I first covered an MLS game in 1998 - DC 1, Galaxy 0 at the Rose Bowl - but I don't usually get to travel much. I've been to Pizza Hut Park and went to Spartan Stadium in 2005 for a game but that's about the extent of my MLS travels. As a freelancer, you have to foot your own bill for traveling, and there's no way I'd come close to selling enough stories to cover my losses.
So when the chance arose to go to Colorado this weekend for the Galaxy's season opener, I took it. It's actually a three-for-one trip, as my wife can use a few days in Colorado for business purposes and we can visit family that lives in Colorado Springs.
Anyway, this will be the first away season opener I'll be at and I'm looking forward to it. I can't really picture the game yet - I still can't imagine Christian Gomez wearing a Colorado jersey fighting against Carlos Ruiz wearing Galaxy colors. But it should be an experience I'll hopefully share with a sold out Dick's Sporting Goods Park crowd. It's been in the 80s out here in SoCal so I just hope that the dip in the weather isn't too severe.
LB-
ReplyDeleteI happened to be in Denver for last year's Rapids v. DC United MLS season opener on April 7. All I have to say regarding the weather on that day is this: I have never been so cold in my entire life. And I grew up in Wyoming, so I knows me some cold and windy.
The stadium is pretty much the last thing between the edge of Denver and Kansas, so the winds can really whip through the open stadium design. It was literally snowing sideways last year at multiple points. I had been in CO on a ski trip and was properly dressed, too. I'm sure Christian Gomez is NOT looking forward to a potential repeat of that experience, home team or otherwise.
I hope the press box is closed from the elements. If not, whatever you do, do not sit directly on anything metal. The Dick is a great stadium, but early spring sports are a crapshoot in the Rockies.
On the other hand, it could be 70+ degrees and you could go home with a sunburn from effects of too much exposure at 5200+ ft altitude. Good times.