Urawa Reds Game!

My dear friend and #1 Urawa Reds fan Chie invited me to one of their last home games for the J-League season. I went with her and another friend to a charity game back in April, but this was entirely different and way more awesome (aside from the fact that they lost 0-3).

Chie and her husband are season ticket holders for the Reds, but her husband couldn't go to this game so I got to use his seat instead. I don't think I've ever been to a game of any professional sport in America, so this was SUPER exciting! The cheer section, the flags, all the sort of Engrish-y fight songs, even the booing was great. I didn't know you were supposed to boo at the opposing team's top players and ignore the other guys.

That cheer section is organized and HUGE.

At each Reds home game, they feature one of the players on certain pieces of merchandise. That night was Tsukasa Umesaki's night, so fans sitting in a special Wonder Seat section got to take home Umesaki bobblehead dolls and everyone received a trading card with his photo and stats. There was even cheer song dedicated to him!

Not a bad looking j-boy.

Unfortunately the Reds lost the game. I don't know much about soccer so I wouldn't be able to pinpoint exactly what went wrong, but the Reds seemed like they were lagging a bit. One of their star players, Genki Haraguchi (who I love mostly because I can read all of the kanji in his name), got run over in the first 10 minutes and never seemed to recover. He was limping by the end of the game. They couldn't hold onto the ball and were just kinda MEH the whole time.

#12 is reserved for Reds fans!

I'd say they lost to a better team, but the refs screwed up a few calls (like forgetting to call one of the Reds' players back in, forcing them to play a man down for a while) and the other team kept pulling drama queen antics. YEAH I'M SURE OUR GUY REALLY HIT YOU SO HARD THAT YOU JUST HAD TO CURL UP IN THE FETAL POSITION ON THE SIDE, YOU DESERVED THAT YELLOW CARD YOU FAKER. AND OTHER IWATA GUY WHO TRIPPED A REDS PLAYER, YOU DESERVED YOUR YELLOW CARD, TOO.

Some people are calling this game the worst of the season, but that's okay. The next time I watch a Reds game I'm sure they'll win and be amazing!