Los Angeles Expatriates Unite!

It’s a slow Easter weekend in MLS so I thought I’d regale you with a brief history of my Galaxy fan-ness (as opposed to finesse, of which I have none).

I was living in Pasadena, just two miles from the Rose Bowl, when MLS began. That first season I learned of the Galaxy’s existence because of the traffic. Traffic jams, traffic rerouting. I could smell the hodas and hear the fireworks on the fourth. That season I caught a few games toward the end of the season and was addicted.

The next year I used some of my student loan (I was limping through grad school — and shh, don’t tell the government) to purchase season tickets. My tickets were behind the Galaxy bench, about fifteen rows up, and I believe were in the $350 range. If anyone is sitting in similar seats at the HDC, I’d love to know what the season ticket price is now.

And so for the next several years I had fifteenth row tickets to the best game in town. I saw some great and some not-so-great soccer. I saw Dan Calichman break his leg, and I got to chip the ball into the giant inflated Kellogg’s cereal bowl during the halftime festivities. (I missed off the rim. I blamed it on my running shoes. If I had only been wearing my turf shoes . . . I’ll never know the freedom of a year’s worth of free cereal.) And I used to have a running joke, albeit in my head, with Mauricio Cienfuegos. He was “allowed” to make only 5 mistakes per game. He was usually under that.

I got married, had my first daughter, and the Galaxy moved to the HDC. With a baby and the distance I couldn’t justify season tickets anymore. Then I moved to Virginia — the land of four seasons and affordable housing. I’ve lived here five years now and have followed the Galaxy each year via satellite and internet.

So I want to know — who else is not local to LA but loves/follows the Galaxy? What’s your story?

Some Related Galaxy Posts:

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