Well it's Friday July 8, and the Faithfulista are in Miami bracing for the wrath of Hurricane Dennis. This is not what we came here for. My son, "Small Magician" and I "Big Magician" came to Miami to follow T&T's Warriors in the CONCACAF Gold Cup. Now our thoughts shift from football to those terrible images of past hurricanes that battered Miami.
Small Magician uses his computer skills to track the path of "Dennis" and gives me regular updates. I comfort him (and myself) by telling him it's God's work and we will put our faith in him.
Our Trini-born host, Ian, shows no concern and goes about his business as normal, trying to get former Chaguanas resident "Mannie" to come over to repair the air-condition units.
The Faithfulista head to the movie complex to check out Fantastic 4. The Dolphin Mall, which houses the movie complex, is full of shoppers and kids liming sorry, hanging out. I detect no panic or concern among the people over "Dennis". It must be something they are used to every year and also the faith they have in the emergency systems to deal with such disasters.
We get back to our home to find Mannie, the AC repair man, with a rum and soda in hand, frying some chicken for "cutters". Friday after work lime Trini-style in Miami.
News of the postponement from Saturday to Sunday of the T&T versus Panama match gets us a little disappointed until we agree it will give Carlos Edwards and Brent Sancho some more time to heal their injuries, as both were surely missed in the first match against Honduras.
I almost said "no" to the invitation to check out a club/bar on South Beach, but agreed after explaining the under-age law to Small Magician Hard luck son!
South Beach: It's not every Friday you get an invitation to lime in South Beach. The famous dance floor of young America. Washington Ave, Collins and Ocean Ave with their string of dance clubs, bars, cafes, strip clubs and art galleries. The last time I saw South Beach was seven years ago while on tour with my rock 'n roll band. Memories start coming back as we drive past the famous Cameo Theatre where we played a great show on that tour. I remember the great Lord Pretender controlling that same Cameo stage. The little man seeming much larger than life as he sang "Never ever worry...don't mind how tings looking bad". I look for another old gig venue, "Roses", but it's no longer there...another dance club. After a few bar stops and the inevitable pizza slice stop, we head home in the rain, observing some fallen trees and gusts of wind. Even "Dennis" had to check out South Beach.
"Daddy, wha you worried bout Panama for? Dem never beat we". I am trying to remind Small Magician that football and sport in general has a life of it's own, so let's not underestimate anyone. Yes, T&T recently beat Panama 2-0 in a World Cup qualifier, but Panama are the most improved country in CONCACAF play. Four years ago T&T put six past them at the Queen's Park Oval. In the past four years, Panama have qualified for the FIFA U-17 World Cup, the FIFA U-20 World Cup and the last six of CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers. Now I heard this word somewhere before-"DEVELOPMENT".
"Yea, well dey still not beating we!"...Faithfulista. I am teaching Small Magician the finer points of Pool-stripes, solids, English spin, angles and stopping the white ball and he starts hitting some quality shots. We discuss possible starting line-ups for T&T. He wants Shaka, I say Jack. Atiba Charles. I say give Cyd Gray another chance. My son says I am mad. He wants to go with Spann. I am backing Whitley/Seaton. Cornell on the left. Nah, let's see some more of Samuel. Kenwyn Jones for Scotland. I think Don Leo will start Scotland. I scratch the black ball and Small Magician celebrates while I remind him that sport is unpredictable.
Time now for Panama, bags packed, T&T flag, Faitfulista banner and more TSTT giveaways. We wait for "Tallman" of the "socawarriors.net" crew. This website is the meeting place of hundreds of T&T football fans and the Magicians are regular participants on the website. We head off to the Orange Bowl with "Tallman" and hook up with "Truetrini" and "Patriot", two other "socawarriors.net" regulars and travel veterans. We can't believe Patriot lives in Maraval also. The beautiful game.
The Orange Bowl car park is alive with soca music-"Yuh know Trini like tuh party yuh know Trini like tuh fete" Big speakers blast pan and tassa music while T&T fans meet and greet each other. Pots bubble with corn soup and pelau-tailgating Trini-style. Meet some people for the first time in 20 years, Steve and Vince from the football merchandise store Soccer World. An old football coach who's telling me he just spoke to Richard Chinapoo. There is talk of Noel "Sammy" Llewellyn among the crowd, but no sign of the former T&T goal-poacher.
The first match starts. Honduras and Colombia battle it out on the pitch while their fans tease each other in the stands. A penalty puts Colombia ahead, but Honduras storm back in the second half to win 2-1 and their fans go wild.
T&T is wearing the white "away" strip today and the Panamanians in red. This takes a couple minutes to adjust to, but the game starts with both teams trying to move the ball around. We estimate about 300 T&T fans in the section and the riddum section in full flight-" T&T, we want ah goal".
A Stern John header brings a reflex save from Panama's 'keeper and a few minutes later, from Spann's free kick. Marvin "Dog" Andrews turns in a Dennis Lawrence knock down to put T&T ahead. Wild celebrations.
T&T allowed Panama back into the contest when Cyd Gray tried to head a ball which he should have cleared with his foot, and after what looked like a blatant hand ball, Panama equalised.
At half time with the score at 1-1, we get some beverages and give out the TSTT warriors red shirts, reminding the T&T fans to support the team by using the "Go, Team" text message.
The second half starts with Panama having more possession and T&T's game falling apart with some bad passing and impatience. Angus Eve, Cornell Glenn and Kenwyn Jones are all second half substitutes, and T&T start to look capable of snatching the lead. "Dog" smashes a header onto the Panamanians' post and we can't believe it stayed out. But T&T get hit on the break as a long clearance from Panama's 'keeper finds Luis Tejada, who out muscles and out paces "Dog" to fire home past Jack to give Panama what looks like the winner. Two minutes are added on as the 90 minutes are up.
Stern John sends Eve clear on the right and his long deep cross finds a leaping Glenn who brilliantly buries the equalising header-"This is not ah fete in here...is madness".
The scoreboard reads 2-2 at full time and the Faithfulista are hugging each other. The riddum section's volume increased. Trini feting, with some discussing the quality of our play. We sing and dance our way out of the Orange Bowl with a slow chip like Monday night mas'.
One rest day and we take on the winless Colombians on July 12.
Small Magician tells me T&T only need a draw to advance to the quarter-finals. I tell him the phrase "only needs a draw" still hurts T&T football fans after November 19, 1989. A win could see us top the group and move on.
I instruct Small Magician to use his computer skills to find us a cheap flight to Houston or Boston. We want to go to Boston as we secured a place to stay there. Houston means we have to get a hotel room. Budget! Budget! Budget!
It's a 5 p.m. kick-off and the Orange Bowl is taking the full force of the Miami sunshine. As expected the Trini section is small, about 50 fans, but still kicks in the riddum as the match starts. Talk about playing for a draw. Don Leo's tactics are evident as T&T move the ball slowly across their back four. A few free kicks in non-threatening positions were all we had to show for a dull first half. Brent Rahim and Eve replaced the ineffective Glenn and Scotland for the second half as T&T try to come to terms with the improving Colombians. Kelvin Jack is keeping T&T in the game with some quality goal-keeping. But then the turning point of the match and our football, travel vacation-Big "Dog" Marvin Andrews goes down clutching his ankle and can't carry on.
The Colombians strike immediately. Disorganisation in the T&T defence, who fail to clear a Colombian free kick as the ball finds its way into the T&T net. The fight back never comes and the body language of the Warriors never suggested it ever would and Colombia duly stick the knife in-Boom 2-0! Final whistle and the T&T fans hurling expletives at the team.
Small Magician retreats to the concession area and wants to leave now. I put on a brave face telling him we did not deserve to win the game with that performance. What worries us both was the lack of fight and passion in the performance. We think of the bigger picture, the upcoming World Cup qualifiers and how we need to improve to make that World Cup dream a reality. We remain "The Faithfulista".
We reluctantly sit through the final group match, Honduras vs Panama, thinking about what could have been. So now we don't need any cheap flight to Boston or hotel room in Houston. We need to change our flight back to T&T.
When it rains, it pours. The Faithfulista are now stuck in Miami because of Hurricane Emily which puts Trinidad and Tobago under threat. Our thoughts shift to Mrs. Magician and little Miss Magician at home in T&T. We remind ourselves that some things are bigger than T&T football...but only some.
Next week. A few days to kill some time. T&T's Gold Cup performance in summary and back in sweet T&T.
Don't forget to support the TSTT Warriors to Germany 06 campaign-send your text message "GO TEAM" to 4625!
The Faithfulista are trying to build an attack.