Futbol

Many times before, I have written about Munchkin's obsession with various sports, her sharing of this obsession with Smoking Hot Roommate, and their specific love of The Chelsea Football Club. I have also mentioned that, on occasion, there are really big games on weekday afternoons, and that they sometimes skip out of work/school to watch them. Yesterday was one of those days...

The difference is that this time, at the encouraging of So Midwestern, I decided to join them. Who doesn't love hanging out in sports bars in the afternoon? Coming off of a really productive morning, it seemed like a nice way to spend the afternoon. Little did I know that I was in for The Greatest Game Ever.

Unfortunately, someone else will have to explain why, because I don't really know:-)

Here were my thoughts:

1) There sure were a lot of people watching the game, given that it started at 2:30 on a Tuesday.
2) Very few of those people appeared to be American-born.
3) Even fewer were girls. No wonder that the troublesome twosome is so popular:-)
4) Everyone seems to own a scarf of the team they like best.
5) The rules are incredibly complex! Barcelona was winning 2-0 (also? The cool kids just call them "Barsa"). Then Chelsea scored a goal, which I thought meant that they were losing 2-1.

But no, it actually meant that they were tied. Turns out they had already played one game, and you figure out the winner by putting the scores together. Since Chelsea won that game 1-0, they were now tied 2-2.

Only they weren't because Chelsea's goals counted more, so in fact they were winning 2-2. My first guess had to do with the Pound/Euro exchange rate, but I guess that wasn't the reason...

Confused? Well, you can easily get past the confusion by drinking too much and singing...that seemed to work for everyone in attendance.

After some more seemingly gripping action (my view? nothing happened for a very long time) Chelsea scored a goal at the very end to tie the game 2-2 and win the overall game 3-2. Half of the crowd erupted into spontaneous hugging and shouting, while half fell into a very subdued (and largely Spanish-spoken) despair. I was just glad to see that my impressionable and under-aged sister stayed quietly by the side and out of the ruckus:-)

So, that was my afternoon as a soccer fan. Honestly, it was really fun...you should all try it the next time there is The Biggest Game Ever!!!