The (not so) Beautiful Game

Sorry it's been awhile. My internet acces is even less available than in Asia. After Riga, where some successful blackjack and nice sigthseeing went on, I headed to a small town called Ventspils. It was supposed to be a growing 'city on the move' but I think they meant for families and old couples to visit. Not cool but some interesting artsy sculptures scattered around town from past art exhibitions. Then it was to Liepaja, Latvia's second biggest city, which we visit now...

I have been to four soccer/football games of consequence in my life.

1. Italy v. Russia, Napoli October, 1997 (result: Italy 1-0)

This was during my stay in Sweden junior year, when my 'school' schedule worked out so I had no classes for a whole month! I visited JGrand, who was studying in Venice and we headed to Napoli to check this game out. Whatever sport you think is big in the States, the Italians are friggin' nuts when it comes to soccer. They throw flares on the field, they are constantly punishing local supporters by closing the stadium to all spectators after riots- including one where a policeman got killed. There was that Korean guy in the 2002 World Cup who scored the winning goal against Italy to knock them out. He was playing for an Italian club and they cut him after that. And it goes on...

Anyway, this was a huge game. Winner went to the 1998 World Cup, loser went home. No flares but not only were all the seats packed but every step in the aisles was 2 deep. When we have huge games in football, baseball and such, there's like Bono singing the national anthem, Bonnie Raitt at halftime, and mascot races. It was cool because the scoreboard didn't have any replay video ability- it just told the score. And the halftime show was this large blowup soda can with a fan blowing under it so it 'danced'. That's it. Kudos to JGrand for scoring the tix off a lower mafia guy over an espresso and a cigarette.

2. Shimizu S-Pulse v. Iwata Jubilo, Shimizu,Japan 2000 (Result: I don't remember)

I think the home team won. All I remember is that is rained and I was eating edamame and drinking a bottle of cold green tea instead of hot dogs and beer. If you have ever seen a Japanese crowd at a baseball game, they're crazy. But they're Japanese so they're not crazy like Raiders fans. They are constantly beating taiko drums in perfect sync and yelling chants. Cool. After the game, went to a club and saw Shimizu's star, a Japanese-Brazilian guy named Alex whose on Japan's national team. He was obviously living large with 2 ladies on his arms.

3. Germany v. Cameroon, Shizuoka Japan, June 2002 (Result: Germany 2-0)

This was a World Cup game and I somehow scored tix for 35 bucks online. The Japanese who went to the game would pick which team they liked better and get all gussied up as if they were from there- face paint and the whole nine. I simply bought one of those soccer scarves the fans wave. Cameroon, of course. It was trippy seeing all these Africans in traditional dress in the middle of Japan. It was an awesome experience. Cameroon played better the first half but the Germans had like 6 yellow cards and a red or two. Won dirty and they loved it.

4. Liepajas Mettalurgs v. FK Riga, Liepajas, May 2007 (Result: 0-0)

Ah, what makes us (Americans) not understand soccer/football. Play a game for 90 minutes straight, nobody scores and call it a night. This was a game in Latvia's premier league but when we arrived at the stadium I wondered if we hadn't stumbled in on a high school game. The stands were the size of those at my high school, except on both sides of the field, to be fair. Crowd? Maybe 300? A couple people at my hostel had flown in from Riga for the game (it's like a 40 dollar round trip ticket so not THAT crazy) and we went. Ticket? 4 dollars. There were about 10 of us cheering for Riga and not too many more cheering the home side. The rest were just out for something to do on a lazy evening. I got into the chants that the handful of us were singing, including one to Hey Jude- Na, na, na, na na na na, na na na na, Ri, ee, ga (I'll sing it for you when I get back). Now, before I went to Thailand and the only sports to watch on TV were kickboxing, soccer, bowling, or darts, I knew shit about football. I'd watch the interviews and couldn't understand when a team lost and the manager would say he was happy about the loss. I understand the game a bit better now and let's just say the quality of football was not cool. Liepaja played better but didn't get the win at home so now they are on top of the table by 2 points over FK Riga.

Peace