Oh Soccer, Where Art Thou...

San Antonio Scorpions v. Carolina RailHawks

Ladies and gentlemen, it is day two of my courtship with soccer...

So... day two. This is what it feels like.

Okay, so I haven't really explained why soccer, why now, after so many years of being opposed to it. There is a reason this has never caught on with me, and it mostly starts with the fact that I've never actually been to a live game.

Though I listed baseball as one of my areas of interest in the sporting world, I will say that baseball has never truly been a, 'make or break,' 'get home as fast as you can,' 'holy hell, the world's going to end if he doesn't hit this ball,' type of thing.

In fact, if baseball is on television, I'll skip it entirely (unless it's playoffs time, world series, you know, the big games).

But what makes baseball truly fun is being at the ballpark. Especially during the summer. With a few beers in me (okay, at this point, you're probably thinking, 'jeeze, are you an alcoholic?' My answer of course would be, "well, I teach, so what teacher isn't an alcoholic?" It's kinda the truth, and if a smile developed on your face, I know you're realizing I'm right...).

Really though, besides the beer and summertime entertainment, the look of the ballpark, the finely cut grass and the fans make it all worth while. 

Which is why I'll never turn down a baseball game.

So back to soccer. 

I tried watching it on the tube. I gave it numerous tries- the Olympics, the World Cup, the Mexican Primera Division-- but even though the announcer yelled, "GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAALLLLL" for about 20 minutes straight (God-bless you, announcer, whoever you are), it still wasn't enough to pull me in. 

So here's where I had my answer from the soccer gods. 

I was visiting San Antonio, Texas over the summer, and the local soccer team had a great deal for soccer and fireworks. 

The San Antonio Scorpions were offering four tickets, four hot dogs, four sodas and four bags of chips plus a fireworks show after, all for $65.

My thoughts were, "Why the hell not?" 

And at this point, you gotta understand that there really was nothing better to do, so I took my father-in-law, and a buddy of mine to go check it out.

The Scorpions play at Toyota Field, which is right near Heroes Stadium, where the local high-school football teams play. 

It's freshly built, meaning it was completed in April 2013. It has 8,000 seats for soccer, and has all the beams in place to become a much bigger stadium if need be. 

Well, after a few minutes of looking at Toyota Field from the inside, and then viewing the pitch (it's what the call the field, which sounds kinda cool, I must admit) it will definitely need to be expanded soon. 

First off, the team is really good. San Antonio defeated the Carolina RailHawks 2-0, and the crowd went absolutely nuts when the Scorpions scored the first goal.

Secondly, there were pretty damn close to 8,000 strong on hand, and they weren't just there to watch fireworks. 

Thirdly, our seats were absolutely killer, and we were extremely close to the most interesting fans in the world, who brought drums, and played the entire game. 

So needless to say, within a few minutes of the opening kick, I became a fan. 

And not just a casual one, but more like one who decided to drop $100 on apparel, and totally wanted to come to the second game before we left back to Tucson. 

Now I know I've had numerous opportunities to go see FC Tucson way before this, but... well, it's just one of those things (when in Rome, or San Antonio...).

Alright, now that you know where the soccer bug bit me, so my next few posts will be about picking teams from the best league in the world, the Premier League (I know someone will argue with me about that one (well, I'm hoping someone will) but again, it's the only league NBC is currently showing).

There will definitely be more insight as to how I shaped my own soccer experience (you know EA Sports will have SOMETHING to do with it...) but for now, my first live game will have to do. 

-JB

Welcome to La Liga...

I've given in.I'm a huge sports fan. Basketball, football, hockey. Even a little baseball on occasion.
I watch pro, college, Double-A, Triple-A, you name it. If it's on, I'll watch it.But I've always steered clear of the world's game, the "Beautiful Game."
Why?
Because it's boring.
There's no action.
THE GAMES END IN TIES!
(Not the kind you wear, mind you...)
The game is extremely un-American.
There's hardly any contact (and please, don't tell me that a slide kick or inadvertent tackle is contact...), all these guys do is run, and, hell they kick the ball backward. I mean, really? Who goes backwards to go forwards?
So I've held out.
The only cups I've cared about were those that I wore (jeeze, that's super gross and you don't even know me... ughhh.)
Okay not to be so damn cynical, but really, the Stanley Cup is pretty much the only cup that's been in my life thus far.
So how did I get to this point?
Very randomly.
Now I've always kept a tab on anything dealing with USA sports, so I have watched the national team play in a few games, or just watched the highlights.
But one day, after a few libations, I told a buddy of mine (and again, I was feeling pretty good...) "hey, we should watch a soccer game some time."
Of course, at that point, the beers were doing most of the talking, but he held me to it.
My first official game I watched was the UEFA Champions League (Union of European Football Associations, for those of you who are in the same boat as I am), featuring Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid... which was more like Dortumund's spankin' of Team Messi.
And, though I never paid much attention to anything that soccer had to offer, it was pretty interesting to watch.
I enjoyed the game, the passion of the fans, and the effort that Dortmund put in (which I thought was a HUGE upset, come to find out that that was one of the best German teams against the best Spanish teams, so really it was like Duke playing North Carolina in basketball).
And fortunately, or unfortunately as my fiance believes (yet another sport to watch?!), I liked the game enough to watch the next couple matches in the championship.
So now I'm kinda hooked.
But I've still got issues with the world's game, which you'll all read or hear about, but I'm giving peace a chance here.
I'm going to pay attention to soccer this season. NBC will help me to pay attention to soccer this season. Some of my friends will help me to check this out as well.
I'm not just going to watch all the games on television- while this is Tucson, Ariz., there are things to do here. And soccer teams from MLS and Mexico routinely stop by, so plan on me live-blogging from there.
Also, FC Tucson is big in town, and while they are currently on the, "fourth tier of competiton," according to Wikipedia, they've got some rabid fans (I've seen them at a few bars in town... are you starting to sense a patter here?). Also, the University of Arizona has a women's team in town, so you can bet I'll drop by for a few matches.
Now I'm not giving up all my other favorite sports. Lord knows Arizona Basketball rules my life, and I just bought new season tickets for Arizona Football, so my Saturday nights will be booked.
But on the days where I'm not watching the big three (see above if you forgot...), I'm going to be commenting on soccer.
I'm ready to jump head-first into this wonderful game played round the world, and I'm hoping you'll jump in as well, with some comments, questions, concerns, and overall thoughts of my journey to soccer fandom.

Here's to futbol!

-JB