Futbol Hooliganry

Since Luke has been so keen on the World Cup this year, I decided to have a Luke and Dad night and take him down to the DC United game at RFK stadium.

The match was a "friendly" exhibition match between our DC United (an MLS team) and the national team of El Salvador.  I always thought there were a lot of El Salvadorans in the DC area, but my gosh, I never quite realized how many!  The stands were almost completely blue with the team jerseys of all the Salvadoran fans.

The crowd was a rowdy bunch too.  There were no less than five fights in the stands--security was working hard at this game.  One fight even got uncomfortably close to us, so I moved Luke to an inside seat lest he get involved in the dust-up.

At one point, a drunk Salvadoran decided to interrupt the game by running out on the field draped in his national flag.  Luke remarked that he was thankful that at least he kept his trousers on.  As the "runner" was reaching the other side of the field, he executed an amazingly graceful vault over the fence, only to land in the arms of about five security guys.  The rowdy Salvadorans began throwing their Cokes, beers, french fries, all that stuff at the security guards.  It was a real mess.

As for the game, it was a good one.  Our team scored 1-0 on the Salvadorans, and at 86:00, with less than five minutes remaining, I figured it might be a good idea to leave early, before the angry crowd erupted from the stadium.

In all, I think Luke had a great time, but man, what a rowdy night!