USMNT: Seattle, Salt Lake, & San Diego

When I last wrote, it was all about Dynamo, but after the Columbus game, I've been focusing on USMNT. I'm very fortunate that I can follow both!

I have to admit I had a hard time enjoying myself in Seattle for the main reason that my luggage was lost. It was also a point in my travels (leisure and work) where I was wearing out. To give you an idea of my travels that week alone, I flew: Houston-Miami-Houston (2hr layover)-Seattle-Pittsburgh-Jacksonville-Houston. When I was in Miami, I decided to check my bags all the way through to Seattle so that I wouldn't have to collect my bags and re-check back in during the 2-hour layover. BAD IDEA. My Miami flight was an American Airlines flight, and my Houston flight was a United flight. Although American Airlines tagged the bag correctly, the bag did not get transferred in Houston. I had to find a new Adidas outfit ($20 cab ride to the university area from downtown, spent $130 on a new outfit) during the game day party once I learned I was not going to receive my luggage. I arrived at the hotel post-game, and the front desk said, "Hey, by the way, your luggage is here!" It's a good thing I had warned them because I didn't receive a call from anyone stating it had been delivered! It was nice to have luggage less than 12 hours before departing the next day!

The set up for Seattle was pretty intense, and Shawn (the AO president of their chapter) did an outstanding job with organization. The night before party was held at Golazo headquarters, which is basically a warehouse. There were video games, basketball hoops, a photo station, and bartenders. I arrived after midnight, so I was pretty tired, but I made it! Afterwards, I used Yelp (a godsend - download the app if you don't have it!) to find a pizza place. We entered a pizza bar with about 20 people. I'm sure the bar was overwhelmed, but pizza hit the spot. I should also note another useful app while traveling is Taxi Magic, which I used in Seattle. You can order a cab at a particular time, utilize a GPS tracking feature, and pay via the app or cash.

As for the game itself, it was also highly organized. There were capos equipped with microphones and speakers, so the sections were cohesive. My only two complaints are that the capos weren't that familiar with American Outlaws chants, and there were too many club chants done. I am a firm, strong believer in separation of club and country. American Outlaws has enough chants that you don't have to do club chants. "Dale dale dale USA" irks me to say the least because I will sing it Dynamo style. A guy behind me was singing it LA style. I also don't like the use of Spanish chants for the USA, even if they've been adapted into English. Maybe that's just me, but I think the English language has enough lyrics and songs on its own that we shouldn't have to rely on other countries' languages and songs.

For a hotel in Seattle, we were lucky. I had a voucher for one free night at any Best Western, so we stayed at the Best Western Pioneer Square, only a few blocks from the game day party and Occidental Park (where the march started). The AAA rate for rooms were $200/night, but this is typical of Seattle downtown. Even when I visit for work, I'm constantly having to justify why the hotel room rate is so high. The American Outlaws room rate was $175/night at the Roosevelt hotel. From the airport to hotel and vice versa, I cabbed it; it's a $40 flat rate from downtown hotels to the airport. Cheaper options include a shuttle or public transportation if you prefer.

From Seattle, the next World Cup qualifier was in Salt Lake City. I chose the Doubletree hotel downtown, as it was only $10 more per night than the Hampton Inn room block I set up (more bonus points are given when staying at Doubletrees). The Doubletree is nice in that it used to be an Embassy Suites (free breakfast/wifi/parking) and has a free shuttle to/from airport & within downtown. They'll also pick you up whenever you need, so they picked me up at Bourbon House after I was done at the night before party. By the way, if you're looking for Bourbon House, they're located in the basement of a building right next to the FedEx office. On game day, they had $3 tacos, which were pretty tasty.

On game day, we were awake at a decent time, so I suggested we head to the conference center. During my flight into Salt Lake, some locals recommended going there because the rooftop has a garden and gives a good view of the city. So, we went. We entered the conference center, and an elderly lady approached us. I asked about the roof, and she began talking to us. We followed her, thinking she was just going to escort us to the roof, and realized she was giving us a tour. We had no clue! So, for about 1.5 hours, we took a free, educated tour of the conference center, which was awesome! The tour included the auditorium where the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sings every Christmas - it was huge! So, if you're in Salt Lake City and looking for something relatively quick and easy to do, go to the conference center (no appointment needed).

Afterwards, we walked through Temple Square and went back to Bourbon House. We hung out with friends and took public transportation to the stadium (about 30+ minutes from downtown and ~20 minutes walk to the tailgate). TRAX is the name of Salt Lake City's transportation system. It cost $15 for four people to ride all day, which isn't bad. Once you get off of the light rail, there are gas stations on the way to the tailgate if you need supplies. Thankfully we were with someone from Salt Lake City because we would've never found the tailgate. It's actually down a dirt road with some gravel, next to an Asian supermarket (think it's called Ocean City). Lots aren't numbered, so it was tricky for those who drove. We tailgated RIGHT next to Hondurans, and given the heat, I felt like we were in Honduras.

The game itself was messy. We ended up winning, but the team didn't seem cohesive to me. If we continue to play like we did in Salt Lake, we won't make it to the World Cup. Passing seemed to be difficult. There were seemingly communication barriers amongst teammates. It was a complete 180 turnaround from the Seattle game. In Seattle, I felt like we had it together, and we played well. In Salt Lake, I did not feel like that at all, despite the win.

The American Outlaws sections in Salt Lake City were a failure. There were no drummers from Salt Lake City. All we had were two travelers with drums, so their drums were small. They were also to the side of the section, so there's no way another section could hear the drums. I tweeted to the chapter last week to ask if they've an extra bass drum and mallets; no reply has been received. I realize Salt Lake City as a chapter has had to recently rebuild, but I am still quite appalled at the fact we had no drums.

Some people in the American Outlaws section complained that we were chanting. A guy who was a season ticket holder for club games (and said "I've been an American Outlaws member for a long time") insisted on having HIS seat for the WCQ and then brought another 6-7 of his buddies to crowd the row during the second half of the game. Based on this, I've decide I don't like Salt Lake City season ticket holders. A country game is different than a club game-it's why we have different seats for different events. If you're late to a general admission section, that's your fault. Unfortunately, there was nothing we could do since they weren't starting fights, but having about 10 obnoxious guys standing RIGHT behind you does not make for a pleasant experience. Obviously chapter members weren't told to be good hosts. We have to return next week, and frankly, I am not looking forward to it. Hands down, Salt Lake City has been my worst section experience ever, and I've only missed 3 USMNT domestic games since last year.

This month so far I've attended the San Diego friendly, which was last week. I arrived on the morning of Independence Day, thanks to a free United flight. To get from the airport to Pacific Beach is $18 round trip, which is a steal. A cab would've cost $30 each way. I managed to attend training, and it was one of the best trainings I've attended in a while. The team really worked on set pieces, corner kicks, free kicks, etc. We happened to be on the endline where everything was happening. I ran into Stu Holden afterwards, and we took a goofy picture together, which landed on ASN. I couldn't figure out how to work my self-shot camera option, so I kept turning the camera, and Stu kept turning his head to match the camera. I regret not snapping a photo quickly enough when we were both sticking out our tongues!

Given the San Diego chapter had less than a month's notice to put together everything, I'd say they did a good job. The night before party was intimate, as it was Independence Day, but it was good to finally meet people, as I'm close with the AO San Diego president (David). The tailgate was awesome, with LOTS of canopies - probably the most canopies I've ever seen clumped together at a AO tailgate. [Kansas City had a huge tent, roped into the gravel lot last year.] David's dad has an RV, thankfully, as there weren't port-a-potties nearby. Since the air conditioning was running, it was also an escape from the heat.

I went into the section right when the gates open to guard the drums, as being a bass drummer was my role. It turned out LA lost a drummer, so I volunteered to drum and ended up being the only bass drummer who drummed the full 90. I realize in the beginning it sounded messy, but trying to coordinator all four sections (especially in a NFL stadium) is harder than it looks. I ensured the main capo stayed near me, which helped. I watched the replay of the game, and it's amazing how much you can hear the drums, especially since I didn't see a suspended mic or mic attached to the railing.

San Diego hasn't had a USMNT game in decades, and this was evident. When I first got into the section, I worked on bandaging my hands, making sure the drumsticks/mallets were in place, etc. I was constantly asked what "GA" meant on the ticket, and I also had to explain to security what it meant. I found it amusing. San Diego has one of our largest chapters, with over 300 members, but the poor chapter can't get a game. Attendance was about 25,000, not bad for a non-MLS market and little notice.

I'm still in San Diego because luckily when the rumor was announced in May that San Diego would have a friendly, I hadn't booked my Portland flights. It made sense to go from San Diego to Portland instead of going home to Houston. My ticket on Virgin America (only flown once, but great experience) from San Diego to Portland was only $112.  My ticket from Portland back to San Diego on Southwest was much higher (about $200 I think), but I wanted to make sure I'm on the same flights as David. So, that's been the last three USMNT games so far. I'm off to Portland today!

USMNT WCQ Plans

If you're a USA supporter, this is a busy year with the world cup qualifiers and Gold Cup. I plan on attending all of the home WCQs, so here it goes for my travel plans and tips:

June 10-12 in Seattle: I've already booked my inbound flight. I arrive late into Seattle around 10PM, but the flight was only 12,500 miles (versus 25K miles). I'm waiting to see what kind of deal AO national has for the hotel, as downtown Seattle is quite pricey, anywhere from $250-$300/night. I've looked endlessly for a 3-star hotel downtown under $130/night; for once I'm not having any luck. I do have my eye on a Best Western though, which is a 10-minute walk from the stadium, since I've earned a free night voucher (should arrive in a few weeks). Thankfully I did have enough points for a rental car. Hertz's price for an intermediate car right now is $127/day, which seems outrageous to me. Some have advocated use of public transportation, but as of now, I'll keep the rental car reservation, as I can always reconsider and cancel later. The problem is that if the AO bar is going to be used (still to be determined, per AO Seattle president), a bus from the stadium/downtown will take 45min per Google maps (no train/subway available). I'm also not sure how late buses run at night. As for my outbound flight, I have to wait on work.

June 17-19 in Salt Lake City: I've already booked my inbound flight. Again, I'm arriving a bit late (around 8:30PM), but the flight was 12,500 miles (have to wait for work regarding outbound flight). I am working on my own room block, as I am impatient and don't want to 100% rely on AO national. I always like to have a contingency plan if possible for hotels. I am awaiting the hotel's response, but it will be for 10 rooms at the Hampton Inn downtown (about 5 blocks from the AO bar), $119/night for either a king bed room or 2 double beds, free parking/breakfast/wifi. We are under no obligation to fill all 10 rooms, no deposit is required, people can pay individually, and we can cancel 24 hours prior to arrival. This room block is being set up via my work travel agency who also can arrange leisure travel. I will notify friends when the room block is ready. I just emailed the hotel Friday night, so I expect I won't know anything until Monday at the earliest. It should be noted there is another convention during these dates called Young Living with ~5K attendees, causing hotel prices to skyrocket. David may drive, so I have not booked a rental car, although I have enough points to do so.

Sep 9-11 in Columbus: I can't believe that a round trip plane ticket on United from Houston to Columbus was over $1,100! Thank GOD for miles (25,000 round trip)! Within 30 minutes of when the USA vs Mexico game was announced during the hex draw, I booked the Holiday Inn downtown. I am currently awaiting a link for them to provide so that others can book as well; I'll have a 10-room block for 1 king or 2 double bed rooms for $109/night. I should note during the hex draw, there were at least three sold-out hotels that I encountered; since then, other hotels, such as the Residence Inn by Marriott, have limited rooms, e.g. only a queen bed room. I've booked a free car rental. I should note for car rentals, even though base price is free (whatever the rate is per day), you still have to pay airport taxes and surcharges (unlike free hotel rooms). In this case, the estimated total cost of taxes is $20.

Oct 11-12 in KC: I am waiting for Friday's Philly to Houston flight to register into my account, and then I'll have enough miles (10K) to buy a plane ticket from MCI to Houston. I should note even when you buy a plane ticket, there is a fee of $2.50 or $5, depending on the flight, but that's definitely not a bad price! I will have to await work for my inbound flight, but it'll be a busy time of year, so most likely I will only be able to fly in on game day. I will wait and see about a rental car, as it's possible I will A) get one for free B) not need one at all if friends are driving or C) get work to pay if the cost of the inbound flight + rental car is cheaper than flying me home. I've booked a free room at the Four Points by Sheraton near the airport, as I prefer to be closer to where I need to be in the mornings. Four Points hotels are really not that great and the lowest on the totem pole of Starwood hotels (Westin, Sheraton, etc), but it's a free room.

That's all I have for now for the WCQs. At this time I have no plans to attend any USMNT friendlies. Stay tuned for Gold Cup plans!