I had my first experience with early morning (EST) English Premier League futbol today. Met up with a friend at Nevada Smiths in the East Village for an 8:15am match between Liverpool and Man United at Old Trafford. It was like another world.
Not many people in the streets on a Sunday morning in the city. I caught the M14 crosstown bus and got off on 2nd Ave, then realized that the bar was on 3rd Ave. If you've lived in New York long enough you learn to appreciate the city streets without the throngs of people. You only get to enjoy this for a few hours each day in the early morning hours. As I walked toward Nevadas I may have seen about 10 people along the way. 3rd Ave was very quiet with every one of the shops and restaurants shuddered. So quiet, in fact, that it made me second guess whether or not the bar was actually on 3rd Ave. I approached Nevadas and noticed that the windows had been blacked out with large sheets of black paper, but I had seen two people enter through the front door shortly before I arrived. I couldn't hear any noise coming from inside the bar, but as I pulled the door open the place was jammed with futbol fans! There had to be at least two hundred people! I pulled my ID out for the doorman and he waved me to step inside and closed the door behind. The only light in the place was coming from the numerous flatscreen TVs placed around the room. To be honest, I have watched afternoon matches there and never before have there been a tenth of the number of patrons as there were this morning. It felt like an untold secret to walk into this other world.
The doorman mentioned to me that there was room downstairs to sit and I headed down to find there were several seats at the bar. I found a spot near the center of the bar, pulled up a chair and ordered a pint. The match started and shortly after my friend arrived. I thought the enviroment was great! It had the dark pub feel where people did not care about how you looked. They came to watch a great match and have a few pints. As the crowd started to filter in I noticed that there was no one that was being loud and obnoxious. Granted, it was 8:30 in the morning, most people in town either still sleeping or just waking up. Everyone was completely enthralled by the match going on it was a very different feel than watching any of the American sports such as baseball, football or basketball. You have to be dedicated to get up this early to watch your team play. The match was super exciting, to say the least. After a slow start a header scored off a Ryan Giggs corner in the forty-first minute by the Bulgarian, Dimitar Berbatov, put United ahead. The second half, which would see four goals scored, was what made the match a classic. In the fifty-ninth minute it was Berbatov, again, with an outstanding overhead kick to put United up 2-0. Steven Gerrard would bring Liverpool back to within one on a penalty kick just five short minutes later. Again, just six minutes following this goal it was Gerrard who found the corner of United's goal to bring Liverpool back even in just ten minutes of playing time. How lucky am I to have seen such an amazing match! Berbatov would head one in the eighty-fourth minute to seal the victory for Man U and give him a hat trick. The first for a Red Devil in 64 years against Liverpool.
The great thing about soccer is that it is a game about placement. It's about knowing where your teammate will be before you've even cocked your leg to make the cross. I love the game because it is so simple, yet every shot on goal brings the energy through the roof. I've always wished that I would have played as a kid. I am, however, excited that I've fallen in love with the game even at this time in my life. As I left Nevadas and walked out into the bright sunlit morning. I was back in the real world. I strolled home and felt very lucky to have been, even for a short time, a part of this other world. I told a few people at work today about it and they seemed just as blown away as I was when I described it to them. I will definitely be back for an early morning match again sometime soon. Where the fuck else are you going to have an experience like this in the States. Probably not too many places.
