it's a first, except that i can't actually say i 'caught' the bouquet. i was in the front line of a bunch of girls and put my hand up when the bouquet was thrown. i thought it tipped my fingertips as it went over my head but then it came back over in front of me. i'm guessing someone behind me grabbed for it and instead of catching it knocked it backwards. when it came back over it landed on the floor right in front of me. for a split second i waited thinking someone was going to dive for it. no one did so i bent over and picked it up. it's absolutely beautiful.
hm...
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Saturday, July 07, 2007
woo hoo!!! we won!!!
i have a costa rican flag painted on my face, a sticker on my arm, i'm wearing a very large flag that hangs down to the ground, screaming my lungs out as we score the winning goal and the game ends!
and i'm how old???
today costa rica played scotland in the world cup u20. the scotland fans outnumbered the tico fans i'm sure. they were certainly more vocal, not at all like the tico fans are in costa rica. i was yelling some futbol phrases in spanish but no one else was joining in.
it was a wonderfully exciting game with split second second goal in additional time followed by the whistle ending the game.
after the other games i headed straight to my truck to get going before all the crowds. tonight i hung around with a bunch of other tico fans to get pictures of the team.
walking around with my painted face and costa rica jersey it was cool speaking in spanish to other fans. and translating for fans who didn't speak english. and alexandre guimaraes, who used to be the tico men's coach and is now panama's coach, was in the stands & as i was looking for other tico fans i saw him and we smiled at each other.
it was so worth every penny!
and i'm how old???
today costa rica played scotland in the world cup u20. the scotland fans outnumbered the tico fans i'm sure. they were certainly more vocal, not at all like the tico fans are in costa rica. i was yelling some futbol phrases in spanish but no one else was joining in.
it was a wonderfully exciting game with split second second goal in additional time followed by the whistle ending the game.
after the other games i headed straight to my truck to get going before all the crowds. tonight i hung around with a bunch of other tico fans to get pictures of the team.
walking around with my painted face and costa rica jersey it was cool speaking in spanish to other fans. and translating for fans who didn't speak english. and alexandre guimaraes, who used to be the tico men's coach and is now panama's coach, was in the stands & as i was looking for other tico fans i saw him and we smiled at each other.
it was so worth every penny!
Friday, July 06, 2007
soccer tryouts
i don't normally watch reality tv shows but i have been following one where 22 teenage mexican boys have been chosen out of 300,000 to go to a training camp to hone their skills. any number of boys are eliminated weekly and the winner will have the opportunity to play with man u, the english premiership's champion this year. what an amazing opportunity for these kids that were chosen from all over mexico. it is exciting to watch them practising and learning new skills. today they were told that 2 boys would be going home but at the end the judges said they were all so close that no one would be going home today. they were all so very happy. i look forward to seeing the winner play in the english league.
a couple of years ago real madrid was in costa rica and was having a training school for young players. i asked dany if he wanted to try out for their school. he was a very good soccer player but could not imagine having to leave costa rica to play in europe. besides his favourite team was barcelona. i wonder how things might have turned out.
a couple of years ago real madrid was in costa rica and was having a training school for young players. i asked dany if he wanted to try out for their school. he was a very good soccer player but could not imagine having to leave costa rica to play in europe. besides his favourite team was barcelona. i wonder how things might have turned out.
Thursday, July 05, 2007
world cup u20
it has been so cool to go to the world cup u20 in burnaby. the weather has been beautiful and it has been sold out each day. the teams i've seen are from zambia, spain, uruguay and jordan. the most vocal fans have been supporting zambia and uruguay. the most entertaining have been the zambian fans with their songs and their drums. there are several uruguayan fans around me and one fellow has a very passionate running commentary (in spanish of course which so reminds me of going to games in costa rica).
last sunday i talked to the zambian team manager (?) & told him i support a boy in zambia and asked if i could get a team picture. i took a few pix while they sat in the stands after their game but wanted a picture of them in their uniform. he told me to come back yesterday. knowing how excited the boys in costa rica get about their futbol team i thought boyd (my boy in zambia) would be equally excited to get a picture of his national team. last night when i went to see the team they weren't there, then they were warming up, then it was late and i wanted to get out of town and avoid all the traffic. they play again saturday in the first game so i'm going to try again.
the second game saturday is costa rica vs scotland. i will be there with my red jersey and my white jersey so i can switch depending on which jersey the team is wearing, my jacket and my hat and my 2 1/2' x 5' flag.
not being the most popular sport in north america people are surprised at the attendance records. but if you consider the cultural diversity in canada and that fact the futbol is the most popular sport in every other country in the world i don't know why they are so surprised. swangard is sold out and people still line up at the gates hoping to be able to buy a ticket. people at every entrance asking if anyone has tickets to sell.
i do have one complaint though. you can buy tickets that specify a non-alcoholic section which is what i did. it didn't mean squat. every person around me had 1 or 2 beer at a time. i heard the woman behind me say she had spilled her beer on herself. have you ever been to a sporting event where when someone scores the fans jump to their feet...
no i have another complaint. you could not take food or drink into the stadium. they were throwing out every food / drink item that you had as they searched your bags/purses as you walked through the gate. then you had to pay $3 for a bottle of water and stand in line forever to buy food. to buy a game ball - $180. not too many people are buying game balls.
so they enforce one rule to make money and don't enforce another rule to make money. so i go full and pray that no one spills beer on me.
i can't wait for saturday.
last sunday i talked to the zambian team manager (?) & told him i support a boy in zambia and asked if i could get a team picture. i took a few pix while they sat in the stands after their game but wanted a picture of them in their uniform. he told me to come back yesterday. knowing how excited the boys in costa rica get about their futbol team i thought boyd (my boy in zambia) would be equally excited to get a picture of his national team. last night when i went to see the team they weren't there, then they were warming up, then it was late and i wanted to get out of town and avoid all the traffic. they play again saturday in the first game so i'm going to try again.
the second game saturday is costa rica vs scotland. i will be there with my red jersey and my white jersey so i can switch depending on which jersey the team is wearing, my jacket and my hat and my 2 1/2' x 5' flag.
not being the most popular sport in north america people are surprised at the attendance records. but if you consider the cultural diversity in canada and that fact the futbol is the most popular sport in every other country in the world i don't know why they are so surprised. swangard is sold out and people still line up at the gates hoping to be able to buy a ticket. people at every entrance asking if anyone has tickets to sell.
i do have one complaint though. you can buy tickets that specify a non-alcoholic section which is what i did. it didn't mean squat. every person around me had 1 or 2 beer at a time. i heard the woman behind me say she had spilled her beer on herself. have you ever been to a sporting event where when someone scores the fans jump to their feet...
no i have another complaint. you could not take food or drink into the stadium. they were throwing out every food / drink item that you had as they searched your bags/purses as you walked through the gate. then you had to pay $3 for a bottle of water and stand in line forever to buy food. to buy a game ball - $180. not too many people are buying game balls.
so they enforce one rule to make money and don't enforce another rule to make money. so i go full and pray that no one spills beer on me.
i can't wait for saturday.
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