Like A Script

Going to any baseball game is fun (I mean, how can you go wrong with the combination of friends, sun, beers and baseball?), but some games really do stand out.  Hideki Matsui's retirement ceremony was one such game. Matsui was one of the classiest individuals on the 2009 championship team, so it was fitting that the ceremony the Yankees threw for him was a class act. 

First, a video montage.  Then, a slow trek in a golf cart from center field.  Then the introductions of his family, who flew in from Japan to be there (side note, he is twice as tall as the rest of his family put together!).  A signed jersey given to him, with the whole team coming to pay their congratulations while posing for a picture.  Lastly, throwing out the first pitch.  And throughout it all, the Yankee fans payed homage to a true Yankee by giving him a standing ovation the entire 10 minute ceremony.  Watching him take in the entire stadium on its feet for him, you could tell just how much this meant to Matusi.  It felt great to be part of such a moment and to give to him some of the happiness that he gave to all Yankee fans during his time on the team. 

And you know, there is just something about that Yankee magic.  Because wouldn't you know it, the game just continued to play out in a way that seemed straight of a Hollywood script.  Jeter, the captain, stepping up to the plate for the first time after a long injury, swings at the first pitch and sends the ball over the fence for a home run.  Soriano, in his first series back to the team, nails two homers, including one for the extra inning game winning hit.

Stuff like that only happens in the movies...or for the Yankees. 

Soccer Fans Taking Over

It used to be when I wanted to watch a soccer game, it was hard for me to find a place that was showing the game.  So, as I was not going to miss the Gold Cup Semifinals game between USA and Honduras, I went online to find the best soccer bars in the city.  The one I decided on was Legends, as I knew tons of people who went their to catch all Chelesea's games.  But as I was walking to the bar from the subway, all I could see playing in every bar along my way was the soccer game.  And even crazier?  There were huge crowds decked out in where's waldo jerseys in those bars!

Soccer has come a long way, that's for sure.  And watching the game at Legends was just another indication of that.  The bar was packed, with upstairs and downstairs completely full.  And by the roar that greeted every USA goal (all three of them!), it was clear that people had come specifically to watch the game, not just wondered in their for post work happy hour. 

I've been in a few soccer bars, but most of them are full of European or South American accents cheering on their hometown team.  Legends was mainly an American crowd, which was really fun.  Sure, not quite as savvy of comments were thrown around, but the atmosphere was great!  And I have to say, the food was easily the best of any of the soccer bars I'd been to.  My recommendation?  The quesadilla's for appetizers and the Parmesan-crusted-salmon for your entree!

It's always nice when you get to root for your team and not have any real doubt that your team is going to pull it out.  I've never seen the USA look this dominate for this long.  Let's hope it continues...come on USA, beat Panama!

Totally Golden

GOAL!!!! Eddie Johnson celebrates his goal

It only took 27 years, but I finally saw the USA Men's National Soccer team live in person!  And let me tell you, it was totally worth the wait. 

Setting: Gold Cup, July, M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore
Game:  USA vs El Salvador, Costa Rica vs Honduras

Some of the crazy costumes to be found

I wasn't quite sure what to expect when pulling up to Baltimore, but I can tell you that I was absolutely astounded by the scene that greeted me.  Bumper-to-Bumper traffic, buses of Honduras fans, and people stationed at the off ramp to the stadium selling jerseys/hats/any other merchandise you can think of for every team.  And the noise!  Jeez!  I'm pretty sure Americans were shocked...I could just see some people's faces wondering if somehow Christmas, aka the NFL season, had managed to come early without them knowing it.  Because let me tell you, a NFL tailgate had nothing on the scene at the quarterfinals of the Gold Cup. 

Not going to lie, as much fun as we had at the games, we definitely made some rookie mistakes.  Mistake one?  Choosing the wrong section!  We could see the huge USA section just four aisles away..but that four sections felt like miles!  Because not only did we not sit near any USA fans...we someone managed to pick the one section filled with El Salvadorian fans.  In a stadium where El Salvidor fans only made up 5% of the fans, of course we somehow managed to sit right by them right?  And let me tell you, they were not happy campers.  Then again, losing 5 to 1 can't really be that pleasant for anyone.  Mistake two?  Getting seats in the middle of the aisle.  In general, I felt pretty safe, but you could tell that the stadium was clearly unprepared for the number of fans who showed up.  People were standing in the aisle with no security telling them to move, so as I was getting death glares from the person in front of me after every USA goal, all I could think was it would take a long time for help to get to where we were if an altercation started.  Since soccer tends to bring out the crazy in people, its best to make sure you sit somewhere with a quick escape root.  So overall lesson?  Be careful and strategic in your seat choice. 

USA team members salute the fans after win

If you are going to go to a game, it's best when your team ends up winning, and when they win by 4 goals?  Well, even better!  Domination doesn't even begin to describe the smack down that happened.  And hey, we aren't that far removed from being one of the worse CONCACAF teams, so it was crazy to see how far we've come.  And as a huge Landon fan, the fact that he was responsible for every goal (1 goal, 4 assists) was really cool to see. 

All in all, my first national team experience lived up to all my expectations.   The fans were loud, the atmosphere was fun and the soccer was great!

A Different Mode of Public Transportation

Everywhere you turn you see them in the city.  These long docking stations of blue city bikes have taken over the city landscape.  Now as someone who is a self-proclaimed work out lover, you think I'd be all over this new form of public transportation.  But actually....I really really dislike biking!  Ha so sadly, Citi Bike will remain unused by me.

Now I don't dislike all forms of biking.  Along the beach, along isolated bike paths, stationary bikes...those are all fun.  But biking within a city?  Um, no.  Way to scary!  I am completely scared of getting hit by a NYC taxi.  I mean, have you seen how crazy those things are?  Plus, I am totally klutzy so it just doesn't seem like a great idea for me to be riding within the absolutely crazy NYC traffic.

Then again, even if I was really into the whole city riding thing, I'm not sure I would become a member of Citi Bike.   Now the base pricing seems fine to me: $95 annual, $25 7-day, and $9.95 24-hour.  But I don't know about you, but I think the coolest thing of the Citi Bike program would be the ability to bike from uptown to downtown, or to Coney Island, or any other long bike ride.  But the program isn't meant for that.  It's meant for only short quick 30-min max rides.  If you go only 30 min over, it's not to bad...but if you go further than that, the charge really starts to escalate.  So unless you have another docking station where you are planning on going (and though there are many of them, they aren't concentrated far uptown or far downtown), I'd be careful about going to far on those things.  You might end up paying a price that made you wished you had taken that Taxi ride instead.

Water Fun!

Dragon Boating is tiring

There is something about summer that juts makes you want to get on the water.  It's as if the only way to escape the heat is to flee to the ocean/bay breezes.  So while hanging out by the Inner Harbor in Baltimore during the 4th of July, I had to find someway to get on the water.  The answer?  Dragon Boats of course!

I love paddle boating. You are doing something active, but it isn't really that tiring.  And when you are wearing a cute outfit, you really don't want to be sweating that much.  And Baltimore offered some really unique paddle boats in the shape of a purple dragon!

The coolest part of the whole experience was the fact we were able to get on the water to watch the fireworks.  It was literally one of the coolest ways I've ever watched the fireworks ever.  Not the best fireworks I've ever seen (in fact, until the finale, they were kind of boring), but the experience was unique.  We got on the boat at around 8:30, and the fireworks didn't start for about an hour.  So we got to paddle around the harbor looking for the perfect spot for awhile.  And usually that awkward period when you have found your spot till when the fireworks start is super boring, but just the fact that we had the ability to be active during that wait made it so the hour passed before we knew it.  There were some bumper boat moments (aka, kid-steered boats bumping into every boat in their path), but that just added to fun!

Watching fireworks from our dragon boat