of course i have a WWC story.
went to landover, MD for the quarterfinals in 1999 and caught the usa/germany and nigeria/brazil doubleheader. traffic was brutal so my buddy and i got hammered on the ride while a gal friend drove. roll into our seats and break out the flasks, kid sitting next to us "whispers" as only ~8 year olds can do "daddy, what's that?" dad looks over at us, disapprovingly, and responds "that's something that people put alcohol in." the tone was clear, don't be dropping f-bombs in front of my kid. i was going to be a junior in college the following fall aka the peak of my public drinking powers.
usa wins a solid game, 3-2, after falling behind from an early own goal, tying it, and then going down 2-1. my buddy and i are on our best, most patriotic behavior. i was rocking a mickey mouse t-shirt and brought a poster that said "I WILL HAVE 2 FILLINGS" (look it up). very popular w/ the soccer moms in the crowd.
we were sitting in the cheap seats and a few rows in front of us was a large group of nigerians - maybe 4 or 5 packed rows - with most of the guys rocking full tribal dress with drums, trumpets, those jugs with the beads on them, etc. during the second game brazil went up 3-0 into the half. i - the whitest of white guys - approached the group and explained, in my drunken logic -that if they gave me a drum nigeria would surely come back to win. next thing i know i've got a drum and nigeria scores about 10 minutes later. this 6'4 nigerian who i assumed was the chief has me in a bear hug. we are singing, dancing, i'm smashing the drum and boom, nigeria scores again. i didn't understand what they were saying, for the most part, but it was clear they viewed me as some kind of white talisman. by this point my buddy and our gal friend have joined us and they are given instruments as well.
it's 3-2 brazil and the entire upper level is now pulling for nigeria (brazil fans traveled well but were mostly in the lower levels). the trumpet guy is blasting out some song and we all lock arms, 3 white college kids in a big group of nigerians, and start swaying side-to-side and singing "all we are saaaaaying, is give us a goooooooal." goosebump city, pop. 1.
a few minutes from time, wish granted. 3-3. bedlam. i got knocked over into the row in front of where we were standing and next thing i know 3 of the nigerians have rushed down to my side and are picking me up, huge grins on their faces, slapping me on the back, handing me my drum. it was a nonstop dance party as regulation ended and went into extra time.
alas, it wasn't meant to be, brazil scored in ET (and had a legit goal disallowed at the end of regulation) and nigeria lost 4-3. after saying our goodbyes to the nigerians my buddy and i, still euphoric from the whole experience, were walking into the concourse. i feel a tap on my shoulder and turn around and it's the same guy from earlier with his kid. he says, "I just wanted to let you know that my son and i had such a good time watching you singing and dancing with those nigerian fans, that was a real hoot." awwwww. the only bummer is this game happened before cell phones and as such, i didn't get to put any of the nigerians into my phone, keeping the # of black people i have in my phone at 1 (as of this writing).
women's world cup, CATCH THE FEVER!!!!