World Cup fever

Attending a World Cup game has certainly lived up to the hype.

The rowdiness of the Australian contingent was something to behold. Lacking a rooting interesting in the game between the Socceroos and Paraguay, I was just content to revel in rowdy atmosphere. The concourses at Levi’s San Francisco Bay Area Stadium was jammed with cheers, songs, and copious beer drinking. To be amongst the festivities alone was worth the hefty price of admission.

The Paraguayan fans were equally as vocal. The World Cup is truly sports fanaticism at its very best.

Because the game itself was certainly not all that entertaining. That’s the trap of drawing the third match of the group stage. The stakes can either be high, or non existing. Australia and Paraguay could both advance to the next round with a draw, and the two teams played to that advantage. Neither side seems to press forwards with any verve, and the few actual shots on goal were right to the goalkeeper. If this were a normal football game, I’d ask for my $500 back.

But how often can you say you’ve attended an actual World Cup match? Probably just this once, in my lifetime. I’m very happy to have ticked this box on the kick-the-bucket list.

And good on the live audience to boo the hydration break in between the halves for exactly what it is: a blatant money grab. The American broadcast partner wanted to sell more ads. In no circumstances do the best in the world need a mandatory break from the action in dry, breezy, 72 degrees °F weather. (Shoutout to our European cousins weathering a tremendous heatwave currently.)

The United States really might be the best country to host the World Cup. I’m pretty sure America has the largest diaspora of many nations. It’s that diversity that makes hosting this international event so convenient. The traveling contingent is mixed in together with a sizable group locally. Take Iran, a team with very little to no traveling supporters from the home country due to the ongoing war, was able to find their tribe in Iranian Americans living in Southern California.

That’s pretty beautiful.

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A great ole party.

Took the midnight train

San Francisco Bay Area folks: did you attend the Taylor Swift concert at Levi’s Stadium? I sure didn’t, because who can afford the thousand dollar get-in price on the secondary market? You’d have a better chance of hitting the billion dollar Mega Millions jackpot than acquiring tickets through official channels.

Nevertheless, a friend of my friend did manage to score Taylor Swift tickets, and my friend got invited to join. The logistics of getting down to Santa Clara from San Francisco is, in a word, challenging. Nobody in their right mind would drive, unless you plan to get there super early. So public transport it is. My friend rode the BART train to Milpitas, then took the local VTA light rail to the stadium. So far, so straight forward.

Leaving the stadium, however, was apparently quite the nightmare. The concert did not end until 11:40 PM (Taylor really gives your money’s worth: a three hour plus jam-packed show). VTA trains were running after hour to ferry folks to either the Milpitas BART station, or the Mountain View Caltrain station. BART was not an option for my friend, as the special late-night train did not go all the way to San Francisco. So Caltrain it is.

Unfortunately, there’s but one special train heading northbound to San Francisco. It was scheduled to depart 75 minutes after the concert ends. That proved to be hugely optimistic. Due to the sheer number of people, my friend didn’t even get to Mountain View station until 1:45 AM - two hours after the show ended. At that point, the lone train was still there, looking less than half full, awaiting more passengers before departed. Our guess is it wouldn’t depart until after 3:00 PM at the earliest.

Lucky for my friend, I was there at the station to pick her up. What the heck did people do before the invention of cellphones? The peace of mind afforded by modern communication is really appreciated in situations like this.

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A decision was made.

San Francisco will host Super Bowl L!

Just announced this morning at the NFL owner’s meeting, the NFL has selected San Francisco to host Super Bowl L in 2016 (an endcap to the 2015-2016 NFL season). The event will be held at the new Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara (home of the San Francisco 49ers). For those less inclined on roman numerals, it is the 50th Super Bowl, so it’s going to be super special (pun heavily intended.)

It also will be the first time in my lifetime that the Super Bowl will be local to me. Since attending an actual Super Bowl is on my bucket of list to do before I hit the dirt, I think this Super Bowl L will be the perfect opportunity get it checked off. I’d save on airfare and hotel accommodations because the stadium is just a mere hour worth of train ride from my house. For sure the tickets will be exorbitantly expensive but going to a Super Bowl, for me, will be a one and done, once-in-a-lifetime thing. Worth it, wouldn’t you say?

Even though it’s a little under three years away, I am already very excited and anxious for Super Bowl L, in my hometown (area). Time to save up those pennies, then!