It was men's football, and until the week of the game, I didn't even know who we would be watching... All I knew is that we were going to the Olympics, and I was excited. And even more excited that I would not have to trek to Beijing to do it!
Now truth be told, if given the choice of any Olympic sport to see, football would not have been my first choice... Football has grown on me since being in China (Women's World Cup last year, Olympic this year). I am even falling in with all the Euros here in Shanghai and calling it 'football' as opposed to 'soccer'.
My top choices, unrestricted by cost and logistics, would have been gymnastics and swimming, both second place to Team USA basketball, of course!
That being said, we jumped immediately at the offer of tickets to both experience the Olympic games, as well as for me to grow my budding affinity for soccer. Steph had been to the summer Olympics in the US in 1984, so this wasn't a first for her, but she grew up playing soccer, so she naturally enjoys the sport - compared to me, who's still trying to convince himself 'offside' is a good rule.
Our driver was concerned about being able to get us close to the stadium. He had heard from other people in town that there were many roads closed around Shanghai Stadium, and as was no surprise to us, there was no real way to know what roads would be closed at what times. So on the way to the stadium we hatched a plan for Daniel to drop us off at a Metro (subway) station a few stops away, and then we would meet him back there after the game using the Metro again.
This plan worked well, as it was obvious that there were several roads closed. We exited the Metro station and while we had to walk quite a ways, it was easy to find the stadium and where we needed to enter.
The Chinese do a number of things very well, and among them is moving large amounts of people efficiently. As upwards of 85,000 people descended on the stadium, things were very orderly and very efficient. There was a tremendous security presence. They were helpful when people asked directions and they were EVERYWHERE! There is no doubt that despite the tragedy in Beijing (stabbing of the US tourist), the Chinese are taking security very seriously and using their vast 'people resources' to provide what many would call an overwhelming amount of security.
When we got to the stadium we qued up and went through what seemed just like airport security. Bags through an x-ray machine and people through a metal detector, and after the metal detector, everyone was 'wand scanned' as well. Once inside it was easy to find our seats, there were plenty of ushers and people to assist.
Before the match was the traditional pageantry - Olympic theme song, national anthems, etc. Before the pageantry was an interesting activity - on the big screen they went through the basic rules of football. It seemed that they expected that there would be a number of people that were 'coming to the Olympics' just to 'come to the Olympics'... so in response they provided a basic understanding of the rules. I would have loved this for Judo, since it's on all the time and I don't understand the scoring one bit!
The Chinese are evidently big fans of the Argentinian football team. There were jerseys all over the place, Chinese with their faces painted with the Argentinian flag and chants supporting Argentina throughout.
I preferred to root for the Netherlands. There are 2 basic reasons I defied Darin's advice on who to root for (referenced in a previous blog):
1) I love to root for the underdog - also the reason I don't do pools for the NCAA tourney, I really want to see the #16 knock off the #1
2) Having been to the Netherlands on a business trip, a friend and I realized that everything in Holland is 'better than it has to be'. This takes a little explaining, so bear with me.
When we drove from Germany to Amsterdam on a business trip (also referenced in a previous blog) we noticed that in the Netherlands/Holland they took the time, money and energy to do things beautifully. A prime example was the cement walls next to interstates. As we drove through Germany, these cement walls were just that - gray walls. In the US sometimes we make an effort to scrawl designs in the walls to make them look like rocks - but really it's just cement walls. These barriers in Holland were beautiful mosaics or paintings - just 'better than it had to be'.
That became our description of Netherlands/Holland from that point forward: "Holland, better than it has to be' versus our description of other places, 'just enough to get by'.
Thus I was pulling for Holland.
We got really lucky in the fact that the storm that had caused a 1 hour and 40 minute rain/lightning delay in the Women's quarterfinal the night before had passed/subsided such that the game started right on time, and there was no delay during the match.
The match was tied 1-1 at half time, with many exciting shots on goal to go along with the 2 scores. The second half proceeded scoreless. In Olympic football, in the quarters/semis/finals, when tied at the end of regulation you play 2 extra 15 minute periods. I had incorrectly assumed it was 'sudden death' - meaning the first team to score in OT won. If both 'extra time' periods expire and the match is still tied, you move to penalty kicks to decide the match.
Argentina (like the US women the night before versus Canada) scored a goal during the first 15 minute 'extra time' period. Holland had one 15 minute period remaining to tie the match and force penalty kicks... Alas, one thing that is not 'better than it has to be' is the Netherlands Men's Football team. They could not score a tying goal and ended up losing 2-1 in 2 extra time periods.
It was a great match, and a great experience for my first Olympic experience.
We headed out of the stadium - which was, as usual another example of efficiency - and made it to the last Metro train so we could meet Daniel a few stops away. They held the train an extra long time to give people the opportunity to catch it... This was not enjoyable, as the heat of the evening, and the heat of the bodies was amplified by the crush of people on the train - it was hot and sweaty!
Luckily we were off the train in a few short stops and back into the car with Daniel and air conditioning heading back home.
Daniel filled us in on the 100M men's final that was run earlier that evening. He explained the ease with which the Jamaican athlete won the 100M and set the new world record... unfortunately, he ended the story with 'we think he take medicine'. The ease and cushion with which the man won immediately opened suspicion of steroid use. This is the legacy of athletes like Ben Johnson and Marion Jones (and countless others) - when someone does something amazing - something that has never been done before, the first thing that pops into people's mind is 'they must be juiced'.
Luckily the IOC has done a tremendous amount of testing of the Jamaican team due in part to the very underdeveloped testing program in Jamaica, as well as the knowledge that the team was in contention for numerous medals. The testing has been consistent enough that the Jamaican officials are complaining... Hopefully they see this for what it is - a good thing... hopefully in a matter of days we will be seeing stories about how all the athletes passed all their tests and we can assume that the results are legit!
My first Olympic games was limited to one event. The remainder of my experience this year as been Chinese commentary on CCTV and a little SlingBox, but it's been awesome!
Cheers,
Joe
