Goodbye, Harties, Goodbye

Today is the last full day in Hartbeespoort - pronounced har-teh-BEERS-port, as we learned from the Canadian/South African Red Sox fan who we sold our QF tickets too... but more on that below.

As with the 2006 trip, we've taken it upon ourselves to "experience" this great country after the U.S. was eliminated.

Saturday night was an incredible low point for everyone, but as I mentioned in an earlier post, we shared some beers with nice guys - one in full British soldier regalia - and by the time Noah got us home at 4am, our spirits were reasonable. Sunday was spent recovering.

Monday it was time to see Africa. A two-plus hour drive back towards Rustenberg saw us arrive at the Pilanesberg Game Reserve. I'm not sure what our expectations were going in, but after about 5 minutes Geoff, gazing out into the brush, nearly drove us into an elephant. The elephant was enormous. Completely disregarded the road he was on. Geoff: astonished. Nate: in Noah's arms. Noah: in Nate's arms. Andrew: still filming. Incredible.

From there we spotted some hippos from afar, some zebras, giraffes and warthogs from quite close. But then after a friendly South African boy told us that there was a pride lions devouring a dead elephant, we raced back to the other side of the park. The image is difficult to describe. The elephant was enormous, but it's middle was missing. Lions were lazily sitting on its front and back leaning over a gaping hole in the middle. Really, really cool. Until the wind shifted. The stench that took over was a mix of garbage and death (not that I know what death smells like, but I'm guessing and I'm sure I'm right.) Thus concluded our trip to the game park.

From there we drove Geoff and Nate to the airport via two failed entries into Sun City and a stop at Nandos for dinner. During this time, Geoff fell out of love with both our GPS and South African drivers, but we nonetheless arrived safely.

As I write, Geoff and Nate are probably about 3 hours from landing in New York. I'm spending one last (chilly) afternoon on our sun deck. Noah is inside reading a book. For the record it cannot be emphasized enough what a goddamned hero Noah has been on this trip. Not only planning everything - EVERYTHING - but also working all day while we jackasses certainly did not. Noah, I love you. I'll handle Brazil.

Noah leaves tomorrow. I also leave tomorrow via an 18 hour stop in Cape Town just because. After a lot of hassling I managed to book a flight through Dakar that gets me home in 12 hours faster and 2 days earlier. Thank god.

This morning we sold our QF tickets, which was an amazingly bizarre experience. After accidentally showing up at a place where the ticket buyer was, he met us at Cinnabun. He then awkwardly stood with us while Noah waited for a terrible drink and told us how he had an epileptic episode after the Ghana game and blacked out in his bathroom, dislocating his jaw, cracking a few teeth and needing stitches. Then he took us up to his wife's high-end perfume shop where she made awkward/racist comments and gave us champagne. Great work everyone.

That's all from here. Probably the last post from Harties. Good luck and god bless.

See you in Brazil

I can't put everything into words yet.

But this trip has been an incredible experience.

Last night's loss was terrible. The hatred that I know have for Ghana is solidified in a way that it wasn't in 2006. They spent 30 minutes diving left and right. Terrible. That being said, we didn't finish; we didn't possess in the midfield; our back line got beat; and Tim Howard didn't show up in a major way. Crushing defeat.

We were in the stadium until they kicked us about 45 minutes after the game ended. But the experience was summed up by our time at the bar/cafe across the street, where we spoke with Germans, South Africans, Brits, hundreds of Americans, some Ghanians. Incredible, global experience.

As I sit here, delirious and exhausted, my heart is still very full.

Harties Cribs

Day 9 Recap

NED-JPN. Watched from my hotel room. The Dutch defend their unofficial world title. I'm surprised they didn't win by more.

GHA-AUS. Watched from my hotel room. Mess of a game really. Kewell shouldn't have been sent off. Group D is a mess. Not sure who I'd want us to face if we make it to the next round.

CMR-DEN. Watched poolside in Santa Clara. Most exciting match of the World Cup. Should have been about 5-4 (someone) instead of 2-1 (Denmark). Cameroon is the first African team to go out and the African nations are, overall, a mess.

Pool leader: Noah and Geoff. Great work guys. I'm fading quietly.

Today is also the day I realized my passport was not with me.

Day 8 Recap

Don't have much to say today that hasn't been said.

GER-SRB. Watched in my hotel room. Wow, I guess Germany aren't the world beaters? Looks like Australia is just pretty bad. If we advance we're getting someone from this group. Serbia looked tough.

USA-SLO. Watched in my hotel room and poolside. We tied. Thank god. Enough See (see video diary below.)

ENG-ALG. Thank god England doesn't have it. Thank god Algeria tied England. Now all we need is to be Algeria. That's it. (See two sentences ago... they just tied England.)

Pool leader: Noah still. This day f'ed everyone up.

Day 7 Recap

ARG-KOR. Caught the end of this game via ESPN radio while flying to San Francisco. Thank wi-fi in airplanes. Argentina has awoken. Goals are being scored. Just imagine if Messi gets in the action. This team is getting scarier.

NIG-GRE. Listened to this one on the radio in the air too. Greece got feisty. Nigeria is in trouble. I really don't see an African team getting to the QF.

MEX-FRA. Caught this one on my iPhone. Greece picked up the win after a ridiculous play that led to a red card for Nigeria. Go greeks.

Pool leader: Noah. Because I didn't make picks today. Damnit.

Day 3 Recap

ALG-SLO. Watached at home. Here's my thoughts on this. It should have been a tie. The goal was weak (as was ours of course). But these two teams are both battle tested in a way we are not. We haven't had a win-or-go-home since Ghana in 2006. (I'm discounting any Gold Cup type events and the Spain/Brazil games in the Confed Cup because we were just happy to be there at that point.) Algeria and Slovenia have both won two-leg playoffs in the last year, and they were underdogs in both cases. We need 6 points from these two games - well, at least 3 from Slovenia to start - and I think Slovenia is going to be harder to handle than we expect.

GHA-SRB. Watched at home. Not much to say about this one. I wasn't really paying attention/didn't really care. But I'm impressed that Essien-less Ghana pulled out a win.

GER-AUS. Watched at home. Let's concede that the Aussies are a mess, but that was still pretty impressive. Ze Germans are ridiculously consistent in World Cups, have less pressure than normal, and if Podolski/Klose/Schweinstaggerrrrr are on, Germany is scary. I also feel like I'm supposed to hate Germany, but I don't.

Pool leader: Noah (it's like he does this for a living or something).

Noah is on his way to South Africa

Just thought everyone should know.