Hopefully today ends differently

Remembering US's Loss to Ghana in 2006

In Which We Briefly Enjoy Nature

Your wish is my command

I am so fucking emotional right now.... I think I've been avoiding really dealing with what tomorrow does and can mean, but I think there has been dust in my face almost hourly today... this video, 1812 overture, listening to all my friends, your posts (pure's especially after the game). Basically just almost losing it at all times. Have been listening to a hate mix pretty much on repeat for the last 2 days, and even 'lose yourself' gets me emotional, and forget the 18 fucking 12 overture - lord. I just can't stop.

We are on the precipice. Of something great? Or something disappointing? Is this beating the Indians in '99 (sorry pure) only to get smoked by the yankee's? Or is this Ortiz hitting a single in the bottom of the 14th to send us back to yankee stadium? I honestly have no idea. And maybe thats what so great about it. I think the pressure is off now - we've met our expectations, we've shown heart, resolve, determination. The only question is how far can that heart take us? I am borderline in physical love with this team - all the way from Landon (he is someone! he is somewhere!) and Timmy down to Demerit and even Bornstein (never thought I'd say that). And I don't want this relationship to end.

The reaction back here has been amazing. I mean, anytime Ann McGinnis is emailing USA youtube videos around to all the girls we know, you realize something special is happening. But the bonding - with friends who you never thought could care, to strangers, to conversation with my doormen, staff in my coffee shop, even the guys I had a meeting with this morning for work. Hell, I've talked to friends from college for the first time in 3 years over US soccer. This is amazing. This is happening.

I love how uppity we've gotten with each other about sharing all of this on the blog. I think its because we really fucking care. And I'll tell you what - with the reality finally setting in that I am not there, and not having to hide in my defensive emotional bunker over not being able to go, I am so heartbroken I am not with you it kills me almost by the minute. Have had a number of long talks with myself, and this cash flow problem will never happen again. Putting the cost of my cigarettes into the Brazil '14 fund is already under works. But, just know that every scrap of written word, even second of video, every hastily posted picture rocks my world. The one webpage I always have open, and always refresh, is this blog.

And, lastly - my heart is fucking full right now. Even if we lose tomorrow, everyone has shown up, everyone has gotten after it, everyone has poured their heart out. Thats true for landon, jozy, clint, jayjay, cherundolo, etc but its also true for us, for our fans, and our friends. Whatever happens tomorrow, this is our moment. You traveled. We cared. Now, everyone cares, the world is watching, and its game fucking ON.

Where are my friends tonight?

South Fucking Africa.

Damn Straight.

Oh, how far we've come

There Is A Light That Never Goes Out :: USA vs. Ghana

In 2006 we walked from the stadium after a shocking defeat to Ghana. This has been well documented in the past; no one spoke for three on-foot miles. It was living in chains. It was horrifying. We were shell-shocked. We had all spent our entire financial holdings on the trip and hadn't even seen the $6,000 bill for totaling a car. It was an ugly '06 June. Fast-forward four years and it's a slightly different cast of characters with some major additions and some major (emotional) absences. This time we generated an enclave in South Africa, survived a death sentence against Slovenia and experienced a divine Landon Donovan goal against Algeria. It's 2010 and we're drawn against Ghana again and we promise, we swear, we're going to give our very sporting souls in the breach tomorrow.

It's impossible to exactly explain the events after Donovan scored 48 hours ago, but it is useful to know where it led. We collapsed into joy in the moment knowing full well what it meant. In the velocity of the World Cup, it gave us one more game, another three days to grow our scraggly facial hair and another chance to silence critics, prove we travel and get ourselves (nay!), our team towards the promised land.

Tomorrow, against a familiar foe, against a team that reduced me to tears when Dempsey drilled the net in '06, we have a chance for greatness and a chance to think about changing our flights and trying to stay here to the end. We are on an absolutely miraculous run and one that we don't want to end. Don't look down, USA. We've run off the cliff and we swear up and down that we can walk on air. Or, at the very least, we refuse to walk home from this stadium. America, find your Delaware River, find your last fortitude, find your passport, locate Trenton and attack. You are Americans and goddammit, you are free.

Miss...Maam...Algeria...Ghana.

So, there are so many things to recap. Silver traded his U.S. flag to an Algerian in exchange for an Algerian flag after our victory. We were sauced, we were emotional, it was the greatest. THE GREATEST. we wrote about it...we filmed it until we accidentally had the camera recording for fourteen minutes and then the camera died. We went to the bar, I fell asleep at the table. We had weird food that we couldn't identify but enjoyed. We tried to stay above the fray but they were just so happy. So went downstairs and had shots and a cigar that Silver procured. We hugged strangers, Americans...we booed the British. We booed anything that wasn't Red, White, and Blue. In hindsight, we love the red, white, and blue of Slovakia. See you in Hell, Italy...slash in Brazil in four years.

So here we are Ghana. Geoff is asleep most likely. He quit on the whiskey and beer. But he's a hero. Slash, I yelled upstairs and he's awake. Hooray. Tomorrow will be a trying day. It's Rustenburg. It's like three hours on a one lane road. It'll be a long, emotional day. We'll be ready as we were vs. Slovenia, and Algeria. I am nervous but calm. I like our chances. Let's go Cribbs...slash Browns...slash America.

Harties Cribs

The Video You've Been Waiting For

USA - Algeria from Andrew Silver on Vimeo.

Algeria Celebration

It should be noted that after our victory over Algeria, we celebrated. There is no footage or photographs from this endeavor, because every documentation device that we owned had died. That being said, we had a great time.

The venue: Eastfield's. Cover charge was 300 Rand, which I skillfully negotiated down to 250. Many beers were shared. As was some sort of BBQ food platter. Shots were involved. At one point I decided it was incredibly necessary to find a cigar. Which I achieved - and actually acquired a Cuban. It was delicious.

The American crowd was great, and as we saw our next opponent determined, many friends were made.

Eventually Noah showed up. More merriment was exchanged. And then we departed (see three grown men asleep in a car below).

This post is random; winning is great.

From the Sun Deck

Wednesday: Victory.
Thursday: Recovery.
Friday: Relaxation.

We managed to get up early and get down to the Apartheid Museum in Soweto. (A quick stop at KFC for breakfast was made. Try the "a.m. Riser". Delicious.)

The Apartheid Museum was a pretty powerful experience, although the timeline of the country's history was difficult to follow. That being said, it was definitely the "Never Again" moment of 2010 - paralleling several moments from 2006.

Problem: Apparently they also have issues with car theft from the museum. Solution: When you drive out of the gate, they have you turn your car off and then back on. If you can turn it back on, you have the keys. Therefore you are not a their. Therefore you can go.

Currently, I'm sitting on our sun deck, enjoying the afternoon warmth and sitting in some strangely uncomfortable chairs. Around me are three men I love. They are warriors. And Ghana is coming up next.

Saturday: Back to battle.

I just think this is hilarious

New Zealand - just looking for reasons to party

Police confront New Zealand fans

POLOKWANE, South Africa -- Police confronted celebrating New Zealand fans after their team played its final match at World Cup.

Although New Zealand failed to advance to the round of 16 after Thursday's 0-0 draw with Paraguay, the fans were still happy with the team's third straight point at the tournament. But police were seen confronting Kiwis fans as they were leaving the area around the stadium.

Police spokesman Motlafela Mojapelo said there were no major issues, however, saying "police escorted the fans to the city center without problems."

"Inside and around the stadium, no violence was reported with any of the police posts in operation," Mojapelo said. "Police escorted the fans to the city center without problems."

Another police spokesman, Colonel Hangwani Mulaudzi, also said it was a peaceful confrontation.

"A group of New Zealand fans were singing inside the stadium after the match. They were happy that their team had drawn," Mulaudzi said. "Police told them to move on, that the game had finished and they obliged. Everything was friendly."

Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press

God that got me emotional

And, perhaps because I just find it ironic and hilarious, here, for posterity, is my email you guys roughly an hour before all this showed up:

From: Jeremy
To: Noah, Andrew, Nate, Geoff
Date: Thu, Jun 24 2010 at 5:08PM
Subject: hey assholes

so, was just talking to phoebe, and:

4:53 PM Phoebe:There was a family of four south africans behind us at the game. Two little boys, maybe 8 and 4 and the two parents...and after we missed another close opportunity with like fifteen or 20 minutes left, the little african boy grabbed us on the shoulder after we were going nuts, cursing our luck. We turned around and he said, don't worry, it's coming. It was amazing.

thats part of another email

4:55 PM me: wow, thats awesome

jesus

if they dont fucking update our blog soon im going to explode

if i hear a story from her like that again, and not see it on the blog, im going on strike.

internet problems or not, last i checked noah has filed 5 storys since that game ended, with two of them coming today. get your heads out.

Images from Pretoria

Watching the U.S. Game...with a curse of being from Cleveland

I wasn't terrified down 2-0 against Slovenia. Give me a team that doesn't have a chance...and is against all odds and I have confidence that we can come back and tie the game. We may lose later but we're tying the game. Give me a team that's supposed to win, a team favored to win...that's a team for which I am terrified. I am a BROWNS fan. I am used to losing. I expect the worst. "We control our own destiny." I don't want any part of that. That was the phrase after the Slovenia game. I was terrified. Without knowing a thing about Algeria other than a view I got 30 feet from the tv, intoxicated, during their match with England, I was petrified by their speed. I kept yelling at Noah the journalist, "I am afraid of their speed on the flanks." Prior to the match, we discovered that our backline would include Bornstein. Ohhh god...this is the start. We are screwed. God help us. We're losing this game. A goal early. Typical Browns. We finally get a shot at this god damn thing and we trot out a backline incapable of handling anything. I was a wreck.

In the back of the car, I attempted to alleviate some concern by playing some LCD Soundsystem. My ipod kept dying. A sign to be sure. If only Cribbs was here. We arrived at the game with too much time on our hands. We got sauced up a bit. Algerian fans poured in with drums and horns. We were outgunned in the back and in the drum department. Terrified.

I could go on. The game started. We couldn't put a goal in despite numerous opportunities. I was coming apart at the seams. Then, I recalled my training from earlier occasions. The Browns had a chance to clinch a playoff berth in Week 16 2007. Instead, they lost to a crappy Bengals team quarterbacked by Ryan Fitzgerald. Derek Anderson threw four interceptions. We somehow stayed in the game and I watched a pass flutter over Kellen Winslow in the end zone as time expired to lose. Josh Cribbs naturally returned a punt for a TD at the game I attended the next week. However, Tony Dungy played his subs in the Sunday night game and we lost at midnight Monday while I was in a busport in Pittsburgh to eliminate us from the playoffs as my dad texted me every 20 minutes as he'd promised he'd do. My heart was ripped out.

So there we were as Buddle missed Altidore cutting in the 90th minute Wednesday, I steeled myself for a 0-0 draw...maybe Slovenia tallies a goal vs. England. We can't seem to get a score anywhere. Andrew is panicked on his cell phone trying to get internet so we can find the score. Then, we broke out...I'd love to say I remember watching it all develop but it's all a blur. I saw us running down the field...I was standing...as a I recall with Geoff and Andrew. Arm in arm. Clint got a foot on it...the ball kicked out. Landon kicked it in. We lost it.

We lost it and lost it. and lost it. To give you a sense of how long we hugged, cried, exploded, high-fived, and waved flags, the next time I looked up, Slovenia had a corner. I was confused and disoriented. Naturally, I expected them to tie it. "BLOW THE GOD DAMNED WHISTLE!!!!!" Then, they did. And we were through. I lost my sunglasses while banging on the signage hanging from the second deck chanting USA. A young child picked up my sunglasses and put them on as he walked out of the stadium. We hugged more...we chanted, "We're on top of the group." It was amazing. I am one of the luckiest people alive at present. I am here in South Africa with some great friends watching the U.S. play, win, and succeed.

We'll be at Rustenburg on Saturday. I'll be just as concerned then with an emotionally devastating loss. But at least I got to experience an unparalleled emotionally exhilarating win.

USA Past The Guard House : USA vs Algeria

In rough visual metaphor, the United States has systematically been denied access to that which we desired most, the elimination rounds. I've alleged it's a FIFA conspiracy, some combination of edicts from higher-ups, shitty side-line refs and a US team that seemed to be snake bit on the deepest of levels.

On our second day here, Nate and I tried to walk past the guard house to play golf near the defensible, largely white, former-Boer compound where we are staying. We were denied. They did not like the cut of our jib. We were, in short, shady. (No doubt our scraggly World Cup beards did not help.) On our third day, with a tee-time in hand, we drove a car through that house with full sanction of all the angry, security-minded people inside. We went past the guard house.

Two days later, Landon Donovan turned redeemer and kicked a soccer ball through the net and into the elimination round. The atmosphere in the stadium was not indescribable, but it certainly exceeded the pathetic limits of the English language. We descended into yelps and cries and shudders as the US knocked on the door without finding pay dirt. It was only a South African boy, no more than 10, who continued to assure us, "It's coming; it's coming." When Donovan delivered, I turned to his mother and I screamed, while pointing at him, "You did this! You did this!" In 2006, Ghana hexed us a thing we couldn't understand and were barely prepared for. In 2010, we went past the guard house; in 2010 we would not be denied.

USA-Algeria: Before and After

It was a big day.

Somehow, I'm pretty sure this is important

From: Michael Ireland
To: Jeremy Forsythe
Re: america.
Wed, June 23 2010 at 10:37PM

Lauren saw my USA tat and wants one for her and K. I said the bear can provide.

We seriously considered naming the new guy Landon for about 5 mins until we came across both the kids having L names.

These are all really great

US Soccer posted a bunch of youtube videos of reactions from the goal today... they are all pretty awesome, but this one might be my favorite, mostly because you can see the full range of emotion play out on everyones faces.... slash, for the chair that goes airborne



but, they're really all the shit

Video Diary - Wed 6/23

oh. my. god.

have a headache, stomachs in ropes, bodys a cage, etc etc etc.

Video Diary - Tue 6/22

Hey Algeria - Go Fuck Yourself
(and for the record, now I'm drinking)

I have no idea what this means

but it sounds really good:

"Against England, though, Algeria coach Rabah Saadane reverted to a far more orthodox back three. One of the reasons 3-5-2 and its variants have largely gone out of fashion (although it seems to be making something of a comeback at this tournament) is the prevalence of 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1. Against a customary 4-4-2, two center backs mark two center forwards with a spare man, with the wing backs given the green light to advance, ideally pressing the opposing wide midfielders back onto their fullbacks. A team playing 3-5-2 overmans three-to-two in central midfield, the wing backs tend to be forced deep by opposing wingers, leaving three central defenders to deal with one center forward. One spare man is fine; two is redundancy, allowing the side playing the lone central striker to overman elsewhere, usually from the fullback positions. Of course, one of those two spare central defenders could push into midfield, but if he does that he may as well be a midfielder to start with."

for other insights into how we may be plotting to overthrow the algerian dictatorship of our win on wednesday, I really think this article is the shit.

if i can ever figure out what the hell he's talking about.

Classy? Classy.

Watching ESP-HON in the Singapore Airlines lounge at SFO. Drinking Tiger Beer. Having Eggs and sausage. Might go make some noodle soup.

This is pretty damn awesome

Silver sent this to me tonight, although did not post it on the blog, so i'm picking up the slack. Love watching the eruptions of tags after the goals. great stuff.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/world-cup-match-replay

The Tres Faces Of Nathaniel Purinton

Emotion


Emotion


Emotion

Past The Guard House; We hit the links

On Saturday, Nate and I took a quick jaunt up the road to the golf course. We reached the guard house and asked, quite politely, if we could continue to the course. False. That was not possible. We were quite suspicious. We should return to from where whence we came. We were, at the very least, hurt. (Nate: "Pissed!")



On Sunday, we secured ourselves a tee time. This time with a ride, a car, and tucked in shirts to communicate the degree to which we were serious and not, I repeat, NOT the shady characters our facial hair might indicate. We played a hell of a round with Noah lacing drives upwards of 280 meters which roughly translates to the distance between here and New York. Huge. Nate, ironing out a low fade, even flirted with a draw, shot an 89 on the most challenging course in northern South Africa. I struggled to let myself have fun and then stormed down the back nine and sent the course a message. On a course playing 7,200 yards, and a few less meters, our threesome survived the southern winter, shot the lights out and refused to lose.

Day 10 Recap

PAR-SVK. Watched in my hotel. Not much to say, except I continue to root for non-Brazilian South American teams.

NZL-ITA. Watched in my hotel and poolside. Officially jumping on the Kiwi bandwagon. I would by a Ryan Nelson jersey right now. Incredible game. Anything that upsets the Italians is fine by me. Incredible that they just continue to dive. Cheaters.

BRA-CIV. Watched poolside. Blah game. Sick of Brazil although all their goals were all beautiful. Quickly descended into chippiness. Brazil is clearly formidable, although I don't think they're invincible.

After two games: Six African teams. 1 in 1st (Ghana), 1 in 3rd (Cote d'Ivoire), 4 in 4th (South Africa, Nigeria, Cameroon, Algeria).

Pool leader: Noah and Geoff remain tied for first. Josh is one point back. Pure, Jer and I are five points back.

Passport: Still in Memphis.

My arrival in SA: T-minus 56.5 hours. (30 of which will be on a plane).

Video Diary - Sun 6/20

Well, we're trying this again. Still utterly lacking in any competent content, but entertaining, and hopefully improving. I'll be a maestro at this by the time you come back, maybe. Couple extra thoughts:
-love new zealand.
-drank some so-so south african wine in your honor last night, wish I had purchased a better bottle.
-guitar hero is great
-really wish i was playing golf with you right now
-thank god silvers passport is en route
-did anything happen with the extra tickets? i'm fucked, aren't i?
-great goddamned write-up from fri. loved every sentance
-love pure's prediction. more videos, please.




laser show so relax

Ryan Nelson

New Zealand ties Italy. Amazing. Just Googled Ryan Nelson and this is what came up:

Ryan Nelsen - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ryan William Nelsen (born 18 October 1977) is a fucking awesome New Zealand professional footballer who plays for English Premier League club Blackburn ...

Passport Tracking vHoly.Shit

All system appear to be Go.

Saturday:
Dropped of by Jenna at 6:29pm ET at Astor Place.
Left Astor Place at 10:20pm ET.
Arrived Newark at 11:14pm ET.

Sunday:
Departed Newark at 9:10am ET.
Arrived Memphis at 10:18am CT.

More updates to come...