As much as I did not like the lottery process, it worked. So even though I was denied tickets I hope it is implemented again.
I was very pleasantly surprised by the crowd ratio. Even with the 9000 announced members of the supporters groups, I figured that a LOT of Mexican fans had signed up for memberships for either AO and/or USSSSSSSSSSC. Heck, for $20, you have the opportunity to purchase up to four tickets. Once tickets were sold out, I figured that the only ones buying any of the "Crew ticket packages" were also Mexican fans. Paying $100 for a 5-pack of tickets to see the Crew and then the extra $70 for the ticket to the game is still cheaper than the $300 being asked on ticket outlets. I was very very pleasantly surprised when I settled into my seat in the North Bleachers and looked around the stadium. I'm still not sure what happened but the only thing I can gather is that a lot of the Mexican fans just aren't as passionate about the team right now with all the difficulties and decided not to make the trip. I will say that I had a great time in the parking lot and in the stadium with every Mexican fan I ran into. There was a poor guy that was in the front row of one of the North Bleachers and we chatted for about 10 minutes at halftime. A LOT of people were giving him and his group crap and it wasn't very pleasant. He is a Vietnam vet and has a son currently serving in Afghanistan. He said he roots for the USA 363 days a year but his soul is from Mexico. I can respect that. He was really cool to talk to.
No, but I thought of bringing pies. I'm afraid I didn't really have anything to share. And, by the time we got to your spot, we were like tired, hungry, thirsty, hot toddlers breaking out into tantrums.
This was my 4th US/Mex game and I can honestly say I've never had a bad experience with any of the Mexico fans. Plus as a dedicated Detroit sports fan living in Chicago I can share their plight (though I still cheer against Chicago teams even when not playing against Detroit teams, but most of Mexico's fans are probably better people than me anyway).
I sold about ten tickets to this game, all of them at cost to people of multiple different skin colors. Guess I'm a dirty racist.
I've never had any issues. There are always a few a-holes on both sides but in general, I think this was the "friendliest" interaction of fans I've seen. There were a lot of tailgates where people were co-mingling and just having a good time. It was really refreshing to see.
It's what you make of it. My group had a fantastic time at the Rose Bowl in 2011. A lot of moaning by US fans, but we had only a 100% positive experience. Same can be said for Tuesday night.
The worst I saw was a US fan refusing to give a Mexican fan a high five when they left the stadium. Certainly not saying there couldn't have been issues but I saw no incidents of racism and in fact saw many incidents of opposing fans sharing beers together and laughing and taking pictures with each other.
I actually did a Mexican fan a HUGE favor while waiting in the security line - I drank one his ? Lite beers. Coors?
I felt vaguely bad about offloading a ticket to a scalper (and not just because I left profit on the table!) a few hours before a match, but one of my group fell through and I hadn't found a US fan looking once I got to town.
Same. My buddy bailed the morning of. Wanted to offer it here but figured it was too late. Just wanted to make sure he at least got him money back at the end.
I didn't want to start a new topic so apologies if I'm posting this at the wrong place. Post-MegaTailgate Update: Mike and Andrew had their day in court this morning. Combined, they got fined $1,500 for the offenses but no jail time and it will be taken off their record in a year. I would like to organize a way for anyone to make donations if they would like to help pay for their fines. This is obviously totally voluntary. I'll post details as soon as I figure out the logistics but wanted to give an update.
Hopefully I haven't messed anything up but here is the donations page if anyone would like to help. Very much appreciate it and please tell me if there are any issues as I'm a noob at this. http://igg.me/at/MegaTailgate-Fines/x/4916049
So we had the mega tailgate and as part of that had the Free Beer Exchange with all the different craft beers. Late in the tailgate they were approached by someone saying that they hadn't brought any beer and wanted to buy a few. They said yes and sold a few beers. That person ended up being an undercover liquor control officer. About a half-hour later, the area is surrounded by cops who arrest Mike and Andrew and confiscate all of the beer as evidence. I believe they were formally charged with selling alcohol without a permit and operating a facility where an illegal activity takes place. At the end of the day, this was obviously a mistake on their part but honestly wasn't made with any sinister plot. It was just a F-up after a long day of tailgating.
I think you would get more views on this if you created a thread for it. Also all of the information you just posted above should probably be on the donation page.