And thats the way we like it, we like it, we like it.

The number 9 jersey was worn at the World Cup by Hercules Gomez. I have nothing against him. He probably had last pick of jerseys. Number 9 is Charlie Davies. There were not as many Charle Davies jerseys in play as I had though, but whenever people with Davies home (white) jerseys say each other, we would always take a picture.
The march is a tradition for the Outlaws, so people knew to start assembling about 2 hours before kickoff.
If you look closely where everyone's heads are pointed you can see a guy with a USA afro wig pouring a beer into a Kuduzela (Vuvuzela shaped like a Kudu horn). The recipient is on the street on the other side of the balcony. After the beer is done, you are supposed to blow the 'zela to show that you have finished. There are so many things awesome about a USA Kuduzela beer bong.
This is me with Hagrid/Gooch.

Cause we Support the US, the US, the US...

Around noon, the chants really picked up. There were classics like God Bless America and the Star-Spangled Banner, but also lots of Outlaw specials, including 'When the Yanks go Marching In', 'We all dream of a team of Robert Greens', and 'We love em.'

The guy in the pink hat went to the university of Alaska and was one of the primary song leaders throughout the day.
One of my favorites is the South African "miner's song," the one they sing in the crowd in "Invictus" changed to the names of our players- "Oh Donovan, Oh Bocanegra, Onyewu Onye Onyewu."

My face was striped to match the helmet.
As you can see, there is quite a bit of variety in headgear and ensembles for US games.
The fans spilled into the streets and the security guards couldn't really stop it.

And Where they go we'll Follow, We'll follow, We'll Follow

The Beer line at this restaurant got impressive fast.
But luckily someone had found some refreshment in a bag nearby. It really picked Me, Andy, and Scott right up and prepped us for the game.
You can see the facepainting station setting up in the foreground of this picture.

We love em, We love em, We love em (Day 6)

June 23rd 2010 was the greatest day of my life. We originally bought tickets based on the proposed itinerary of the trip. After the draw, we realized that would not be seeing the USA, so we applied for, and got, two more tickets- the third group stage game, and the round of 16 with the winner of our group. We assumed that we would be in a good spot for USA Algeria. But with two draws, we were in a must win position. We got up at 7 AM, suited up, and headed to Pretoria. The game was at 4PM.
We were planning on meeting up with the American Outlaws. They march to the stadium from a nearby bar for every single USA game and had arranged a trip for all of the group stage games. We knew the place was called Hombaze and that it was near Loftus Versfield stadium, but we did not know that it was across the street from the US Embassy. They were having a barbecue for the embassy and the teams parents and other bigwigs. As they would get off of the buses or step outside they would see a TON of Americans singing and chanting and cheering for them. Sunil Gulati, president of USSF came over, as well as several embassy workers.
We arrived at 10:30 and the restaurant realized that they were in for it. You can see the USA flag flying in the picture. It was an England flag, but we took it down and put up one of our own.
There was a steady influx of Americans for the next 4 hours at one of the best parties I have ever been to. State flags and costumes like crazy.

You Got Iced Bro! (Part 1)

One thing unique about doing this trip in the summer of 2010 is the drinking game known as Icing. A now-defunct website began an internet phenomena that spread among bros of all ages and locations. The premise of the game is simple- simply present a Smirnoff Ice to a bro, and he must take a knee and chug it. The trick is obviously to present them in a sneaky way. I don't have pictures of myself, being Iced, since I was obviously chugging. This is the first instalment. Smirnoff Ice is a particularly cruel brand of terrible drink.

Icing number 1: The Thatchery Bar. Scott hit the head, and when he reached for his Beer: ICE
This Icing occurred when we told the barman to give Andy an Ice, no matter what beer he ordered. ICED.

Andy ICED Tyler right before bed.

He also had placed an ICE in my backpack with my American flag.
There was also a DOUBLE ICING outside of Soccer City- Andy ICED me and Scott ICED Tyler simultaneously.

The only way to not be ICED is to have an Ice on you. Scott tried to ICE Andy as he got out of the shower (with a bit of encouragement) but Andy had brought an ICE with him. That ICE BLOCK meant that Scott had to chug both. That is a lot of sugar and ICE right before bed.

The next day was the best day of my entire life. More of that later.

Get the Prius- the third round begins (Day 5)

We arranged a car from Avis to pick up in Joburg and drop off in Cape Town. However, because of all the rentals, the only automatic transmission car available was a Prius. So the plan was to drive across South Africa in a Prius. We got the car and went to a mall. Andy loves maps and thought he could navigate using them. However, since no one had thought to get numbers or addresses for ANY of the places we were staying, I vetoed that. With a great assist from Mom, Tyler had brought my GPS. The only problem was that we had no South African maps and that internet cafes dont let you plug in GPSs. We found a computer store with a really nice guy- Dennis- who 'seemed like a bru.' [Bru is South African for Bro- when you hear 'I'm gonna go grab a bru' it means 'my friend is outside, I am going to go meet him'] Dennis hooked us up- he downloaded and installed everything we needed. We were finally free to get around.

Driving was another thing. Whenever we would turn we would all be concentrating on the turn and staying in the right (left) lane. We would say 'Stop the Ball, Stop the Ball' which is a reference to this Robert Green video.

After getting back, we wanted to watch the Bafana Bafana France game. They needed to beat the Frogs by 5 goals. However, in the third game week of the group stage, they play the games concurrently, so that there is not the same collusion that used to occur between teams. The Mexicans and Uruguayans were playing simultaneously, and, much to the chagrin of the entire staff of the Thatchery, us, and the other patrons, the Mexicans were insistent on watching their game. We only knew about the first two South African goals because of the roar of vuvuzelas. Eventually, they worked it out and we played the South Africa game outside.

We wanted to go to the fan fest at casino for the second round of games, so we ate at STEAK in the casino. Outside of the casino was this statue. I was like 'huh that looks like a sculpture of 'The Dalliance of the Eagles.'" Got close and:
BOOYAH
The only thing an English degree does is give you self-congratulatory moments like this.

Scott and I had game platters of Ostrich, Kudu, Impala, and Hedgehog at STEAK.
The hedgehog was pretty tough and very peppered. Impala was like a tender venison. I ate the Kudu so fast I can't even describe its succulence. I had eaten ostrich before, but the preparation made it into a very good duck-like texture.

The tables in blackjack are cheaper than in the states, so we killed some time and little money at the tables.

The second round of games began, and we went to the Fan Fest and there was STILL a party going on from Bafana Bafana beating the French, even though they were knocked out of the tournament. DJs, everything. Eventually we found a huge empty theatre and watched the Group B games there.

Oh and also, this was the day that the Frogs finished at the bottom of the group. A particularly awesome moment of this tournament.

Spain 2 Honduras SUCKS

We returned from the park and changed in time to get on the Thatchery shuttle to Ellis Park for our second game together. Andy was the All-American for the night. There were other Americans on the shuttle with us. A group of loud Yankees that seemed like they played Lacrosse and a know-it-all guy from Texas. Listening to the two groups interact was awesome.

The beer rules at the beginning of the tournament were very lax. Not only were the beers cheap, but you could ask for as many as you wanted. We sent Andy on a beer run, and they gave him a box of beer for the game.

We were rooting for Spain in this game. I lived in Spain for a while and loved it. They are an impressive team with beautiful, fun supporters. They had lost to the Swiss so we were expecting blood. And you know how in Bowl Week people will root for their conference to win for any number of reasons, primarily selfish. That does NOT apply for the CONCACAF. The USA gets spit on everywhere we play against except for Trinidad and Tobago. We even chant 'nobody likes us USA.' I actively rooted against Mexico and Honduras in every game, even when the Mexicans were playing the Frogs. Of course in that game I was really just rooting for a 10 redcard game.

David Villa scored a couple REALLY good goals, but then choked on a penalty kick. We came up with the rule that if you miss a PK, then your team is not allowed to pass it to you every time for you to get a hat trick.

We were a pretty American group of Spain fans. Scott repped Fabregas.

We got back to the shuttle, and the LAX BROS held us up for an hour. Apparently they went to a bar after the game. Then they were SO loud on the way back we could not even hear ourselves. It was time to get a car.

Petting Cubs

The little guys were teething.
They were a lot more active and liked playing than the older ones.
I would like to congratulate Nike on the lion proof jacket.
And this is just an awesome picture.

Animal Babies

Baby Rhinos were up front. These were the only Rhinos we saw.
For R30 a person- so $4- you could go into a cage and play with the animals for 5 minutes. 'Time' in Africa is one of those things that is loosely enforced at best and generally ignored.
The first ones we played with were sort of big.
They were kind of tired, but they tolerated us playing with them.

Lions and Rhinos (Day 4)

A lot of the topography in inland South Africa looks a lot like parts of Texas. Then all of the sudden you will drive into an area that is just Savannah. It is pretty striking. Another college student drove the four of us to the Lion and Rhino nature preserve just up the road from the Thatchery.
Andy was excited.

This was much different than a zoo. We drove through a wide open area and would stop to see some of the wildlife on the way. We were dropped off at a place called the 'Animal Creche.' It was a nursery for various animals and had pens for other interesting African animals. This really scary ugly bird guarded the entrance.

And this juvenile white lion reminded us that lions are really just big housecats.