Azteca 2009 trip

Discussion in 'USA Men: Fans & Travel' started by braun, Sep 16, 2008.

  1. DUDE!!

    All these folks and you think you'll be ALONE?!? No way!

    Just find some folks you like/are near you and join in ... it's only a couple of days, not a two-week family vacation ... if you hate your travel group you can find one you like!
     
  2. Bill Schmidt

    Bill Schmidt BigSoccer Supporter

    Aug 3, 2003
    Washington, DC
    Club:
    Real Madrid
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I bet this will be on a Saturday to maximize attendance and TV audience. That would really suck if it were Wednesday.
     
  3. Bill Schmidt

    Bill Schmidt BigSoccer Supporter

    Aug 3, 2003
    Washington, DC
    Club:
    Real Madrid
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Yep. I went down last time by myself and arranged to meet up with some other posters I hadn't met before. We will end up rolling in a big group.
     
  4. jamison

    jamison Member

    Sep 25, 2000
    NYC
    The scheduled dates are Wed./Sat., but the regulations give the federations some room in scheduling, so Mexico always plays their games (that matter) on Sunday, often at noon or so.

    Considering Mexico's weight in our region (which is considerable), I would consider it a mortal lock that they'll get the US home game exactly when they want it, on a Sunday, in the big house.

    I was there last time, it was pretty damn safe. Just, you know, don't be a tool, and be prepared to throw out anything you're wearing that day.
     
  5. metroflip73

    metroflip73 Member

    Mar 3, 2000
    NYC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    1) Not being a tool goes a long way.

    2) Some people didn't have a problem with the food, though...
     
  6. #1 Feilhaber and Adu

    Aug 1, 2007
    Im hoping for a Box set-up by USSF for about 5,000 American fans all wearing Red. Hell USSF should raffle off tickets and airfare to get some more Americans down their.
     
  7. thethinwhiteduke

    Feb 13, 2008
    why wait for USSF to do it? lets organize and plan it ourselves as supporters
     
  8. How about blue instead? Red is one of the national colors of MEX, but blue isn't.
     
  9. USSF would have to do it unless there's a sugar daddy willing to underwrite the whole deal. If you've got a half-mil to do that, awesome, I'll be your first volunteer!
     
  10. REVS FAN 1

    REVS FAN 1 Member

    Jul 2, 2004
    Weymouth, MA
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Oh Christ...here we go again! It didn't take too long for the Red vs. Blue argument to come up again huh? How long before the White faction shows up?

    I think it's clear that Sams Army will be wearing Red..and the American Outlaws will be wearing Blue...

    Why don't those of you that cannot seem to decide which group to affiliate with wear White...

    As long as we're giving 100% of our voices for 90 minutes...wear whatever the hell you want ffs!

    :D
     
  11. thethinwhiteduke

    Feb 13, 2008
    its unnecessary for the USSF to set up a box, we get a good away allocation and the fans can fill up those seats. it doesnt take money, all it takes it some organization and passion.

    the poster said that USSF should raffle off airfare and tickets to get fans down there, but there is no need for raffles. we can plan, get people there and give the USMNT some support in azteca on our own. if there are people out there that want to go to the match in azteca but cant get tickets or cant manage airfare bookings, then im sure there are many people here, myself included that will help with the logistics of it.
     
  12. As far as people getting down there, whatever works, works. But, outside of a reciprocated professional courtesy with the USSF, I doubt the FMF would reserve a meaningful block of tickets without some assurance of payment.

    If anyone wants to take on the responsibility of brokering ticket sales, front the money to do it (ie, sugar daddy), and cover any non-sold or welched-upon sales, that would be great. But in the absence of that, the USSF would have to do it.

    Planning and passion are great, but without $$$ you can't reserve anything. People change plans, decide to come at the last minute, have to cancel for whatever reason, all the time. Maybe you can get enough folks to put down enough money with enough advance time and "no welching allowed" to accomplish this. God love you if you do.

    I would just let USSF handle it, though. They can deal with plans changing/last minute/cancellations much better than any assembled SG.

    Just my $0.02.
     
  13. thethinwhiteduke

    Feb 13, 2008
    i think you and i are having different discussions. of course the USSF is going to handle the away ticket allocation. they have done this before and they will continue to do it. in no way am i saying this can be done without the USSF.
    i am discussing fans getting down there and the travel involved. there is no reason to rely upon the USSF to get people to mexico city or any other place for that matter. we will be able to get tickets to the match from the USSF, no raffle necessary and if anyone wants to get down there its easy enough to book airline, hotel, transportation and everything. no need to rely on the USSF.
    but, yes, of course i agree with you when it comes to match tickets, everyone should buy them from USSF, that is our best way into the match to be seated with US supporters, to create an atmosphere and most importantly to support our team.
     
  14. Yeah, that finally dawned on me, too. :D

    There has been some prelim talks of things as ambitious as chartering a jet for US supporters from Dallas to Mexico City, but as we run some preliminary numbers, it wouldn't make $$$ sense for lots of folks ... meaning, a (say) SEA-DFW + DFW-MEX is much more expensive than just SEA-MEX.

    There's also the option of getting so many seats on a regular flight that it essentially becomes a charter. This could work, although that kind of coordination requires a much more leader-follower dynamic than I think can be mustered, especially with the great variance of $$$ resources across the soccer fan spectrum.

    IMHO, maybe it's best to leave folks to their own devices as far as getting to Mexico City, and focus efforts on what's going on once we're there ... hotel, party, game, bus charter, etc. But if any meaningful coordination could be accomplished with the flights, that would be a HUGE bonus. That may be where USSF could do something that assembled supporters could not (?).

    I'd hate to waste time, $$, and effort on some patchwork half-assed flight when, for a lot less of all three, we could put together a pretty kick-ass on-the-ground experience.
     
  15. wolfp10

    wolfp10 Member

    Sep 25, 2005
    The standard around the world is to keep away fans together and segregated. The standard is also to get away tickets through your respective federation.
     
  16. thethinwhiteduke

    Feb 13, 2008
    yes, its certainly standard practice and makes the most sense to get through USSF
     
  17. thethinwhiteduke

    Feb 13, 2008
    chartering flights isnt worth the time or money, people are coming from too many different places like you said. the best bet is organizing on the ground, shuttles to the stadium, hotels, meet ups etc.
     
  18. Galaxian

    Galaxian Member

    Oct 30, 2005
    Newport Beach, CA
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    When the time gets closer and the dates for the matches are finalized, we will all be able to start organizing all the ground work for the trip, which will be awesome.

    If we can get 1,000 US fans down there I will be extremely happy.

    Chase
     
  19. metroflip73

    metroflip73 Member

    Mar 3, 2000
    NYC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Expect 1/2 to 1/3. Especially with all that's going on economy-wise.
     
  20. #1 Feilhaber and Adu

    Aug 1, 2007

    ahhhhh and thats the key! Which goes back to my earlier post, about the USSF should organize a box for 5,000 US supporters and give away the ticketsand travel fare for free or at least half off.
     
  21. thethinwhiteduke

    Feb 13, 2008
    with what money??!?!??! the USSF doesnt have millions just sitting around to subsidize fan support of a team.
     
  22. ChelseaMatt

    ChelseaMatt Member

    Apr 12, 2005
    Memphis
    Club:
    Chelsea FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    My bet is March 28th. I'd Imagine June 6th and Sept 5th are also possibilities.
     
  23. anazarn

    anazarn Member

    May 27, 2008
    El Paso
    Club:
    CF Indios de Ciudad Juárez
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    USSF IS ON THE INTERNET GIVE US SOME OF THAT INTERNET MONEY!
     
  24. blech

    blech Member+

    Jun 24, 2002
    California
    It is "supposed" to be random as others have noted as well. I guess anything is possible, but I'm not going to question someone's integrity on that without justification.

    The interesting point I hadn't noticed before is that the 2/7 and 4/9 dates are the Saturdays, while the 1/6, 3/8, and 5/10 dates are Wednesdays. So, it follows that both games will be on Saturday or both will not. And that it's a 40% chance of Mexico being one of the two Saturday pairings, even if its random.

    Since that means 60% chance of a Wednesday pairing, let me ask: If Mexico away is on a Wednesday, does that mean it will be a night game (all of the US home Wednesday games have been night games, right)? And, would a night game modify anyone's views about any of the safety precaution matters? And would your answer to the prior question change for better or worse depending on who wins?

    Reality is this is all just idle chit-chat and speculation for now and this thread is just biding time until a draw/announcement that would seem likely to occur by early December. From an internet search, I found the following NY Times article dated 12/1/04, indicating that the 2005 schedule had been determined the day before at a draw at FIFA headquarters in Zurich....
    http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/01/sports/soccer/01draw.html

    Haven't seen anything for this cycle, but would have to think it would be the same. If it matters, 11/30/04 was a Tuesday. Does that put the draw on 12/2/08?
     
  25. In keeping with all this being idle chit-chat and time-biding ...

    Since the hex is just one group, there's no "draw" in the sense that groups will be drawn, like for the UEFA Cup or Champions League or whatever. And, FWIW, I can't remember a draw being held for matchdays.

    The FIFA format document for CONCACAF doesn't mention any "draw" for the hex ... but that doesn't mean anything.

    I can see that, in Asia's final stage, they had the seed match-ups ready to go and filled in the teams as they qualified. For example, Group 1 (setting aside home/away for now):

    MD1: #1 bye, #2 v. #3, #4 v. #5 --> AUS bye, JPN:BHR, UZB:QAT
    MD2: #2 bye, #1 v. #4, #3 v. #5 --> JPN bye, AUS:UZB, BHR:QAT
    MD3: #3 bye, #1 v. #5, #2 v. #4 --> BHR bye, AUS:QAT, JPN:UZB
    MD4: #4 bye, #1 v. #3, #2 v. #5 --> UZB bye, AUS:BHR, JPN:QAT
    MD5: #5 bye, #1 v. #2, #3 v. #4 --> QAT bye, AUS:JPN, BHR:UZB

    ... and repeated for MD6 - MD10 at the other nation's home. If CONCACAF does something like this, it might be ...

    MD1: #1 v. #6, #2 v. #3, #4 v. #5
    MD2: #2 v. #6, #1 v. #4, #3 v. #5
    MD3: #3 v. #6, #1 v. #5, #2 v. #4
    MD4: #4 v. #6, #1 v. #3, #2 v. #5
    MD5: #5 v. #6, #1 v. #2, #3 v. #4

    ... and repeated for MD6 - MD10.

    With MEX #1 and USA #2, this way puts these games on the 5/10 slot, or Wednesday games.

    Let's hope not. FIFA, USA, MEX, and all CONCACAF federations stand to benefit if the "big matches" are put on weekends. The MEX/USA/CRC round-robin should get the four Saturdays, hands down. As it is, two of those six matches will have to be played on Wednesdays. Those two should probably be a USA:CRC and a MEX:CRC. No diss to CRC, but USA:MEX is much bigger.

    So ... put USA:MEX and MEX:USA on two Saturdays, and put CRC:MEX and USA:CRC on Saturdays, too.

    But this is FIFA, Blatter, CONCACAF, and Warren we're dealing with here. Who knows what will happen?
     

Share This Page