GAWA gone gaga
Thursday found mom and I on a bus to Dublin, where I handed her off to a friendly Bulgarian woman who would escort her to her gate in a wheelchair. Mom can walk a decent amount, but airports are tough. U.S. travellers go through customs in Dublin instead of in the U.S., which means a lot of lines. Wheelchair passengers actually get to skip a lot of the lines.
Upon return home, I got to watch Northern Ireland’s football team (soccer in the U.S.) defeat Ukraine in the European Cup. N.I. has a population of 1.8mm vs. 43mm for the Ukraine, so it was a major upset. It’s a big deal for N.I. to get into the cup, nevermind advance. While I’m not a huge football fan, I was jumping around the room yelling and crying and laughing when they got their second goal. When the regulation time was up, N.I. was ahead 1-0. The ref added six minutes due to a weather delay and I thought N.I. would never be able to keep the ball out of Ukraine’s net. The second NI goal came seconds from the end of the six-minute nail-biter.
Add soccer to golf, rugby, and boxing as sports where our wee island punches above its weight. The Irish rugby team recently defeated South Africa--also an upset. And Carl Frampton has two world boxing titles.
The Green and White Army (of the title) describes the fans who follow the Northern Ireland team wherever they go. The joy of the GAWAs was delirious as they celebrated the win. The team from the Republic is also at the Euros. Irish fans north and south are having a ball at the Euros, singing, dancing, goofing around with the French and the fans from other teams. Meanwhile fans from Russia and England appear to be acting out some Hunger Game drama trying to kill each other. The Northern Ireland players also seem to be down-to-earth lads, not too big for themselves, unlike the prima donnas on some of the other teams. The drop-dead handsomeness of the Northern Ireland side may also have something to do with my sudden interest in the game.
I’ve watched this video several times about another “woman” who has Euro fever. Enjoy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLq3d-J0bbg
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