American football – Chelsea High School Versus Ecorse Match
The football match between Chelsea High school and Ecorse School was preceded by intense preparations and hyped taunts between fans and supporters of both schools. Chelsea high is known to have dominated matches between the two adversaries in the recent past and players from the school were confident and pumped up for action. On the day of the game, the fan stands were packed to the chair and the cheering squads for each side were all excited and loud.
A notable aspect of the venue was that more players were ethnic; the cheer ladies were attractive in a way that they seemed to have been picked to each lady. Many fans had with them bottled Fiji mineral water. Some even had Fiji water shirts on. Fiji water was doing some serious marketing. The atmosphere on the stands was charged and, sitting among the Chelsea high fans, one could not help getting sucked into the excitement mood. Down at the pitch, the coin was tossed and Chelsea got the beginning kickoff. Rudy Chambers, the Ecorse kick returner clawed his fingers into the ball, darted through the Chelsea defense and in a snap, was on the score line. Within the first five minutes of the game, Ecorse was ahead. The subsequent minutes had the Chelsea Fans silent, the team was slower and Ecorse fans were basking in the pleasure of having the opportunity to beat Chelsea.
Up until Ecorse beat Chelsea, the fans kept their calm. Having attended other sports and seeing the level of hooliganism at soccer matches, I was surprised that save for a few isolated cases of indiscipline and fist fights, the Football fans even the ones on the loosing team held back and managed to leave the venue without causing a major spectacle. It was also evident that excessive confidence can cost a team a match especially when the adversary is determined to break a jinx.