Soccer in the Football Stadium... Wait a Minute... oh, Ha, the Irony

This weekend I had 2 firsts. My first professional soccer match, and my first time cheering for my nation at a sporting event. I have had the chance to do this once before, it was a rugby match, and I chose my favorite rugby team, Munster, over the American Eagles. I am sorry, there was just no way the US was going to win and I learned about rugby in Munster and was brainwashed to love them. So I had no choice.

ANYWAY, The US played Honduras at Soldier field... also my first time in soldier field believe it or not... for a different kind of football... ah ha ha ha ha, I am so funny! Go ahead, take a moment. Breathe... Recover. Ok read on:

My friend Andy and I got totally decked out:
and we screamed and yelled at the tops of our lungs for the entire 90 minutes. As you can sort of see, the stadium was packed, and sadly not with American fans. Andy said he heard a man say that for every 1 US fan there were 3 Honduras fans. I believe it. Honduras fans were decked out in blue and white, US fans wore red. Soldier field was a sea of blue with specks of red. Andy said to me at one point, "Isn't it sad that the louder it is, the worse we are doing, on our home field?" And it kind of was! But none-the-less, it was so fun!! It was fun to actually feel like I could get really really excited about being American! I could cheer and go nuts and lose my voice over the fact that our soccer team is actually decent! We could sing songs, and start chanting and hug loads of strangers around us when we scored a goal! I felt apart of something bigger, and for the first time I was cheering not just for my state, not for a college, not for a favorite basketball team, I was cheering for my country's team. AND WE WON!!! I think I am not alone in this being a weird sensation.

The US is so huge. So many different teams, and 50 states all spread out, you feel like you are walking into a foreign land when you go from say Nebraska to California. We are different. We have different values, we live different lives and have different accents. Going to New York is nothing like going to Texas. To say you have been to the US is pretty vague. I mean jeez, we have Hawaii and Alaska!

Having studied in Ireland for a little while and going back there a bunch, I was totally jealous of the fact that my friends were able to sing songs and get excited about Eire! They made fun of other countries, followed their team to foreign places, and would get ridiculously trashed and party all day in honor of their team. I had nothing to compare to this other than say, game day in Nebraska! (there is no place like Nebraaaaaska, good old Nebraska U!) But, cheering for one school v. another or one state v. another is not the same thing.

Maybe it's because I spent a lot of time feeling somewhat like I had to hide the fact that I was American when I traveled for fear I would get asked a MILLION questions about why I voted for Bush? ( I didn't). Why do we think we know how to do everything? (um, we don't). Why do we have sooo much corruption? (Um HEY look at your own government too, ok??). I was always on the defense. I would try to stand up for myself, but once people found out I have a politician brother, my god, they grilled me. To be fair, when I was going over there a lot, half of my wardrobe said Jim Esch for Congress on it, so yeah I was a sitting duck. But, for the most part, I guess I was always very guarded about the fact that I was American. I love my country and I love what we stand for, but for awhile there, I will have to say I never wanted where I was from high lighted. That's a sad realization for sure.

But, back to soccer, this was the scene afterwards:
It was so fun!! We were all red, white and blue-ed out, clearly, dancing and singing and generally having a blast. I am so glad I went to the match. We kicked ass, and had gloating rites for the rest of the night. Anyone who knows me, KNOWS I am a very poor poor loser, like, just deplorable. I am also an asshole of a winner, so hoorah! I got to be an asshole of a winner!!!