3rd time is the charm

Well last night was the third time that I either was at RFK or had left for RFK to see United take on Houston. Since my blog has been on a huge summer vacation here is a little recap:

First try: June 4 - After 15 minutes of 0-0 game action the ref decides that the Biblical type weather in the District is enough to at least stop the game momentarily. After 90 great rain delayed minutes we are told, "Sorry folks the show is over. See ya next time". The rain delay story is best told separately.

Second try: July 22 - I am on my way to get the keg when Oscar calls me and says not to buy anything yet. "Give me 20 minutes to call you back," he says. So on a bright, sunny day in the world's most important city, we can't play soccer because somebody forgot to pay the electric bill. See you guys tomorrow!

Third and final try: July 23/July 24 - Well I'm not sure if we got it right. I mean United looked terrible in a 2-0 home loss - snapping their 6 game unbeaten streak - but that's not even the half of it. We made it 53 minutes w/o any problems. Good tailgate. Great weather. And then the skies opened. Next thing you know its pitch black at RFK. Again. This is all happening at around 830ish. Yeah the next time we see soccer it is 1145 and there are about 200 people left in the stadium.

I, of course, stayed.

I mean what was I going to do? Go home and watch some Georgetown game from the mid 90's in a lame attempt to forget how freaking old I am??? Yeah not tonight boys. Tonight I was hanging out at RFK into the early morning hours to catch some of the worst soccer of my life.

So let's dig deeper for the positives:

1. I found the team store. I spent 100 bucks. Not bad considering the fact that I could have easily dropped 1000 bucks w/o flinching.

2. I still have a phone. My phone died a horrible death at the first United - Houston match. Something about texting in a downpour. Hey Verizon why don't you plan for such events. Idiots.

3. Mike Terry. I made the big mistake of saying that I could give him a ride back to the metro. What started out as a nightmare ended with a good highlight. This guy slides through my back window onto the bed of my truck in order to secure a gatorade from my cooler. It was really awesome to watch as the driver.

4. We cleaned the Pod. The state of conditions inside the Barra Brava pod at the beginning of the tailgate were really bleak. An hour later and it was spotless thanks mostly to Connie. That guy is a relentless worker. It's like he had the whole thing planned since the time he got up.

You know what's annoying? When people go out of town. OMG it's been forever!

You know what else is annoying? When the following people fake on a mid week United game: Baker, Yvonne, Sam, Bobby.

You know what's awesome. When people go out of town but have the presence of mind to send you 6 boxes of Banana Crunch. Silly!