#8 - See Cristiano Ronaldo Play Live

When I added this to the list, I thought it was pretty far fetched.  I make a grad student salary (negative), so unless the best player in the world (yep) happened to find his way nearby with an affordable ticket, I was out of luck.

But then.  There was a rumor.  And then it wasn't a rumor, it was an announcement.  Real Madrid and Manchester United were playing

AT THE BIG HOUSE!

(That's Michigan Stadium for those of you who don't worship the gods of college football.)

Cristiano Ronaldo and friends would be playing against my team in my hometown, in my home stadium.

Then I feared I wouldn't be able to get tickets or they would be too expensive.

Wrong again.

Reiko, Nicole, & me loving life

$35 got me a seat with a chunk of friends who were as excited as I was.

Then there were the injury rumors and the absolute FAIL of a World Cup for both Spain and Portugal.  But I held on.  He'd be there.  Right?

Gareth Bale before his penalty kick.

Then the roster came out and there were a lot of names missing from the list...  Sergio Ramos, Casillais, Chicarito...  AND RONALDO.  NOOOOO!  I'd already seen Rooney  play.  I wasn't flying all the way to Michigan to see Rooney.

But then a few days later, an article came out that said he was injured but would be meeting the team in LA but not playing (good thing I didn't buy one of those tickets) and then would be off to Ann Arbor to play at the Big House.

Ann Arbor got pretty jazzed up, like it did for the NHL game in December.  Shut down Main Street.  Stages, bars, food...

The Krones had dinner at Aventura Friday night.  Our server told us they were on hold to host REAL MADRID later that night.  I freaked out a bit.  We gave up, knowing we'd get kicked out if they showed up anyways.  Rumor is they did eat there later that night.  I ate at the same restaurant as Ronaldo just an hour apart!

So happy that Billie & Steve made the trip too.  That was a nice surprise!

Saturday was magical.  I got up a little late, headed to the tailgate my lovely friend Nicole set up, played some games, saw some friends I didn't expect to see, and headed to the game, ignoring the texts from Al that Ronaldo would not be playing and what a "jerk" he was.  (I'm giving Al credit for being there even though I never saw him.  He texted me when he was outside my gate but I was already in the stadium and there was a line to get back into the section.  He didn't want to wait in the line and risk missing first touch.  I didn't want to go out and then have to wait in the line and miss first touch.  That's real friendship there.  Live on different coasts but would never expect the other to miss a minute of a soccer game at Michigan Stadium.)

Whatever.  Ronaldo was there.  In my stadium.  The closest I'd ever been to him.

Nicole and I were on Cloud 9 from the start.  I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw Ronaldo walk across the field.  Luckily my Ma lent me her binoculars...  which also made me look a little silly because I started freaking out about subs walking across the field until I could fully communicate that it was RONALDO.  He sat in the stands and I have to admit, I watched him almost as much as the game.  Whatever.  I was there to see him, playing or not.

Brother hug

The Fray played at half time.  That was random.

I walked down a few rows to visit the brother and friends.  Walked back up.

Then... it happened.  A cheer went across the crowd.

RONALDO WAS WARMING UP.

That's Ronaldo.  At midfield.  Ready to sub in.  At Michigan Stadium.  Ahhhhh!

And warm up he did.  For real.  I watched it.  Through the binoculars.  Oh, at this point, Rooney and Bale had scored some goals.

Then he was at midfield.  Then the referee let him in.

Ronaldo ran around.  Did a little fancy footwork.  Chicarito scored a goal.  Ronaldo jogged a bit.

It was bananas fun.  Life changing.

I miss him already.

Chicarito cooling down with the "winners" of the game.  I say "winners" because obviously I and the others freaking out all day were the real winners.