This might seem corny, but I recently made a bucket list. For those of you who have not seen "The Bucket List" (2007) with Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson, a bucket list is a list of everything you want to do before you die.
Some have said to me, "Hollisto, you're only 21 years old. Why do you even need a bucket list?" I just replied that I was bored and needed a way to pass time during my six-hour flight to Europe at the beginning of the term. I didn't have internet access and most of the in-flight movies sucked, so I really needed something to do.
I constructed an amazing list during the flight. Some of the items are nearly impossible to complete. For instance, one is to figure out where in the world is Carmen San Diego (I plan to find Waldo, too). Some are frivolous, such as flying to Japan for the sole purpose of purchasing a Samurai sword.
In Spain, however, I've managed to cross off one item visiting a European soccer stadium for a match. Moreover, I got a chance to see a game in FC Barcelona's Camp Nou, the largest stadium in all of Europe.
As soon as my travel buddy, John Renehan '13, and I arrived in Barcelona, we set off to look for tickets to the match the following day. We knew tickets would be hard to find and wouldn't come cheap, since the team is essentially the Spanish equivalent of the New York Yankees.
Every day, there is some type of program or news item about FC Barcelona on a Spanish ESPN-type channel. The club has the highest payroll in Spain, about the same as the Yankees'. The only team that rivals FC Barcelona in magnitude is Real Madrid.
FC Barcelona is the best team in Spain and arguably the best squad in all of Europe. Like the Yankees, it often dominates the competition. The team has only lost one La Liga match this season and is well on its way to winning the Spanish Cup.
So knowing the team's legacy, Renehan and I expected to fork over a large number of Euros to see the squad live. And unfortunately for us, the cheapest tickets we could find cost about 65 (approximately $88).
The tickets were worth it, however. When I entered the stadium, I expected to make my way up to the nosebleeds. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that my seats were only 10 rows away from the corner of the field.
Watching a game in Camp Nou is an incredible sporting experience. It's impossible to describe how big the stadium is. Imagine the new Cowboy Stadium and then double the size. The place officially has 122,000 seats, but if feels like 500,000 when you are inside. Although we were only 10 rows away, stars like Lionel Messi and David Villa felt larger than life. They were definitely close enough to peg with the hot dog I had purchased but I didn't dare interrupt their amazing game.
Watching a European soccer match is nothing like watching a football or baseball game. First, the stadium hardly ever uses its PA system. After kick-off, the sound system is used only to announce the players who score goals. Although the stadium has a Jumbotron, it is never used for instant replays. It only displays the score, the time remaining and the players who have scored.
Due to the lack of distractions, the crowd remains focused on the action on the pitch, and for good reason if you took your eyes off the game for one moment, you could miss a spectacular play. Fans performing the wave were the only parallel to an American game.
FC Barcelona absolutely dominated the match. The final score was 3-0, with Messi netting a hat-trick. Watching FC Barcelona play their opponent, Club Atltico de Madrid, was like watching the episode of "South Park" where a group of eight-year-old children played the Detroit Red Wings in hockey. I like Atltico they're my adopted soccer team but I couldn't help but cheer for FC Barcelona during the rout.
It seems that European soccer follows the same trend as American sports without salary caps money buys wins. Teams who can afford the best players, such as FC Barcelona, end up winning the most championships.
But I can't complain. The game was a blowout but it was exciting to watch. A collection of superstars produces a better sport, and I'm happy to say I got my money's worth.
