U.S. Olympic Qualifiers Nashville, TN March 20 and 23

In.

 

For those in particular coming from the New York Area.

* Note: Looking forward to a good tailgate down there. My understanding is that one of the large flags will make its way to Nashville.

We are just under a month away until Olympic Qualifying.

In early March, the US will have qualifying games in Tampa. Finishing top two in their group, the US will make the semifinals which occur in Nashville. A victory in the semifinals, will send the US to the Olympics. However, there is still work to be done. With a semifinal victory, a date with Mexico on Easter Sunday will likely be looming.

Jozy Altidore is set to be a key figure on this team. Time to roar on our favorite son to the Olympics. Also likely to appear: US National Team players Freddy Adu, Maurice Edu, Benny Feilhaber, Robbie Findley, Chris Seitz, Jonathan Spector, and Marvell Wynne.

Flights and hotel of choice are likely to be finalized within the next week. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED, please post in this thread. So, we can see what kind of numbers we are looking.

We want as strong as ESC - US group as possible to represent in Nashville. We want to be strong, need to be heard. Time to show your true colors and represent the boys and this country strong!

If you were in Montreal for the Under 20 World Cup, that is the kind of group we need in Nashville. Montreal was my favorite soccer trip thus far, an experience I'll never forget. Nashville will be just as good, if not better.

WHEN: Thursday March 20 - Monday March 24
WHERE: Nashville, Tennessee
TRANSPORTATION: Fly out Thursday morning. Return Monday morning/afternoon
HOTEL: Still being decided

You can also PM me your email address, so I can include you on future email correspondences related to this trip.

Thank you all and see you in Nashville where the best BBQ, honky tonk bars, and southern hospitality exist!

 

I'm hoping to make it up there but I'm not sure if I'll be able to due to the dates the games fall on.

 

Technically it's the CONCACAF U-23 Championship. Of course nobody really cares who wins on the weekend. It's all about the semifinals and the tickets to Beijing.

 

myself and about 5 or 6 nashville natives and friends from cincinnati will be at thursdays, and hopefully sundays games. is everyone sitting around 124, 125, 126?

i think a bar also needs to be finalized in the next few weeks as well

 

wish i could go...i'll be going to the women's olympic qualifiers ( they will be playing across the border in juarez ) but i wish i could find some cheap package to go or something. Any know where i could look?

 

im considering going down from the NYC area. i already have match tickets, just havent been able to find good deals on airfares just yet....

 

I'm with ussoccerTILLIDIE:

We both live in Knoxville and we're both bringing groups of people. We haven't met yet.
I don't really have much to add for Thursday's plans due to the face that my friends and I may be getting there just before the game starts. We WILL be bringing flags, streamers, etc... I'm still looking for a drum.

I suggested that - upon meeting him and talking to others in Sam's Army on Thursday - we could finalize Sunday's plans that evening. I'd definitely like to do some sort of tailgate, kick the ball around, etc...

I just hope this game(s) goes better than my last trip to Nashville.
I back into a car before the game.
I almost got thrown out before the game started for arguing w/ security as they told me I couldn't put my American flag on the wall in front of me.
AND, worst of all, we lost to crappy Morocco.

 

The NY contingent should be getting into town early Thursday afternoon.

Please post details of possible pre-game bar. Would be nice to have a march to the stadium. If a Thursday tailgate isn't possible (might be too rushed with people coming in, locals working), I think something can be done for Sunday.

Will be hard for us flying into Nashville to provide utensils, grill, seats, etc. We'll figure something out.

Remember, the NCAA Tournament begins that Thursday and Vanderbilt (located in Nashville) looks to be a lock to make the tournament. So, bars should be busy and lively.

Let's keep the chatter open in this thread. Locals - Post any ideas you may have.

I'm curious to see how many #s we have in total. Hopefully, we can have a nice 75-100 person section.

 

Doubtful. Would be nice, but just sayin. The NY contingent will have a dozen or so. Wonder what other MLS cities will be representin'

Boston?
DC?
Chicago?
Kansas City?
Columbus?
Dallas?
Houston?

Sound off if you're going.

 

i suppose since i'm from nashville, i'll post about some of the nearby bars that people would be interested in. there's bars all up and down broadway, but they're mostly piano bars or honky tonks which are extremely small and probably not too keen on soccer. here's some on 2nd, 8th, and east nashville. i suppose everyone should take some kind of vote, and then decide on which everyone would like more and would be easier.

2ND AVENUE BARS
2nd avenue has bigger bars, 2 of which are irish, and is a 5 minute walk to the stadium. one of the busiest streets in nashville alongside broadway.

McFaddens
cool atmosphere for the most part, a little more mainstream irish bar
http://www.mcfaddensnashville.com/index.php

Mulligans
one of the older irish bars in town, a little more true to the history. however, i don't know how keen they'd be on a huge rowdy bunch...espicially if it's around a 100 people since it's smaller.
http://www.mulliganspubandrestaurant.com/main.htm

Buffalo Billiards
probably one of the biggest downtown bar with at least 10 or more pool tables and a full wrap around bar, some awesome staff as well. thursdays have $2 select drafts til 12, $5 bombs til 10, $2 pbr 16 oz til 12, free pool til 7pm. sunday is free pool til close and $2 drafts til close.
http://www.buffalobilliards.com/nashville/

EAST NASHVILLE BARS
the five points bars are about a mile from the stadium, and easily the best bars in nashville. great deals on tuesday, wednesday, and sundays 2 for 1. awesome music, staff, and people. usually pretty knowledgable about soccer as well. only downside is that they're smaller.

3 crow bar
http://www.3crowbar.com/

red door east
they have a website, but it's nothing special. 2 for 1 on sunday til 11pm.

 

As an aside, while Vandy is indeed in Nashville, unless you are out West End or in Hillsboro Village (either side of Vanderbilt), UT fans will out number Vanderbilt fans by many times. Only people who went to Vandy or presently go there are really fans of the 'Dores. Tennessee, however, is a bigger school with many more alumni and a huge fan base even among folks who never attended school in Knoxville... and they're fourth in the country.

Upshot of this: except right near Vandy, you'll see far more orange than black and gold.

Incidentally the Predators and Red Wings play on that Thursday. It'll be batshit crazy downtown with everything that's going on.

 

We will bring a tom drum that is perfect for soccer matches. I didn't bring it to USA-Mexico because I would have had to check it for the flight. If you bring a drum, I suggest a snare to compliment ours.

Looks like this trip will be a good time. BTW, I've found an Econo Lodge very close to the stadium that has some good rates for those looking to penny-pinch like myself.

 

Well, you have one guy from Minnesota who's in. I'm looking at Thur & (I expect) Sun with a side trip in between.

Where are the SA fans standing? Someone mentioned Sect 124, 125 & 126. Given that it doesn't sound like we have a huge group, which is it?

Any pre-match bar on Thur/Sun?

Should be good.

Donovan

 

i am goin down with ussoccertilidie from st. louis. there will be at least 5 of us and possibly a group close to ten comin also. we will all be in the sams army section.

i think we need to figure out some tailgating arrangements pretty soon.

what about a pickup game saturday afternoon?

what kind of rates have you guys seen on hotels?

just some things to think about... tell me what ya think

 

FWIW the best deal anywhere near downtown (that's not in the sketchy parts of east Nashville) is the Days Inn West End/Vanderbilt, about a mile south of downtown just after West End Avenue splits off from Broadway.

Even with a car you'll probably want to be downtown or along West End toward Vanderbilt. Music Row is okay too as long as you're near the roundabout. Outside of that you would have to navigate Nashville's incredibly confusing road network to do anything, and it's one of the worst I've seen (and I lived in Boston). Stay away from Trinity Lane/Dickerson Pike, frightening neighborhood with lots of hotel break-ins and carjackings.

 

A couple of college friends and I would love to make these games our spring break road trip, that being said I have a couple of questions that hopefully can maximize the fun-ness of our little adventure....

What section should we buy tickets in?

What hotel (if there is one) is going to have the largest and/or rowdiest American Contingent?

Where and when are there going to be any meet-ups? (pregaming/tailgating, knock arounds, and the such)

I understand if things haven't been figured out as of yet, but i guess my thought is that the sooner things of these nature are figured out the better...

 

Some folks who have posted here are finalizing hotel plans and could speak to that question.

There are a couple other Nashville folks who helped put things together for the Morocco friendly. PM me. We should try to get something together to be good hosts. Hate to say it, but there's not a lot going on that week, except the league fixtures on the weekend-- maybe watching Newcastle vs Fulham at Dan McGuiness Saturday at 10am, assuming it's on TV?

 

As the possibility of our midwestern college contingent (guys from iowa/illinois/wisconsin) becomes closer and closer to being a reality I have a couple of more questions to get sorted out.

With all the talk about events in bars either per-game, post-game or on off days, I was wondering what the age of entry into bars is and also the general strictness of the fine drinking establishments in Nashville. The majority of our guys are under 21 and we're wondering how much of a problem this will pose.

Also is there a specific trick to getting the ticketmaster to spit out tickets in section 125? After multiple tries of narrowing down to the right section the closest we can get is 124. Do I suck, is the section sold out, or is it a combination of both?

also props to JayDelight729 for being incredibly helpful thus far.....thanks man

 

Sent you a message with the code needed to get into the section. You should have no problems.

 

Thanks for bringing that up.

The Tennessee legislature has made a mess of under 21 access to bars, but we'll see what we can do.

First, every place that serves liquor in TN has to serve food, i.e., be a restaurant (beer only bars are an exception). So every bar is in a sense a restaurant. And then, with the smoking ban, restaurants had a choice: allow smoking and ban patrons under 21, or ban smoking and allow patrons under 21.

So there are some places that will allow you and your friends in without worrying over IDs. They would ask at the bar for an ID, in all likelihood, but for hanging out, it's no problem. I think that should be taken into strong consideration in picking a place for a meet-up. Most, but not all, of the bars on 2nd Avenue downtown allow underage patrons. The honkytonks on Lower Broadway typically don't, but then again, sometimes they don't bother checking ID.