Bulldog Victory

Saturday, May 21

Bulldog’s Win

·         Saturday started with a lovely shower and an equally lovely cup of brewed coffee.

·         The busses left for the game at about 11:00.  The streets were lined with people trying to get a glimpse of the team.

·         We entered the stadium (if you can call it that).  There were guards and secret service protecting us from snipers in the surrounding buildings.

·         There were people on the roof tops around the field.  Wrigley Field – Tanzania style.

·         Rich Anderson and I ran the chains for the game.   The refs were fun to work with during the game.   The head referee did the BCS National Championship game.  It was interesting to be with them at halftime to hear how they debrief the first half.  The Mexican team was undisciplined.  They had a ton of penalties.  The refs commented that there should have been more but they couldn’t pull their flags out in time.

·         The chains were on the Mexican side of the field.   I guess some of their language was quite salty.  It is a good thing that I can’t understand Spanish.

·         The game itself was a low scoring affair in the first half with Drake up 3 – 0.  One Mexican player got ejected for a cheap shot on a Drake player.  The Mexican players play dirty and it was encouraged by the coaching staff.  I did not need to understand Spanish when the coach motioned to punch the Drake players in the stomach.

·         The second half featured a bench clearing incident.  A Mexican player kicked one of the Drake players in the head after a botched field goal attempt where we recovered the ball.  Both benches cleared.  The fans of Tanzania cheered.  Must be like one of their soccer games.

·         The Bulldogs prevailed 17 - 7 and won the first ever Kili Bowl trophy and the first official American Style Football game EVER played on the continent of Africa.

·         All I can say is the Bulldog football team is first class.  They played hard and did not submit to the dirty playing.  After the game, the team huddled, got down on one knee.  One of the players offered a heart-felt prayer that almost brought me to tears.  It was a great day to be a Bulldog.  After that, the players interacted with the kids that watched the game.  Drake gave away about 500 footballs so all of the children would have one. 

·         After getting back to the hotel, I enjoyed another lovely shower and when to the big banquet with players from both teams.  It was a nice, short event.

·         After the banquet, we retired to the Hitari bar for a night cap.

·         AND… went to the supermarket to get supplies (beer, wine, candles, etc.) for my friends in Shigatini.  They would kill me if I did not bring back supplies.

All for now.  Not sure when I will have Internet access again.