A Day in the Life: Blizzard Soccer

It remains a bit quiet on the blog front, for some reason day after day of skiing does not seem to lend itself to the same degree unique experiences to share.

We have been ever busy, i ski pretty much every day and have just gone over the 500,000 vertical feet mark for the year on my season's pass. Have started doing a little side-country tours out of the gates at Breckenridge, which has been wonderful. For those not up on the ski lingo, side-country is a type of skiing near, but not inbounds at resorts. In essence, you get a healthy head start on the run by using the resorts' lifts and then head outside of the boundaries to ski stuff that is not part of the resort. This terrain is not patrolled by ski patrol for avalanches nor safety. It combines nice parts of the two types of skiing that i love, at resorts and in the backcountry, and has been really enjoyable.

Anyway, i wanted to share a truly memorable experience that i had with a number of friends last week. We were fortunate, or fools, depending on your point of view, to attend the epic U.S. Mens National Team soccer game against Costa Rica in Denver last friday, March 22nd. This was a huge match for the USMNT, which had not been playing very well for a long time and was in danger of falling behind in their quest to qualify for next year's World Cup in Brasil.

One classic international soccer trick to for teams/countries to schedule their games in locations that are most favorable for their particular players. Sometimes this means playing games in sweltering heat, other times at dizzying altitudes to exhaust non-acclimatized teams. The US Soccer federation put this particular world cup qualie in Denver to try and get some of that altitude benefit, while also hoping for colder temps to frustrate Costa Rica's players who are not used to winter.

Well, they got what they were looking for, and more.

A few hours before the game, Nordy, Greg and i were chilling in a great bar/restaurant watching March Madness. We noticed it started to snow, which was going to make things interesting. I had been monitoring the weather, like a good ski bum, and knew a big storm was coming in. In fact, the previous 2 days had been amazing skiing with powder up to my knee in spots. In my mind, i thought, 'and so it begins'.

As the afternoon turned to evening, the snow picked up a bit, but nothing crazy. We bundled up and headed to the game with a couple other friends. I was wearing ski pants, long underwear tops and bottoms, a sweater, a puffy jacket, my favorite shell for the wetness, a beanie and gloves. Everyone was similarly prepared and as we got to the game, it was obvious everyone in teh crowd was equally prepared. Well except for a few crazies in t shirts.

Getting into the stadium, there was an incredible energy, with a certain majestic quality as the moderate snow was framed nicely by the high powered lights. The field had been cleared, sort of, and it was game time.

The game started well, with the US getting a timely follow up goal from their captain, ol' Clint, at about the 15th minute. At this time, we could mostly make out things going on at the other end of the pitch. The snow slowly picked up however, and things were getting tougher to see. Amazingly, some of the US players were wearing only shorts and t shirts, true tough guys. The field started getting a little covered, and the play fell off as a result, leaving us all feeling good about the US's 1-0 lead at halftime.

As the half time whistle blew, Nordy took off his gloves and was dismayed to see that part of his hand was a disturbing pale color. He headed straight for the bathroom to get them under the air dryer. It was a full on party in the bathroom, with a NOLA style marching band belting away and about a hundred dudes using this time to get out of the elements temporarily. I was battling a little numbness in my feet, since i had not brought my most rugged boots down to denver. Whoops.

The crowd for the entire game was amazing, singing chats and very attentive. Even though it was well below freezing and the snow was now puking down at an impressive rate, the energy never flagged. There was a shared bond over both the USMNT and the crazy situation we all found ourselves. The second half started and the field was starting to get quite covered in snow. At one point about fifteen minutes into the 2nd half, all of the players came together with the coachers and refs and apparently debated whether to continue. This is America, so of course the game continued.

By the last bit of the game, the snow was literally inches high everywhere, and maybe up to 5' in the less used corners. Players were slipping around like kids, even though there are athletes at the pinnacle of their profession. We could no longer see the other end of the field clearly, and the i can't imagine how the players kept their focus. The Costa Ricans scored a goal that was ruled offside, how did the ref see through the blizzard to tell? Who knows, but he did and it was a key moment as the US held on for a critical 1-0 victory. The players were jubilant, and i think i saw a snow angel out there.

Overall, it was an unforgettable sports moment and memory, so fortunate to share it with Nordy, Greg, Jos, Dave and Jamie, and thousands of our closest friends.

 

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