Ole Ole Ole, it’s time for World Cup and for Wednesday Hodgepodge! Thank you, Joyce.
1. June 17th, 1994 was the day of the infamous O.J. Simpson car chase. What were you doing in 1994? I’m guessing somebody is going to tell me they weren’t born yet but that’s part of the fun of the Hodgepodge. Lots of generations are represented here.
In June of 1994 we traveled to Southern California to stay with family and take in all we could of the World Cup. I’m sure we were on the same freeways O.J. was on during our time in L.A., the Santa Ana freeway and the 405! I know we watched it on TV.
Back to the more important reason we were in the greater LA area. Our boys and I found the USA World cup training center and met some of the players. Then we found the hotel the team was staying in and our sons worked hard to get signatures on the team poster our oldest son bought. They managed to get every signature of the people in the poster except for one trainer/coach who wasn’t in Southern California.
If I remember correctly Josh got a 3 or 4 game package deal and Dan got 1. The prices were very reasonable compared to today.
4. Would you rather spend a week of your summer vacation in Hawaii or Alaska?
There are eleven US cities hosting matches-
You get free tickets to one of these matches. Which city do you choose? Tell us why.
Seattle, because it would be the easiest stadium for us to reach.
Our son and daughter-in-love are attending the USA v. Australia game this Friday in Seattle!
6. Insert your own random thought here.
Dan’s ticket that he purchased from his soccer coach was for a game in Stanford. Dan and I traveled from the LA area up to Stanford for the game. The game was on June 24, 1994. And yes, we traveled those same freeways O.J. did. 🙂
I’m behind and the way things are going it will be a while for me to get my mojo back.
I hope to get around to see y’all.
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 
Such a neat post, Ellen…especially that in the earlier years your sons were able to meet the players and get their autograph plus have pictures taken with them.
I love beets so your Russian beet/potato salad sounds yummy! The poster will be treasured for many years with signatures from the soccer players.
I love beets and am going to look for a recipe. I also love potato salad so feel like this would be a win. How fun to get all the autographs. Messi is a phenomenal athlete and still shows real joy in the playing. He’s fun to watch.
Wow, loved seeing all your pictures from the past World Cup festivities! That is crazy you were in LA when all of the OJ events were happening. What memories! Have a great day!
Oh wow! How cool to go to the World Cup and get the poster signed by all of the team. Fantastic photos! That salad looks very tasty! Yes! I am interested in soccer/football all the time and not just for the World Cup but I’ve definitely watched a lot of matches over the last week. Today I’ve watched the Argentina match in full and some of the Austria one that I recorded from the early hours and still have the Portugal one and of course the England one later. hehehe
My sons at that time would have loved going to the World cup training center. Enjoyed your answers and I’ve not ever had a beat salad, though I do like beets.
…soccer has been a family passion for years!
Love all of your soccer pictures. How awesome were the World Cup autographs and watching games for your family! I loved reading about this and seeing the pictures. My kids played for years and we traveled all over for games. My kids also reffed rec games. Being on the same highway as OJ is wild!
I don’t think I’ve ever watch a whole game of soccer! Not into sports at all. 🙂
I’ve never had a beet salad but I’m sure I’d like it.
I certainly was oblivious to soccer until my very young children started playing on organized teams. I always loved watching their games, through high school. In the years since, when no family members play anymore, I have gone back to mostly ignoring the sport. But now a couple of my grandsons, the ones who live in Argentina, have become serious fans. Maybe we will watch some on TV when they visit!
I enjoyed peeking in on your family history of following the sport.
Hi Ellen, that is really cool about your family being at the World Cup. Those were great pictures. I am glad your family love soccer and have special memories because of it! I don’t remember bugs in Alaska. I would like to go on another Alaska cruise but leave out of Vancouver instead of Seattle. Not that we did not like Seattle, just for a new experience. Have a great rest of the week!
Enjoy the massive wave of World Cup enthusiasm!
Your sons must have great memories of those times. Thank you for sharing another wonderful hodge podge, delightful indeed 🙂
I loved all the photos of the World Cup memories.
Here is to keeping chivalry alive. 🙂
Fun fun photos!!!! What memories! And how cool that your son and daughter in law got to go to todays game.
That had to be so exciting for the boys.
I know our James would love to meet Mezzi. He has several t-shirts with him on them.
That’s an interesting salad. I’m glad that you do not think the chivalry is not dead. It’s nice that you have been to Hawaii and I don’t care for that pizza at all.
That is great that your boys played and I’m glad that you like watching it. How exciting for your son and daughter in law.
Love all the wonderful photos.