Pasadena Pow Wow

The heat is relentless. The people who built the Rose Bowl should maybe have considered building it not in the Valley, but in a cooler location. Oh, well, too late now, and the crowd shows up anyway. Almost 90,000 of them. There are yellow and blue jerseys everywhere. I’m thinking that never before (or after for that matter) have there been this many Swedes in the Los Angeles area. Several thousand. The young American guy is wearing a Cameroon jersey. ”Why?” I ask him, noticing by his pale complexion that he couldn’t possibly originate from Africa. ”They played attractive soccer in the last World Cup” is his answer. Supporting a team for their performance…? What a concept…!!!

The game goes on with no signs of trouble anywhere. Not on the field. Not in the crowd. Not outside the stadium. Apparently Americans know how to organize big events, and make the people feel safe. The feeling of security and the complete lack of unprovoked violence is boring to some, but is appreciated by lots more. The result is satisfactory to both teams, a tie. The best was yet to come…

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