Erin is a huge US Supporter and giant TOW/BP fan from Houston who has followed the US team for many years. She recently travelled to Washington DC to attend the US vs Costa Rica World Cup Qualifying match and cheer on the team.

Erin talked to TOW to tell her own story about supporting the US team; her trips to Salt Lake City, Chicago and DC…and her Charlie Davies banner and “brush with greatness” with Landon Donovan at the final whistle at RFK…

Words and Images by Erin and Daylife

You know, I have always been a huge sports fan. I guess being passionate about sports started at a young age because I was always the little girl yelling at the umps. I think it is that passion from the fans and the energy of the games that has won me over.

Growing up, a lot of my friends played soccer and I would go to lots of games.

The Dynamo coming to Houston was when I really started getting serious into soccer, and I got hooked pretty quickly by the atmosphere and the passion at the games.

I also taught for 4 years at a school that was largely Hispanic and all the kids wore their jerseys to school and played soccer at recess…once the Dynamo came to Houston and I started following them, I had more of a connection to the students. We’d have days at school where you could wear your favorite sports shirts and the kids would be so excited to see me in my Dynamo jersey. Anytime they would go somewhere and get something Dynamo related or an autograph they’d ask their teachers if they could come show me because they knew I was a fan. That was pretty cool and a good connection to make with those students.

I’ve kept up with the US National Team since probably high school…reading articles when they were in SI or watching big games on TV. I’d say I’ve really become a fan in the last 4 or 5 years. I think finding a bunch of people (through Texian Army) that had a common interest has increased that passion. My passion is for the US team because they represent my country….nothing like singing the national anthem at a US game and just belting it out as loud as you can.

After traveling to Salt Lake City for the US game in September….I just knew I had to go to DC. It didn’t take much persuading from my friends who were already going.

A friend asked me if this game was going to be as exciting for me to go to since they had already qualified on Saturday. For me…it didn’t really change because we still wanted to finish at the top of our group. The game meant a lot to other teams in the group also and that’s what makes soccer so much fun for me. You aren’t just representing your city, you are representing your nation.

When I heard the news about Charlie Davies on Tuesday….I already had my stuff packed in my car to head to the airport as soon as school was out. But I just knew I needed to do SOMETHING. I guess you can scream and yell at games, etc but you are one of thousands, so maybe you don’t get “heard”. A banner was just my way of personally letting the guys and Charlie know that I was wishing him a speedy recovery, but I also didn’t want the young woman who lost her life in the accident to be forgotten…so I added her initials as well.

I made the banner at the pre tailgate American Outlaws get together at a bar there in DC. I may have snagged a pillowcase from an unnamed hotel’s housecleaning cart to use and ended up buying a quart of paint from a paint store that was down the street from the bar. I just started painting it outside on the patio. Since I didn’t have many handy resources I kept it simple. But in this situation, I think a simple sentiment was all that was needed.

For the majority of time during the game I think there was a lot of disbelief that things weren’t going our way. We had a lot of great looks at the goal but nothing seemed to get in the net. When Costa Rica scored twice in about 4 minutes you could tell people were really bummed but I don’t think anyone where I was didn’t believe we could come back. Especially after Bradley’s goal…the energy just went up about 10 notches.

At the final whistle, the team started coming around to thank everyone…

…and Landon Donovan spotted the banner I made and he jumped over the little barrier and reached out for it and I handed it off to him.

I was a bit stunned at first. Donovan has been my favorite player for awhile and I was wearing a Donovan shirt at the game. My friends all know that I am a fan of his and my phone just blew up when he started running around with it. They all knew I was very excited. That and the late equalizing goal just gave me this crazy electric high….it was a very cool experience.

Being at the national games I’ve been to this year (Chicago, SLC, DC) makes me want to go even more to South Africa. We’ll see if it works out.

I could just use that money to park myself at a pub for the month…but that just wouldn’t be the same.

(Erin’s #9 AJR banner appears at the 4:30 point onwards)

Words and Images by Erin (except Landon Donovan and US team photo by Daylife)