My Year of Meaningful (2011)

We went to the Cork CityF.C. vs. DjurgardensI.F. game. It was a UEFA cup 2nd round- 2nd leg match so it was pretty important. Mostly because if Cork would make it through, then I THINK they would be in the same UEFA pool as S.C. Heerenveen (which is H's favorite team from back home) which means there's almost an inkling of hope that they would actually come here to play, or at least have to play Cork, somewhere, at some stage. That would be unreal! Plus, no, no irish team has ever made it into the UEFA cup! And now for the first time ever, it's those Rebel Bhoys from the People's Republic of Cork. Imagine the buzz in the Republic this week!!

Anyway Djurgardens is a Sweeeeeedish team, and like most swedish men, they're all hot. Their supporters were hot. It was all good scenery. The soccer was pretty good too. (Andy: I didn't manage to get my ass on tv, Hannes told me I had to keep my pants on. Plus, Alan from work could've seen it and oh boy the office rumor mill would've subsequently gone into overdrive god forbid.)
It was a night game, which I really love, and we rode the bikes over to old Turners'Cross Stadium so we could drink beer and enjoy ourselves in celebration.

WOO HOO!

We ate hamburgers and sang "CI-TY!" (clap, clap, clap-clap-clap, clapclapclapclap) CI-TY!"

It reminded me of when I used to live in DC, and as I was only going to be there for 6 months, I took it upon myself to purposely NOT make any friends. (I'd moved 6 times in 6 years at that stage, and had gotten well tired of constantly saying goodbye to people and being sad about leaving. So I made an agreement with myself to spend 6 months in social solitude and just get my own shit sorted out while doing my short-term job and living in the pimp pad in Georgetown.) One of the things I did SOLO was go to DC United games. I was living on an NGO non-profit intern salary, and that was one of the things I could actually afford to do in DC. So long as I sat in the cheap seats with all the mexicans and didnt get anything to eat or drink, or buy a program. Boy, fun times.

No really, it was fun. Me and the mexicans had some good times cheering fro DC United. Once some guy offered me some of his nachos. I was leery, and had kind of a woah! woah! woah! This is a friend-free zone, man-attitude going on at first, but los hombres got my back & I didnt have to worry. Back then, DC always lost though. And walking back to the underground station at the end of the night, in the dark, through east-side DC... boy, that was fun.

Anyway, Cork City FC. Yeah, the swedish supporters were seated closer to us than the Rebel Army's version of a cheer squad was, so actually, we had to listen to a lot of "Sheep Shaggin' Bastards" chants being directed our way by the swedes, but it was funny. It didnt rain, the sunset was decent, and the crowd was good n' rowdy.

What is NOT funny is when little kids about 8 years old, think they're really mature and witty, and insist upon yelling heckles at the field, trying to immitate their dads. Jeezus, 8 year old kids know NOTHING about defence or tactics or coaching or anything-- they just want to immitate the loudmouth adults who think they could be doing a better job, out on that field. It just doesnt make any SENSE when you hear a tiny little 8 year old yelling shit like "FIND DA GOAL, JOE! YA COULDNT FIND DA GOAL WIT A COMPASS N' A MAP, LIKE!!" dude probably doesnt know who Joe is, but thinks its really cool to say witty things about football. ---groan--- I probably did the same thing when I was 8 though.

Anyway, in true european football style, we didnt win, but because the final score was 0 - 0 , we made it through the qualifier and City . . . . reigns supreme.
Now for some more low-quality cellphone camera photos: