Overly long and completely self-indulgent story.

33 years ago today, the USMNT upset Trinidad & Tobago on the road to clinch the final spot in first World Cup in 40 years. Without the victory, you never get a World Cup on American soil or MLS. You probably don't get Donovan, Dempsey, Hamm, Pulisic etc.

Until the USMNT wins a World Cup, it will always be the biggest goal in United States history.

I was student at A&M at the time. My roommate and I were huge soccer fans. We commandeered the television in the common area of our dorm. We set up a perimeter and fended off everybody. Lots of complaining about watching a dumb European sport for sissies. It was a Sunday, so everybody probably wanted to watch NFL. Or the Simpsons which seemed to be on a loop. This might have been the only soccer game that was broadcast that year.

We went bananas when Caligiuri scored. The next hour was totally intense. Our screaming and passion won over some guys and the room filled out. It alienated the other 200 people.

After the game, I went to Sterling Evans library. I spent a couple of hours doing research. There were no computers to search on. This was complicated back and forth, pulling books and likely involved microfiche. Eventually, I learned there was organization called US Soccer Federation. And they were based in Miami. Then I went to phone book section of library. They had shelves of phone books for all the major cities. And I found the USSF phone number.

The next morning, I called the USSF at 8am Miami time. I wanted to be the first guy to call. They were shocked that I found their number. How did you find us? I was still pumped up "CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? FIRST WORLD CUP IN 40 YEARS! THIS IS AWESOME!" In hindsight, the USSF office likely consisted of a secretary, somebody making travel arrangements, an intern writing press releases, and an equipment guy.

I told them I wanted to order a shirt to celebrate the World Cup. The idea was to get them to ship me a catalog or pamphlet. Then I could mail them a check and get t-shirt. Nope. They didn't have shirts to order. Nobody had ever asked for anything like that before, but they liked the idea. Took down my address to put me on the mailing list.

One week later, I got a package. It included a wonderful letter.
"Dear Birdman. Your excitement has inspired our office. We wish we had 1,000 fans with your passion. Etc. We apologize for not having a shirt for you to order. We have a few extra jerseys for the team and wanted to send one to you. Please wear it with pride when we play in the World Cup".

Still wear it with pride for every World Cup game. And it still fits.

Yes, the United States was announced as World Cup host years earlier. Without the T&T win, it was believed that FIFA would take away the 1994 WC from us. USA getting to host was way more controversial than Qatar.

I wasn't clear in my rambling post.

Roster had about 23 players. They all had jerseys with number and name on them. The locker room had 4 or 5 extra jerseys. If somebody lost, tore their uniform or got blood on it, they would use one of these spares. USSF went into the equipment room and gave me the spare game jersey.

That's my lucky shirt. It's the blue jersey we typically wore on the road.

All these advances in technology and still no pic of the shirt.

Still a cool story though.

We still waiting for Barnesman to post this jersey?



J/K - Cool story, would love to see it!

akm91 said:

---

You shouldn't wear the '98 jersey for obvious reasons.

---

I wore the '98 jersey today. I now have my closure after a quarter century of USA soccer.

Today, I have experienced a certain type of peace, and I am thankful…

aggiephoenix02 said:

---

If one of you cheap asses would buy a star, you could PM my account and explain how to post pics. I'd be happy to share my collection of vintage USA jerseys…

---

We don't give a **** about your kits. Just the OPs.

Kidding. Why can't you post them?

Not as cool as the OP's story, but here goes. I was in my last semester of classes for a master's degree in sport management when the U.S. played Mexico in a friendly in Houston. On a whim, I sent an email to U.S. soccer saying who I was and asking if they needed volunteers. I was shocked to get a response saying yes and asking if I knew anybody else who wanted to join me. I talked to a classmate, and we split the cost on a crappy hotel near Reliant.

The day before, we helped get both locker rooms set up with water, Gatorade, and snacks. (Fun fact: the host team has to provide all of that, but the Mexican team wouldn't touch any of it because they are afraid it was tampered with. And apparently we do the same.) We also were on the sidelines during the U.S. team's light practice the night before.

On match day, we were on the sidelines helping set last minute stuff up. Then my classmate led the U.S. team out from the locker room, and I led the Mexican team out. We did the same at halftime. During the match, we were standing on the grass off to one side of the goal.

After the match we had to get back, but the U.S. soccer staff played a match on the field since the turf was going to be replaced the next day.

Oh, and I got a blue Nike U.S. soccer polo and white 1950 replica T-shirt, also Nike. And in true Nike fashion, the red stripe down the middle turned the whole shirt pink after the first wash. I remember seeing lots of maroon A&M shirts with pink letters during the Nike era, too.

Different sport but related in nature. I was a little kid (about 8 at the time) and was at a Pittsburgh Steelers football game. I was able to go into the locker room because my uncle was the equipment manager at the time. As I was walking down the hall towards the locker room towards the end of the game, Mean Joe Greene walked by me who had just got injured and was limping. I was nervous as hell but was able to stutter "hey, I think you're the greatest". He said thanks but it still didn't feel like it was enough. I had just grabbed a cold coke in the bottle and decided to offer it to him. He at first said no, but after I insisted he took the bottle and drained the whole thing in like 5 gulps. He said thanks again and as I turned to leave, he said "Hey Kid!" and then tossed me his jersey. Ever since then I've had a Coke and a smile.