World Cup
The Maundy Monday Newsletter - This Week in History June 29 - July 5.
Twenty years ago, a group of about 15 friends descended into Germany to attend the 2006 World Cup. It was the year we all turned 30, so what better way to ring in the post-20s decade than a week-long trip of soccer, beer, and street food. We were fortunate to secure tickets to two matches, including one game featuring the United States.
It was a fun trip – if you took away the results of the soccer we watched in person. The Czech Republic (now Czechia) ripped the Yanks 3-0 in the opener. When you’ve waited your entire life to watch a World Cup match — I didn’t manage to attend one when the US hosted in 1994 — only to see your team get boat-raced, it’s a bit of a downer.
The other game we took in was Ukraine versus Spain. It was Ukraine’s first-ever World Cup appearance, and they were welcomed with a 4-0 drubbing at the hands of the Spaniards. The best part of the match was sitting with the Ukrainians, who didn’t appear to be too upset by the loss, which was a positive way of looking at it, since they would end up advancing to the knockout round, something that the United States couldn’t say.
Fast forward 20 years, and two buddies of mine made the trip out west to Seattle to take in the latest edition of the World Cup, and do it celebrating our 50th birthdays. The twist to this trip was – we brought our wives!
We took in two matches. First up – Bosnia Herzegovina versus Qatar, the country that hosted the last tournament, and somehow managed to qualify for this tournament – probably because the field was expanded from 32 to 48 teams.
It was an exciting game, and I can’t stress this enough – even if you don’t like soccer, make it a point to attend a World Cup match – it beats anything you can experience in American sports.
It was Anonymous’s first World Cup match. Check out the atmosphere of the pre-game:
We were treated to an absolutely fantastic match – lots of goals and Bosnia ended up winning 3-1. It was tough to beat that experience.
And yet, the next game did just that.
On Friday, we took in the final-stage match between Egypt and Iran. Little did we know when the pairings were set that we would be in the middle of a bombing campaign against one of the participants, but never mind that – because the Iranians showed up for this game.
First off, when you walk to the stadium, you are met with protesters of the current Iranian regime. They fence off people who have tickets to the matches from the herds of people who don’t, but those folks made sure you walked under a lining of pre-revolutionary Iranian flags, while people shouted at you about supporting them. I think that’s what they were shouting; I couldn’t tell. It was a surreal experience.
The game itself was brilliant. If you’ve heard anything about this game, it was the controversial ending, when it appeared that Iran took the lead in stoppage time, only to have it overturned due to an offside call.
But when Iran scored, it felt like the entire stadium erupted. Then when it was overturned, half the stadium erupted.
We took in lots of soccer, drank our fair share of beer, and left the street food alone. Great trip!
We flew back home yesterday – just in time to be in the middle of the 250th birthday celebrations – a state fair that was supposed to feature all 50 states, but, of course, will only feature a select few since the feds passed the cost of putting up a display down to the states and a bunch of them dropped out. The entire thing has turned out to be a disaster, and it will run all week, concluding this Saturday with fireworks on the Mall that begin at 10:30 p.m. for some silly reason.
Okay, so for this week we are going to look at past Independence Day celebrations and how those turned out compared to the one we have this week:
1. The Centennial Celebration – July 4, 1876. The World Fair came to America for the first time, and the big celebration of the United States’ 100th birthday party took place where it all began – in Philadelphia. The fair began in May, ran through November, and featured groundbreaking inventions like the telephone and typewriter. President Ulysses S. Grant gave a famously dull speech at the May opening, then skipped the July 4 ceremony entirely. During the event, Susan B. Anthony and other suffragists walked onto the stage and handed the president pro tempore of the Senate (we didn’t have a VP at the time) a Declaration of Women’s Rights.
2. The Sesquicentennial Celebration – July 4, 1926. The return to Philadelphia and an even longer celebration took place – along with rain. It rained all the time – like months of rain. President Calvin Coolidge did give a speech, but attendance was so low they allowed the KKK to parade through – just to boost attendance. 150-year celebration, and it rained so bad they needed the Klan to come to town.
3. The Bicentennial Celebration – July 4, 1976. President Gerald Ford spent the day flying up and down the East Coast – hitting all the important American Revolutionary places – like Valley Forge and Independence Hall. The big announcement was that the country would officially recognize George Washington as the highest-ranking army officer in history – no one would ever be considered above him. Apparently we never made this official, and General Pershing held the title. Just random things about history that make no sense.
Of course we cannot forget the 4th of July back in 1826 – when the country lost not one, but two presidents that day. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both passed away on this day, mere hours apart. First, Jefferson, at his home in Monticello, Virginia. He was 83. Then John Adams, who passed at his home in Quincy, Massachusetts, at the age of 90.
I really enjoyed Seattle – it’s a great town with the nicest people. I was excited to take in the coffee and the seafood; the former was a tad disappointing, while the latter delivered and then some. Sushi just hits differently on the West Coast.
We took in some local places, like Pike Place Market — the place where they throw the fish — and saw the first Starbucks. Technically, it isn’t the “first” Starbucks, as we were told by a local woman who shouted at people standing in line and at people like me taking pictures. I wanted to tell the lady I don’t like Starbucks that much, but I didn’t come to Seattle to argue about coffee.
On Saturday, we spent some time on the water, where I captained the donut boat.
Overall, a great trip. Now the World Cup moves into the knockout round, and the weather here in DC will knock us out because it will be too hot.
I hope you have a wonderful week and can celebrate the good in America, which far outweighs the bad. Happy birthday to us!
Okay,
Chris
