We met at Skyline school at 11:30 to load the bus. The temperatures were cooler than they had been and everyone was excited – boys and parents. We filled the storage bins full and at just past 12 noon, rolled out. The boys all sat towards the front and the parents in the back. The bus had direct-tv and the U20 Mexico v South Korea game was on. We arrived at Arrowhead at 1:30 and entered in Gate 1. We were directed into the parking lot and then back out again to wait until 2:00. It didn’t take long for the boys to grab the ball and setup a quick game of parking lot kick-a-bout. At 2:00 it was game on and we parked the bus and dragged out our massive tailgate.
Chris and Jim M got the monster grill fired up and started on the brisket, hot dogs and burgers. HA got us going with ceviche appetizers and everyone was happy. Jim S got the 305 top and the flags up and we were looking good. Mark had brought a cooler full of dry ice and ice cream treats. The kids were loving it. I can’t believe how fast the time flew by between 2 and 4. We headed towards the “new Arrowhead” at 4:30 after packin up, the boys in their Wizards face paint and in good voice.
The crowd was over 50,000 (52,424 officially) and lots of red shirts. The boys were singing “Wizards til I die” to any red shirt that walked by. We had great seats in 110 with the cauldron crew behind the goal. The atmosphere was electric and stepped up a notch with the flyover (One england paper said the T-38 Jets came from “Orangeburg, Missouri”. http://tinyurl.com/26z3r6k .
The Wizards started strong and were playing with the heart we had been looking for the last few home games. The Cauldron was in good voice and the sun came out and started baking the crowd. Davey Arnaud scored in the 11th minute from an excellent pass from Kai Kamara putting the Wizards up 1 to 0 on the ManU giants. Just being up 1 to 0 on ManU felt great. The half was excellent and in the 40th, Berbatov got through the Wizards defense and Jimmy Conrad had to make a from behind tackle to try to stop him. The ref pointed to the spot and sent Jimmy to the locker room early with a red (which most of the English press called ‘harsh”. The penalty by Berbatov drew ManU level. But the Wizards came right back and Kai Kamara (what a game from Kai) smashed a header from Ryan Smith’s corner. ManU argued it didn’t go over – but it was a goal and the Wizards went in at half leading 2 to 1.
The 2nd half was mostly ManU with KCW playing with only 10. Sunil Chhetri got in the game with about 20 minutes to go and the crowd really responded. The Wizards were able to hang on and win 2 – 1!!! The Cauldron and the Wizards fans were singing loud with the historic win. The boys were having a blast and celebrating the victory.
Check out these links – Official Press Releas - http://tinyurl.com/2d9j97n
Quote Sheet – http://tinyurl.com/278orlp
The Sun – http://tinyurl.com/2eelp7v
Giggs interview on ManU site – http://tinyurl.com/2eord5t
Thanks everyone for putting together such a terrific road trip. It was one of the great experiences that I am sure the boys will never forget.
