Last Saturday night I had an opportunity to attend an FC Dallas game at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, which is north of Dallas. Me and 2 of my friends set off on the close to an hour drive to get there about dinner time and got there pretty easily considering the Dallas traffic patterns. They are soccer fans and I am a very casual fan. They explained to me some of the things that were going on during the game and it was nice to be around people who knew what was going on.

The Hoops were playing Real Salt Lake, who had beaten them a few weeks before. FC Dallas had just fired the coach and this was the new guys first game. The first half was not very exciting other than the yello and eventually red cards that were issued. The ref issued an early yellow to a RSL player and then later on in the half issued him another and it seemed as though initially he did not realize it was the same player. So out comes the red card and off he goes. I asked my buds if there is a tendency to have “make-up” calls like in the NBA. And before they could really decide if it would happen, it did. An FC Dallas player decided that his elbow needed to occupy the same space as the RSL players face during a interesting discussion and then off he went.

At the half it was 0-0. Not really big scoring chances for either team but I was enjoying the atmosphere. There ware a few groups of very loud fans in several sections of the stands. The section in the end zone behind the goal was very interesting. We got a laugh when we saw a guy in a kilt. One of my friends is from Scotland and he loved the fact that he had a cowboy hat on as well. it was very funny. the second half started similarly to the first until Real finally scored. They made our goalie look silly. FC Dallas played a bit more aggressive but it was obvious that the heat was getting to all of them. The Hoops tide it up with about 8 minutes left in regulation and we were hoping not to see a draw. At the same time they were announcing that 3 minutes would be added, a great break away goal for FC Dallas at the 90 minute mark gave us the lead and the win 2-1.

I came away from the game with a few insights:

1. The venue is really nice. Plenty of room to get around and you can get down close to the field if you want.
2. The crowd was passionate but pleasant. Not many cuss words but a lot of yelling.
3. The game was a little more exciting than I had hoped for. I had a completely open mind and came away very satisfied.
4. The presentation is not as intense as the NBA, MLB, of the NFL but it was good enough to keep you informed and involved.

I will probably pay more attention to them now and my interest in soccer/football has increase after last week’s games in UEFA and here in Dallas. I wouldn’t say I was getting to be a hard core fan but I am less of a casual fan than I before going to the game.