Amsterdam Admirals
We arrived at 5.30 PM to find the pre-match Power Party in full swing. Music blared out from live bandstand large TV screens gave us a taste of the action to come. Stalls of merchandising offered a dazzling array of baseball caps, scarves, T-shirts with emblems and pendants. (Later, we discovered that the rest of the crowd had stocked up on horns, hooters and trumpets.) There were other delights to feast our eyes upon. Hotdogs dripping with ketchup and mustard, sticky donuts with strawberry icing and slices of New York Pizza dripping with melted cheese. It was almost difficult to tear ourselves away to go in the stadium for the game itself!
We finally appreciated the great size of the ArenA as we climbed the many stairs and searched the many entrances to find our numbered seats. Inside the razzmatazz continued led by the Admirals´ mascot, a seagull and its band of cheerleaders. With a permanent smile and hopping excitedly from foot to foot, the Seagull led the dancing routines.
The cheerleaders were altogether sleeker and swisher with acrobatic cartwheels, polished routines, big blonde frizzy hair and dazzling smiles. The audience turned out to be seasoned pro´s too. Noise-making apparel, banners and Mexican wave techniques had all been polished to perfection.
On the pitch, the Admirals made a grand entrance, bursting out from a huge baseball glove. They paraded before the line of cheerleaders, waving at the fans, who got a close-up view from huge TV screens. The Dragons made a more subdued appearance at the other side of the pitch. It was time for kick-off. Our ignorance of the rules soon became unimportant, as the first half remained uneventful. At half time, the Dragons were leading, but neither side showed much fire, We scurried off for more fast food and drink while the Admirals went off for a half-time pep talk.
With the start of the second half, the Admirals came out with renewed determination. They were rewarded! One touchdown after another brought fireworks. The huge cheers, loud music and cheerleaders tried to outperform each other and we proved our worth with circles of Mexican waves. (Paul and I proved particularly good at this. As he is over 6 ft and I´m only 5 ft 2, we didn´t even need to get out of our seats for our part of the wave!) Our encouragement obviously played an important role as the Admirals went on to win.
Thanks to Ross and Paul for organising this event. See you next season!
Michelle McCue
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