USMNT in Kansas City

My trip to Kansas City was pretty uneventful flight-wise. Upon checking twitter, I saw LJ was arriving around the same time as me. To save KH two trips to the airport (since she was picking someone else up later that night), I offered to pick up LJ and meet at Oklahoma Joe's for dinner. While conversing with LJ, we discussed hotel rooms and rooming situation (see my previous post). We decided it was best to switch roommates because LJ had an early morning flight on Wednesday and didn't want to bother KH with driving to the airport.

We met at Oklahoma Joe's and KH was eating with some other American Outlaws people who I met for the first time. I honestly don't know where they were from, and frankly, I never saw them again the rest of the trip. This is not uncommon, as we sold out the entire supporters section at Livestrong Park, so there were lots of American Outlaws members in the vicinity for the game.

KH agreed to the roommate switch and went to pick up AS at the airport (who was supposed to be my original roommate). LJ and went to Fairway Liquors next door, which is connected to OK Joe's with a tiny strip of concrete. It seems Fairway Liquors is my go-to place for alcohol after OK Joe's. LJ and I decided to get some Woodchuck amber (of which we are both fans) and drink before the party.

I should state for the record I don't have cable. People are always amazed at this, but frankly, $150/month for television isn't a justifiable expense, considering being home two nights in a row is a rarity. As a result, we watched the Food Network, and we watched a couple of shows. The first was about diners and dives from around the nation. As the show discussed the cities which I am assigned to, I kept bookmarking restaurants on Yelp. The other show featured eating in Boston for $25/day. Since Boston is one of my cities, I also bookmarked. I wanted to continue watching tv, but LJ reminded me we flew into KC to go to the party, LOL.

The party itself was good. I ran into the usual AO suspects from Detroit and DC. I hadn't seen San Diego since Phoenix in January, so that was good; I also met a twitter follower from Denver. We have had several twitter conversations but never met in person. Alexi Lalas and Ian Darte attended. Johnny's Tavern graciously gave every single person at the bar a free American Outlaws shot, and Rob Stone from FSC opened his tab for everyone at the bar. We had a good time, and I called it a night around 1AM.

The next morning we severely needed breakfast, so we ate at Fran's, which wasn't too bad. The Hilton President hotel is in the power and light district. This makes it convenient place to stay whenever AO has a party; no drinking and driving is involved. Since the hotel was free, I can't complain too much.

After breakfast and checkout, we headed to a liquor store near the tailgate (20 minutes away), recommended by KH. The name of the store is Village West Discount Liquors. It's like a miniature Spec's, and they carry Woodchuck amber in cans. I should note because of Nascar, we were not allowed to tailgate/park in the usual asphalt parking lot near the stadium. Instead, we tailgated on a gravel lot next to Community America Ballpark, former home of the Kansas City Wizards. [Yes, I went to a MLS game there when they were the Wizards instead of Sporting Kansas City.]

The game itself was a bit nerve-racking when Guatemala scored the first goal of the game at the tenth minute. Thankfully the US pulled through with a win for a final score of 3-1. We were in the Cauldron's section, which was pretty big. I happened to run into a Texian Army member who no longer stands with us but used to stand next to me during the Dynamo games in the front row when we were at Robertson Stadium. It was good seeing him again.

One thing to note is that being in a section with AO means you are often surrounded by people who aren't used to soccer games and having tifo. A guy next to us kept waving his flag so that it was in people's faces. Even KH had some words with him, and that is unusual for her to openly criticize (usually my job). Nonetheless, as far as I know, we didn't have any problems in the section, and no one was thrown out. I know a smoke bomb went off at some point, but we were on the opposite side of the stadium.

Geoff Cameron must have read my tweets. In Columbus, Hexsel and I held up Cameron's Texian Army banner like crazy, trying to get his attention. The player banner is orange, and everyone in Texian Army signed the banner to bid farewell and good luck as he's moved from Houston Dynamo to Stoke City. We failed in Columbus, and I tweeted my disappointment. This time, in Kansas City, AS and I held up the banner again, hoping he'd come, and he did. He climbed over a barricade to get to us, and I pushed my way to the front telling people to move so I could give him the banner. I told him it's from Texian Army, and he thanked me. There wasn't time for chit-chat because idiots kept trying to mob him. I was afraid his shirt would be torn; I suppose most people aren't used to having their players approach them. Coming from Houston, we are used it. Of everything that happened, giving Cameron his player banner was the highlight of the trip.

After the game, we hung out at the members bar and then went to Yard House for after-game food. We were all tired, and it was funny how none of us ordered anything but water to drink. The food was half off pizzas and certain appetizers. Overall, the food was pretty good. I think I spent $8 on a cup of soup and some noodles; it's the cheapest I've spent in a while.

From Yard House, LJ and I proceeded to the Hampton Inn - Kansas City Airport. Some may think it's crazy to drive after a game to the airport area (20 minutes drive), but not only was it half the number of Hilton Honors points compared to the AO hotel (Hampton Inn next to the stadium), but I could sleep in and be near my next destination. I also am glad I booked an airport hotel in advance, as work at last minute (as in, didn't finalize itinerary until 11PM while at Yard House after the game) required me to go to North Carolina instead of Miami as originally planned.

Overall the trip was a success. Both LJ and AO San Diego commented on my planning skills (yes, I'm bragging). Neither had ever considered changing hotels in the middle of the trip. The AO bar, stadium, and airport are all about 20-30 minutes from each other. Therefore, it made sense to move wherever was needed. If the US play in Russia next month as the current rumor says, this means I will have made all but one domestic USMNT game this year (didn't make the Brazil friendly in May) - awesome!