First Journal Entry: FC Barcelona Game vs. Getafe

On Saturday, February 6, I attended the FC Barcelona versus Getafe CF soccer game along with three of my friends. One of the main things I wanted to do when I came to Barcelona was to see a soccer match. Growing up as a huge sports fan throughout my whole life, I figured there would be no better place to capture the excitement of a sporting event than at one of the most famous soccer stadiums in the world in Camp Nou. Sure enough, this sporting event did not fail to impress me. The stadium was a spectacular place, seating more people than any stadium I had ever been to other than Penn State’s Beaver Stadium, where I watch my college football team in the United States. Since I was told Barcelona was not playing a very good team, I was even more surprised that the stadium was almost at full capacity. This showed me how dedicated the fan base truly was. I was amazed with how the crowd intensity stayed so high throughout the entire game. While many sports in America like football and basketball have many stoppages in play, you really cannot afford to miss a second of a game here. Although it felt like Barcelona was much more skilled and dominated the time of possession in this game, it was still only a one goal game for the majority of the match. Despite Barcelona’s numerous scoring chances, one bounce of the ball could have propelled Getafe right back into the game, which is what made this such an exciting experience. Another reason why this was such an amazing experience for me was because I have never been to a soccer game with so much intensity and such a large crowd. Many people play soccer in the United States; I played for the majority of my life until I began to play football and basketball in high school. However, major league soccer in the United States is not that popular, and does not draw very big crowds. Going to a stadium with such a devoted fan base really gave me a greater appreciation of soccer. Seeing how all the fans watched each possession with such focus was great to see because it showed that they truly cared about the team. Sometimes when you attend professional sporting events in the United States, you do not have a crowd which is as highly involved in the game. For example, many times at professional basketball games they play music during the games to create an atmosphere. However, here the crowd noise was so loud that there was no need for artificial sound creation. One thing I was surprised about was that there were no instant replays on the big screen. While professional sports in the United States have grown to use instant replay tremendously over the years, it was weird to see not even goals shown again after they were scored. With all this being said, going to this soccer game was a life-changing experience, and I hope to see another one before I go back home.