The Celebration

Many Americans were packed into bars around the world. It was early in the states. They responded in a very rational honest way: By going absolutely insane. If you were not one of these people you may ask yourself 'Why would people react like this?' The correct answer is that it was absolutely f*cking incredible. It is much clearer in retrospect, of course, as this video demonstrates.

However I was not in one of those places. I was at the stadium in Pretoria about 30 rows back. There were 34,000 people there. There was no replay or good camera angles. The following is a rough approximation of my stream-of-thought from the beginning of stoppage time to the end:

[You have to be f'ing kidding me...our defense is so bad...how can they be strik---GREAT SAVE Timmy--Bunch of whiners laying down complaining--whoah Timmy thats a quick toss dont rush it too....Landon! holy crap counter this is awesome pass off class act jozy control you have to finish better than youve been- beautiful- DAMMIT- Wa-GOOALL!!! AAAHHHHAHHAHHA. Allowed? YES! WE WON WE WON WE WON {30 seconds} yeah thats right get sent off Algerian dude suck it end in shame {...} oh man a corner kick, boys keep your head in the game...GREAT CLEARANCE...BLOW THE F-ING WHISTLE ITS BEEN 6 HOURS OF INJURY TIME...GAME OVER!!!]
The celebration of the goal is certainly awesome. The goal is nominated for an espy for the moment of the year {vote for it}. We were crying and cheering when Landon scored. We were singing and dancing at the end of the game. Then they showed that England had beated Slovenia by one goal to nil. And we celebrated again. We won the group. Literally 5 minutes earlier we had been teetering on the edge.
This was 5 minutes or so after the game.
We stayed in the stadium for quite some time. The Fifa officials were not hurrying us out. This is from the celebration. Pictures 18, 19, and 21 are me, Andy, and Tyler. Andy's 'We have no exit strategy' sign was quite popular.

I could have boarded a homebound plane immediately after this and been totally satisfied with every penny and every moment I have spent on this trip.

For all those of you jealous of me being at the stadium: You should be. It was the best thing that I have ever been a part of in my entire life. Sure I will get married and have a kid or two some day. Until then, June 23d, 2010 will take it.