Unofficial Guide to the Soldier Field Area (South Loop)..... Subway (EL): Roosevelt Road - Green, Orange and Red Lines. Access to Stadium: Roosevelt Road to Grant Park - follow numerous signs to point you toward stadium. 18th Street Footbridge - go over and under railroad tracks on the rebuild footbridge and it delivers you right to the Solider Field North Entrance Entertainment (Bars) within walking distance: Tantrum - 10th and State St. - friendly generous service, looks swanky, but is very down home... Wabash Tap - Roosevelt (i.e. 12th) and Wabash - Your basic bar, serves food too. I was never very impressed with this place.... Grace O'Malley's - 14th and Michigan - Upscale Irish Bar, with everything you need for pre-game festivities, and food too. (Note: The Chicago Firehouse across the street would seem like a natural, however, it's an upscale steakhouse) South City Tavern - 1530 S. State - My favorite spot (it's in my building) - Soccer friendly bartenders and laid back vibe in a newer spot. There are also a number of places in Printers Row (circa Dearborn and Polk), including Bar Louie, The Butchers Dog and Blackies. For more options check: www.metromix.com - ir just PM me!
Sorry, Cus for the typo. It should have been 1893! You know, 100 years here, 100 years there, pretty soon it starts making a difference. Good local guide by Pyro, but the way!
Wabash Tap, actually, comes highly recommended by me. It's very simple and doesn't have a big menu...but it's cheap and it's very close. Plus they were more than willing to put on the ESPN game every time I came in on either the big screen or on several of the tvs around the bar. Very relaxed and simple place, bartenders spend most of their time playing pool
Flag arrived Thursday morning. It's in the trunk of my car. I'll unfold in the backyard tomorrow morning/afternoon. Big ups to Matt Bernhardt for sending the flag. I'll hold on to it 'til it needs to move on to the next match or returned to the original holder. I'll also but a permanent container which can double as storage and shipping. FYI -- those of you whom would like to help us set up should meet at Gate O of Soldier Field by 11AM CDT this sunday. Although a number of people have committed to helping out, we'd like to avoid an unpleasant surprise of not having enough, so the more the merrier. FYI part II -- I'll have a limited number of friendship scarves on hand at Ginger's as well as the USA scarf. First come first serve, so don't ask me to set aside. FYI part III - Actually there isn't one, I was on a roll. Fonsos
Hey guys, A couple friends of mine are going to be in town for the O.A.R show on Saturday and have decided to stick around for the matches Sunday. They are soccer fans, they will stand, they will wear RED, they will sing with us. Any of you have 2 extra S8 or at least US supporters section tickets for them? Greatly appreciated
A number of people have asked me to set aside friendship scarves via email or phone calls...since i do not have direct access I was unable to do so, and they are running very low. Please come Sat night or early Sunday to ensure one. Also, if you cannot get a friendship scarf buy a USA one! Buy one anyhow! They really are very nice.
If anyone is it's probably too late... but... is anyone traveling from Missouri or Kansas? If so, could you bring a case of Fat Tire for me? It's not available in Iowa or states further East. And yes, I am completely serious. I'll even pay ya more than the cost
Incidentally, I goofed on some ticket numbers for a group i put together and have a few extra. if anyone would like really good sideline club level seats, I've got them. I can tell you that the sideline club is pretty much sold out. Anyhow, if anyone's interested, PM me or send an email -- jmurtau@luc.edu
Re: USA-Poland Chgo July 11, 2004 Need ticket So somewhere between San Francisco airport and leaving Midway yesterday, I'll managed to lose a ticket for the match. I had two and they were paperclipped together, so how I managed to lose one and not the other is an absolute mystery. Anyhow, I need to buy another ticket for section 115. I'm gonna try Soldier Field today (if their box office is open), but if that doesn't work. Does anyone have an extra ticket (or willing to switch sections between 117 and 115)? I'm sure my companion would prefer to stand with me. I'll be at Ginger's this afternoon to watch the Quakes game and tonight for the gathering. We also plan on being at the tailgate tomorrow. Look for a bald black guy, goatee, and Sam's Army scarf. I'll also try to check back on the boards and my e-mail (ggayle at pipeline dot com) between Ginger's visits. Take care and see ya'll tonight and tomorrow! Guy
I hope someone can help Guy out. He has done so much to lead cheering at other national team games. He even bought 40 tickets out of his own money for the USWNT friendly agaionst Finland 1 1/2 years ago. He organized the whole Sam's Army section himself. Guy, I'll bet there will be tickets at the Barn Burners tailgate. If not, you can sneak into Section 8 but normally only during halftime. They are kind of strict before that. See you tomorrow!
I'm probably going to be on the podium for most of the US match, and maybe the Fire match as well, so my tickets might be available. I'll be at Ginger's from about 9pm on.
So tell us the stories... the details.... post the pictures/video... saw snippets of it on ESPN2, but not enough!
After the US game, I saw two polish girls helping their polish friend puke into a garbage can... Man that really made me feel good.
That was perhaps the most exciting sporting event that I've ever been too. Keep in mind that I was at the Packers/Panthers NFC Championship game in '96, which says alot about yesterday The US goal at the end was complete Nirvana. Myself, my friends, and the US supporters around me were just spazzing! I was so out of breath that I could hardly cheer anymore. Also, we started the wicked U-S-A chant after the goal that spread around the stadium. The poles around me were salty as hell. I really liked being the minority at the stadium. On an unrelated note, Soldier Field is perhaps the ugliest stadium I've ever seen. However, there wasn't a bad seat in the house. It's alot smaller than I thought.
Hey, we call the new SF the UFO (Ugly from the Outside). At night, it looks as though it's gonna take off. Fonsos
That's pretty damn funny. I heard that when they designed it, they had Lambeau Field in mind. It looks nothing like Lambeau (perhaps they meant by having good seats all around) I think that building it inside of the pillars was a bad idea because it really limits the size. Do you know what the capacity is? The fire will definately benefit from a new field... should be pretty sweet.
I just got off the phone with Nicodemus. He said the tifo didn't work. It would be better to do them at halftime maybe when more fans are in the stadium.
There were people in our section that didn't even arrive until halftime, so I'd agree with waiting until halftime for the tifo if the USMNT returns to NSF. If I'm not going to be tehre 4 hours before game time, I avoid driving to Soldier Field at all costs.
It worked ok. Just not the mosaic ---or as well as we'd hoped. Example: Plus the entire Polish end was throwing too. that you don't see. You never know if you don't try.