JUNE 25TH

ENGLAND vs. ECUADOR

CHICAGO MARRIOTT 11AM

This could quite honestly be the most boring game of the tournament. I almost feel like I just wasted 2 hours of my life watching the game. England is simply the most over-rated team in the tournament and have been very fortunate to be still in the tournament after their performances. If in a tougher group, there is no way that the England team would still be in Germany. If not for Ashley Cole, England would be on their summer vacation right now. Anyway, there tournament will be ending soon as Holland (after they beat Portugal today) will give the England team a beating that they so deserve.

And if your wondering, Chicago has put us in an absolutely horrible hotel by Midway airport (sorry Marriott, nothing personal). In the good old days, they had us right off Michigan Ave. Now we are a stones throw from the airport with absolutely nothing around us. If there is one saving grace to this situation, it is knowing that in a couple of hours we will be playing in a sold out SOCCER SPECIFIC STADIUM. Finally some atmosphere at a soccer game.

SATURDAY JUNE 24TH

ARGENTINA vs. MEXICO
RBNY locker room and Newark Airport, 3pm

I started watching the game at the locker room because we had to meet before we left for our trip to Chicago. The first half was exciting to say the least, and I was generally impressed by Mexico’s play. As you are probably are aware if you have read this blog before, I was rooting for Argentina due to my lack of respect for the Mexican National Team. If I was a Yankee fan, then Mexico would be my Boston Red Sox. I don’t particularly like their style of play, but even more so, I generally hate the lack of respect given to our National Team from their players and fans. But in saying this, I was quite impressed by the pressure they applied to a very good Argentina team.

At half-time, we made our way to Newark airport where I made my way through check-in as fast as possible so I could get to a restaurant to watch the second half. I was joined obviously by many of the players also interested in the game, as well as an old friend Orlando Conguta, who was making his way to Chicago representing MLS. The game was fantastic, and believe it or not, the airport bar/ restaurant was filled with people interested in the game. Frank from Iowa, Joe from Minnesota, and Mike from Ohio (all made up names) were infused with the passion of the game on TV and cheered as every chance for both teams came around. I write this only to show what kind of effect a good game can have on a person who is open to enjoying a game they obviously have no particular knowledge of. (I think my wife would be mad that I just ended a sentence with a preposition, oh well)

I was glad to see Argentina win, and look forward to seeing the game against Germany Friday(?). There win almost made the 2 hour delay at the airport okay. Almost!

HELP FROM SEBASTIAN

Sebastian is a journalist from Austria who I met yesterday at Opia. Sebastian was nice enough to pass on the pictures I used from yesterday. Here is a link to his blog:

http://sebandthecity.typepad.com/

Thanks Sebastian

SATURDAY, JUNE 24TH

GERMANY vs. SWEDEN

THE PARLOUR
-W.86th st, between Broadway and West End Ave.
11:00 AM- 11:45 AM

NEVER AGAIN

If you’re looking for a place on the Upper West Side to watch the World cup, do not go to The Parlour. The place embodies everything this World Cup Tour is against; first, there was absolutely no atmosphere. Second, the cheap manager would not put on the Air Conditioner for the few people who wanted to watch the game. And finally, the place actually charged me $6 for a small orange juice. Hey, I’m all for capitalism, but $6 for an orange juice is mad even for a city like New York. So as the whistle blew for the end of the first half of play, I could not get out of that place quick enough.

Here’s hoping that Argentina clobbers Mexico later today to set up a quarterfinal game against Germany. I’m now rooting for Germany to go far in the tournament just to see Kahn pout on the bench. You almost get the feeling that he is actually rooting against his team some times.

Request:
If anyone is reading this blog in Chicago, I need a place to see the game tomorrow morning. I leave today for our game against the Fire and I wanted to find a place to see the morning game close to our hotel near Midway airport.

FRIDAY JUNE 23RD

FRANCE vs. TOGO 3pm

Location: Opia (French)
-57th Street, between Park and Madison.

Joined by Seth Stammler and Danny O’Rourke, the World Cup Tour continues even after the loss of the United States in the tournament. At Opia, the scene is much different than any bar/ restaurant/ café that I have been to these last couple of weeks. If there could be a “scene” at a place watching the World Cup, then this is the venue. Most of the patrons were dressed in business attire or designer clothing, with a sprinkle of French National Team jerseys. At times I felt I was out on the town and just happen to be watching a game with really good-looking people.

But in saying that, I will say that the crowd was very knowledgeable of how important the game was to the team. Everyone in Opia knew that a win was necessary if they were going to have a chance for the next round. And when the goals came for the French, which seemed was just a matter of time, the well-dressed fans at Opia celebrated as if they were in the stadium supporting their team at a stadium in Germany. So if you’re looking for a great place to support the French National Soccer Team with some very good looking French people, I will highly recommend an afternoon at Opia. And if you happen to see Youri there, tell him I said hello and that I would very much appreciate if he could pull some strings for me to have a nice dinner at Opia some time.

Pictures coming soon.

UNITED STATES vs. GHANA
RBNY Locker room 10am

This was a painful game to sum up a painful tournament. As a fan and supporter of the team, I will admit that I’m extremely disappointed with the outcome of this tournament. I’m disappointed in some players who I know are much, much better than their performance over the last two weeks. I will also say that I don’t particularly agree with the tactical decisions of the coaching staff. I’m not ready to throw Arena under the bus and blame him completely. But, I must admit that a change is now necessary for our national team. Whether you like him or not, whether you agree with his leadership over this World Cup or not, I feel you must always respect his success. Eric Wynalda said that Arena lost his horseshoe this World Cup, but no one can have the success that this man has had over the years and claim it as just luck. I only think that after 8 years with the national team, fresh ideas are a must and a new leader is very much necessary now. At the end of the day, we had the potential to be successful, but collectively, from the coaches to the players, everyone must be held accountable. A new head coach outside of the current U.S coaching establishment may just offer what this country needs to take us to a new (hopefully better) level. But I will add again, to blame just Arena for the team’s performance is naïve and foolish. In questioning Arena, you should always remember 1999 and the team he inherited. We (U.S Soccer) are in a much better place than we were only eight years ago because of his work over the years.

We competed with three of the best teams in the world. But at the end of the day, we just were not good enough.

WEDNESDAY JUNE 21ST

KILLING TWO BIRDS WITH ONE STONE

World Cup Wednesday started for me in the Red Bull New York locker room rooting feverishly for Portugal. I’ll admit to you now. I have absolutely no love for the Mexican National Team. I look forward to Messi and his Argentina friends giving Mexico a good working over on Saturday. I respect the Mexican National Team and congratulate them for making the next round, but in saying that, I wish them nothing but frustration against an Argentina team that will go very far in this tournament.

The late afternoon was marked by a visit to MY local pub, O’Connells. I always seem to have a good time watching games at this Columbia University hangout. The crowd is always lively, usually entrenched with students from the countries who are playing that day, and the staff is always friendly. And while enjoying O’Connells and the game between Holland and Argentina, Pilar and I were able to run across Broadway to take care of our laundry during breaks in the action. I have added some pictures of the great crowd that was watching the game with us today.

The night began with a wonderful event near Madison Square Garden in support of New York Scores. NY Scores is a wonderful charity here in the city that I like to support as much as I can. An after school program in urban areas throughout the country, America Scores teaches kids the game while also enriching the kids with lessons on poetry. I encourage everyone to check them out at www.americascores.org.

My day finally ended with a visit to the MSG TV studios with Chris Henderson. Chris and I were on MSG for the Red Bull World Cup Special show to add comments about the tournament and USA’s chances tomorrow against Ghana. Go USA. Bruce, let Eddie run!

And tomorrow starts early for the team as we are expected to the locker room at Giants Stadium at 7:30am. The team is getting together early so we can practice before the big game. After practice, we will, as a team, watch the game. I assure you that all of us will be cheering on the team and wishing for their absolute best against a wonderful team in Ghana. Fingers will also be crossed, as we hope that Italy takes it to the Czech’s allowing the team to play Brazil in the next round of the tournament.

TUESDAY NIGHT, JUNE 2OTH

UNRELATED!!

After watching Germany today win in convincing fashion, Parke, O’Rourke, Cila, Stammler, Behonick and I traveled to Manhattan and Brooklyn for a photo shoot that will be in the September issue of Vanity Fair. I know this is completely unrelated to the World Cup, but I thought some of you might be interested in that news. It is late now, but I will tell you more about the day tomorrow. Here are some pictures that were taken during the day by Matt Chmura (head of PR for RBNY) and me.

SETH TAKING A BREAK

ON THE SET.

Tuesday June 20th Update:

Just finished practice early today and I am watching the Germany game as we speak. Klose is becoming a superstar of this World Cup. I'm very happy to see Klinsman have some success as well. I've had the pleasure of spending some time over the years with Juergen and I can tell you that he is nothing but class.

I won't be able to make O'Connells today for the England game at 3pm. I have an appearance in Brooklyn today which should be interesting to say the least. Without going into too many details: major magazine, a very bad haircut for 5 of us and Anne Leibowitz is involved. All I know is that the game better be turned on somewhere. I have my camera with me, so expect pictures and hopefully a great story.

Next Location:
Wednesday 3pm Holland and Argentina
O'Connells at 108th and Broadway

There is not chance I am going to be able to get in the door at Tonic(Holland) or Novacento(Argentina) so I'm staying close to home with my favorite local pub. O'Connells always has a good crowd and great drink specials for those who partake. Look forward to seeing you there tomorrow.

SUNDAY JUNE 18th
(France vs. Korea)

Location: One and One, East Village
1st and 1st, the nexus of the universe

Joined by Pilar (wife), Evan (brother-in-law), Graham and Brett (good friends), we meet for lunch and a game on an absolutely perfect day in the city. I don’t really know the exact weather conditions, but my weatherman alter ego is guessing 80 degrees with not a cloud in the sky. The flip-flops and a smile from knowing RBNY finally won a game the night before is on. Forecast for the day: good times with good friends.

One and One is a great casual place to see a game in the East Village. We were hoping to make the Brazil and Australia game at Sunburnt Café, known to be an amazing place to see Australia play, but was unable to make the game in time because I was busy saying goodbye to my mom and niece who were visiting for the weekend. Brett told me that the specialty of the house was the fish and chips brunch special that included a fantastic mimosa, so I decided to give them a try. Everyone else decided that only a Bloody Mary was in order.

The crowd was lively and the place was full, so we decided to take up a great table outside with a clear view of one of the many TVs that One and One have showing the game. If you watched the game, you know as well as I that France was robbed on the one that crossed the line. It was a great save by the Korean keeper, but still a goal anyway. It was only until the 2nd half did I realize that the crowd at One and One was about equal in support of the two teams. The Korean crowd was quiet and reserved the entire first half, but came around after their first goal was scored in the second.

At one point early in the second half, we were intently watching the game when something quite unusual and rather funny happened. Coming from the nail salon a few doors down, an Asian woman walked close to where we are sitting and looked up to the TV. She saw that Korea was trailing 1-0, blurted out “oh s**t” and promptly left to go back to the nail salon. She came back periodically to check the score…just another example of how interest in the World Cup is on the minds of more New Yorkers than you might think.

The game proved to be not nearly as enjoyable as my company for the day. One and One offered a great venue to watch a game, but I would suggest that if you are planning to make a trip to watch a game in the East Village, then Zum Schneider for a Germany game or Sunburnt Café for an Australia game are probably better options. Enjoy some of the pictures.


Next Location:
O'Connell's on 108th and Broadway at 3pm for England and Sweden.

I know the game does not mean much, but I really want to see the strike combo of Rooney and Owens.

Watching the game at STOUT!

MAN DOWN!!

I apologize that I have been so delayed in posting an update but I think I have a good excuse. My wife just arrived to NYC from being in Dallas the last three months finishing her school year as a kindergarten teacher. Coupled with her arrival is an apartment full of nothing but boxes from our move to the city. Fear not though, I have been taking notes of the games my wife and I have been going to over the last week and I will be updating very shortly. This weekend my mom and niece also visited from Virginia to join in on the World Cup tour. Now that my digital camera has arrived, I will start adding pictures to help show what a great place NYC can be to see World Cup soccer in the city.

DAY #5

TIME FOR A SUB

Every so often I am treated to an intern who is capable of carrying a conversation. And since we, Red Bull New York, are graced with the presence of one Scott Hammer, I thought we would put him on assignment for Day #5 of the blog. Scott is not just an intern, but some may say a revelation in the front office in Secaucus. Here is not only a bright young man, who hailing from Syracuse has a wonderful future ahead of himself in Public Relations, but he is also one of the few interns I have met over the years who has yet tried to steal a sign ball and/or jersey from the team in the first month of work. Scott, I thank you for your ethics. But more importantly, I thank you for covering me at Opia with Youri today as I picked my wife up from the airport. Here is “the Hammer’s” entry:


No sport on Earth has fans that compare to soccer. Passionate, teeming with enthusiasm, and always 100 percent behind their team, soccer fans are ready to explode at a moment's notice.

And then there's the French.

At least that's the impression I gained from watching France's opening match of the World Cup against Switzerland at Opia in New York City. Don't get me wrong, les Bleus hold a special place in the hearts and minds of the French, as we saw after their World Cup victory in 1998 when they flooded the Place de la Concorde in celebration. But like with so many other things, the French are characterized by a certain -- 'je ne sais quoi' when expressing their love for their national team.

To start, Opia is unlike any other 'bar' I have seen that opened its doors for World Cup viewing parties. With three expansive rooms for viewing, there was plenty of seating available for fans to sit and enjoy lunch while watching the game. A tireless wait staff provided patrons with intricate dessert platters and fine wines. Some fans sported the national team's threads, but most had obviously skirted out from work to see the game and were still in business attire. Every nation around the world should enjoy lunch breaks like the French.

For at least one fan in attendance, though, the restaurant could have been serving bowls of Cheerios and he wouldn't have cared in the least. New York Red Bulls midfielder Youri Djorkaeff, who was an integral part of that 1998 team that brought home the nation's first World Cup title, was focused on the performance of his new teammates. Youri is part of the furniture at Opia, and his presence alone seemed to remind his compatriots exactly what les Bleus are capable of when it comes to football.

As for the match itself, it became increasingly clear as the second half wore on that no amount of national spirit would will the French team to a victory over the Swiss. A back line with too many gaps is often referred to as Swiss cheese defense, but on this day, Switzerland's defensive unit bore no resemblance to the porous dairy product that it is famous for producing. Thierry Henry and Zinedine Zidane (hearing shouts of "Allez, Zizou!" never gets old) could not help the French muster that golden scoring opportunity and the game ended in a 0-0 draw.

Still, the last few minutes of the match provided a chance to see exactly what French football fans are all about. This wasn't a group of French people like the ones we see during the Tour de France - smiling and waving to riders as they pass through their villages, cheering the spirit of competition. No, these fans wanted to be dazzled. Some fans mentioned that in soccer there are good ties and there are bad ties - the unmistakable opinion of the group that this was certainly the latter.

As I walked down the restaurant's stone stairway to street-level, I half expected to walk through the glass doors and find myself on the scenic banks of the Seine. No such luck. The harsh noise and fast pace of New York City snapped me back into reality, which should tell you just how enveloping the atmosphere of Opia was. The only thing missing was the chance to see the French supporters celebrate a goal. C'est la vie, I guess.



NEXT STOP:
Wednesday, June 14
The Parlour (Germany vs. Poland 3 p.m. ET)
50 W 86th St
New York, NY 10024-3104
(212) 580-8923
Cross Street: Between Broadway and West End Avenue

I've been running around with my head cut off the last couple of days, so I have decided to stay close to home for the Germany vs. Poland game at 3 p.m. I have heard nothing but great things about this UWS establishment. I look forward to seeing everyone there for what should be a great game.