Soccer Hooligans, thy host is brisbane

We went to the Roar on friday night - as usual, lots of fun despite my inability to read the tickets (302 and 320 ARE similar) and missing kick off due to being in the coffee line (well, Cameron can't drink beer any more!).

It was an awesome match to be at  - especially since last season was, well, frustrating from a Roar-goal scoring persective. We really enjoyed going to the matches last year, just wanted to see more goals ....

So the 5-nil victory was brilliant. Seo was, as always, inspiring, and Zheng is looking like being the difference up front the team needs. Buess was great too, as was Spase - and Reinaldo played well. Liam Reddy was confident and lovely to watch. And I really like watching Massimo, plus his name is cool. Overall, it was great. Reinforced Cameron and my enjoyment in the game and that we loved the atmosphere.

We walked home via Caxton St, and it was at this point we encountered Brisbane hooligans. Now, I know there are the rugby thugs and league idiots, but I've never seen Brisbane hooligans in action. They were behind us as we walked out the east side of Suncorp, and the "ROA-AR" chants were nice - we WERE excited after seeing a 5-0 victory. But then it hit - two innocent exchange students were trying to turn from Caxton St into Hale Street and had an unfortunate (for them) resemblence to Seo, the awe-inspiring favourite from last season. The Daihatsu Charade was surrounded, and the chant of SEO, SEEEEOOOO could be heard well up and down the street. The poor students inside the car were dumbstruck - well, what else could they be?? They were probably just trying to get home. The chant and the car circle stayed in place for a minute or so, until the group mind became focused on something else and moved on.

It was a great insight into how mobs riot and perform miracles or attrocities. We weren't within the group, but understood the chant and the actions and for a moment, were part of the group. It was inspiring, but at the same time, sobering, for as a group, humans are capable of horrible brilliance. And yet it appeared and passed in a blink of the eye, and probably was understood in a myriad of ways similar to the view from a kalidescope.

Football (the real game, also known as soccer) is truly beautiful.