The SnowClasico Stretcher Crew: USMNT vs. CRC
March 22, 2013: The USMNT's first home game of the final round of World Cup Qualifying was in our backyard, at Dick's Sports Goods Park in Denver, Colorado. I was working for the Colorado Rapids at the time, managing their website, but on gameday me and a few buddies had what we thought were the best seats in the house. (Above: Jeff, Clint, Cory, and me)
We had volunteered to be part of the stretcher crew and were seated right next to the U.S. team bench. What we didn't expect was the blizzard. It was an unreal scene, with 2-3 inches of snow piling on throughout the game. We had access to the equipment room and at halftime we went in to warm up and throw our wet clothes in the dryer.
The U.S. scored first, courtesy of Clint Dempsey - and the goal stood for the 1-0 win, despite Costa Rica's attempt to stop the game in the second half.
We talked about getting a run out to help a player - knowing that if any of us fell it would likely make SportsCenter. However we only called once, to attend to U.S. midfielder Jermaine Jones, and nobody fell. Jones was able to get up on his own and we ran back around the field to our spot with the crowd cheering us on.
In the photos you see us before the game, the snow being removed right before kickoff, our view of the game, the ball they expected to use - and the one they ended up using, and our view of the now famous scene where USMNT defender Geoff Cameron helped a volunteer push snow off the field as Jurgen Klinsmann paced the sideline in front of the bench. Also, I had set up a camera under the scoreboard - the last pic is from the second half, where you couldn't see the lines.
I later wrote a feature on the entire crew that helped shovel the field that night which we posted on ColoradoRapids.com and U.S. Soccer used on their website (READ HERE).
