El Clasico

Well I know its been a coulpe of weeks now, but I figured I'd hit all you soccer fans out there with a quick update on El Clasico and how things are shaping up for Barcelona in the Champions League.

When I last wrote, I was planning to try my luck at scalping a ticket to El Clasico, the big rivalry game between FC Bacelona and Real Madrid. While there was no repeat of the our extreme good fortune from the Chelsea match, I did manage to score a ticket. I even spent way less than I thought I would have to because the guy selling the carnat was a retiree named Juan who wanted to go into the stadium right when it opened -- two hours before kickoff -- rather than remain outside soaking up the atmosphere. His wife had an upset stomach and was unable to make the game, so he was just looking to off-load the ticket and get inside. As it turns out, I was really a stroke of good fortune for me. I had already spent a good hour or two reveling outside, so making my way to the seats early was no bother at all.

Juan said he liked to go to the seats early for El Clasico because he had bad knees and didn't like fighting the rush of the crowd right before kickoff. Plus, he said El Clasico was such a special atmosphere that he liked to be one of the first people in the stadium, then watch it slowly fill up with 100,000 people during the build-up to kickoff.

As a total tangent, my college buddies Brett Johnson and Alex Benson might recognize this theory as something Linfield Athletic Director Ad Rutschmann suggested we do when we went to see the Oregon Ducks play in the 1994 Rose Bowl against Penn State. The much ridiculed "Ad Rutschmann Theory" focused on watching the Rose Bowl fill up with all the beautiful colors and the pageantry... blah, blah, blah. We were 19 years old with nothing but tailgate partying under the beautiful SoCal sun on our minds. Needless to say we made our way to our seats moments before kickoff. Which was unfortuantely just in time to watch Ki-Jana Carter go 80 yards for a touchdown on Penn State's first play from scrimmage, but I digress.

Anyway, my experience with Juan at the Camp Nou was actually quite spectacular. Depsite his earlier pleas about his bad knees, he seemed to take great pride in showing me around the entire stadium. I told him I had been there before, but that didn't stop him. He insisted on showing me little nooks and crannies of the grounds that I would have never discovered on my own.

As kickoff approached, the Ad Rutschmann Theory actually proved true for El Clasico. What a sight! To top it off, everyone was given color coordinated flags on their seats to hold up when they played the FC Barcelona/Catalunya anthem before kickoff. I had not a clue what most of the words were, but they showed them on the scoreboard as the music played, so I Hooked-On-Phonicked my way through the singing.

When the game got under way, the bad blood between the two teams was apparent immediately. Quite early, Roberto Carlos, one of my favorite players for Real Madrid managed to get sent-off for arguing a tackle in the box that gave FC Barcelona a 1-0 lead on a Ronaldinho penalty kick.

Barcelona proceeded to hammer Real Madrid for the rest of the game, but couldn't quite put them away. Sure enough, Real Madrid made them pay when Ronaldo equalized with a breakaway goal against the run of play that he finished with the cheekiest of chip shots over the FC Barcelona goalkeeper.

All in all, the night was a magical event that was only diluted by the 1-1 result. I tried to explain to Juan the American sports saying about how a tie is like kissing your sister. By the horrified look on his 70-year-old face, I am pretty sure that one got lost in translation.