Manchester United / Celtic in Seattle ...

[Dude]

The border was brutal. We pulled in to our parking stall at about 7:00. We left at 3:00. Terrible.

Pulled in here at about 4:30 this morning...thank God for Red Bull!

Great atmosphere. Can't say it is fair substitution for the real thing, but how often to we get to see such skill on display? Watching these guys play just makes it painfully obvious that we all suck. Every fukcing one of us (except Ballbaby, of course). The touches, control, and pace on display really was magic.

Good to finally meet some TTPers...Bertrum, Lean, Spud (shock-ing salad, Spud ). PAU Nation was well represented. There was a Cnut sitting three or four rows down from me.

Finally, thanks to Walks for organizing this. Great stuff!

 

[the manager]

great pics regs...an awesome night for sure. Although I have to say that the atmosphere in seattle with that many people stilllacks the ambiance of a game in Europe. i thinksome fans were wondering what quarter it was at certain points...they havent gota clue.

 

[trece verde]

the adventure....

Headed out at about 3; took the Aldergrove crossing - no wait at all (maybe 5 cars in front of us). Worst part of the drive down - getting stuck in traffic in Bellingham, and then again from Everett south. Parking in Seattle is somewhere between ridiculous and ludicrous - $20 US beside the stadium - what a rip-off. We found a garage on Columbia at 4th for $5... saved the cost of a couple of rip-off stadium beers. Got into Seattle right at 8. Apologies for missing the big buildup at Kell's; heard it was great.

Great seats with the remnants of the Southsiders; west side in the lower deck even with the 18. Just about perfect to see how badly offside the 4th goal was

Stadium atmosphere was great, Regs. I haven't seen buzz like this at a game in the states since the World Cup at the Rose Bowl. Nice way to see a game; perfect weather and lots of screaming loonies (popcorn fight with Man U supporters optional ).

Game flow was overwhelming to Celtic's favour early on. Both Man U's first goals were counter-attacks against the grain of play. If Thompson hadn't done a Baggio on his peno (or if they'd let Larsson take it instead) a tied game would have made a huge difference. Giggsy looked like there might have been a bit of the old magic left, but Van Nistelrooy was ON. The first goal he made out of nothing. The second, he sucked everybody in to watch him before he laid it back to Giggs (a bit of luck off the inside of the post).

Celtic looked quite lost without Larsson to go to in the second half. They built well, but couldn't finish. Kudos to Ferdinand for shutting the door on him and Chris (couldn't finish his breakfast) Sutton. A bit of hard luck for the Bhoys with a shot (couldn't tell who took it) going off the post and back out; and Solskjaar's goal was just good poaching.

Hey, was that HOS who ran out on the field in the second half and got carried off by security? His recent history could support this......

Got back at 2:30 this morning; up at 5:30 to get to work. The hallucinations have been quite pleasant so far...

Warning for Showtime: I might have to stop and take a nap on the field tonight during the game.

Beers,

Stew

 

[Keeper]

Despite being a friendly, it wasn't a bad game to watch -- particularly the first half. But if I hear a media host call them "the Celtics" one more time, I'm going to fcuking lose it.

 

[BlazeArmy]

the seats were pretty good. We were above the tunnel the team s came out of. about 34 rows back. I've ssen 4 events now here and I think all seats are pretty good. They have cupholders which I must say are thing of beauty when trying to contain more than 1 beer at a time. I've sat upper seats and at other end of staduim low and everything has good sightlines. This had by far the most atmosphere of any event I've been there for.( 2 seahwks game, 1 sounder game, last night)

 

[Ballbaby]

My 11 year old son's comment summed up last evening for me, "Dad, thank you, thank you so much. That was the best time time I've ever had!" Hey, it's not like I don't take my kids anywhere either. It was a fantastic experience. The Stadium is incredible. The weather was perfect. The game personified the great skill these players truly have. The beer was soooo refreshing.

So the decision to take my son to the game was the correct one. I did have my doubts on several occasions. The first was as we were walking by all the pubs. Quite the party atmosphere! The second was when I realized we were sitting next to the Surrey FC Rangers. As the taunts and the shouts were starting to direct towards me, I quickly pointed to my 11 year old hopefully quelling any sheep shagging jokes. It worked...........but then of course we always have the Pasqua factor. Don't ask him about the game because he didn't watch any of it. Laughing, spilling beer, up the aisle, down the aisle, tripping of course! Then the chirping undoubtedly began, "Hey Spiro. Bring Matt down here, we got a seat open." "Ah, nah, Rich, I think I'll keep Matt right here." "Aw come on you fcuken loser, sit with us." "Nah, Rich. There's only one seat." "So who fcuken cares. I'll sit on your lap just like when I was a kid when you coached me. Hey, how come we always had to run around the field naked?" I had to reach into my bag of explanations and tell Matt that Mr. Pasqua is just being funny and that he doesn't head the ball much anymore due to concussions. Matt looked at him and nodded. Silly Richard. He entertains the hell out of me, and others. But we were there to watch the game.

The game was played clinically and it was easy to show and teach someone the way it should be played by observing their moves, both teams. Predictable, yes, but it was accomplished perfectly. I honestly believe that my son will be a better player after watching this game.

Back to work.

 

[animal]

Somebody help me. I'm in Seattle and have no ride home.

 

[animal]

Never mind my mom's on the way.

 

[Rangerforever]

The match

Originally posted by Captain Shamrock
If Thompson made the penalty, perhaps the game might have ended up closer but I think United was winning that game either way.

No shite eh, Thomo makes that - different match for sure.
Unlucky to the Hoops.
I was impressed with Larsson though - he worked very hard I thought with no one in the midfield coming through to help him.
I thought Lambert hung back too much with the Twin Towers in the back - if he pushed up to help Henrik possibly again a different match.

Ballbaby - I was feelin' for ya man.
As soon as I saw you the row over I knew your wee man was in for a bit of culture.
He's a footballer, he's gonna hear it sooner than later I suppose.
Fcuking Pasqua.

Best dressed for the night: Jinky.
He looked awesome in his kilt and jersey.
Good to see Eddie too - it's been a while.
I don't think it was Celtic's tartan though - too much of a dark green?
Very cool though - it takes a real man to wear a kilt ma Celtic brother.

All in all, good to see lot's of Canadians there with some big names on the pitch.

 

[Regs]

I've found a few more pics from last night and have uploaded them to the gallery... some magic shots of the stadium from field level.

http://www.takethepiss.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=531&password=

Cheers,

~Regs.

 

[bertrum]

Chevy Tahoe...

Originally posted by TheRob
Bertrum is an idiot for making us pay $35 for the rental truck then making us take a taxi home from Poco. Good deal. I figure you owe us $5 each High Bum.

For the record...$189.00 total for the truck plus $60 to fill it up this morning. Crunch those numbers. Seems to me that 3 lads that took a cab home from bertrums house last night got a good deal. Wanker!

As for the game it was magic. Atmosphere was great, pints were flowing and hanging out with Brandie Chastane after the game was fun. I have lots of pictures.

bertrumexpectingfreepintsuponseeingthese3gentsagain

 

[crafty cokcney]

Sleepless in Seattle

Great day out yesterday. Great atmosphere. Great crowd.

After a disastrous start to the day with a 3 hour wait at the border crossing on a bus with no beer and very little air conditioning we finally arrived right on KO. As an impartial supporter looking on, it was a total TTP by United who dominated every part of the field except for the first ten minutes. The big lad that played alongside Bobo Balde for Celtic was junk. Nilstory played on him rather than Balde ( Smart move ) and basically undressed him time after time. Celtic looked a step behind in the middle with some players looking slightly unfit and a little overweight. Nice to see most of the big guns out for both teams. After the departure of Becks, Veron took it upon himself to play that role and stroked the ball around nicely.
Since I didn't start drinking until 8.00PM, there was no way I was going home on the bus after the game so I fukced off with two other lads and headed to Pioneer Square. Met up with other TTP'ers in the bars, drank my face off and snagged a ride back to BC in the early hours.

By the way, I think I still owe Superfox a pint, however he did introduce me as his dad to some bird I was trying to blag.- cnut

Cheers

 

[steve1234]

Magik

It was brilliant, a great day out. Good 15 mins to start from Celtic and then 75 mediocre. Man U to there credit stole the show and put on a hell of a performance. The midfield was the difference, and starting with 3 in the back, maybe was'nt so wise. The atmosphere was incredible, and the stadium, and seats were great.
Thanks especially to Walks for including me in the mostly drunk Man U section. They do'nt call him the prince for nothing. And to Blaze, if calling Douglas a Cutn, is taking the piss, then Guiness is fckin hilarious.

 

[sensei_hanson]

I'm going to end up echoing most of the TTP sentiments, because I was blown away at a variety of things. Firstly, having 66,700 in attendance is top class. Seahawk stadium is a great facility, and it's remarkably clean (very new, so that's a given I suppose) with excellent field/view accessibility. Having it adjacent to Safeco.....dang. Seattle has it good in that regard.

I only decided to go down on the monday after a friend presented me with a deal - what a fcuking deal. I sat 16 rows from the pitch in the south endzone (the one with the massive replay screen) and was close enough to chuck a quarter at Scholes while he was warming up. Eighty canadian for tickets that would have cost 200 American had we been watching the Shithawks. Gotta love it.

I think I saw Reedy rolling down 1st ave, around midnight, while we were stuck 5 deep in a sea of United supporters at McFaddens & Schnucks (something like that), a seafood bar well up 1st ave which was a pretty decent spot for a while. A host of others were on hand as well, seemed like you couldn't turn a corner without running into a Vancouver native.

We ended up closing the bar down at around 1:30am and staggered back to Tuquwilla (sp?), which was the closest place we could land accomodations, as none of us were in any shape to drive. Great afternoon, although sandwiching two trips to taco bell between heavy bouts of drinking has left my colon somewhere in Renton. I'll survive.

 

[Captain Shamrock]

After watching the game again, Celtic didn't play as bad as I initially thought. Yes, there were massive gaps in the back with Varga and Laursen, but overall they weren't as bad as I thought. United certainly controlled the game after the penalty miss until the half, but Celtic again had a good chunk of possession up until United's 4th goal which was clearly offside. Even the United fans must agree with that. It was at least a full yard. Either way, Bellion is going to be a good addition to a team who is good already. I liked what I saw from Maloney and Miller. Balde was solid again but Mjallby looked a little slow.

Hail Hail

 

[steve1234]

Martin's take on things.

O'Neill salutes Man Utd's class


Martin O'Neill admitted Manchester United are a class apart from the teams Celtic beat on the way to the Uefa Cup final after his side were thrashed by the Premiership champions on Wednesday morning.
A 4-0 defeat at the hands of Sir Alex Ferguson's team brought to an end an impressive unbeaten run against Premiership opposition.

Despite the margin of defeat, O'Neill was not too despondent afterwards.

But he acknowledged that Celtic have some work to do before their first competitive game of the season, the Champions League qualifier against either Kaunas and Torshavn.

"Manchester are vying with Real Madrid to be the best team in Europe," he said.

"Their finishing was absolutely clinical but we didn't help ourselves with some very sloppy defending.

"It is only pre-season but we have been working for two weeks and clearly we still have plenty to do.

"If we had scored the penalty it would have gone to 1-1 and given us drive and enthusiasm to keep going but within a couple of minutes they had made it 2-0 and it was a long old battle after that.

"United have been competing in the Champions League for quite a few years and they have learned quite a bit from that sort of experience.

"We are improving and trying to get there but Manchester United are the benchmark."

 

[cside17]

Best piss take!

Brilliant day, shite result.

Best Piss take heard all day

During Uniteds warm-up,right in front of us,

"How did you enjoy the world cup Keano"

With the look we got,I thought he was going to come over the fence at us!

But definitley the best deal all day

In the stadium

3 beers
1 bag of peanuts
1 bag of licorice

$28US ..fcuking expensive, I mean priceless!!

At least I got a free t-shirt at Kells, which by the way is a fantastic place to party!

How much $US is in this picture?

 

[zenga]

Some one better tell Martin O'Neil that AC Milan is the best team in Europe!

Still looked amazing down there too bad I missed it!

 

[ParkHead]

Great Day

Other than the result this is another day I will never forget. Yes the border lineups going down and home were ridiculous. The game itself from a Celtic point of view was a bit of a let down to say the least. But the pregame festivities more than made up for it. At one one point I am inside Kell's pub or as the Captain says Sauna singin with 100's of people all covered in green and white. Simply magic. But from a personal point of view I am standing having pints on the way to a Celtic match with My Dad, sister, two Uncle's their families and friends of the family who are all together for one reason to have some pints sing some songs and watch Celtic. Absolutely amazing time not soon to be forgotten. can't wait for the next trip to see the "Grand Ole team"

Celtic didn't play as bad as I initially thought.

If only we had the tape for the ride home then Captain.


Parkheadhasmemorieshewillneverforget.

 

[Captain Shamrock]

If only we had the tape for the ride home then Captain

Why? My comment still doesn't change the fact that we need at least TWO quality signings(a defender/center midfielder) to help us try and narrow the gap between the 'top' teams in Europe. We will still stuff Rangers because they are shite but we want to try and stay in Europe as long as we can. BTW, what did you think of Miller? Maloney? I definitely like their play yesterday.


Captain