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