My buddy who was standing next to me got nailed right in the back of the head with a nearly full plastic beer cup that exploded when it hit him. He got soaked with beer and had a nice bump on his head and I got beer all over my back. The cup was launched from the seats above and to the left of us. I think next time we won't grab seats so close to the fence. I have to admit it was am impression throw, I don't know they throw it and keep the beer in the cup. It was a nice commemorative cup too and would have been a nice souvenir and I wanted it, but he said he wanted to keep it. But when we walked out, I asked "where's the cup" and he said he left it behind. It was a special cup just for the game with Mexico v USA, the date, etc. Here are a few crappy pictures of it. It would have bee nice if we could have bought beer in these nice cups, or any cup for that matter!
I had three cups from beer I got from the section next to us and left them alone for a bathroom break and someone grabbed them from our section! I did see a handful of beers heading over the fence they just weren't close to me. I'm sure if you were next to the fence you got it.
I think I was a few rows up from you. By chance did the guy chug the beer after he got hit? Speaking of the cups, I had some time to kill at the airport and made my way to the food court over by gate 15 and was able to buy one off a Mexican fan for about 20 pesos.
no, the photos suck but you can sort of see how the bottom of the cup was shattered, so all the beer went out and all over him
Pablo, we were in the row directly behind you, got splattered with that richocet. Still can't believe your buddy didn't draw blood, that was a thud.
I didn't see anything thrown into the US Section, but we were right in the middle. Got a picture with Jimmy Conrad and sat (stood) right behind him. They let me in the entrance with my belt. Then during the second pat down at the top of the ramps the guy patting me down told me I had to get rid of it, but I guess his supervisor saw and basically told him "no" and they let me go on in with it. It was a cotton belt, no idea if that had anything to do with it. Lack of beer and water was BS, as has been discussed. Was a lot of fun. Felt safe the whole time, including riding the train in, waiting in line for beer at the 7-Eleven, and hanging out in the parking lot. Ended up just jumping on an AO bus on the way back.
I PMed the seller to ask as the photos show some of his cups are from the MEX-Honduras game, and sure enough only one of the 4 is MEX-USA and 3 are MEX-HON. I'd almost be tempted for 4 MEX-USA at $25 (I'd give one to my buddy who got beaned) but the Honduras ones are totally worthless to me, so no way.
I had the deuce face red tshirt, and buddy had the Elvis Presley sillouette on front of white jersey. Either way, all good. So much fun!
I just went thru that with a US Soccer soccer ball I bought that I wanted to get autographed. http://www.ebay.com/itm/222432788462 Instead of getting what's advertised, I got a generic "USA" ball with some bogus USA flag on it. I guess the seller thought there's no difference. I just mailed it back this morning. Doing the return is a pain is the ass. Here's the bogus/useless ball they sent me.
My mom bought me a jersey with that crest for the last World Cup. She was like here I got you a present for your trip. She got a kid in São Paulo a present .......
The AO aspects of the event were awesome and worth it. The game day party at the hacienda was truly special.
think different experiences for different people work quite well. its a great thing that the US soccer traveling support has grown to the point where there are multiple groups that offer significantly different experiences that can cater to the widest group of US supporters as possible.
I never suggested otherwise. I only said the AO events were great. And I was exploring what others were doing. I know the Sammers advertise themselves as an alternative to AO but I haven't exactly pinned down what makes Sammers different, aside from the fact that they seem to trend toward older ages. I'm not sure if the poster above who referenced having a "better time" without AO was a Sammer, but reading his statement is what kicked off this conversation.
Pregame beers by the rooftop pool and early stadium arrival. I managed to escape the police cordon and enjoy the atmosphere around the stadium for a brief bit.
not all AO pre game events are created equal (Night Before Parties and Day of Match parties/tailgaters). I've been to some that were really boring. But the Mexico matchday party was exceptional, the difference being we had to pay for it while most are free. Maybe the numbers didn't fully add up in terms of cost (bus + ticket + party w/ free food/booze + scarf) but as a first timer in Azteca for a USMNT match, I was satisfied with what I got and all the people I went with were happy with it too. I didn't hear any complaints. 4 years from now though, now that I've done one, I'd consider riding Metro down with some buddies and hanging out around the stadium. One thing that was nice though was having the buses to get back from the game.