly obliged. It was a no-brainer. I was looking for some company and these guys seemed like diehards I had always envisioned England being full of. After being down in the doldrums my spirits were given just the boost they needed. I started small talk with a few of them on my way to whatever pub they had in mind. All six of them were from a town called Wolverhampton, which is a fair distance north of London, closer to Manchester than London, I believe. All but one was a lifelong Wolverhampton Wanderers fan, a team that plays in the Championship and narrowly missed out on a promotion to the Premiership. I found out through conversation that Wolves overachieved last season and really didnt have much of a chance to move up. The one anomaly was an Aston Villa fan. His grandfather was a Villa fan and so it was just ingrained into his head as a young child. The pledge of allegiance to a team has always been intriguing, but I've always enjoyed knowing why someone likes a particular team. We walked about a half-mile or so before we reached our pregame destination, The Globe. It was your basic London pub and it was on a corner. This place had the ability to take advantage of nice days with its sidewalk patio, and Friday was no exception. Fans were all over the place, I am sure that you are sick of the Red Sox references but its the only way I can compare the two: Imagine Yawkey Way before the first pitch but on a main road in London. Fans spilled out onto the street and there was no chance of you rounding the corner on the sidewalk. The place was really buzzing. It was the first full international match for England back at Wembley, world favorites Brazil were in town, and a certain David Beckham was back in the lineup. It was going to be the first match for Becks since being dropped from the team after another disappointing World Cup run in 2006. The focus of the conversation with my newfound friends often turned to David Beckham and what kind of impact he would have on the MLS. I told them that I really think he could help the MLS turn the corner, I gave a few reasons and they seemed to buy it. I took a moment and realized that I just convinced a handful of English football fans that David Beckham belongs in the US. I was fairly proud of myself. As we sipped our beers and talked about travels, what sights I should see, and more importantly football, the topic of how I got my ticket and what I paid for it came up. When I told them the amount I paid, they all grimaced and laughed, but they were impressed with my efforts. Due to the fact that it was my first real football match and my financial loss they bought me a beer, a nice consolation prize. The time was beginning to grow short so we finished our beer and headed towards the closest tube station, baker street (I wonder if that was the baker street that Gerry Raferty referred to?). We managed to catch the tube that was just about to leave. I all my years of using public transportation I can say that without a doubt that was the most God awful experience I ever had. I barely had enough room for my lungs to expand in order to accommodate the incoming oxygen. If I had a genie at that moment in time, I would have wished for him to temporarily suspend my sense of smell. Thats how bad it reeked, not to mention it was about 138 degrees (Fahrenheit, I have no clue what the conversion is for Centigrade) inside the subway car. In order to pass the time, one of the guys attempted to explain cricket to me. I just smiled and nodded. We finally reached our stop and walked out to Olympic Way (Wembley is the focal point of the London 2012 Olympics) and there loomed the most awe-inspiring structure I had ever laid my eyes on.


Finally!

I had never seen such an imposing stadium before, nothing in the US rivals this modern day Colosseum, nothing. We and 90,000 others made our way down the street, it was still about a quarter-mile ahead. There were people everywhere, all you could was just walk behind the person in front of you. The fans were very lively, singing all types of songs and chants. Although I applaud their candor, the songs were very unoriginal. They were basically just saying 'England' repeatedly to the tunes of different songs, like the 'Ole, Ole, Ole' song. My personal favorite was 'I'm England til I Die!'. It was interesting to hear some people singing 'Ring of Fire' by Johnny Cash. Apparently this is an unofficial theme song for Liverpool (think Sweet Caroline). I made my way to the top of the ramp and parted ways with the guys from Wolverhampton as they were sitting on the opposite side of the stadium. Before I went inside I took a second to soak it all in. I looked behind me and there was just wave after wave of people entering Wembley. I never went to the Million Man March, but I have a feeling it looked something similar to what I was seeing.


The thousands of faithfuls are returning to the 'Cathedral of Football' according to Pele.

I made my way to the gate and officially entered Wembley. The architects of Wembley were smart ones. In most stadiums, if you have a seat in the south side of the stadium, you went over there and entered through the same gate as everyone else who was sitting in the south end, regardless of what level. At Wembley, not only do they take into account what end you are sitting in, but what level as well. So each level has its own entrance. I was in the west end on level 5 so I entered through Gate E with only other people in the west end level 5. Common sense goes a long way. It was a breeze to get to my seat. I just had to go up a few flights of escalators and I was at my seat. It was just about time for the players to come out and everyone was hurrying to find their seats. I read the rules and regulations on one of the postings and I found reason number 235 why I love football: prolonged use of a mobile phone is grounds for ejection from the stadium. I was thrilled to read that; there is nothing worse than sitting near a person at a game who is more interested in the he said/she said on the phone than whats happening on the field. Reason number 236: excessive and unneccessary standing is also cause for removal. So theres a chance that 'that guy' doesnt exist in England (at least at Wembley anyway). In what seemed like hours, the teams finally took the pitch, my first real match was underway.


The teams taking the pitch.

The English national anthem gave me goosebumps, everyone was just so excited to be back at Wembley after the 8-year absence. It would be like losing Madison Square Garden for 8 years.


This needs to be incorporated in more US sporting events.



Thank You.

At the start of the match everyone was glued to the action, it was filled with singing and chanting from all parts of the stadium. I figured that this was just people getting all of the energy out of them in one fell swoop and that it would quiet as the game went along. This was far from the case. Every person in that stadium, old and young, did not lose their focus nor their intensity towards the game. Reason number 14 for my love of football: football seems to be the only sport where fans applaud something that could have happened. A player might make a nifty move to get past a defender and then send a pass that happens to be just a bit too high above the jumping teammate looking for a header into the net. In most cases the fans will clap for the fact that the player had the skill and speed to beat a defender and the vision to find an open teammate across the field. Its a wonderful example of how fans just truly appreciate and understand the game and the talent necessary to play it. Although there are surely casual fans, I couldnt spot any at Wembley during the game.

The game was deadlocked at half 0-0 with both teams having a few chances to put one on the scoreboard. Knowing that this was my only chance to use the restroom without missing any action, I made my way down. To be honest I was curious to see what the bathrooms looked like because as I had mentioned in previous posts I had did some research on the stadium and one of the boasts was that it had more toilets than any other facility on the planet. I was expecting to walk into a porcelain palace with hardly any wait. What I got was a ten minute wait only to share a trough with about 20 other guys. I find the whole 'most toilets' claim a bit debateable.

I returned to my seat for the second half and the fans picked up right where they left off. To be fair, the Brazilian fans deserve acknowledgment as well. They were vastly outnumbered but there were a few times where their chants echoed louder than any English chant. Not to mention there was constant Samba music; brass horns accompanied with drums. It was really fun watching them enjoy the game. Its like one big party to them. Not to mention they were hard to miss. They were a yellow and green blob in a sea of red.


The Brazilians always know how to have fun.

Back to the action on the pitch, England finally broke the deadlock when Captain John Terry headed home a free kick from none other than Mr. Beckham himself. The place went nuts. I think it reached decibel levels where if it was a factory it would be illegal not to wear ear plugs. Shortly after, Beckham was replaced and walked off the field to a standing ovation from the fans, its neat to see how much he meant to his country firsthand. When he was walking off, I heard the most creative song all night, David Beckham has his own song and everyone was singing it, but I couldnt quite make out the words. Fans seemed happy with the result, beating a Brazil squad featuring Ronaldinho and Kaka. But just as I was thinking that England played a great game, a costly lapse in concentration allowed Brazil to score a last-gasp equalizer. The Brazilian contingency went nuts. The final whistle blew and England fans walked out like they had just left a funeral. It was quite depressing to see that after all the excitement surrounding the homecoming before the game and up until the last minute of the game. In all truth, it was a fair result as Brazil were unlucky to capitalize on earlier chances in the game. I had to wait about 30 minutes just to get on a tube train in equally unpleasant conditions as when I arrived. And as tired as I was I really didnt mind, I just witnessed two of the greatest teams of my time play in the greatest stadium in the world (FINALLY!).


(Note from the ref: If you were hoping to get weird car of the week and other information (seeing how I started my internship this week), its going to have to wait until this weekend as Wembley is more than worthy of its own blog post.)

London Calling

Friday I made my first foray into the capital of the Olde Empire and what a place it is. My day started bright and early as I had to catch a train from Southend to the city. I caught the 8 am C2C which is pretty much the commuter rail. So all the business type were rumbling and bumbling about on the same commute they have been making for god knows how long now. The train ride was extremely smooth and very quiet, I was really impressed. I took a window seat to make sure that I saw what we were traveling through. It was mostly cowfields and pastures, but it was all new to me so I didnt mind. There was one particular field we went through that seemed to have an old minaret tower that just stood alone, I'm not sure what it was but it looked very cool but it just came and went along with the rest of the scenery. I had to stop off in Upminster which--from the 5 minutes I was in the town--seems very well-to-do. A place where you would find proper Englishmen and Englishwomen. Perhaps the most important exchange of the day happened during my brief encounter with Upminster, I got my ticket for the match later on at Wembley!


The Golden Ticket.

After that brief hiatus my trip got back on track and I got back on a C2C train. Shortly thereafter arrived at Fenchurch Street, London. If I had known any better I would have stretched because I walked all over the place. My first order of business took me to BUNAC on Bowling Green Lane. BUNAC is responsible for producing my student visa which allows me to work over here in the UK. So I bought a day pass on the Underground (Tube) which would be my primary mode of transportation for the day (or so I thought). Once at BUNAC I had to go to a mandatory meeting about the basics of living in England, like the taxes, health care and so forth. To be honest though, I really wasnt all that attentive and I probably should have been. I just wanted to get out and see the city. What I did learn from the session was that London is divided into different zones, with start with Zone 1 (the center of the city) and Zones 2-5 form rings around the center with 5 being the farthest away, like a bullseye. After finishing up at the BUNAC headquarters I had the rest of the day to myself and decided to walk to the US embassy to register as an American in the UK. I wanted to walk rather than taking the tube because I would miss much of the city. So me, my ipod, and map were left to our own devices. The layout of the city is very similar to Boston with the random one-way streets as well as streets that just defy logic or common sense everyway possible. So I felt confident that I could take London head-on. I made sure take in my surroundings and it was amazing to see all of these old buildings, like at the Tower Hill tube station, which features London Tower as well as a wall dating back to when the Romans were conquering Celtic and Saxon tribes. My trek to the embassy led me from the east side of Zone 1 to the west side and it was very much a stop-and-go affair for various reasons. Either I was double checking my map, browsing a store or taking pictures. The first store that caught my eye was a small shop called signedsports.com, which was a football memorabilia shop owned by an enthusiastic Scotsman. He had wall to wall covered with framed jerseys or photos signed by various players. Needless to say, I couldnt afford anything in that store but they were fun to peruse. I made small talk with the owner about how I was going to watch my first football match at the new Wembley and his demeanor quickly changed. He went from the terse Scotsman owner to the fellow football fan in the blink of an eye. He told me how his business partner's son played for the England national U-16 squad and how he watched them play at Wembley a week before. He then told me how amazing the stadium was and how I was lucky that I managed to find a ticket. He then went on for about 10 minutes about how I should travel to the stadium. I appreciated his fervor; I kept the post-it note with his directions as a memento even though I didnt end up going to the stadium his way. After I left his store I made a more concerted effort to make it to the US Embassy. It was fairly straightforward on the map, but once I started walking things just didnt match up with the map. For one thing, streets in London have a habit of changing names depending on where you are, which is nothing new coming from Boston. But one major difference is that there are no street signs on the corners of blocks. Rather there are little signs that are attached to the sides of the buildings on the corner of the block and face the street. So if you want to know what intersection you are at, you have to stop and play a quick little game of 'Wheres Waldo'. And just when you thought you were getting the hang of it, some of the newer buildings dont have signs on them at all.


Oh there you are.

So I finally caught on and was making good time to the embassy (or at least I thought I was doin ok) and I couldnt help but notice all the people holding signs on the sidewalks telling passers-by to visit a store. There had to be at least 5-10 people per block holding a sign telling me to visit some back alley gift shop or visit Subway for the 'Friday Mint Lamb special'. Talk about aggressive adverstising, each shop basically had a full time marketer on every street I walked by. So I made it to the embassy and they were doing construction on the building. Therefore in typical American fashion I was made to walk very far out of the way to finally get to the entrance. Continuing in typical American fashion, I waited in line for about 15 minutes until someone came up to me and told me that I did not even need to register with the embassy and pointed out some small print in the back of my passport. American Government-42023 Me-0. So feeling defeated and hunger quickly setting in I needed to find a place to eat. I noticed on my map that there was a discount for an Italian restaurant that I passed a few blocks back on the edge of Soho. So I put an extra hop in my step back to the restaurant and the extra distance was worth it for the discount. London is an expensive city. Feeling revitalized after my chicken caesar salad I noticed that it was only 3 o'clock, meaning only one thing. I still had 5 hours to kill before kickoff. Browsing my map I found meerkats telling me to get off at the Camden Town tube stop and visit them at the London Zoo. I figured what the hell, I'm going to visit some meerkats. So I took the tube to Camden Town (which is in Northern London in Zone 2) and headed to Regent's Park, home of the London Zoo, with every intention of seeing some meerkats and their animal friends. When I got there I must say I was mildly unimpressed with the Zoo. There wasn't a whole lot to see or do and frankly the habitats left a lot to be desired. I can only imagine how the giraffe feels with his sprawling 20 yards of serengeti (sorry I'm a bit biased, I spent a large portion of my childhood at the world famous San Diego Zoo). But it was a zoo and there are always entertaining animals like the gorillas to make it worthwhile.


Hello.

I took my time and made sure to see everything before the 5:30 closing time. I walked through the rest of Regent's Park, which looks absolutely gorgeous with well-cared for gardens and big oak trees. I wish I took more time to enjoy the park but I was growing weary and I just wanted to fast forward to kickoff at Wembley to be honest. I was running out of gas and I reached the point where the idea of actually getting to Wembley, nowhere near where I was at the time (I know good planning on my part), was starting to detract from my excitement of attending the game. I reached the end of Regent's Park and I took a moment to stop and smell the roses, literally. And you know what? Life has a funny way of working sometimes. Im glad that I took that moment and I'll tell you why tomorrow...Wembley gets its own blog article.