Yeah. But it moved OK. Couple of factors there: 1) A lot of GA sections, so a lot of people wanted to get in early. 2) You could see the line was going to take a while. So you had to get going by 7:15-7:30. 3) Just take a road pop, and the line went a lot smoother. 4) I think US Soccer is a bit more concerned about security than a normal Crew game. No drums or flares in there for this one.
Phoenix is one of the few cities that have multiple daily direct flights to columbus and usually with good fares. So you should have no problem getting here.
I'm not so sure about that. I've seen very pro-Honduran crowds in DC and Chicago. I think qualifying is paramount and we should play the games wherever we can get the biggest advantage over our rivals (mystique, weather, altitude, etc) or at a venue that helps the team before an away game (playing in Denver before Mexico City). Can play some high profile friendlies or outright minnow games on the coasts. Look at it this way, people in Columbus, KC, and Salt Lake don't get the chance to see Madrid, Barca, ManU, and Milan and teams of that ilk in the friendlies, this is our compensation. LA gets Chelsea friendlies. Columbus gets Wigan.
I was there. Anyone who was there can complain about the same things... Coordination of the two ends could have been better, long lines, the dude on the PA, blah blah blah. The reality to those at the match are this. The atmosphere was insane. I have to give props to all who got tickets distributed because of one thing. 90+% of the crowd was red, white, and blue. The green, red, and white do not believe that they can win in Columbus. I think AO Seattle, AO Columbus, and any real fan of our team can agree that winning is the only thing that matters. If you want to argue about camera angles, Capos, or any of that other noise; you just don't get it.
If you thought it was bad at the stadium, it was worse on TV with ESPN having a field mic so close to the speakers. The cheers sounded tinny and like only one person was singing. To their credit, they either muted or moved it for the second half. Probably after reading the deluge of complaints on Twitter. Thx, Jay!
"Ferdinand was nice, but Isabel's bitchy" "the Spaniards call me 'colon'" "i'd've thought I could get a decent curry around here" etc...
Didn't get a chance to see the post game ESPN stuff last night from the parking lot. I At halftime, I actually looked for a way to unplug the speakers but the fact that there were a fair number of security folks nearby got through my slightly drunken haze, and I decided not to go for it
Funny you say that. The OSU marching band does a fantastic anthem. Being that they're based in military tradition, I'm sure that helps. Ok, so getting all 200+ of them would be too many, but what about a small portion thereof? I'm sure their fee (if any at all) wouldn't be too much, and it's just a simple drive of under three miles. Part of what it is too is that everyone wants to sing at their own speed. The anthem, when properly played, is a bit of a faster song, but most singers want to stretch it out and add their own unique flavor, which is impossible to sing along to, unless you've heard that version before. FWIW, my surround sound system has a setting where I can put the announcers through the center speakers and the rear speakers are all crowd noise.
At one point the speaker in section 122 started beeping loudly, some kind of feedback, and some fans started climbing on it to try to unplug the cords. They got yelled at by security, and I don't know if they succeeded in their sabotage, but the noise stopped. I never noticed any chant-related sound from that speaker before or after that incident.
The atmosphere was incredible. I have never been to a US game that had such intensity and excitment and chanting from start to finish. absolutely incredible.