Trip to LA

Well, this past week I decided to spend a little treasure and follow the US Men's national soccer team to California to play a friendly match against Chile. It was only a one day trip, I flew out Saturday afternoon and came back Sunday evening, so I really had to pack a lot into those couple of days to make it worthwhile.

We shall let the pictures tell the tale.

I stayed at a little Chinese/Korean run inn in Gardena, CA. All the instructions were written in both English and......some other language. I couldn't tell. But it was a nice little inn. I stayed on the third floor and the above picture is a look down from the third floor to a courtyard where one could sit and eat his or her continental breakfast. Oh yeah, speaking of which, the continental breakfast consisted of english muffins, some cereal, milk, juice.......and a rice maker?? I decided to really have the whole experience so I loaded up on rice, onions, seaweed, and some kind of sauce. It was interesting. The inn was very quiet, and I quite enjoyed the stay.

I wasn't certain what I would do in the afternoon before the game. I had about four hours to kill from the time I landed to kickoff. So I typed in some locations into the ol' GPS and let it lead me around town a little bit. I decided to hit the LA Temple, complete in my USA gear in case I had to go straight to the game. I quite enjoyed the Visitor's Center, got hit up for a referral (that seems to always happen), snapped a few pics and moved on. It was kind of ironic though, right next to the temple, in fact overlooking the temple grounds, was a massive billboard for the film "No Strings Attached." I think the gist of the film's message should be obvious to you readers. It can be related to us and no matter how hard we may be trying to live correctly, we seem to face constant reminders of messages that are against our moral beliefs.

I also liked the contradiction of the busy street that the temple was on against the orderly calm and peace of the temple grounds, not 30 feet away from the road. Kind of neat.

I got to the game rather early. Shelled out 15 bucks to park nearby, because I didn't know any better. It seemed that several people parked at the mall about a mile away and hoofed it over. Live and learn I suppose. The venue is the Home Depot Center in nearby Carson, CA. I didn't get a picture of the outside of the stadium, but it looked like a stadium.
Once a few fans got near my seat, I asked them to take a picture of me before things got really hairy. Even though we weren't in the "Supporters Section" those fans behind me that snapped this pic could have hacked it in there. Constantly yelling and getting the crowd going in our section. It was great. They had special disdain for the referee of the match, who spent the first 60 minutes trying to sink our chances of winning. His performance made me long for the performance of Koman Coulibaly. Click on his name if you need a reminder, and his wikipedia page describing his infamy will come up. Trust me, his wikipedia page is tame now compared to what was on there several hours after the USA-Slovenia match.

It would have been nice to have someone to pose with. Last time I take a trip like this alone.

After the game, I stuck around, not eager to wait in a line with 10,000 other cars. I walked around the stadium and I was in surprisingly high demand for pictures with Chilean fans. They were all pretty good sports and wanted to have a good time. Most soccer fans really don't want to cause trouble, they want to have a good time, have some good-natured fun with other supporters, and go home safely. Plus, the fact that many of these people were American citizens or had been in America for years has probably mellowed them out a little. In any case, it was my pleasure to pose for a few pictures with various groups of Chilean fans.

After the game, I met up with an old friend from my mission days. He lives in the area and decided to support Chile. He did comment that it's the only time he could ever cheer against the USA. It was also his first soccer experience and I think he enjoyed it.

I got home late, and woke up early the next morning with a surprisingly high level of energy. Unfortunately, I had a surprisingly low level of voice. I rolled out of bed, had breakfast, showered, and picked a random singles ward for church. I wanted to give myself plenty of time to drive down by Disneyland (the above picture will be recognized by astute followers as near Disneyland) and wish that I was there. I was running a little later than I thought when I got in the car and started heading south.

A few minutes into my trip, I looked at the clock and realized that my ipod had not changed time and that my alarm had woken me up an hour earlier than I thought. !@#$*&%#@ I was already checked out so I was on my own. I got to church way earlier than I planned. But it was a delightful ward (Newport Coast Ward), and my experience there was quite positive.

So after church I headed back to the airport, turned in the rental car and sat. I accomplished a few things, chatted with a few people, watched Jets fans go mental as their team fell behind big then rallied to come back. There were a few USA fans who were heading home to their various destinations. We recognized each other because I had my scarf and USA jersey on and they had other USA gear on. One guy came up to me and we talked about the game for a while. Anyway, good stuff. The flight was uneventful (I love Southwest airlines. The good natured cheer of their employees is always a pleasure), and I got home Sunday night. A fun trip, that only could have been better had there been someone else with me.

Ah yes, the result of the game. All of the USA's best players are currently in season with their club teams in Europe and did not play in this game. Likewise for Chile as well. So it was an opportunity to see young players and get a glimpse of what's coming down the pipe in a few years. The fact that these were young players showed. The game was very choppy, with certain players playing well and others playing poorly.

The USA fell down 0-1 early in the second half on a pretty wonderful piece of skill from a chilean striker. The USA then subbed in two really exciting striking prospects at about the 65th minute. The game instantly changed. Suddenly, American players were combining well and coming to life as the Chileans got tired and resorted to diving and feigning injury. This is not surprising, South American teams are known for their simulation skills, and Americans are known for their stamina and endurance. However, the referee saw through the Chileans and gave one a yellow card for diving. It was long overdue, frankly.

The American pressure ultimately paid off as Juan Agudelo from the USA was fouled in the box to earn a penalty. Teal Bunbury (a Canadian-American who chose to represent the USA) stepped up and converted the penalty. The game ended 1-1. Had there been five more minute, the Americans would have won. But it wasn't to be.

I recorded the penalty, but for some reason the sound didn't come through. Oh well. Hope you enjoy it.