They say all good things come to an end. As much as I don’t want to believe that saying as true, it was accurate when it came to our World Cup quest.
This post will have a little about soccer and a lot about the rest of the fun, crazy, and beyond random happenings we ran into in our last few days in The Peg.
I will start by saying this was a trip I will never forget as long as I live. Even though there wasn’t much to do in Winnipeg by the end of our stay, we still had a great time. We watched seven matches with some of the best players in the world just feet in front of us on the pitch leaving their all, contemplated the coaching decisions of some of the highest ranked and paid coaches in the game of football, and made new friends from all over the world.
One of my favorite memories from our trip would be the day we got to watch New Zealand play. The night before the game Jessie and I made signs for Hannah Wilkinson and Erin Nayler who play for the Lady Ferns. Hannah is an outside mid who plays at the University of Tennessee and Erin is the goalkeeper for NZL. Flashback to our St. Louis trip a few months ago, we got to watch our very own USWNT play against the New Zealand national team, which is how we knew we wanted to cheer them on. After watching Erin play just one game, I knew she was a keeper to look out for at the cup. Her technical ability to read the game is almost perfect compared to most other goalkeepers. Jessie actually got to meet Hannah a year ago when UT played at WKU as well as when we were in St. Louis, so we were really excited for this match to see two of our favorite players on the field.
This game was a make or break deal for the Lady Ferns. A tie or a loss would end their World Cup shot. That is where this tournament is really unfortunate. Because of the points and grouping system, they played some of the toughest competition to draw in the group stage. They had previously tied the Canadian national team who are ranked high enough to win it all. However, they ended with a 2-2 tie, a heartbreaker. A team that can hang and almost beat a team who could win it all, sent home because of points when you have teams getting beat 5-0 who get to continue into the sweet 16 knockout stage.
As we made the posters we tweeted Erin and Hannah a picture of them in hopes that they would see them at the game. A few minutes later we were invited to sit with the NZL fans by Erin’s boyfriend! We got really excited as he started sending me pictures on twitter of their posters to look for and told us where they would be sitting. Before the game started the next day we went over to their fan section and met the team’s families, discuss our trip to Canada, hear about their experiences so far, and snap some pictures with them. During warm ups Erin and Hannah both spotted me and Jess in the stands, so we were really hoping at that point we would get to talk to them after the game. Thanks to Erin’s boyfriend and family, plus my loud mouth screaming their names, Hannah told us to come up into the stands behind their bench to talk and get pictures. As we ran, and jumped, half way around the stadium and over rows of chairs, we finally made it over to their side. Jessie finally got to talk to Hannah again and I got to meet her, then Erin came over and gave me her keeper gloves, we got some pictures together, she signed my sign, and we just got to talk for a minute. I found out that she also really looked up to Hope Solo growing up and she is one of her biggest influences when it comes to the game. Hannah invited us to come back to their hotel at the Delta so she could give Jessie her game jersey, so after we said goodbye to our new friends we did just that. The smile on Jessie’s face when Hannah handed her that number 17 signed kit was priceless!
The excitement didn’t stop there though, during the NZL game there was fan who jumped the fence and ran onto the pitch. He did a flip in the middle of the field and ran around until security caught him. Absolutely hilarious. When they finally got him tackled (after he tackled one of their own) they drug him into the tunnel and handcuffed him, which we got to watch happen right in front of us! The players were at a complete standstill, hands in the air like “Is this really happening?” They didn’t show all of that happening on TV so I’m glad we were there to witness it.
But it still doesn’t stop there! Also during that game the China coach got thrown out for being out of his coaching box, tried to grab the ball during stoppage time away from the NZL defender when she went to do a throw in. As he got thrown out he walked back the NZL head coach, tried to shake his hand, and of course he wasn’t having it. That did however make it onto Sports Center!
World Cup Outtakes
As I mentioned in a previous post, the jumbotron was having a few problems with spelling the players names out.. Whitney Engen is definitely not Engine General. At another game it ended up saying “Ethiopia yall, Ethiopia I cant.” So I made that the joke of that game, Ethiopia I cant.
I think we went to every pet store in Winnipeg. When there is nothing to do, you go check out the animals and play with them at Petsmart, Pet Traders, and Pet Value.
We found a sports bar that we ate at a few times called Wild Wing. The food was delicious, a great price, and the manager there used to be the manager at The Cav, so we immediately bonded.
When getting ready one morning for a game I was using my hairdryer and tripped the breaker, for the entire upstairs of the Cav.
We met Jerramy Stevens, Hope Solo’s husband. He used to play in the NFL and still signs his name with #86 when you ask him for his autograph.
Jessie met Jrue Holiday, Lauren Holiday’s husband. He plays in the NBA and tried to sign Jessie’s book with the cap still on the sharpie.
We learned that Portage Ave. where we had been spending a lot of our time is where the druggies hang out.
During the Germany game there was a fan who knew nothing about soccer but yelled the ENTIRE time. I was so annoyed. NUMBER SEVEN!! NUMBER FOURTEEN!! The ENTIRE 90 minutes.
Someone else made Erin Nayler a poster that said “I would Nayler” and her boyfriend responded with “Dreams are free buddy, dreams are free!” Classic.
During the China game we were sitting beside their cheering section. They literally had T-Shirts made. All red and said “China Winnipeg Cheering Team” – their leader was crazy and stood the entire time yelling and didn’t even watch the game.
Walmart closes at 6 PM on Sundays.
Jessie kept smelling our posters because we had scented markers, and almost told Hannah to smell them. I don’t think she would have got a kit if she would have told her that.
I held a snake at Petland.
The NZL coach would not participate in the handshake for peace.
There was no fan HQ like they have in Vancouver. Super mad about it.
Thailand’s team looked like a bunch of little Kling’s running around everywhere. SO TINY.
I would pay to see Thailand’s coach vs. Boone Dog in a match up.
We met people from: Memphis, Colorado, New Jersey, New York, New Zealand, Texas, Wisconsin, and probably more we just didn’t write it down.
And of course, one more shout out to Jenny Taft for reading my blog, waving first and talking to me again at the second game. She’s such a sweetheart. Maybe we will cross paths again one day. I told her to tell Hope I said hi. J
And finally, while headed home we pulled up the next USWNT game on Jessie’s phone seconds before Abby scored. Rampone, Boxxy, and Abby were all on the pitch at the same time. These women are legends. Playing in the FOURTH World Cup, old enough to be some of our players moms, mothers themselves, Boxxy fighting Lupus, and Abby playing her first 90 minute matches in months.
I will write a summary post to sum up our adventure, but these past few days have been wonderful. Thank you Winnipeg for the experience, we wish it didn’t have to end.
Life of Slav 