The Twelfth Man

Sunday November 18, I, J, K and N, along with several thousand other initials went to the Kashima Antlers final home game of the season. The stadium was really nice - recently upgraded to host the World Cup a few years back. The museum downstairs even had a sword made in the traditional way that was a good 2+ metres long.

The soccer (football for those not in North America) was decent, although I won't claim to be an expert on that. The coolest thing for me though, was the cheering and chanting of the crowd, particularly the sea of red made up of the die-hard supporters. What was most amazing was that it never let up for more than a minute or so at a time, and that everyone in that red sea (and a good number in other areas) sang/cheered/chanted/danced in unison. Phenomenal.

The Antlers won, and based on the rest of their season, won first place!