24 Hours in Utah for a World Cup Qualifier

While I would have preferred to check the Costa Rica game in DC, squeezing a recreational Wednesday night trip into the work schedule is tough. So if I wanted to see a qualifier, Sandy, UT on 9/5 was my best shot.

View from the SLC airport was about what you would expect, I guess. Kinda brown, kinda mountainy.



After checking into the Hotel Monaco and dropping our bags we still had ~4 hours until kickoff. So we wandered out and soon found the Red Rock Brewery. Our criteria were beer, food and some TVs. Check.


A Blonde Ale


Prosciutto wrapped caprese salad


Dude with a pretty unfortunate hair style

Pre-game was successful, now it was time for the game. Asked for a cab at the Monaco, wound up in a van with Chafer, who became our handler for the rest of the day.



Trip to the stadium was relatively quick, leaving time to roam about, survey the tailgating scene and try to offload the extra pair of tickets I had purchased thinking for sure I'd be able to flip them and cover the weekend's beer expenses with the proceeds.

Not quite.

Rio Tinto Stadium holds 20,000 for soccer. Announced attendance at the game was 19,000 but it looked like less than that actually showed up. And at least one third of the crowd was wearing the royal blue of El Salvador. Net: not the best environment for trying to sell extra tickets. But during our stroll we were approached by a woman brandishing a turkey baster who offered us a "gin shot that tastes like lemonade". Would have been rude to refuse such a hospitable offer. And it did somewhat soften the blow of eating the cost of those extra seats.

Fortified, we headed in.



Took me a few shots to realize that the camera on my phone was on the low quality / low res setting. Sweet.



Nice place to see a game. Just too bad the SLC metropolis couldn't come support the squad.



These guys were representing, though.



Our seats were decent, a few rows behind the El Salvador bench.



Could have done without the super enthusiastic high school soccer player behind us shouting out "MAN ON!" and "WATCH THE SWITCH!" and "COME ON BECKERMAN, THIS ISN'T MLS, SHOW 'EM WHAT YOU GOT!". But the view was solid.

Place emptied out quick enough.



So it was time to meet our man Chafer for the ride back to the Monaco.

And there he is.


I actually took a more in-focus version of this, but honestly, this one is probably an appropriate representation of how things were feeling.

Chafer was solid. On time and had the cooler stocked with Coors Banquet, as we requested. At least, as we requested once we were advised that our choices were pretty much mainstream domestics. When in Utah, do as the Utahans do.



So we asked Chafer for some nightlife suggestions. He offered a few, but the first one we got to was Lumpy's.



Standard pool table scene downstairs. Not so standard bar service. Bartender had to ask his colleague what a Black Russian was. Should have aborted the order right there.



After a few unimpressive games we ventured upstairs, which turned out to be the right move.



All the TVs you could possibly want.



Just skip the mixed drinks and stick with beer.



Think I stopped taking pictures at this point. Until I got to the airport and saw this evidence that some Utahans do indeed have a sense of humor.