I Am a True Blue

House ready for the game!

We have tickets to the game, but why go to the game when you can watch it in a pub?

Go DUBLIN!

Croke Park

GAA- Gaelic Athletic Association. This includes the games of Gaelic football, hurling, handball, among other sports.

Finally going to the game!

Inside the stadium. Pretty good seats!

Stephanie, Mary, Grace and Emily

This was suppose to be our section. The hooligan section!

Band playing at half time.

Dublin versus Wexford

The second half has begun!

Khush and I at the game :)

Score board. Just like soccer, the time counts up as oppose to counting down. Each game is 70 minutes. You want to cheer for Ath Cliath.

The game

Stadium

Dublin is blue. Wexford is yellow.

Fans enjoying the game.

Security walking around the field. There were so many of them!

DUBLIN WINS!

The game is over. Dublin wins! :)

Supporting the blue.

Hotel that has Dublin's team flag, an American flag and Wexford team's flag.

I love sporting games. I believe it comes from the fact that since I was little my dad would drag my sister, brother and me to different games. So, when a group was planning to go to a Gaelic Football game, I had to go! And that is exactly what I did today :)

I was very excited because one of my goals in coming to Ireland was to see some sporting matches! My co-worker, Paul, said to also check out a hurling match because it is very fast pace.

Our group was made up of college students or recent grads, so we bought the really cheap tickets. We wouldn't have any seats and would have to stand the whole time. And if it rained, we were screwed because there were no covering to protect us. Before the game, we learned that our section is where all the hooligans go. This should be interesting.

We planned on meeting at Ryan's apartment because he lived "closer" to Croke Park, the stadium in which the sporting games take place. In reality, we should have gone straight to the stadium from our place because it is half way between our apartment and Ryan's. But whatever.

Getting to Ryan's proved to be a nightmare. Since we don't drive here, we have to take the buses and all the buses were filled to over maximum capacity with people going to the game. It must be like when everyone goes into San Jose for the Sharks on CalTrain or the tram. Why did we not for see this happening?

We had to get a cab. This also proved tough. Khush, Alex and I had to walk to the corner to hail a cab. Just a couple feet behind us, at the bus stop, no one could get a cab.

We told the cab driver the place where Ryan lived and of course he didn't know what we were talking about. I had to call Emily, who was in another cab, to ask her what to do. Emily explained to the driver and he drove us to the street, but didn't know the apartment complex. Alex, Khush and I got out and started to walk up and down the street trying to find it.

What is classic is that I called Ryan to ask him to come out and help us and of course when I did, I found the place.

Ryan led us up to his apartment where the other people were hanging out and drinking. They had made a huge deal about drinking before and during the game. They really wanted to be buzzed. I really wanted to enjoy the game, so I didn't drink and instead I did research to prepare for the game :)

The game was at 2 pm and it was already 1:15 pm and it looked like there was no hope of us leaving soon. Ryan kept saying in half an hour we would leave. Mary and I became anxious; we wanted to leave now. In fact, I wanted to leave an hour ago. I like to get somewhere a little early so I can find my seat, go to the bathroom and get something to eat or drink if I need to. Not only that, we had to pick up our tickets at will call and we needed to find where that was.

Mary and I finally convinced people that we needed to leave now. Praise God. We headed over to the stadium. On the walk, I bought a head band, if you will, made up of yarn that had the colors of Dublin. Dublin's colors are Navy Blue and Sky Blue. It was only a Euro and I needed to support the home team! I knew everyone was going to be in their jerseys, because I had seen people every weekend dress in their jerseys. Since I didn't have a jersey, I tried to wear as much blue as I could!

About 5 blocks from the stadium they had blocked off the roads so no cars could come in. They also had guards standing by the barricades. The guards were even checking for people's tickets! Why were they checking for people's tickets so far away from the stadium!?

We talked to the guards and told them that we had to pick up our tickets. He sent us down the street to pick them up. This made sense to me because every day on the bus I pass the GAA ticket office.

But we didn't go to the ticket office, instead everyone headed to this trailer that was selling tickets. We didn't need to get tickets, we needed to pick ours up!

We asked yet another guard and they sent us back in the direction we came, but past where we were before. Does anyone know what they are doing?

Finally, someone had an answer and said that it was past the barrier we were at and down a street. We headed in that direction and every 5 minutes asked people if we were going the right way. We were not going to mess this up.

We finally found the ticket office and got our tickets. It still confuses me as to why the ticket office is not at the actually stadium. I guess that would make too much sense.

The gentlemen that helped us find the place told us that it was right across from a pub and of course the group wanted to go into the pub for a drink. Really? Did no one else realize but me that the game had already started; we had tickets and we were really close to the stadium?

No, we had to get a drink because of our hard work in finding the tickets. Really? We walked for less then half an hour!

Everyone rushed into the bar, except for me, to get a drink. I had to order something, so I got a glass of Guinness and downed it like an Irishman who has been drinking since he was 12. I was ready to go. Lets get this thing started. I turned over to look at the others and they had all ordered pints and were talking and having a grand time. I don't know why I thought everyone was going to be like me and just get a small drink and go.

The group then started to watch the game on the TV in the pub! Yes, why get tickets and go to the stadium and actually see the game in person when you can just watch the game in a pub that is 3 minutes from the stadium!? I was beyond pissed.

From the TV it looked like we were going to miss the first half. Fantastic.

The group finally decided it was time to leave and go to the game. And when we finally get to the stadium, they started to take pictures in front of a Guinness sign! Come on people! WE ARE NOT EVEN AT THE GUINNESS FACTORY! Get your crap together.

We then had to find our seats. Someone told us to go to the end and that was where our section would be. We went up one of the stairs and asked the worker if we were in the right place. He said not, but was very sweet and let us sit in his section! We were able to sit down and we had pretty good seats!

The only thing bad about our section was that we had a lot of Wexford fans. I really wanted to sit with the Dublin fans, but hey! I was at the game.

The stadium was huge like a baseball stadium back home. The top levels were not filled at all! The bottom two levels were pretty full.

I was so glad that I read some of the basic rules of the game before going. It really helped me understand what was going on and because of that, I was able to really appreciate the game. I was also able to explain to the others what was going on. Basically, it is like soccer, but they are able to touch the ball with their hands. So, it looks like soccer and basketball combined together. Go to Wikipedia to read the basic rules of the game: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaelic_football

During the whole game I kept thinking about how much my dad would like to go to the game.

The game was very enjoyable! It was great to see a sporting game and seeing all the people get really into it! With everyone getting really into it, it reminded me of downtown San Jose when the Sharks play. Before the game, everyone is out drinking with their jerseys on. People's homes are even decorated with the color and flags of their team. Pubs and hotels usually have Dublin's and the other team's flags hanging outside on the day of the game. I think that is classic.

The teams are just named after towns and don't have a mascot. Their flags looked like family crests, if you will.

I defintetly had fun and I do recommend that everyone goes to a game if they are in Ireland! The next sporting game I need to go to is hurling!

Below, watch some videos to see what Gaelic Football is all about!