Come on, Fulham!--Day 53

I had such a great time at the football match today, especially since I woke up early enough to do some homework before hand. But enough about that! We took the 74 bus out to Craven Cottage for the game.

Craven Cottage is situated in the borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, and it is quite an intimate stadium. I am willing to bet that there were only between 10,000 and 20,000 fans in attendance at the game today, which was against Everton.

Our seats were in rows I and J on the neutral/away side of the pitch, which was bad for a Fulham fan like me! The fans of football matches get very into the game and shout loud chants quite often throughout the game. The real Fulham fans were way on the other side of the pitch, chanting "Come on, Fulham! Come on, Fulham!" while the Everton fans chanted, "Ev-er-ton! Ev-er-ton!" and sang songs that I couldn't quite understand. It was a rather energetic atmosphere, but it was also pretty intense because there are mounted policemen outside the stadium and a large staff of policemen inside the stadium to contain rabble-rousers.  Luckily, the fans today were very well behaved. It was interesting to hear from a fellow student that they do not allow people to purchase alcoholic drinks and then take them to their seats. I feel like Americans would have a fit if they couldn't have their beer and watch the game at the same time. I don't know if this makes the atmosphere any more orderly, but it was still a bit surprising to hear, especially since the Brits love to drink (actually, what culture do you know of that doesn't like to drink?).

Craven Cottage looms ahead as we make our way through the neighborhood.

Let's root, root, root for the home team!

I have enjoyed football since the World Cup last year, and I was pleased to find out the two of the players from Team USA were in action today (though for different clubs). Clint Dempsey plays for Fulham, and goalie Tim Howard plays for Everton. It was funny because at one point during the game, Clint Dempsey ran smack into Tim Howard, and the two of them picked each other up off the grass and walked back to their positions like it was nothing. During the first 45 minutes of the match, the Everton goal was on our side of the pitch, so we got to see Tim Howard up close. As you can tell from the pictures, we had a great view of the game. It was great to watch the athleticism of the players, and I wish that American soccer teams could hold on to their players instead of losing them to European teams. I am sure that American soccer would be more popular if we actually had the good players!

The football pitch--let's play ball!

More pre-game preparations. Notice Tim Howard (#24) standing in the goal.

Sadly, Fulham lost 3-1 today, and the winning goal (the goal that put Everton up 2-1) was in the final minutes of the second 45 minutes. The two teams still played for three minutes after the second 45 minutes was up because of penalties and such, but that goal was pretty special because it really electrified the stands. Many of the Augie students were converted Everton fans by the time the game was over, jumping up and down and giving each other high-fives when they knew that the game was in the bag. I was surprised that more of us weren't Fulham fans, but I guess I can understand it considering we were on the away team's side. It was quite startling when the ball came into our section once or twice. When you sit that close to the field, you need to always be on your toes!

Soccer/football action. Where's the ball??

Lining up and linking arms to defend the goal from a penalty kick (Fulham is in black and white; Clint Dempsey is #23). The kick failed thanks to the five-person human wall. It was actually pretty comical to watch five grown men linking arms and jumping in unison.

Despite the loss of the home boys, I would say that my first professional football game was fantastic. I wish that it got more press and media coverage in the United States, but we're usually too busy with disgusting American football and basketball and other stupid sports like them.

The bus back only took us part of the way to where we needed to be, so we got a chance to walk through some areas of London that we have not seen yet. One of the best things I saw was Westminster Cemetery, a very large and grand cemetery. It looks absolutely haunting and beautiful this time of year with the yellowish leaves and dying plants (very appropriate since fall is a metaphor for fading life). As morbid as this sounds, it would be so wonderful just to take a stroll through the cemetery and see who lived and died here.

Tomorrow is the last day of my weekend before I go back to class on Tuesday, so I'm sure it will mainly consist of chores (grocery shopping, laundry) and other fun things like homework! I hope that I will be able to report something interesting, though (I'm not being coy, I'm being honest with you). Cheers.