Grizzly Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 Hola from Zacatecas, one of the most beautiful cities in the world! We have been in Mexico for two days and have had quite an experience so far. Two days before we left, both the US and Canadian governments warned their citizens not to travel to northern Mexico and I will leave it to you to look where Torreon is located. I thought this was an overreaction on our government's part before I left but it seems we are in the middle of a war between the drug gangs and the government. The military is out in force with machine guns everywhere and we had to drive through several checkpoints on our way to Zacatecas with soldiers behind sandbagged barriers and heavily armed. Our hotels in both Torreon and Zacatecas are pretty much empty. Not surpisingly after full planes from Montreal to Cleveland and on to Houston, the last leg to Torreon (not a tourist city in the best of times) was pretty empty. Even arriving at the airport was an experience with a lot of people hanging around doing nothing though our Impact scarves did not seem to be very welcome. Then we arrived at our hotel and within 2 minutes a woman from Montreal who lives in Torreon arrved to meet us which on the one hand was cool but on the other hand a bit weird in how did she find out so fast where we were staying. One feels a bit watched in this city. We went out a bit and didn't feel very welcome with our Impact and Ultras Montreal scarves. My apologies to the guy from Torreon who has posted here, but Torreon is not an attractive city. It is very industrial and poor and most of the city looks like a pretty bad slum. The mountains and landscape surrounding it are beautiful though. The next morning we went out without scarves and were received much better. We went to the stadium which is really cool. It is old but you walk in and instantly feel soccer has been played here for decades. The fans are right by the pitch (which is beautiful) and one feels this is the type of stadium where soccer should be played. The team has been very helpful and friendly to us as far as arranging tickets. Then we left for Zacatecas and after a crazy experience of driving "Mexican Style" through Torreon actually managed to find the highway. For the first hour after Torreon we drove through a desert landscape with lots of small mountains that was very beautiful. Afterwards it flatened out and there it became pretty isolated with no radio stations or human contact other than the occasional machine gun laden military checkpoints who waived us through without inspection (I imagine the UM reputation has not travelled to Mexico yet ). The highways here have each a lane and a half on each side and you have to pass the slower trucks in the middle estimatng whether you have enough time to avoid the guy in the other direction doing the same thing. We arrived in Zacatecas and this seems like another country. The architecture here is astounding, the city seems far more wealthy and cultured and many people are out on the streets. Trillium got a good rate on what was chosen as one of the most architecturally interesting hotels in the world, the five star Quintas Real which is a very old bull fighting ring converted to a hotel. The rest of the guys are slumming it in the also beautiful four star Emporio which accross from one of the world's most beautiful cathedrals. This city is amazing and so beautiful. Why can't we be playing Santos Zacatecas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jeffery S. Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 Nice post Grizzly, we are all with you there. Regarding you guys wearing scarves and animosity. I think Mexicans, like many fans , will not give you a hero's welcome as visiting fans. But a lot of the ire you may get is in fact because of the problems with their home team, and national team even. If you talk to them you'll see that they are really upset that their team lost to Impact or their nats to the US, that they expect more from their own, and most are pretty realistic about their chances. Remind them that Canada is out of WC qualifying and they'll commiserate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 Thanks for keeping us posted Grizzly - enjoy the rest of the trip! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Impactfanfirenze Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 Thanks for posting some info from the trip. Hopefully this is the first of a lot more visits to Torreon and other CONCACAF locations from Impact fans and Canadian soccer fans in general as we support our Voyageur Cup champions each year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keano Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 We'll look for you guys on the telly. Something tells me you won't be hard to find Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vic Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 "We went out a bit and didn't feel very welcome with our Impact and Ultras Montreal scarves." The advisories are do not travel and at minimum "exercise a high degree of caution". Ever hear of the Darwin Awards? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mimglow Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 quote:Originally posted by Keano We'll look for you guys on the telly. Something tells me you won't be hard to find Sorry if this is posted somewhere else, but I didn't find it. Any word on television coverage? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keano Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 quote:Originally posted by Mimglow Sorry if this is posted somewhere else, but I didn't find it. Any word on television coverage? SRC for the second half only (?) at 10:55 ET. cbcsprts.ca and src.ca streaming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bratworst Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 CBC on tape delay at midnight too, if you want the English feed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mimglow Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 Thanks guys. Looks like I'll be streaming on CBC.ca Ridiculous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vic Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 The media is simply a mirror, and change only comes at the end of a gun. They will adopt soccer only when they have to. No one is going to do anything to help Canadian soccer get the media respect it deserves, and the salient point being whenever anyone does anything supportive we need to be quite vocal in our appreciation and create whatever community we can with them. Pulling is a lot easier than pushing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveBeau Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 Sounds like you guys are having some very "interesting" experiences..Be careful and have fun!! Looking forward to more updates and pics.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philippe Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 How many of you are there in Mexico ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matthew Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 According to El Siglo de Torreon, the Impact are training at 4 p.m. at Carona for the next two days if you're back in Torreon. El Impact sostendrá prácticas hoy martes y mañana miércoles en la grama del Estadio Corona. Ambos días trabajarán en punto de las 16:00 horas, aunque será hasta hoy cuando se determine si serán abiertas a los medios de comunicación. Thanks for the update Grizzly. Stay safe and have fun. cheers, matthew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
masster Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 Have a safe trip Grizzly. Keep us updated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MTL_4_LIFE Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 Have fun boys!! Make sure they will always "Remember the Impact" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrennanFan Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 just a bit of advice from a guy who has been to club matches in hostile territory in south america once or twice: everything is usually cool at first. you will be greeted by the other supporters, etc. If the Impact lose, there will be no probs. IF the Impact win, everything changes, be on guard. Alcohol and sore losers don't mix well. If the Impact do win for some reason, do not gloat in the stadium. Be Happy. Wear your colours with pride. But get the hell out of the stadium as soon as the game is done. If you linger, there will be many angry, frustrated drunk supporters who wont need much of an excuse to start trouble with you. Have a game plan when leaving, heading toward the doors at the 88th minute or so is standard practice. Having a vehicle waiting outside the stadium is a good idea. I might sound paranoid, but I've seen very bad things happen to away fans whose team wins in places much more docile than Torreon seems to be. Good luck and enjoy the experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vic Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 ^ that's pretty much my SOP also, but I prefer to leave and camouflage myself in the mass exodus at 90:00 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vic Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 ^ that's pretty much my SOP also, but I prefer to leave and camouflage myself in the mass exodus at 90:00 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canucklefan Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 quote:Originally posted by BrennanFan just a bit of advice from a guy who has been to club matches in hostile territory in south america once or twice: everything is usually cool at first. you will be greeted by the other supporters, etc. If the Impact lose, there will be no probs. IF the Impact win, everything changes, be on guard. Alcohol and sore losers don't mix well. If the Impact do win for some reason, do not gloat in the stadium. Be Happy. Wear your colours with pride. But get the hell out of the stadium as soon as the game is done. If you linger, there will be many angry, frustrated drunk supporters who wont need much of an excuse to start trouble with you. Have a game plan when leaving, heading toward the doors at the 88th minute or so is standard practice. Having a vehicle waiting outside the stadium is a good idea. I might sound paranoid, but I've seen very bad things happen to away fans whose team wins in places much more docile than Torreon seems to be. Good luck and enjoy the experience. In South America, when the game is about to end, there's an announce for team B fans to wait 5 or 10 minutes so team A fans can quit the stadium. This is to avoid any conflict outside the stadium. There are places like Brazil and Argentina where the security is even better, there's only one way to come in and come out for team A fans and there's another way for team B fans. Of course I don't expect that in Mexico but there must be some security for Impact fans, at least there must be some organization to avoid a fight between Santos supporters and Impact supportersand give some protection to Impact supporters. EDIT: just remember to hide your Impact jersey when you are outside the stadium (before and after the game), especially if you must take the bus or something like that. Avoid to be recognized as Impact supporters at least outside the stadium and everything should be ok. Good luck people. Hope the Impact can qualify to the semi-finals, then sure I'll be there at the Olimpic Stadium. March 18 or 17(fingers crossed). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MTL_4_LIFE Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 quote:Originally posted by canucklefan In South America, when the game is about to end, there's an announce for team B fans to wait 5 or 10 minutes so team A fans can quit the stadium. This is to avoid any conflict outside the stadium. There are places like Brazil and Argentina where the security is even better, there's only one way to come in and come out for team A fans and there's another way for team B fans. Same thing in Europe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly Posted March 4, 2009 Author Share Posted March 4, 2009 We will be wearing our scarves and bringing our banners. That is part of the reason we are here. Of course we will be well behaved and in the event of a good result will not try to rub it in. It may or may not be dangerous at the stadium (the Santos representative tells me that it will be safe) but if we were afraid of bringing our colours to the stadium we would have stayed in Montreal. Additionally we will be watching the Santos match against Cruz Azul on Sunday and the club has arranged for us to sit with their Ultras, La Kommun. However, I do realize in the event of an Impact victory everything could change but that is a risk we are willing to take. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrennanFan Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 santos-laguna supporters: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BearcatSA Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 quote:Originally posted by Grizzly We will be wearing our scarves and bringing our banners. That is part of the reason we are here. Of course we will be well behaved and in the event of a good result will not try to rub it in. It may or may not be dangerous at the stadium (the Santos representative tells me that it will be safe) but if we were afraid of bringing our colours to the stadium we would have stayed in Montreal. Additionally we will be watching the Santos match against Cruz Azul on Sunday and the club has arranged for us to sit with their Ultras, La Kommun. However, I do realize in the event of an Impact victory everything could change but that is a risk we are willing to take. As others have already posted, I wish you a great time, a super result, and (most importantly) a safe journey home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamiltonfan Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 thanks for the updates. enjoy the game, this is an unreal run. quote:Originally posted by Mimglow Thanks guys. Looks like I'll be streaming on CBC.ca Ridiculous. mimglow..welcome back Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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