FC Barca

Before coming to Barcelona, I had heard a lot about the FC Barcelona team, but it wasn’t until I got here that I truly understood what was meant by all of this hype.  As a soccer player since I could put one foot in front of the other, I naturally assumed that I would be able to appreciate the Barca games more so than some of my friends or other attendees.  However, this is certainly not the case, as the games go far deeper than the sport itself.  The passion and energy of an FC Barcelona match exceed any sporting event I have ever seen or heard of in my life.  I say with complete confidence that “El Clasico”, which I watched at a local bar in the heart of the city, is not only the biggest rivalry, but the most heated and deeply meaningful 90 minutes of soccer, or any sport for that matter, in the world.  It took me all semester to finally get to a game in Camp Nou, but I was so glad that I did.  My friend and I scalped tickets, which gave the experience a little extra thrill.  We ended up getting tickets for 25 Euros each, and even better, we sat as close up in our section as we could and were never approached by security or asked to move.  From the moment of kick off, the game was intense.  It was interesting to me that there were no instant replays on the big screens, which is a signature quality of all high-tech stadiums in America.  I think this attests to the fact that every person in the stadium had their eyes glued to the field at all times; no play was missed and needed to be shown again.  In addition, the lack of alcohol in the stadium differed greatly from the “watch the game and get a beer with friends” attitude that surrounds American sport.  Again, this shows the intensity of these hardcore fans who don’t even mind the lack of alcohol.  It is hard to describe the energy that radiated from the stadium.  The chants and name-calling that went on were hard for me to understand due to the language barrier, but the actual words did not even matter, it was obvious what the fans were trying to say.  Not only were the fans into the game for all 90 minutes, but the players did not lose focus for even a second of the game.  Having played high school level soccer, mistakes were frequent.  It was truly unbelievable to watch the precision and perfection of each and very touch that the Barca players took.  They played their hearts out until the last moment, scoring 2 goals in the last few minutes of the second half, when they were already up 3-0 and had dominated the entire game.  The FC Barcelona team truly lives and breathes the motto “mas que un club” and I admire them so much for that.  Whether it be politics, athletics, or anything in between, anyone involved in the organization is fully aware of the deeply-engrained value that this futbol club holds.