Tell me what you normally do to get ready for a game at Spartan stadium, what is your "routine" to get ready for the game?
I drink a six pack of beer in the parking lot and smoke about half a pack of cigarettes. After that I'm pretty much ready for anything -
See? There you go, that is one way to get started. We come from the valley, so it's about an hour and half drive over, give or take. If early enough we get to mill around a bit. Then we find our seats, settle in and get ready for the game. Always the highlight.
I have to make sure I have my diamond soccer ball necklace. I have to make sure I wear the Lucky perfume (that's the name of it and it's never been on me at a losing game). "Let's see.... Which Nikes do I wear this time?" (this usually takes a few minutes to decide ). I used to get to the games at like 2pm. But now I'm on a streak.... So I have to make sure my mom knows she has to drive me to the game. And we can't get there until just before they open the gates. "No! Mom! You can't go a different way. Just go the same way we've been going." "Yes, drop me off in the same place you've been dropping me off." Left on Alma, left on 7th, drop me off on the right there just after the turn. "Can't I just drop you off here?" "NOOO!! Don't mess with the voodoo!" No more tailgates for me. So I have to enter through the west gates. They've moved up the warm up times. So now I have to book it to the north end to be there when the players go on the field. Usually by this time I have to make a stop on the way! How dare they give me less time to get to the north end. Yeah, okay, I think I covered everything. Though I could easily be forgetting something. But, seriously, if I miss any of these steps, I freak out. I've already given it to them for moving up the warmup time by 5 minutes and thus giving me less time to get to where I need to be....
Sometimes I quaff a libation or two before a game, but usually I quaff one during a game. GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
We walk our dogs early in the day... go do errands... watch any of the Eastern conference games on TV... at around 3PM we follow the check list: Camera... check. Sun Glasses... check Sun Protector... check TICKETS... check Quakes T-Shirt.... check Check web site for any last minute news... check Get some cash.... check Program the recording (to watch the game on Sunday)... check Drive to the stadium. Radio is on. Queen in the backend... Park... watch the warm up... go for the third beer... quick stop to pee... make some predictions... say hello to the fans close to us... identify "rockies" fans... (this is easy)... go for a churro... quick stop to pee (if you wain until half time then you are in line for 10 min). Get the last beer... enjoy the game... ask why Nash doesn't play more time... last churro... back to home: If we win, we talk all the way back... when we tie... then the drive is in absolute silence... don't ask me when we loose...
Roll up to the parking lot...swing my parking pass from my rear view mirror so the parking attendant gets dizzy trying to read it...put on the kukui nut lei (since they won't let me fly the Hawaiian flag anymore)...stop for locker room gibberish...complain to the yellow-jacket at the bottom of the press box stairs that the elevator still isn't installed...see if I can fill in the Quakes lineup on my scorecard before the "official" lineup sheet reaches the press box...you know the rest...
put on my Quakes jersey and hold my scarf.. bubble wrap anything valuable in my room that could be damaged from thowing remotes thanks to bad calls
Usually leave the house at about 4:45. Stop off at this place called Dakao (sp.) in downtown San Jose on San Salvador and get me some Vietnamese sandwiches and eggrolls. Cheap and good !!! Make a right on 7th St. and park on 7th. Walk two blocks to Spartan. In the stadium by 6:00. Head up to the souvenir stand to see if anything new and cool has come out. Then head over to my seat and watch the players warm up. Wait for Spartacus to play "California Love" because that's when I know I'm ready for the game to begin. Talk to all of the "regulars" who sit in the same section I do. Damn, July 23rd seems like its years away !!!!
Pack the designated kid in the car (only one of the two can go now since I have just two tickets and the youngest one does not look 2 anymore). Park at Southern Lumber, march to the stadium, collecting at least one "large" Sycamore tree leaf from the trees along Alma, to arrive at seat 18 in section 112 row 34 just as the anthem finishes. The kids are 6 and 4 so unless there is more than one goal, the game is no fun for them because they do not get to collect confetti. My son seems to like going over to the north gate to see the players come down at half time. He's been handed a ball by Ching (signed ) and I've heard Sissy Boy handed him one in 2003 when a friend brought him over over there but it was not signed (the friend was a newbie and wouldn't know Landon from a MacDonalds employee and I never got a straight answer from my son ). This is pretty depressing compared to '96 when my wife and I sat in row 8 of sec 112 and would get to the games at 6:00 to watch warm-ups. 10 years and two kids later, she comes to 'big' games and always seems to have something going on so it is a mad scramble just for me to get one kid out the door in time to see the kick off.
I don't play the music. I just talk. Unless it's Hawaiian Night, then I can make a solid contribution.
Throw the BBQ, ice chest and chairs into the back of the truck. Make sure soccer balls have been loaded. Make sure the 3 kids are wearing some sort of Quakes gear. Wife and I don our Quakes Jerseys. Head out at around 4:00PM to pick up kid's friends. Go back to the house to get tri-tip (forgot it AGAIN!). Show up to East parking lot at around 4:45 for tailgate, soccer celebration, vist with friends, kick the ball around. Enter Spartan at around 6:45 and start gettin' all tingly! PLAY BALL!!!
I drive 3-4 hours and get to the Bay Area about 12:00. I stop by TGI-Sushi in Campbell and eat about 25/30 dollars worth of sushi and wash it down with two "Asahi Super Dry" beers. I pick up a San Jose Mercury, at the store next door, for the sports section and then I drive to Sunnyvale to pick up some Indian food for the next day. I then drive to Spartan and wait for the parking chimps to open the gates so I can pay the blood money to park. I then drink some beers at the Club Quake tailgate and hang out with the drunken hooligans until 6:00 or so then I go in and hang out until the game starts. Depending on if it's a win or loss I either have a great drive home or a really foul one.
It started on the 18th. I wasn't feeling well. So rather than show up early I decided to relax. And I had my mom drive me cuz I was just so tired. I showed up just in time to find someone to drop something off. Then went inside. What was the outcome of that game? The game on the 25th I wanted to avoid all the Donovan crap. So I showed up late (again mom drove, this time so I didn't have to pay the $10 to park) and went in the other side of the stadium. Remember the outcome of that game. Then on the 29th, I figured I was on a streak. So I repeated the whole thing again (have mom drive me, go the same route, no tailgate, enter on the other side). And the outcome was.... So I'm not allowed at the tailgates anymore....
9 AM, head out to the supermarket for tailgate shopping. 10 AM, load the car. Wife prepares the tailgate food. Wife goes out shopping, I hang out and watch soccer on TV. 2 PM, start harassing the wife that it's time to go. 2:30, leave the house. 3 PM, arrive at Spartan, park in 10th Street lot, set up grill. First beer gets cracked. From that point until 6:30 or so, it's kind of a blur -- some food gets cooked and eaten, some more beers get drunk, we hang out at the tailgate. 6:30 or so, pack up the car and head into the stadium. Pee, buy water, if insufficient food was eaten at the tailgate, buy garlic fries or fish & chips. Make our way to section 112, wave to Johnny Moore across the aisle in 111, say hi to Jay and Brad in the seats next to ours, settle down and watch the game.
Call a bunch of lazy loafers to get their sorry asses to the game; hear lots of lame excuses why they can't; figure "Screw them, I'm going anyway"; rationalize "It's easier to fit just one person in the Casbah, and NO, I'm NOT going to another section where we can sit down!!!"; obtain sixpack of quality beer and 12pack of crap, as it is cheap, refreshing, and can't taste it after enough quality beers and/or Jaeger shots; veg out in hot tub imagining quality futbol; VTA Eco-Pass Rules!!!...get banjo, E-Quake duds, and hit the 25 bus - no DUI!!; stagger/stammer about in foggy haze toward ClubQuake or vicinity looking for BeerKing, party, play BLUEgrass (get it Quakes fans?) music of steadily deteriorating quality for all tailgaiters and late arrivals; enter stadium as puzzled yellowjackets wonder who this freak is and wtf is up with the instrument ("No, don't worry yourselves, it's not going into the Casbah. Just throw it back there in the corner over there"); soccer, beer, yelling, beer, weird songs, beer, jumping up and down, beer...GOOOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!
The routine begins by calling roommate and telling him he is still welcomed to come to the games (he can't handle the uncertainty and has quit believing) its worked 3 times this year. Call my boy in San Jose and set up estimated arrival time. Pack an overnight bag (including soccer gear) if i do stay overnight i'll inevitably play on my friends Sun. team. Begin trek from Sacramento to San Jose. Driving time will vary on route of choice and necessary pit stops. Marvel at how much at home I feel everytime I return to SJ. Arrive 2 hours before kick off. Pick up a 12-pack of Coronas at the Albertson's on Santa Clara, arrive at friends place. Consume as many Coronas as time allows, over to "Victorias" for a torta and vent about the Dom's inabilities(whatever we might feel at the time, mostly subbing). Plot the demise of Q. Game time.....make sure the America T-shirt is safely tucked away under the Quakes Jersey....i wear a Quakes t-shirt under the America jersey...grab a couple of beers, sit down enjoy the beatdown the Quakes give to whoever comes into town.
Oh, if only I could win enough so I could simply buy the team myself... GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G