I thought my tight little hotel room with two twin beds
and low-powered air-conditioning was roughing it. That
was nothing compared to the trip that FC Fox host Ethan
Zohn endured/experienced when he decided to venture
over to the big party at the last minute. “My
trip was completely last minute. I was sick of watching
games in New York City. A bunch of my friends were already
over there, so I literally just bought a plane ticket
($1000 U.S. dollars) and got over there,” he said.
When he did get over there, the “roughing it”
part might have come more as a necessity than a choice.
“When I got over there, I couldn’t find
a hotel anywhere, so I got a rental car and just started
chasing games. I had a ticket to the U.S. Ghana game,
but that was it. I slept in my car and would shower
at the rest stops. It only cost like 2 euros to shower,
and I only took a couple showers the whole time I was
there anyway,” he added.
“I
tried to get to tickets to the England vs. Sweden game,
but they wanted like 1000 euros and I just couldn’t
do it. But it was fun. I had no schedule. I just had
a backpack, one pair of jeans, a few t-shirts and a
couple pair of underwear and just charged it the whole
time.” I offered Ethan a place to crash in Frankfurt,
but Baby Bruce pitched a fit. That was kind of weird
I thought. What do you think? Should I be concerned?
To the games…Germany will squeak past Argentina
with a little “host nation” luck, even though
I think that Argentina is a better side. The Italians
won’t lose to the Ukraine because they don’t
give up goals and the Ukraine is pretty one-dimensional
with Shevchenko up front, who the Italians know all-too-well.
I hope that the referees don’t play a role bigger
than they should in the results, but I have a sneaking
suspicion that the “men in the middle” will
have a hard time letting the players bask in the glory
instead of themselves.
Almost forgot; the Cola-Beer reference from the other
day was about my new favorite drink. Mike, our bartender
in Frankfurt recommended it. It’s simply beer
mixed with Cola. It tastes fine, but I didn’t
drink enough of them to see if you simply crash and
burn or get all hyper from the caffeine.
Tomorrow: The big boy battles.
Departments
In every
issue of 90:00® we cover the game of soccer with style, intelligence
and passion. You'll find hard-hitting editorial, explosive action
photography, insightful interviews and in-depth coverage of the personalities
and products that represent the best of soccer. Plus, in each new
issue you can count on enjoying our popular departments that include...
Inside
the Touchline
Kicking off each
issue, we cover everything from the weird and wacky to the latest
developments affecting the game we love.
Sideline
Chatter
Gadgets, games,
gear and gossip all collide in this section, bringing you up to
date with the modern soccer lifestyle.
World's
Game
News and views from
a passionate perspective on the global game; Asia, Europe, Africa
and both Americas. It's all in play.
Mark's
Mayhem
A place where absolutely
nothing is off-limits and only the strong survive.
Stoppage
Time
A parting shot that sometimes
shocks and always delights. One last reminder to look out for us
next time.
