Question: What is Christmas, your birthday, New Year’s Eve, meeting the guy of your dreams, and winning the lottery… all wrapped up into one?

Answer: Scoring a last-minute ticket to the sold-out USA-Italy World Cup match on June 16, flying to the game on the chartered jumbo jet with the US team’s friends/family, AND rubbing shoulders with the US players!

The next question surely will be “who could possibly have come upon such an unprecedented stroke of good luck??” The answer, my friends:

a. me
b. me
c. me
d. All of the above

I surely must name our firstborn child after my long-time California colleague Ken Callan, who - in a well-timed business conversation -casually mentioned that his friend Jimmy Conrad (#13) was playing in the World Cup and soon put me in touch with Jimmy’s family members staying in Hamburg. Jimmy Conrad’s mom graciously took me into her flock and treated me like one of her own. In an act of astonishing generosity, she bequeathed upon me her last, unused ticket for the Italy match… and there the fun began…

In no time I was whisked to the Hamburg airport with 300 team friends/family in 6 huge busses and boarded a chartered 747 bound for the Ramstein Air Force Base in southern Germany. We were greeted by scores of smiling military personnel who had prepared a lavish lunch in the Officers’ Club (complete with balloons, ranch dressing, real ice tea, and Budweiser!). Much to everyone’s surprise, the team later sauntered in for chats and last minute well-wishes.

300 full bellies later, we reboarded the busses and hit the Autobahn. The Americans loudly agonized over our driver’s unwillingness to ramp it up to about 150 MPH (considering the absence of a speed limit), and practically foamed at the mouth when an Italian busload of tourists edged in front of us. I was relieved to stumble onto solid ground in one piece.

Upon arriving in the vicinity of the stadium, we still had to schlep about 1 ½ miles by foot up a long hill before actually reaching the entrance. Americans, Italians, Germans, and all sorts of international brood were fully decked out in face paint and garish patriotic attire – chanting, singing, cheering, hollering naughty things about Bush to any American who would listen, and buying cold beer being sold out of the locals’ trunks. TV cameras filmed our entrance (my Statue-of-Liberty attire was well-appreciated, although perhaps due to my crown the Italians kept calling me “their queen”, which if course was just fine with me!)

I – and everyone else - was simply blown away by the US attendance at this match. More than a third of the stadium was a solid ocean of red, white and blue - with impressive sets of lungs tuned to maximum volume. Let me say for the record that one of the single greatest highlights of my LIFE was singing (yelling?) the national anthem at this US World Cup match along with some 15,000 cheering/singing/yelling Americans. I still get goosebumps thinking about it.

The team came out with a bang and proceeded to astonish both us, the worldwide TV audience, and most importantly…. the Italians. While during the trek up the hill they had taunted us with predictions of a “4-0” wipeout, before their eyes the US had become the team that no one looks forward to playing. THIS, my friends, is finally the team that we have been waiting for! They magically ripped balls away from Italian offence…. jetted them through the legs of Italian defense…dazzled the audience and coaches, and kept Italy firmly on the run (at least through the first half). Coach Bruce Arena kept everyone guessing with his surprise starting lineup and some unexpected substitutions. During the game I sat next to Jimmy Conrad’s wife Lindsey. When he was called in to play during the second half (his first World Cup field appearance), she nearly fainted in shock - I had to check every few minutes to confirm she was still breathing.

A few ref calls were unfavorably received by the American fans, who were more than willing to share their feelings - with 15,000 voices in unison yelling the less-dainty version of “POPPYCOCK” several times throughout the match. (I wondered how ESPN would gently edit that for American ears). On the flip side, every fine move by our boys was met with mass hysteria, renewed chanting, more flag waving, etc. The crowd’s support nearly made up for our second-half disadvantage thanks to a few red cards.

The guys simply gave it all they got. By the end of the game, they were visibly wiped out - I think Landon Donovan even needed a few minutes of IV drip after the game to recover. They wowed us, they renewed faith in US soccer….. but we couldn’t punch it in quite enough times to take home a victory (we settled for a 1-1 tie). But no worries, if we beat Ghana and Italy smokes the Czechs – we may still advance to the next round.

In high spirits, all 300 of us fought the crowds down the hill, piled into the busses, headed for the Air Force base, and happily trundled on board. At 4:45am I tumbled into bed still half-dressed with my US flag-cape attached at the neck….

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Here are photos of our unforgettable day !

The US soccer friends/family chartered jumbo jet awaits:

And so do 300+ of us at Gate C15 in Hamburg airport:

Arriving at Ramstein Air Force Base:

How often do you get to deplane from a 747 on the tarmac?!!

Family cluster for photo ops:

A lavish luncheon at the Officer’s Club:

I chat with Officer Begel, who is heading back to the States soon after 2 years in Deutschland:

Jimmy Conrad’s grandma Mable, me, & SUPER PAM :

The team surprises us at the O-Club!

Jimmy Conrad (#13), a So Cal native, poses with me:

The opening ceremony:

Introducing the players:

The Donovan family struts their stuff!

I am joined by Jimmy Conrad’s brother Dillon and wife Lindsey:

The team plays with great heart this time:

The US fans outdo themselves!

I discuss the flight plan back to Hamburg with our pilot:

AND HERE, ON MY WEBSITE FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER, IS SOME VIDEO FOOTAGE FROM THE GAME! (Now, no one ever said I was a gifted videographer…)