2 Wins, An Engagement, and Carnival!

Annnnndddd were back. Sorry for the long lay-off, folks. I would say that I’ve been way too busy to write another post, but you and I both know that isn’t the case. If anyone is at fault it is the Internet itself. We FINALLY have wireless in our apartment now. Now you would think it would make posting on our blog easier, but in fact, it makes far more difficult thanks to Barstoolsports.com’s ever expanding empire, surfthechannel.com, and YouTube. I get distracted easily. Not today, though. Here’s what we’ve been up too…

A couple weeks ago we hopped on a train headed south for a little town called Sitges. While at every other time of the year Sitges is known for its beautiful beaches, great food, and its gay-friendly community, in March the city hosts Carnival. Thousands of people flock to Sitges from all over Spain and Europe to stay the weekend or, like us, come for the final night of the festivities.

We decided that we were going to dress up in costumes for the night. After some debate we settled on the “Three Best Friends that Anyone Could Have” trio from the movie, “The Hangover”. I, for whatever reason, chose Allan – the slightly remedial, brother-in-law that gets knocked out by Mike Tyson in the movie. Once I bought the white jeans, a graphic t-shirt, huge sunglasses and man purse I was ready to go. With the Stu (Sheff) and Phil (A-Rob) at my side, my one-man wolf pack had become three and we were ready to take on Carnival. Here’s a picture from before we left:

"How's my hair look? Cool like Phils?"

Too make the night even better; FC Barcelona was playing Arsenal in second part of a home and home series. The winner of the game would advance to the next round. So the first order of business after getting off the train was to find a bar to watch the game. After a little bit of searching we settled at a bar/diner that had an open table.

A little side note – “The Hangover” over here was renamed “El Rescaton de Las Vegas” (Big Hangover in Las Vegas) and I don’t think it was that popular. No one knew who we were. So instead of walking around in this “hilarious” ensemble of costumes, I was walking around in tight white jeans and a man purse in Spain’s most gay-friendly city and Shef, true to his Stu costume, had put black marker on one of his teeth in hopes of giving the illusion he pulled it out. Our teammates that came with us were dressed as Barca players – in hindsight that was probably the way to go.

Anyways, the game was awesome. Barca won 3-1 and advanced to the next round on the back of two Messi goals. One of them was absolutely ridiculous. He received a thru pass from Iniesta and as the goalie was charging him he flicked the ball over the keeper to himself and then volleyed it in. Unreal. On all three of the goals the entire bar went nuts – there were beers flying, high fives connecting and not-connecting, and dancing. It was a great experience.

Messi's "flick"

After the game it was off to Carnival. We settled into a spot along the parade and waited for the floats to come. The floats were pretty extravagant and partiers and dancers accompanied all of them. As the floats stopped in front of us we were allowed to go onto the street and join the festivities and you better believe we hopped in there as soon as we could. After watching many a float pass by, we took a walk further up towards the beginning of the parade. We got to a packed square in the middle of Sitges, got our bearings and decided on heading down to the beach where there was a huge techno rave. It literally was out of a movie. Easily a couple thousand people dancing on the beach in front of a huge stage. After checking the rave out for a little bit we headed back towards the middle of Sitges and spent the rest of the night with some friends roaming around the parade. Despite the apparent “failure” of our costumes, the night was a great time and something we will all never forget.

Part of the Parade!!

We had two games recently, as well. We won both – the first, against the Madrid Black Demons, in a fairly convincing fashion and the second, against the rival Dracs, in a nail biting affair. Calling the Black Demons game a MudBowl would be a drastic understatement. Before the game it had been raining for two straight days in Barcelona and it didn’t let up one bit during the game. Everyone played well, but the defense took advantage of the conditions as we scored twice in the first half and ending the game with a shutout. Final score: Pioners 51 Black Demons 0.

Drenched!!!






Perhaps the best part of the game had nothing to do with football. On our first possession, Andrew threw a bomb to one of our receivers, Sergio, for a touchdown. He then ran off the field and ran up to the stands to propose to his long time girlfriend, Isa, in front of the crowd as "their song" played on the speakers. Andddd she said....YESSS!!!! The refs stopped the extra point to so we could all watch (they were given a heads up). Everyone cheered for the both of them. It was a great moment and we all could not be happier for Sergio. Felicidades!!

Rain or shine!!

The Dracs game was not so easy. We started off great with Andrew capping off a two-play drive to Victor for a touchdown on our first possession. The Dracs countered with a touchdown of their own. It seemed as if we had everything in control at half with a 23-7 lead, however, the Dracs had other ideas. They came out firing and we could not respond. They had a good running back that got loose a few times in the second half for a pair of TDs. The game was not looking promising as the Dracs had all the momentum going into the 4^th quarter. We didn’t lay down, though, our offense started clicking and Andrew conducted the 2 minute drill to a T and it ended with a TD pass to Sheff. It was now the defense’s job to stop the Dracs last attempt. After giving up a few big plays one of our corners, Francis, picked off a post to end the game. Pioners win 29-28! Francis played an unbelievable game as he had another pick earlier in the game. Shef was an absolute warrior out there playing both ways and scoring two touchdowns. In hindsight, we should have played better, but you’re not always going to play your best game. Sometimes you just have to grind out a win and that’s exactly what we did. Great job to all the players and coaches!!

Fire that pigskin!

We are now sitting at 7-0 atop the league standings. We have a bye week this week, but are back in action against Valencia next Saturday. How have we been spending our bye week you ask? Good question. On Tuesday met up with our coach and teammate, Stephane, to watch some live March Madness. Yes, live. Barcelona’s basketball team is in the quarterfinals and we went to the first game of a 5 game series against the Greek team, Panathinaikos. Barca won in a very exciting affair, 83-82. The game, and arena, had a collegiate atmosphere with many fans standing the entire time and singing songs. The game came down to the final few possessions with Panathinaikos missing a last second three to win the game. The refs didn’t seem to have a clue as what was going on in the game. At one point we saw a player from the other team go up to the ref and say, “Please start watching the game.” This was in the 4^th quarter. Both sides were on the wrong end of bad calls so it evened out in the end.

Also, apparently you are allowed to knock the ball off the rim even if its about to go in. At one point a player from Panathinaikos poked his hand through the basket to knock off a ball. That’s not basketball. Figure it out, Euro League. Also, for all you basketball enthusiasts – Ricky Rubio is as average as average gets. Can’t ever see him being a good player in the NBA.

Today, we went to lunch with the some of the offensive linemen. Once we get pictures I will talk about the meal. Maybe the most food I’ve ever eaten in one sitting. This made Thanksgiving look like child's play, but more on that later.

Until then, we will be in the Canary Islands for the weekend. 70 degrees, great beaches and scuba diving – shouldn’t suck. I just hope we can find a place to watch the tournament over there. Ohio State all the way – bet the mortgage. It’s a lock.

Enjoy the weekend!

Pau

Barca Futbol

Well, it's official. The rigorous life of a "professional" athlete has become too much for Paul to keep up with the blog by himself. Who knew that three practices a week could be so demanding? But since he doesn't want to disappoint his 32 followers or the Pullitzer judges which have no doubt kept a keen eye on his Tres Pioners Blog, he has enlisted the help of Andrew and myself. To reduce Paul's overwhelming workload, I will write about our first Barca soccer game and A-Rob wrote about our trip to Sevilla (blogging virtuoso Paul Rice is off this week).

Last week we got discounted Barca soccer tickets through a Barca basketball player, whose wife works with our coach. Coincidently, the three of us watched a Barca basketball game a couple nights before and decided that the Barca basketball jersey we wanted the most was that of Boniface Ndong, the same player who gave us the tickets. Apparently, we might even get to meet our Barca basketball player idol when we go to a Barca basketball game. Move over Ricky Rubio, Boniface Ndong is Barca basketball's next American sensation.

On Saturday, we played the Madrid Osos with their import center from Georgia Tech and journeyman American quarterback whose gut gave off the impression that he has been enjoying donors, paella, and cerveza even more than we have. Fortunately, we started the game off with a bang. On the first play, Paul demolished the running back, the ball popped out, and Willy, our free safety and captain, recovered it and returned it for a touchdown. The running back had to be carried off the field. Despite a few blown coverages by yours truly, the rest of the game followed a similar pattern and we ended up winning in a rout.

The next day, Paul and I went with our coach and two of our teammates, Stephane and Ivan, to one of our favorite local bars to pre-game the raucous environment of a Barca soccer game. Andrew had drank too much water and had to come meet us later. No, seriously. He drank too much water and got a stomach ache.

We were all excited for the game because Barca was on a bit of a slump over the last two games. In its last two games, Barca had tied a team in La Liga and then lost to Arsenal in the Champions League. This was quite atypical for such a talented club had caused Barca to fall from number 1 to number 2 in ESPN's rankings of best clubs in the world. Needless to say, they needed a win.

We were eager to get to the game on time and soon joined the throngs of Barca supporters filing into Camp Nou. Unfortunately, we were climbing the stairs to our seats when we heard the crowd go wild. David Villa, a striker for Barcelona, had opened up the game with a goal in the third minute. Our seats were behind one of the goals and near the top of the stadium, but that didn't matter because we were right in the middle of nearly 90,000 screaming Barca fans.

That night Barca was playing Atletico Bilbao, which is a team from the Basque region of Spain. Spain has very strong regional separatist movements. Catalunya and the Basque region are home to two of the strongest. Both have their own languages, traditions, and histories as unique nations. The Basque have long desired for their own country and have even resorted to terrorism to try to achieve it. About half of all Catalonians also want to be a separate country and in some ways, the Barcelona Football Club is an embodiment of that. The club is not owned by individuals, but by all the season ticket holders. They feel the team is a symbol of their Catalunyan pride, their independence, and their superiority to the other regions (especially Madrid). These ideas (and the overwhelming talent of the team) produce a city overflowing with fanatical zeal for their club. Accordingly, the seats of Camp Nou are painted to say with a Catalan phrase that means "More than a club." While I am not sure if Atletico Bilbao is the same way, we sat next to the Bilbao fans who had to be caged into their section. Whether it was for our benefit or theirs, I am not sure.

The game was phenomenal. After Barca took the early lead, Atletico Bilbao came back to tie it just before halftime. They scored on a penalty kick that the British guys sitting behind us described as "utter bollocks" (they also made other hilarious observations, but they might be a little too racy for this forum). While Barca created many chances in the second half, they couldn't find the back of the net until Lionel Messi proved once again how talented he is. The goal was an amazingly quick strike during what appeared to be a routine Barca play.

There were a few differences between American sporting games and the Barca game. First, they can no longer sell alcohol at games because, when drunk, European soccer hooligans get even more rowdy than Oakland Raiders fans. Second, they run out of hot dogs (When the vendor told Paul they were out, a look of utter disbelief came to his face that didn't leave for a full ten minutes). But the whole event was an unforgettable experience and we can't wait until we get to go back to another Barca game. Since coming to Spain, our enthusiasm for soccer has been steadily growing and was thrilling to be amongst so many other fans with such unbridled passion for their team. We now understand their motto of "more than a club."

Sevilla (Part I)

After the numerous requests/suggestions/demands that I post on the blog, I have decided to make my Spain blogging debut detailing our first mini-vacation to Sevilla (Seville for the Americans reading the blog), Spain’s fourth largest city. The Pioners had our first bye week of the season, and the three of us booked a very cheap flight to the southern city of Sevilla, known for its tapas, flamenco dancing, bullfighting, warm weather, and festive attitude.

Our flight departed early on Friday morning, which meant we had to be up and ready to go around 5:30am. With our current sleeping patterns, I managed a solid 1 hour of sleep, and I don’t think the other guys managed much more. Paul seemed to be the most out-of-it, considering he came within inches of being hit by a bus, paid for the wrong ticket after he managed to stumble onto the bus, and neglected to take off his belt while passing through the security gate at the airport, resulting in a pat-down in which he claims he was sexually assaulted by the female security personnel. Despite these mishaps, we managed to not miss our flight, and all of us slept through the 2 hour flight to Sevilla.
Paul, looking extra chipper post pat-down

Upon our arrival, we hailed a cab and headed to the city center where our hostal was located. The weather was awesome. It was sunny, clear blue skies for as far as we could see, and 75 degrees. We dropped our bags off at the hostal, and since it was not time for check-in, we headed out for some exploring. Sheff (John) had been to Sevilla once before, so he knew his way around fairly well. We walked from our hostal to “La Cathedral”, the world’s largest Gothic church, with Christopher Columbus’ tomb, a treasury, and the Giralda Bell Tower, featuring the best views of the city. The church was absolutely enormous, really a little bit too big, practically speaking. See pics below.
Inside the Cathedral Colombus' Tomb (supposedly) being carried by 4 statues.

Views of the city from atop the Tower

After we were finished with La Cathedral, we headed back to the hostal where we met my pseudo cousin/ 3rd sister, Rachel, who teaches English outside of nearby Malaga. She decided to meet us for a day, and then continue on a trip with her friends to Extremadura. It was there we learned that “the French guy” messed up our booking, and we had to switch hostals for the night. So we schlepped our bags to the other hostal, then went out for some more exploring.

Our “exploring” consisted of one, long tapas crawl. Tapas, for those who don’t know, are small portions, like appetizers, of seafood, salads, meat-filled pastries, deep-fried morsels, and so on, served at cafes, bars, and restaurants. We managed to find more than a few crowed ones, inhabited by mainly locals, serving very good tapas and very cold beer. After bouncing around for a few hours, we headed back to the hostal for a late afternoon siesta…. More to follow…

Myself, John, Paul, and Rachel

-Andrew