Why the January Friendly is so important

LA tailgate. In the sun. In Jan. Rough life.

4. It started with four, four years ago. 4 guys driving down to LA from San Luis Obispo on a cloudy January day in 2008 to watch some American soccer. 2007 was a good year to be on the West Coast, there was a full first team friendly against China in San Jose (the last full first team friendly on the West Coast? I think so) before the Gold Cup and a Gold Cup group stage match at the HDC. 2008 was a new year, and we were off to support the US. I remember the weather sucking and us watching Donovan score a PK directly in front of US. We drove home that night after yelling a lot and me enjoying the game but being disappointed that we were some of the only fans standing and cheering the entire time. The following year our group more then doubled to ten to see Sacha bag a hattie and us to yell SASSSSCCCHHHHAAAAAAAAAA all night. We got there earlier, brought food and drinks and knocked the ball around in the parking lot. Some other American fans forgot their ball and asked if they could join us, we said certainly. We shotgunned beers with them as an exchange of goodwill and American soccer. What is better then that?

Last year was different. I was no longer in San Luis Obispo. I didn’t know if anyone was gonna come down as I was the driving force behind the trip and could no longer stop my friends from drinking too much the night before. I boarded a plane from SF and communicated to the guys I knew where gonna be there that we wanted to start tailgating by 3pm. By midafternoon, 20 friends and friends of friends were there. WTF?!??!?! Suddenly this was now a movement. We also ran into some of the American Outlaws who were out in force. We sat with them, chanted with them. I got to meet Dan of FBM. The US lost an ugly game, but our section was loud and strong. and NO ONE SAT! It was glorious. We drank too much, but I remember flying home feeling satisfied with the performance of American soccer fans. This trip was now a tradition, and multiple people throughout 2010 had mentioned how stoked they were for January 2011 at the HDC.

Our crew swells in size

Here we are, a day after the friendly, and I am inspired. The American Outlaws section sold out. When I say sold out, I mean so full we were sneaking people in with tickets that other people had so we could pack our rows even tighter. I never sat down. Not once. We had friends that could not get into the section. The Outlaws got the ball rolling at Off Campus Pub and Shawn and I cruised down a little after one pm. The place was packed! Tons of AO members from all over, AO Bay Area did us proud by rolling double digits deep and there were more bandannas there then a hipster hangout. Not only that, the numbers kept growing. Post cookout and a couple beers (and a coupppppple more for Shawn) we rolled to our traditional spot in the back left corner of the parking lot. Sweet tea vodka and lemonade was consumed, our now annual gross vodka shot (thanks for being 2011’s GVS, Smirnoff Strawberry) was taken as everyone slammed it, then desperately hunted for a chaser, and we bumped some good music, knocked the ball around and enjoyed the 70 degree weather. By the time we headed in, our tailgate was 30something deep in glorious American soccer fans. We crammed as many peeps as we could into the US section (and crammed a couple more into our automobiles in the parking lot) and enjoyed the most massive and loud AO section I have been a part of. 18,500 tickets sold, but unlike 2010 it was not 90% Honduras fans, American fans were out in force. Chile had nice representation too, but it was different this year. After a good game with terrible refereeing, we plotted our post game drinking session – Pasadena and USC bars respectively. We missed out on the AO postgame bars to enjoy the company of some good friends which was nice. As I jumped on a plane back to SF this afternoon, I saw a US shirt. Then a guy with a US shirt and a scarf. I read reports that LAX was full of US gear this morning. And I smiled.

The Next Generation of US Soccer Fans

I certainly hope the US January friendly continues to be a mainstay in the US international calendar. It’s now an event in our lives, something that was a facebook event and something I got multiple texts from people who couldn’t make it and apologized. More of us will be gone from SLO next year, but I think we will all find our way down to LA. You see, the energy and atmosphere of January in LA is like nothing else. The weather is gorgeous enough that you can wear a jersey and shorts up until game time. The West Coast is always underrepresented when it comes to international friendlies throughout the year. However, it was very evident that US fans care, and will show up in large numbers to see the US play in Cali. The American Outlaws did a great job of pulling people together. You see, the January friendly isn’t about the team so much as it is about the fans. We get a first peak at a lot of young guys who will likely play in front of many sold out crowds in incredibly critical games. In return, we get to give them the support they deserve, the loudness from AO and other US fans that not every city/state will bring when it’s clearly not the first team out there. The January friendly is almost an apology for the West Coast not getting a ton of international games. Thing is, we have embraced it. We love it. We get to unite together in a way that most of us don’t get to on the West Coast, to stand up for and with our team. While Bob is out evaluating young guys, we are bringing in young US fans who get a taste of what US soccer fans are like. We don’t have that opportunity when games are in DC or Dallas or NYC, but when the US comes to LA, so do we. As my friend Brett texted me today, “First of many US soccer games together!”, that is what the January friendly is all about – bringing US soccer fans together and exposing new ones to the glory that is American soccer.

WE LOVE JANUARY FRIENDLIES!

Big ups to the crew who has been there for multiple years – Chamo, Nuge, Trev, Clay, Laz and Natron. You guys have all helped bring new peeps to see the game and enjoy the most fun US games I have been to. You can’t beat drinking, beer throwing, stankylegging, parking lot juggling and truck bed sleeping in LA can you?