Away @ FC Cincinatti!!

What’s up fellow Gz??? As you may or may not know, depending on if you’ve read previous posts, I moved away from the beautiful city of LA, Home of the Greatest Soccer team in the world, the LA Galaxy of course!!!

Fun fact that I learned this weekend, the Chicago Fire started out playing in Naperville, which is the city I now live in. How did I find this out?? My fellow LARS compadre Joaquin told me it’s in one of our OG LARS chants.

Galaxy Hymn
(To the tune of The Marines’ Hymn)

From the heart of downtown Naperville
To the slums of San Jose
From the empty seats of Arrowhead
To deserted Tampa Bay
From the darkest swamps of Meadowlands,
Down to Washington DC
The best team in America
Is the La Galaxy 

http://lariotsquad.org/chants/

And how fuckin right is that Hymn?? The best team in America!

Anyway, history class over. Now for the present… I have gone to one real Galaxy away game in San Jose and the other I don’t count since it was down in Skid Row where that other team plays. So here we are, about 7 weeks into my new adventure in Chicago and the Galaxy plays FC Cincinatti. Just a short 5 hour drive through the midwest and there I am. Smack dab in the middle of America. Rolled in about 2 PM eastern time and I was set to cheer on my team in a different city.

Snapped a quick pic before I headed out to the bar the Galaxy set for us to hang out before the game. The bar was packed!!! With FC Cincinatti fans…. WTF. We walked to another bar. I believe this one was called Keystone and guess what was on the menu??? Golden Road beers!! Fuck yeah. I’m not a huge fan but if there’s an LA beer on the menu, I’m most likely trying it. An FC Cincinatti fan walked up to our table and talked to us for a good 15 minutes. She was cool, told us about her supporters group and how she had been traveling to away games most of the year. She was pretty much the epitome of the FC Cincinatti fan. Everyone that talked to us was nice. There was no one trying to start shit. ALL COOL fan interaction, as it should be. I mean, yeah… We sure got dirty looks but everyone was respectful and of course, as were we. I was rolling 2 deep. My BFF on one side all decked out with a Gz flag draped as a cape and a new LARS friend that came out from LA. We drank some food and ate some beers then headed out, back to the bar where Gz fans were. We also found other Gz fans sprinkled throughout. Definitely a few Zlatan jerseys as well.

You can tell from the pic, it looked as if this game was sponsored by Retros Y Rarezas. These guys were all ACB guys. We all hung out and had beers. One of the guys let me try on his R y R jersey since I’ve been wanting to order one but I’ve been unsure of what size. XL it is!!! I got hooked up with some cool ACB stickers, including my new favorite sticker.

After a couple of brews, we walked over to the stadium which was a five minute walk. Security was so lax, at least by LA standards. From where we walked in, the away section was right in front on the upper level. I would say we had a great view, reminiscent of the LARS section although one level up.

Did I mention I got the Pride Practice jersey? I really like the way it looks an was glad MLS Store was able to hook it up with Next day air so it came on time.

ACB had a LOS ANGELES banner and right at the whistle, the chants started. I know some ACB chants so I joined along for most of them. Fam, I was back!!! I missed this so much! I miss LARS! We got 2 quick goals and it seemed like we could have gotten 2 more in the first 20 minutes. Ema finally found the back of the net! I was ecstatic! Of course I had to act as the announcer and yelled “Galaxy goal!! scored by number 24, Emmanuel….” and how fuckin awesome was it that everyone yelled “BOATENG!!!” Repeated 2 more times and said thank you, as a gentleman should. Then I hadn’t even stopped celebrating when we got another! Unfortunately, with all the commotion, I couldn’t even tell who scored it so it was a ome and done as announcer for me.

I was starting to feel kinda thirsty which is gonna bring me to my #1 complaint about this stadium. There were beer vendors selling beer out of aluminum coolers which was cool but they were cash only! So we walked for a bit looking for an ATM. Guess what???? There was one ATM in the whole place!!! We waited in line and talked to a nice couple who were at their first FC Cincinatti game.

We got our cash and I got myself a Coozie and a Cincinatti brewed beer which appears to have been brewed for the team! Ignore the cars in the pic, I took it the next day. I promise I had the same beer at the game as well. I’m actually having one right now as well.

Got back to our seats and the atmosphere changed. I’m not sure if these guys were just tired but ACB was done chanting. They were seated. I was confused. I was ready to start the chants. So I channeled the powers of the great Capo Andrew Alesana and rattled off a few of the chants that I know. It was awesome! I did my best and people chanted back. I loved it. I tried the Nothing but a G Thang chant but no one else knew the words! Haha… I tried! All in all, it was an awesome experience. My girl had a great time, which hopefully opens the doors for more away games in the future.

I left the game happy but also, missing that gameday LARS experience more. But alas, the night was not over! (I’ve always wanted to use that word)

We did a little bit of city exploring and since it was Pride celebration weekend in Cincy, there was plenty to do. We found an outdoor concert and got ourselves a PRIDE Bud Light. Also found a Galactic fried chicken truck. My girlfriend saw me walking towards and she just laughed because of course I’m gonna take a picture with almost anything that says some form of the word Galaxy!

I can’t wait for my next Galaxy game. I’m saddened that I’m so far away and can’t be there with you all on gamedays. I hope to see you all soon!!! Gz up!

It’s been so long and now I’m gone…

So…. It’s been a bit since my last post. Feels like so long ago, probably about 6 points ago!!! Whooooo!!! Hell yeah… Well, since that time, a lot has changed for me. I’m doing something I never thought I would ever do.

I’m leaving LA…

But you can take me out of LA but the love and passion for LA and the LA Galaxy will always be in me. I can’t even begin to put into words how much joy (and pain) loving the Galaxy has brought me.

I don’t regret a second of it. But now on to what could very well be, my last game of the year. I came into this game knowing it could be my last, I am in between moving to Chicago for work and having to sign a 2 year commitment to stay out there. Holy shit, I honestly can’t believe I’m gonna do it. It’s gonna be hard but I know that the Galaxy will be there when I get back and I’ll finally be able to watch the Gz on ESPN+. It will finally be worth the $5 a month!

But alright, let’s get to it.

I brought my girl and my parents to the game. We met up with friends at the LARS tailgate area as usual. It’s always great to see people that I’ve not necessarily known for years but have been there while I’ve been there supporting the Gz.

I headed over by Victoria St and the fire station for what seems to be my mandatory Move In Silence Pin purchase. I joked with him that I needed to set up some type of automatic withdrawal from my bank to his PayPal since I have bought so many.

Oh yeah, and I also bought that Poop Kings pin of the mighty Plastics of Skid Row. Some have told me it’s too big but ehhhh. It’s there, deal with it.

My mom was worried cuz she wasn’t wearing any LA Galaxy clothes but I remembered that there was a shirt giveaway so I told her it was ok. There was actually a pretty funny moment later when she, like a total mom, folded the giveaway shirts like they were laundry and placed them next to her.

Who would have thought carrying an AmEx card would pay off??? Lol got to meet Cienfuegos and got his signature next to Robbie Keane’s on my LARS hat. Figured I’d have my Galaxy first team hat signatures and I’d use my LARS hat for legends.

My pops got this signature. We we’re lucky too. We got there shortly before 7 and he had to leave at 7.

There’s a shot of the giveaway shirt that my pops is wearing. Idk if y’all know but being a badass in my family might skip a generation.

This was probably his 8th time running the LA marathon! He’s dope! Glad he was able to accompany me to this game. My dad is probably the main reason I ever got in to soccer.

But let’s see… What else??? I for one, will never get tired of this view! Gorgeous skies, green field and Gz fans everywhere. I absolutely love it!! I am so thankful for the fun times cheering with Riot Squad has brought! Which brings me to the best thing that I’ve ever felt at a Galaxy game… Well 2nd best… 3/31 will always be #1.

I got on the field!!! I’m so thankful for the Riot Squad peeps that made this happen! It was surreal! I felt like a man child. Not only that, but I spent a few minutes to close the game in the box!

Goddamn it was so dope!!! Idk how these guys do it tho, it’s so tough! To not watch the game and just get everyone hyped??? These guys don’t get enough credit! Mike and Jonny you guys are dope! Forever in awe of the work y’all do to get us loud and proud. Andrew too, but he was absent this night.

So I closed out my time in LA meeting Alessandrini. I’m currently in a hotel in Chicago thankful for the opportunity I’ve been given but thinking I’m gonna miss all you so much. Everyone! Anyone reading this, I appreciate you. Keep supporting and I promise, any game near Chicago, I’ll do my best to find myself there in the supporters section with all of you.

Thank you to everyone who’s everyone read my blog. Thank you to everyone that supports the Gz. Thank you to everyone that wished me well in my new adventure. I’m LA galaxy til I die! Cuz that’s the way I like it!!! Gz up y’all!

The beauty of Panenka…

It was a beautiful day in the South Bay for a Galaxy game! Sun was out and shining, beers were flowing and my voice was ready to scream! Headed over to lot 12 in front of the first station first thing after I parked and scooped up a couple more pins to add to the collection. I’ll be honest, the hat is getting kinda heavy but I’m gonna keep adding as long as they keep producing great pins!

I ran a bit late getting to my seat cuz I was on the search for the legendary $7 beer cart. I’ve heard tale of it many times on the Galaxy Reddit but I had not come across it until this day…. And I was kinda disappointed, they had a 12oz IPA for $7. I don’t even remember what it was but I passed on it. Got me a Modelo tall can cuz it’s Modelo time foo! Headed over to the equipment sale to see what was available. Mostly random jersey and training shirts for various players. I picked up some #23 windbreaker pants that the girl working told me were from Beckham era… Also got some tall Galaxy socks that I’ll probably never wear. Headed back to LARS for the start of the game, got there right after the anthem.

Right on time for the Kobra Kai chant! And then it was on! I love the Riot Squad! Might I add that we were featured on today’s match program.

That my beard on the top left lol. My pops is right next to me smiling and clapping. This was dope. Made my day and I totally feel like Mike Wazowski from Monsters Inc.

I stood right behind the drums and cheered and chanted all game with the fam. Rolled 6 deep, but really it was 20,000 deep cuz all Gz are my fam.

I bought a Modelo 6 game pack for my girl so I went over to pick up the shirt that comes it. Pretty nice looking shirt. I gotta remember to get a pic of it.

As soon as I figure out how to post videos on here, I’ll post some as well. The rally above LARS section after the game was fun and idk if I’ve just never stayed that late or if that was the first time but I hope we do it more often.

The game was ugly but we got the W! I can honestly say after watching a few replays, those were both deserved penalties. Zlatan is smart, you give him the chance and he’s gonna draw that foul. Looking forward to the next game. As always fam, Gz up!

Winner winner!

First off, it’s hard as fuck to type on this damn Galaxy S10+ without a damn case!

Secondly, I got some new pins!!! Make sure you check out moveinsilence.co if you see a pin you like! Most likely it was made by him!

As always, my bff accompanied me but this time we had a special guest! My cousin turned 21 a few days ago so he got to enjoy his first legal beer at the game!!! We got ourselves a new scarf which was cool. It’s not regular scarf material but it’s great anyway. I didn’t open mine cuz I already had one. But we got in and made our way towards 138!!

This view still gets me. Got my girl a churro and some beers and we stood up here for a bit. I love this view. After all these years sitting with LARS, it still sends shivers down my spine.

So I got a bit of breaking news… They’re coming to us to sell beer now! Oh my fuckin Zlatan!!! I couldn’t believe it. LARS Pres Carlos made an impromptu announcement and I bought my first in the stands beer. This feels historic. I’ve been to a few games in Mexico and this was my favorite thing about those games, to have beer vendors in the stands… Wow… Amazing. I am so happy!!!!

So I’ve been to a few events in my day. My favorite thing is to explore. I went to my first UFC event and I wandered the arena, I went to a Xolos game and I did the same, Mexico City did the same thing. So today, I was determined to take a lap around our beautiful stadium.

Stopped real quick at Lletget’s locker, left Becky G a love note that I hope he’ll deliver… Lol. To backtrack a bit, the bar on the south end is so dope! It’s by Kona brewing which has a few really good beers! It sucks that I don’t usually find a reason to stop by there. When I go to the Diggity, I go there to watch the game and scream like hell. Not necessarily to drink at a bar. But anyway…. I kept walking past the locker and found me one of these… Only team in LA with one of these

It’s fuckin gorgeous 😘!!! Love all the decorations and vinyl wraps that were put up! Kinda miss that Ticket Oak tho…

Kept walking and found myself at the shield! Love this spot for a quick pic.

Made it to the North end and my goal was to find the Ghost Ultras. New supporters group. I love support for the Galaxy! I’m 💯 with LARS but if you wanna do your thing and support the Galaxy, then I’m with it! Met the guys and got me some stickers. I haven’t used my cooler this year, but next home game, it’s coming out and there’s gonna be a Ghost Ultras sticker on it.

Kept walking and met up with a friend I haven’t seen since last year. I worked with him and his love for the Galaxy is what inspired me to be so into the team. You’ll see him in a couple vids on YouTube. He’s ACB and he’s cool as fuck!

That’s my dawg!

So it’s been a long walk, and now I get to my second favorite part of the night. I loooooooove MLS fans. If you support our league, you’re the shit! So I walked up on this guy with a hat full of pins. Told him they were badass. I could tell he wasn’t from here. He told me they were all from European teams. He had maybe 20-30 small pins. I eagerly asked if he was down to trade. He was interested but he said he didn’t have any that he was willing to part with since they were all different teams. He told me the store didn’t have any pins and he wanted a Galaxy one. Guess what fam? I told him, to choose one of mine and he could have it. He didn’t comprehend. I repeated… He still tells me, he doesn’t have one to give me, I insist… He was so grateful. He’s now the proud owner of a Galaxy 4 star pin. I told him that it sucks it doesn’t have 5 stars. He thanked me. Luckily my girl was able to snap a few pics of the exchange. My first failed attempt at an exchange was still a success!!!

I gotta touch on my third favorite thing at the Diggity… Thanking opposing supporters for traveling to see their team at our house, win or lose. I thanked various Loons throughout our stadium and I feel this is a practice that should be a huge priority for Gz.

Still walking… As I’m typing this, it’s 92 minutes into the replay on Spectrum Sportsnet. Our W is almost here lol.

New year, new pic at the wings. So awesome!

Made it back to LARS with the fam and presented my cousin with a birthday present. New Gz hat! By this point its past halftime and we’re in the lead and we’re not looking back. The atmosphere is so good! I’m chanting, yelling and throwing out curses, we’re on our way to undefeated at home!!

Shout out to my Galaxy Capos Johnny and Mike. They lead the chants and Keep the crowd hyped! It’s low-key a goal of mine to be in the capo box… Maybe this year I hope…

Ended the night with a great pic. I brought her to a Gz game last year that was rescheduled…. it was a Tuesday… We got killed…. It sucked. She loved it! I couldn’t believe it! I’m so happy she joins me in my passion and I can’t wait for the rest of this season. Eagerly awaiting my next chance to update this blog. Keep supporting the Original LA team! Gz up!!!!

2019 was KickedOff Right!

So many feels… From the excitement of opening day to David Beckham’s statue to the glorious Win!!

Let’s start at the beginning, got to the stadium at around 2:30pm. It was a bit rainy, nothing too crazy. The sun was in and out and there was occasional sprinkles. I had a Mango Michelada tall can and we headed towards Legends Plaza where the statue was going to be unveiled.

So they had a ribbon cutting ceremony and I was able to see that off to the side. This area was not great for this statue unveiling. It’s not a great common area, there’s palms blocking the view and then the press blocked the view as well. I didn’t mind it too much. There was two giant screens showing what was going on, even though the one on the right had a 1-2 second delay. Saw Beckham, Keano, and Magee. I was a bit surprised I didn’t see Landon there. Kinda strange. There was a video played featuring a couple words from Kobe then they showed a recap of Beckham’s time with the Galaxy with a short intro by Snoop Dogg. I’m conflicted by Snoop being on here. He’s always repped for the Galaxy and he even shouted us out last year but a few weeks later, he was seen holding a Snoop Dogg lafc jersey. But whatever…

We stood for like 2 hours, either waiting for the event to start and then waiting while everyone spoke about Beckham or what their connection to the Galaxy was. AEG President, Dignity Health CEO, Galaxy President…. Yeah yeah yeah let’s hear from Beckham and Keane and let’s see the statue…

Statue looks dope, cool pose I guess, although Galaxy released a video for some reason where the sculptor claimed the pose was modeled after a picture of his time on PSG. Why would they reveal that in the video? I think they even took the video down… Weird.

Headed over to the LARS tailgate area luckily the 12 pack of Victoria I left in my trunk was still cold. (Thanks Weather!) Tailgate area was packed! Said a couple hellos, had some beers and even bought myself a new LARS shirt. I’ll post a pic of that later.

Made it into the stadium in time to see the Sigi tribute and the National Anthem. Powerful stuff! If I can say something about the Anthem tho, MaleaEmma is the shit!!! She overdid it a bit, but it was awesome. Such a great voice outta that little girl! Love that she’s a Galaxy fan. There’s a pic of her with Victoria Beckham that’s so cute.

The game was great. It was loud! I did my best to follow the chants. As loud as the Capo was, it was hard to hear what was being chanted sometimes. Huge props to them tho. They brought it. I’m sitting at work and my voice is a bit raspy still. Plenty of time to recover before the next game.

I went to get some food during halftime and while in line for a beer, I scoped out the jerseys, they had the Authentic Night Navy. I almost bought… I’ll wait I said… Then I saw the jackets. Players wore them during the warm ups, I had seen my season ticket reps wearing them. I was honestly expecting them to be over $100. They were not. Minus my season ticket holder discount… Sold! It looks awesome. I love the five stars!

Took this pic after Efra’s amazing assist for that first goal of the season. I thought it was great that the 2 subs made an impact into the game right away. Sucks that Alessandrini got hurt. I haven’t read how bad the injury is. I gotta look it up.

Atmosphere was great and when that second goal came in… Damn… Everyone was cheering. I was nervous Chicago would find a way to get an equalizer. But we got that W in the end!

Overall, it was a great week, all the events I got to attend and capped off with a great win! I ended the week being happy all day Sunday and celebrating with friends at a few breweries in LA. I even ended up meeting up with my best friend who attended the lafc opener. I went with him last year but his GF did not let our MLS opener tradition carry on lol

Cant wait for next week, hope to hit get some info on Viewing parties to join up with other G’s fans! Hope you all have a great week! G’z up!!!

Forgot to include a link to this Gz til I die campaign that I come out in! Check it out and follow!

https://www.lagalaxyfantalk.com/gstillwedie

Damn… RIP Sigi

I was just reminded. This time last year I met a GOAT

I saw him this day and thought “That guy looks like the Galaxy coach, but that can’t be him, he’s just standing there…. Available to talk to….” I hesitated, I lied… I didn’t meet him… I saw him… I heard him… I missed my chance… Rest in Peace Sigi Schmid… Gz up always

Night Before Kickoff Party

Didn’t take too many pics of tonight but I just wanna put it out there that I love my Galaxy Fam! Huuuuuuuge props to Linda Pickle whose stories are the best. How often can you talk to someone that’s been there from the start. And also thanks for this! Hope to get it signed soon!

So much fun and was 1ticket away from winning a jersey tonight! Thanks Galaxy for this event! Can’t wait for tomorrow! Love y’all… G’z Up!!!

Light that s*** up Galaxy style!!!

Guess who is happy as hell right now????

This guy!!!

I made it! G’z fans everywhere! Lovin it! Event was kinda in a cramped area at Pacific Park, Star Squad was out there giving out Galaxy stickers and Game and Ride cards. Got me a Game card and got in line to try and score me a Galaxy basketball style jersey.

I made the shot twice!!! In my head… In reality, not so much… By the time I was done with that. I looked around and I saw Keane out of nowhere. They didn’t even announce them, people just lined up. Made my way to the Keane line but then saw the Jona line was shorter so I switched over. Had some Galaxy talk with some Gz fans and got my pic and added a signature to my hat! I gotta keep a tally of who I need.

After that, I went over to the Keane line. Complimented a fellow fan on his Move in Silence pins and showed off mine. 15 minutes later, I was able to get a pic and since I’m doing the roster on my Galaxy hat, figured I’d get Keane to sign my LARS hat. I was lucky that they cut off the line 2 people after me.

They pulled the players and everyone gathered round for the Ferris Wheel lighting. Joe Tutino spoke for a few to get everyone hyped then Jona and Keane said a few words. Then it was time to light it up! After a countdown from 5 (because 5 championships of course) there it was! It’s beautiful!!

Event wrapped up with everyone taking a group pic. I ended up in the back and raised my LARS had to represent. Gotta find that pic soon. Wrapped up the event by finding this fan with a huge poster of Keane raising the cup! So dope!

I’m pumped for the Supporter Event tomorrow. I’ll update some more then, as always. Gz Up!!!