Saving a Friendly

So, as most of you know, Inter Milan and Manchester City played in Baltimore on Saturday Night. As some of you know, I was teetering on the edge as to whether or not I wanted to go. It was “under consideration” from the day the game was announced until 4:53p on Saturday. At that point, my friend, Mo, called me and said that there were some comp tickets available from the referees and that I could go for free. Needless to say, that made the decision quite easy.

So, I started to walk to the stadium a little after 6 with the idea of meeting Mo and another guy whom I ref with, tailgating, and going into the match. I was about half way there when I got a call from Mo with these words “we are in a major bind.” Since I knew getting the tickets had been an issue for most of the week, I just figured that something had come up with the tickets and that I was not going to be able to go. This would have been disappointing, but certainly not Earth-shattering. So, I asked what was up. He goes “ok, where are you, close to the stadium??” I said, “I’d say I’m about half-way between the stadium and my house, why what’s up?” Mo: “Ok, I need you to do this, I need you to go home, pack your referee bag and put everything you have in it, shirts, shorts, socks, everything.” Me: “Uhhhhh”. Mo: “We’ll meet you at your house.”

Now, I’m not an idiot, I know that I’m not working an international friendly, but I will say that for a fleeting second that thought did cross my mind. I was really confused. So, I got another call asking for directions to my house when I asked, what the hell is going on? He went on to explain that one of the referees had brought the wrong kits and they had no backup kits to use. That’s when I started laughing. Out of the 4 referees, we had 3 FIFA’s or former FIFA’s plus my friend Jason (the guy you all saw out in Denver.) I knew Jason hadn’t forgotten his stuff and if he had, he could have just gone home and got it (he lives almost as close as I do). So, here I am, a lowly Grade 7 referee providing a uniform to a FIFA official so that an international friendly could go off as scheduled.

So, that’s about the end of the exciting part of the story – my bag got to the stadium by 6:45. Kickoff was not until 8:00, so they had plenty of time. I watched the game (great seats by the way, $70 for $0). We met with the referee crew after the match and they were all very appreciative that I was able to help them get out of a bind. Mo said, “I don’t think you realize how much you helped yourself today, they are definitely going to remember who you are.” I’m not sure if I helped myself, but I certainly didn’t hurt myself and I will admit that it was pretty cool seeing my stuff on the field, as nerdy as that may sound.