by Kevin McCauley
During the 2010 World Cup Qualifying campaign, the United States National Team has been thrown some serious curveballs by their opponents in an attempt to create a significant home field advantage. We had to go down to San Jose, Costa Rica and play Los Ticos at Saprissa Stadium, the first stadium with artificial turf approved by FIFA for World Cup qualifying matches. Not surprisingly, although not entirely because of the joke of a pitch, the United States struggled with the turf and got dominated by Costa Rica, losing 3-1. On August 12, which is not a weekend day, the United States faces Mexico at the Estadio Azteca at, get this, 3pm local time! In case meteorology wasn’t your major in college, this tends to be the hottest part of the day. Since the majority of Mexico fans will be at work or school during this time, the rationale for the kickoff time of the game was obviously to give the home side as big of an advantage as possible. Mexican players are used to playing in 90+ degree heat in the middle of the day; American players, for the most part, are not. This is in addition to the unbelievable smog in Mexico City. I’ve been told spending a day outside there is equivalent to smoking two packs of cigarettes.
All of this got me thinking: What could the United States do with their home games in the future to create as big of a home field advantage as possible? After some brainstorming with a friend of mine, I settled on the following venues.
Bronco Stadium, Boise, ID
NCAA Football’s Boise State Broncos have been playing in the lovely 33,500 capacity Bronco Stadium since 1970. The stadium is best known for its trademark blue field, affectionately known as the “Smurf Turf.” This unorthodox field certainly could provide the United States with a considerable advantage, considering that none of the other teams in CONCACAF have likely ever seen anything like it. And if that wasn’t good enough, we could use our first match at Bronco Stadium as the occasion to launch our new all-blue home kit! If El Tri had to play the United States on blue turf while they were wearing jerseys that were the same shade of blue, they’d never know what hit them!
Lambeau Field, Green Bay, WI
Since 1957, Lambeau Field has been home to the NFL’s most historically successful franchise, the Green Bay Packers. It earned its nickname “The Frozen Tundra” in 1967 during the famous “Ice Bowl” game against the Dallas Cowboys, in which the temperature sunk to -12 Fahrenheit. The stadium currently seats nearly 73,000, and it plays host to the occasional outdoor hockey game during the Packers’ offseason. If Mexico wants to play us at 3pm in August, why can’t they come play at Lambeau at 9pm in November? I can just see Rafa Marquez now in his cute little El Tri scarf, hat, and mittens. To fit in with the Green Bay crowd in November, the United States team could introduce their new orange jerseys for the inaugural match at Lambeau. We could have an “orange out” in the crowd, and they wouldn’t even have to buy any new merchandise! There’s nothing like deer hunting season in Wisconsin.
Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL
Wrigley Field is home of Major League Baseball’s Chicago Cubs and is perhaps most famous for its ivy-covered outfield walls. The use of any baseball stadium for a match could provide a significant home field advantage for the United States, but this one probably takes the cake. Because of the reasonably small dimensions of Wrigley Field, the sideline would likely have to be right up against the outfield wall on one side. Imagine the considerable advantage the United States would have if their opposition had to deal with the unexpected element of taking throw-ins from inside of an ivy patch! In addition, because of the dimensions of the stadium, the game would likely be played on a pitch that is square. This is something else that opposing teams would not be used to, providing a considerable advantage to the United States. Now, you may be asking, what to do with the pitcher’s mound? The answer, of course, is nothing! If we constructed a football pitch at Wrigley Field, the pitcher’s mound would likely be in the corner of one of the penalty areas, providing another little unique piece of character to our home stadium.
Talladega Motor Speedway, Talladega, AL
Lots of teams play their home games at a stadium with a large athletic track, placing the fans extremely far away from the pitch. So I say, why can’t we play our home games at a stadium surrounded by a racetrack? It’s the same thing, except this one is asphalt instead of some kind of synthetic rubber. Talladega Motor Speedway seats over 175,000 spectators, so using it as our national stadium would give us the biggest capacity football stadium in the world! Not to mention, holding our games in Alabama would likely get rid of the problem we have at many venues, where we are outnumbered by supporters supporting the away team. Unlike New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and other major U.S. cities where United States soccer games are often held, Alabama generally doesn’t cater to foreigners. We’ll have 175,000 true red, white, and blue flag-waiving Americans in the stands, no more Johnny Honduras ruining our home field advantage!
Opposing teams would likely be so intimidated, they’d forfeit immediately.
These are just some of the ideas I had for good home venues for the United States, but maybe you have some better ones! Leave your ideas here.
