Sunday, June 19, 2016

A Weekend of Futbol and Volleyball

It was pretty good weekend for sports in New York City.  On Friday, Copa America came to Met Life Stadium, and it was an absolute mad house for the quarterfinal game between Colombia and Peru.  It was an experience and a half.  Then on Saturday, I made my way to the beach.  Well, not exactly the beach.  Hudson River Park for the AVP New York City Open.

First, let's talk about the soccer game.  I knew when we had to wait for the train because it was too crowded that it would be totally packed.  What I didn't know was that of the 80,000 people in the stadium, about 70,000 of them would be wearing Colombia jerseys.  But that just added that much more to the atmosphere.  I've always heard about what a game between South American or European national teams is like, and now I know exactly what people mean when they say how crazy they are.  I can only imagine how much crazier it would've been if the U.S. was playing in the game (which I was expecting when I bought the tickets).


Anyway, it was intense.  As intense as you would expect when two teams that know each other so well get together (sidebar: do these South American countries ever get tired of playing the same countries so many times?).  Colombia almost scored a couple times, including one that hit the post.  But it ended up 0-0 and, just when I thought we were headed to extra time, I found out that Copa America doesn't do extra time except for the final.  So, it was off to the penalty kick shootout.


James, Colombia's star started off the shootout with a goal, and it was 3-2 when the Colombian goalie made a great save.  After Colombia scored again, Peru needed a goal to keep the game going.  But, Peru's fourth shooter channeled his inner Roberto Baggio and completely shanked it, shooting about five feet over the crossbar to send Colombia into the semis.






Then on Saturday, it was off to the beach.  Well, sort of.  Beach volleyball is another one of those sports that you just have to experience.  I got a sampling of what it's like last year at the Pan Am Games, but a pro event is a completely different animal.  They had three different courts going, so there were literally matches going on all day.


Oh, and it's probably worth mentioning the view.  They set up the main court on Pier 25 and the three side courts on Pier 26.  They actually kept a tally of "water balls," balls that managed to get around the net and land in the Hudson River.  On a couple, there were races to retrieve the ball between the kayakers in the water.  The coolest part, though, is that the Freedom Tower is only a couple blocks away from the pier, and it was in full view from the court.  Same thing with the Statue of Liberty, which is a little bit more off in the distance.



Back to the volleyball.  As I said before, there were matches all day.  But the big one wasn't until later in the afternoon, when NBC showed up to televise the Kerri Walsh Jennings & April Ross match live.  General admission tickets were free, and you can bet the seats were filled up and the standing room crowd went about 10 rows back for that one.


Kerri & April haven't played that many AVP events this year because they had to play in so many international events to qualify for Rio.  This was actually their first event since officially being named Olympians.  Before they took the court, it was their Olympic teammates, Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena in action.  Like Kerri & April, they were playing for the first time since officially being named to the Olympic team.  Both of the top pairs took pair of business (and ended up winning the tournament) and, sure enough, after Kerri & April finished off their win, most of the crowd cleared out.



Obviously, this wasn't your typical New York sports weekend.  But this is why New York is such a great sports town.  Both events were packed.  There's just as much of an appetite for Copa America and the AVP as there is for the Yankees and Rangers and Giants.  And, if the current StubHub prices are any indication, Met Life Stadium will be just as packed for the final next weekend.  Regardless of who wins the USA-Argentina game.

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