let's go USMNT

(cross posted from wide world of fresno sports and american outlaws fresno)

holy cow, so ecstatic that the usmnt has not only moved on, but won their group in amazing fashion. really, it doesn't get much more suspenseful than winning the group in stoppage time. i mean, we won our qualifying group on a stoppage goal, and now this? call 'em the cardiac kids.

great goal by landon donovan. it's too bad dempsey's goal was disallowed, but i'm glad we managed to eek through.

something to mention: we've been working on an american outlaws chapter here in fresno. if you've watched any of the u.s. games you've probably seen the outlaws featured heavily in the crowd - they're the crazy fans with flag bandannas and what not. most of the crowd shots from bars in the u.s. have been american outlaw bars, with tons of outlaws on camera. currently, we've got a handful of members, but we need more. in fact, we need at least 25 members signed up with us (+ a supporters bar but we're pretty sure we've got that worked out) to be an official chapter. we've got 5 so far. so, what am i asking? well, i'm asking you to join the american outlaws if you live in the fresno area. it's only $15 a year and you get an official t-shirt + u.s. flag bandanna. and, you'll have friends nationwide cheering along with you as well as a group here in fresno. if you're an outlaw member they also have discount rates on flights to u.s. games, on sales of gear online, and more. seriously, it's not a bad deal at all if you like soccer and follow the u.s. team.

so, enjoy the rest of the cup. if you can, join the american outlaws and come watch a game with us.

the american outlaws official site
american outlaws fresno chapter blog
american outlaws fresno chapter facebook
american outlaws fresno chapter twitter

u.s. vs england

hey, i'll be watching u.s. vs england @ bobby salazar's in the tower on saturday. you should come watch it with me. game time is 11 a.m.

the usmnt will be wearing blue jerseys. i'll be wearing a blue jersey. i suggest you wear blue in support of our side versus england (i think the 3 lions will be in white).

n c a eh?

it's pretty weird for me right now. this is the first year since probably around 1991 or so that i haven't filled out a bracket. and, i don't even have any desire. usually, i would've printed out a bracket as soon as they were out on sunday and have been deciding if i was going to do more than one. and, i know i would've had a little $ in a pool.

for some reason, it's not happening this year. i haven't even looked at a bracket, although i did halfway listen to a podcast that was talking about it. i'm sure i'll watch some games, but i won't be feverishly following it on my iphone while i'm away for track on friday.

so, as i thought about this today, i tried to figure out why i don't care this year. i mean, i really don't watch college basketball except for the tournament every year.

i'll be honest, i think it's soccer. yep, soccer. i'm busy thinking about the world cup, even though it's still like 85 days away. it's great following members of the usmnt abroad as well as watching the usmnt prepare for the cup through friendlies (even though stu holden got his leg broke - effin nederlander). i'm following the knockout rounds of the champions league (watched chelski take one on the chin today and get eliminated - and the game affirmed my belief that john terry is a piece of crap). the epl is in full swing and arsenal has worked their way back into the hunt for some silverware. i'm stoked. and, i'm even starting to think about the impending mls season, and hoping there is no lock out. will landon be in galaxy gear? how will our team do without beckham? or will becks rehab here in the u.s.?

soccer, you're my only friend. oh wait, that's abba zabba.

usmnt vs honduras 1/23

btw, i've got some thoughts and pictures up over here about my recent trip to see the u.s. men's national team.

u.s. vs honduras 1/23

so, who wants to go to the home depot center with me on 1/23 (it's a sunday) to watch the usmnt vs honduras. i saw these two teams play in salt lake city, but it's likely that the u.s. team will have a different look and it should be fun. gametime is 6pm, and i think tix start @ $26 but i'm checking to see if there's any rooting sections for american outlaws.

UPDATE: so, here's what i know - american outlaws tix are $36 for members, $41 for non. and, it doesn't seem like i can buy member tix @ for nonmembers. so, one option would be for everyone who's not a member to buy a membership ($15) and move us closer to a fresno chapter. if not, the other option is finding the best, cheapest seats we can, which are done first come, first served basis.

but, i know the a.o. section will be rockin.

"These are supporter section tickets for the USMNT game at the Home Depot Center on January 23rd, 2010. These tickets are in the Supporters Section which is all standing, all singing, all passion."

"We will be announcing pregame/tailgate/postgame party information on our site as those plans are finalized."

usa supporter's world cup shirt

every so often you hear about cool things that are worth supporting. sometimes, those things also benefit you. as you should know as a regular reader of this blog, i love soccer. i love watching soccer. i love supporting the usmnt and have even joined a supporters club, the american outlaws. (btw, if you're interested, i'm still hoping to start a fresno chapter - need 25 people signed up.)

i was checking out the american outlaws site today, and saw one of those cool things worth supporting that benefits me as well. the american outlaws have teamed up with sam's army and little feet to put out shirts for south africa 2010. here it is in gameday red (the also have an away gray)



now, the shirt is a little pricey @ $25, but, the price is worth it. here is why: you're supporting an agency, little feet, that does humanitarian work through soccer. for every shirt that is bought a soccer ball will be donated to a child in south africa. pure dope. the balls will be distributed after the december 4th draw. and, you'll also be supporting u.s. soccer, which is also awesome.

i bought two - one for me, one for my bro. you should buy one as well, and when we get together to watch the u.s. team as the have a break out world cup we can wear the shirts in solidarity.

*cross posted @ wide world of fresno sports.

american outlaws

back in my salt lake city/usmnt recap i talked about walking in behind a supporter group that i initially thought was sam's army, but it turned out to be the american outlaws. they were spirited, they had chants, songs, and even some musical instruments. they definitely provided a lot of heart for the u.s. crowd at that game.

after i found out who they were, i decided to check out their website and see what they were about. their core values and history are this:
Mission:
To support the United States National Team through a unified and dedicated group of supporters.

History:
The American Outlaws started in Lincoln, NE as a local supporters group. Throwing viewing parties at local bars and attending every game possible sparked excitement amongst some of the leaders of the group, who felt like they could do more. In attending these games, a lack of consistency was observed from game to game with regard to the level of supporter organization, particularly with events surrounding the game (ie tailgates, parties, etc.). We then decided to make AO a nationwide, non-profit supporter group. a country as big as the United States, organization is a critical aspect to creating a unified culture of soccer fans. The more the fan base is unified, the greater the fan presence, the more intimidating the atmosphere, which finally leads to better results on the field. This is the goal of American Outlaws.


this sounded really cool to me. i like the organizational idea, providing a unified fan experience, having local chapters be "experts" on where to party, tailgate, etc. and, i hope to attend more national games in the future, even if they're only friendlies leading up to next year's cup. so, i joined the american outlaws. for $15 a year, i thought it could be worth it. camaraderie is definitely nice, but they're also getting hook ups, like discount flights from continental airlines. the $15 also gets you some gear: a t-shirt & a bandanna.

today my gear arrived:



i know it's a stretch, but i'd love to see a fresno chapter start up. what do we need for that?
Chapter Criteria

* A minimum of 25 paid American Outlaw Members
* Have a "home base" bar, where fans can expect to meet to watch each game
* Host a viewing party at said bar for EVERY GAME
* Complete the AO Chapter Registration, which will be mailed to you
* Inform national AO of new members as they sign up

in my mind the real difficult part of this might be to get the 25 paid members. because i'm pretty sure that we can find a bar (sequoia, hero's, some other place) to watch all the games at/host viewing parties.

why would we want to be a chapter?

Benefits of Chapterdom (if that is a word)

* Chapter awarded free banner from national organization
* Chapter receives discounts on merch, as well as benefits in other areas
* Chapter receives free promotional swag from organizations, such as NIKE
* Chapter events receive national recognition to all AO members nationwide

sounds good, right? and, i also think that if we could get a chapter together it would help out the fuego support. so, get yourself over to american outlaws. sign up. let's get our chapter on and support the usmnt.


*cross posted @ wide world of fresno sports.

road trip reflections: slc and the usmnt

warning, this post is going to be long. but, it's mainly photos and description of my road trip to salt lake city to see the u.s. men's national team play vs. el salvador.

we stopped somewhere to get a coffee and use the restroom, but the mini mart didn't have public restrooms so we went across the street to wienerschnitzel. i saw this sign and wondered if i was?



this little kid was drinking mountain dew





be careful, eating at wienerdude may cause a reaction. usually, my reaction is a full belly.



we stopped for gas, and i thought this was a pretty cool sign. it's up near grass valley, ca.

we stopped for lunch @ the black bear diner, which was somewhere in nevada. i didn't realize black bear was a chain, but that's not a big deal. i think it's sorta fun to hit up obscure joints on the road.



you don't quite get the scale of the chicken fried steak. it was as big as my hand, which is 8". i didn't finish it or the hash browns. too much food.



maybe i'm six, but it cracked me up to think that there was a big bm on that mountain.



trust me, that sign said "deeth starr valley." the darkside is strong in nevada.



nevada is also home to post apocalyptic beverly hills.



in utah, there are some creepy gas station signs. you clown, scare me.

let's talk about friday nights in salt lake city. friday night we hit up a bar called the republican. i learned about the place via twitter, as someone notified me of a usmnt supporters party there. it was a cool little dive bar. and republican refers to irish, not the political party. it was definitely an irish dive bar, but it was also full of hipster types. who knew salt lake had hipsters, and that a lot of people have tattoos. or at least the people at bars had tattoos. we walked down the street from the republican and had tacos from a street vendor. they were amazing, and that's not just because it was close to midnight and i had consumed a few "pops." it was weird that they had all kinds of little roadside taco stands set up, but it makes sense in an area with a bunch of bars. 4 tacos, and $3 later i was back in my seat at the republican. we saw a bar, called the woodshed,that seemed to have cool music going on, but my tab was still open at the republican so we headed back there. even though there wasn't live music, it had a nice vibe and the drinks were pretty cheap ($4 beers, $3.50 for a mixed drink!). since we had been on the road all day and still had to drive like 5 miles back to the hotel, we called it a night before it got too late.



this is the garlic burger w/garlic fries @ the bohemian brewery. a brewery in utah you say? i thought they were a dry state. nope, they do sell booze. it seems that the beer sold in bars/restaurants is regulated down to 4%, which actually helped the taste of some beers. we had a delicious microbrewed amber beer here. the burger was delicious. and the decor of the place was sorta ski lodge, but they had hops hanging all over, which was an awesome touch.

and now onto the game. outside the game we were befriended by some usmnt supporters that were tailgating. we were just wandering in early, and these guys offered us hot dogs. we were still full from lunch, so we declined the hot dog but asked for a beer instead. they were cool, and freely gave us a beer. since we were having beer i chatted them up about beer & alcohol in salt lake. essentially, beer sold at bars and restaurants is a little lighter, but booze is the same as everywhere. we walked into the game behind one of the supporter groups that was chanting, singing and playing instruments. they were organized, and it really felt like a real soccer crowd. it also makes me want to try and organize a better fuego supporters group.



sam's army the american outlaws are filtering in. they were seated next to a big crowd of el salvador fans. u.s. soccer supporters need to learn to play a bass drum or a tom. a snare just doesn't cut it. btw, we walked in behind a bunch of these folks.

a couple more photos from before the game.



see how friggin close we were?



i will not do anything during the game that will cause security to come into the crowd for me.



landon and the boys came out to warm up.



the team during the anthem & introduction. now, i'm not a guy that usually sings along, or would chant usa or even call myself really patriotic. but it was awesome singing alongside my countrymen & women as we support our nation side. and, i really think this was the first time i'd ever entered a usa chant.



the team huddles up before the start



tim howard kicking it in goal. you can get a good idea how awesome our seats were from that picture. we were about 18 yards out from goal, seated in the second row. awesome. and rio tinto stadium was very nice. makes me wish fresno had a soccer specific stadium, and a pro team. the only real drawback to our seat was that the u.s. was shooting on the other goal in the first half, and didn't offensively press much during the second, when they would've been shooting in front of us, because they were ahead.



just after kickoff

el salvador scored first due to some sloppy defense, a failure to close down on open men on loose balls, and poor clearance. i've seen this a bit lately from the u.s., and while i realize we were missing some of our key defenders, it's something we must fix before next year's cup.



dempsey's equalizer was awesome. i took video of it happening, but knew the replay video board would be a little better.



and then jozy altidore, who is definitely my favorite u.s. player right now, put us ahead. again, i've got live video, but replay is a little better. jozy is such a talent, but he looked a bit winded in the second half and seemed a bit lackadaisical. he also had a sick goal in the second half that was called back for seemingly no reason. everyone around us was confused. i asked the guys behind us if they say any signal. i checked twitter and the ussoccer feed was baffled but certain it wasn't offsides. the espn story afterward said the ref claimed altidore "nudged a defender." bs.



celebrating the win with the fans.

some thoughts on the game: everyone gripes about refereeing, so it shouldn't be a surprise that i'll bitch about it here. it sucked. seriously, the linesman on our side was terrible, blowing several offsides calls. and the head ref, well, i already mentioned his terrible fake foul against altidore, but he was missing calls all night, going both ways. he made up a foul against altidore, and when charlie davies was kicked in the knee in while driving in the box, no call. another thought, it was also great to see landon donovan look back up to fitness and delivering very good balls on set pieces.

after the game, we went back and rested at the hotel, and then hit up salt lake city's night life. i already discussed saturday's lunch at the bohemian, but let me tell you about saturday night. we drove by the republican but decided we wanted to try some place different. we were going to go to the woodshed, but there was nothing happening there. seriously, no bands, and about 4 people at the bar. so we drove to the heart of the downtown and looked for a bar that was jumping. we saw several and looked for parking. salt lake has a very nice looking downtown, and is very walkable. in addition, they have a muni-rail that seems very easy to use. we could have stayed downtown, taken the rail to the game and back. next time. so, we wandered by a few bars looking for what would be a nice spot. we saw a piano bar, but didn't venture in. the pianist was playing the hookie pokey while some girl did it on stage. these mormons know how to get down! all jokes aside, it looked like a fun place, but was jammed to the gills. so we kept on, and settled in at...another irish place. murphy's wasn't as dive-y as the republican, but it was nice. and, a patron (a chef from a nearby restaurant) brought in like 4 trays of food, but we were full and didn't have any. we did have a fun time people watching while having several drinks.

sunday morning we got back on the road.



this part of utah was pretty. it was definitely better looking than our route 80 trip.



i think this is in just as we entered arizona.



traffic slowed a bit due to an accident. a trailer had flipped over and the people were gathering their belongings from the wreckage.



the remnants of the trailer.



more arizona.



again, pretty arizona shots.





i didn't take any photos in nevada. i sort of just was in drive fast and get done mode so i pretty much just did that. one thing i wish i had taken a picture of was the view coming into las vegas. it's interesting to come around a bend and see vegas, even in the daytime. but, it was also sorta gross because so much smoke from the southern california fires.



i knew this photo probably wouldn't come out as good as i hoped. as we were driving on highway 58 you could visibly see the line of smoke and where it ended. it was like smokey hazy sky/no smoke clear sky. crazy.

eventually i made it home. both routes (rt 80 going, rt 15 coming back) took about twelve hours. the route 15 path seemed a little nicer looking, but both get monotonous. one bonus of the rt 15 path was that stretches of utah had a speed limit of 80! that means i wasn't speeding as much.

overall, this was a great road trip. i'd do it again, although i'd love for the destination city to be a little closer.

u.s. men's national team vs el salvador

anyone interested in a road trip sept 4-6 to utah?

the u.s. men's national team is playing there against el salvador.

tickets as low as $38.

twelve hour drive.

tempting, yes?