I was eleven years old when I saw my first WC. My neighbors had one of those old gigantic 80" televisions that must've weighed a ton. They invited me over to watch - touting that it was hosted by America (which I recall sounding about right at the time - Like: "Of course we are") I had no idea what I was in for. They had me sit on the floor a few feet away from the Gigantic screen. I had not really watched TV on anything that big before.
They asked me who I was rooting for and I remember feeling puzzled. As if there was any other choice, I told them the USA of course. They laughed. My friend Rodrigo was going for Brazil. "Brazil!?" I said, not really having known anything about the country at all. He looked at me like you do when you know someone is about to get schooled and simply said: "You'll see."
The first time I saw Bebeto, Romario, Cafu, and Ronaldo I remember feeling like I was watching magic. My friend was enraptured. I had never seen anything like it. To me what seemed like meaningless lateral passing to him was song. Gospel. He seemed to know something I didn't about what was happening and I remember wanting nothing more than to understand.
Traviso was going for Mexico. He was as white as snow, but his dad was Mexican and before he passed away, he instilled this love for his place of birth that was total and complete. Travis could never love America as much as his dad and his love for El Tri. I always admired that. I was born and raised in Southern California, but I was a Chicago fan because my dad loved the Cubbies and no matter how many times we had beer thrown at us at Bears games (back when the Raiders were in LA) or being one of 3 people around Chavez Ravine with the balls to wear Cubs hats and get peanuts thrown at us. His experience was all together similar and very different and so very much harder for him. That was one of the first times as a child I can recall feeling like there was so much more to my country than I thought.
LUIS GARCIA. He had tears. I didn't know then, but I do now know why it meant so much to him.
Alexi Lalas, Cobi Jones, and Tab Ramos stood out the most for me (Something like "Colombia has El Pibe, Italy - Baggio, So we have Alexi?") Those god damn kits. Cello and his mullet. Diana Ross played soccer better than me at the time. I loved it, and not being the best was perfectly fine, though it was odd. I've always believed that we were the best at everything. Because of my friends at the time, because of their shared experiences, my world grew so much larger. It was beautiful.
It goes without saying that this tournament will be massive for the growth of the sport in the US...
But, for me, the kids watching this tournament, getting more of a glimpse of the world around them and having the opportunity to learn and grow - that is more important to me than anything. Those shared experiences with my friends, taught me more than I realized at the time, but have helped make me the person I am today.
