Chris Hoggan, Shawn, and I dropped the Associate Dean, Dr. Hotchkiss and Dr. Nelson to a meeting with the University President in Guadalajara in the hired van and continued on to A FUTBOL MATCH!!!
Unfortunately, the top team in Guadalajara (and maybe the best in Mexico), Chivas, played on Saturday night, but we were able to see a game between the University of Guadalajara (UAG Los Tecos) and a team from Mexico City (Necaxa). Its interesting because even though the UAG team is sponsored by the University and is only students (similar to BYU's team), they compete in the top Mexican league. These two teams are in the bottom four in the league, so they are threatened with league relegation, so it was an exciting and intense game. So we are dropped off by the van and start walking to the stadium, and a scalper is there. We were planning on getting General Admission tickets for $8, but he sold us Preferred Admission tickets ($15) for $10. We asked him where the seats were, and he pointed to the middle of the Los Tecos section, which was sweet. So, as I had been looking for a Los Tecos shirt all day in preparation for the game, I finally found a cheap one ($6) that fit me. Previously, I'd been able to find ones that just didn't fit right. I was so excited to be at a Mexican Premier League match with a T-shirt with the home team's logo. I was ready to sing, dance, and shout. We got in, and honestly, we were about 15' from the field! IT WAS AWESOME!!! We've heard that fans are intense, right? Well, the second that he refs came out of the tunnel and onto the field, a guy in the front row screamed "Tu madre teines juevos!". Before they had made a call, good or bad, before the game had already begun, this gentleman inherently knew that these refs would be subpar and that, indeed, the center ref's mother did have testicles.The atmosphere was already electric, with drums beating and the team songs being sung. What surprised us was when the home team came out, and the fans all around us continued to razz the players. It was then that we realized that something had gone horribly wrong. There had been a miscalculation made. In our excitement and vigor at being at the game, we had paid little attention to the apparel of those around us. Apparently, we were on the visitors' side of the stadium. Three sore gringo thumbs sticking out in a sea of Mexicans, cheering for the wrong team, and abomination of abominations, I was wearing the wrong colors! In our defense, the jersey's everyone was wearing were almost identical to the Chivas jerseys, so naturally, I thought that since neither team was very good, they were just wearing the area's dominant team's jersey. Kinda how you might see a Yankees or Red Sox cap at any other ballpark. Also, the Necaxa jerseys being worn on the field by the players was dramatically different than those on the fan's backs. Nevertheless, we found ourselves all too conspicuous. Now I wished that I had been entirely unable to find a suitable Tecos shirt. Luckily, in addition to being unusually aware of a random futbol official's mother's reproductive organs, Mexicans also know that Gringos are, by in large, 'estupido', and thankfully, those around us were more amused by our dimwitted misfortune than incited to increase said misfortune. For this, I will be forever thankful.
The game was absolutely fantastic. The first half was quite slow, but the home team got a PK about 15 minutes into the second period. The widespread uproar when the ref indicated the spot kick was quickly outmatched by the pandemonium caused when the Tecos player missed the frame entirely! From this point, the intensity of the game was fantastic, with players flying all over the place, and us only a weak-sauce little girl throw from the action! The home team finally scored on an opportunistic counter-attack after the visitor took a corner, with one player racing down the length of the field to send a pinpoint cross into the box, where another stiker headed it in. Not two minutes later, a Necaxa player hammered in a volley from about 12 yards. The score ended at 1-1, which made me happy, because I didn't want to be a convenient scapegoat for the drunken mob around me that had just witnessed its side losing to a bunch of college kids that couldn't' make it as pros. Anyway, I left feeling like I had had one of the more rich experiences of my life. I suspect that I will never forget the sounds, the smell, and the sights of that evening. Shawn and Chris echoed that sentiment. We had worked to provide ourselves with this opportunity (no one else wanted to go, and we had to give up doing some other cool stuff to go) and we certainly have no regrets. We finished the evening at a taco stand where I got 3 beef tacos for $1.80, and walked home past the majestic Cathedral Guadalajara, and slept a very satisfied sleep.
