Ah, now I see why Lew Wolff was nice and gave me his front row seats a couple weeks ago. I am pretty much their ideal customer. They should be nice to me.
Now that the A’s have secured an option to buy a Major League Soccer expansion team, is there anyone else they should be targeting more than me, a baseball-bloggin’, soccer-playin’, technogeeky sports nut?
I’ve even covered the right cities. I live in Alameda (borders Oakland), I grew up in Newark (borders Fremont, presumably where the A’s will be moving), and I went to San Jose State for a couple of years, so I got me some Downtown San Jose in me, too.
My only scar? I haven’t been to an Earthquakes game since…hmm…well I remember when Paul Child was the big Quakes star in the old NASL, and that I once got to see Pele score a goal at Spartan Stadium against the Earthquakes. That must have been about 1975. I remember seeing an indoor Earthquakes game at the Coliseum Arena with Steve Zungul scoring a bunch of goals. That was probably back in 1984. So, I guess that makes it 22 years since I went to an Earthquakes game. I haven’t been to a soccer game at all since the 1994 World Cup, unless you count the ones I play in every week.
But that just means there’s room for sales growth, right? So go ahead, Mr. Wolff, send me your best marketing pitches. Package up a couple Earthquakes games with my A’s season tickets. I’m listening…
1. Du gamla, du fria, du fjällhöga Nord,
du tysta, du glädjerika sköna!
Jag hälsar dig, vänaste land uppå jord,
din sol, din himmel, dina ängder gröna,
din sol, din himmel, dina ängder gröna.
Du tronar på minnen från fornstora dar,
då ärat ditt namn flög över jorden.
Jag vet, att du är och du blir vad du var.
Ja, jag vill leva, jag vill dö i Norden!
Ja, jag vill leva, jag vill dö i Norden!
2. I know people in Dortmund who can put you up for that first match Sweden plays in the World Cup.
When Sweden and Trinidad get together, you never know what to expect!
3. I won't be in Europe until after the first round. So who knows who, where (and if) Sweden will be playing then?
I could really use a cheap place to stay in Reykjavik, though. That place is expensive!
4. If Sweden wins its group, its round of 16 match would be on June 25 in Stuttgart. If Sweden finishes second, they would play on June 24 in Munich.
After that it would be either Berlin or Gelsenkirchen.
Sweden's semifinal match WILL be in Dortmund.
5. I suppose in Reykjavik, you could stay at the "Motel Sex", but I don't if the Icelandic equivalent of "six" is a double entendre there.
6. Well, then perhaps I should say I won't be in Europe until after the second round.
I think its unlikely I'll go to any of those. I suppose I could hop the Berlin Night Express from Malmö if the Swedish team happen to end up in Berlin. But since Sweden's biggest star, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, grew up about a mile or so from where I'll be staying, I'm sure I won't be the only one with that idea.
Nope, more likely, I'll be watching it on Swedish TV.
7. 1 I think the funniest thing about the Swedish national anthem is that it never refers to Sweden specifically, it just goes on and on about how great Scandinavia (Norden) is.