June 26, 2010: A Date Which Will Live In Idiocy

You may recall from my blog about the Denmark/Japan game that Rustenburg is a bit out of the way. You may also recall that people I had talked to had bad experiences trying to get there. Finally, you may recall that my experience wasn't that bad. With that in mind, I decided to head back to Rustenburg for the USA vs. Ghana Round of 16 game. My experience was anything but pleasant.

The trip itself started as before, with a couple of hostel mates and I catching the bus outside the Sandton train station. The bus was far more crowded this time, perhaps reflecting increased interest in this match. Unlike last time, we did make a stop, which was OK as I needed a water. Then the trouble started. We got held up at a toll road because the driver's toll card had expired, and apparently he didn't have the $5 necessary to pay the toll. Some frustrated Australian bloke threw him some money, to the cheers of the crowd.

Next, we proceeded to circle around looking for the proper parking lot, with the driver getting lost several times. This was confusing; after all the previous trip had gone off without a hitch. A few guys had taken this bus three times and said that every time they went a different route. That the company wouldn't have determined the best route and communicated this to the drivers blew my organized American mind. As a result of all this we arrived about 50 minutes before the game, which was just about enough time to get through security and take my seat but not enough time to get food or a beer.

The driver wasn't the only complete idiot involved. For some reason the South African authorities think that it's OK to have 2-lane roads leading into and out of a 44,000 seat stadium. This obviously led to massive gridlock for hours at a time all the way back to Jo'burg. An embarrassing sign I photographed outside the Royal Bafokeng Stadium sums up the planning efforts that went into this venue:



At about 3 AM we stopped outside a gas station for a bathroom break. I grabbed a couple of snacks and headed back to the bus within 10 minutes, as per the driver's instructions. After checking to confirm that everyone was there, we drove off. Five minutes later, a guy in the back informed us that his "brother" was still back at the gas station, which unleashed a torrent of abuse from the driver and the passengers in general. We turned around and picked up the loafer, who was unapologetic and immediately defensive in the face of repeated name calling, such as "moron" and "retard." I was tired but I couldn't stop laughing as the tardy gentleman barracked the passengers. "Shut up! F***ing s***! You think you pay for me?!?!"

We didn't get back to Sandton until about 4:30, and thus I got to bed at 5 AM. It was a sad indictment of the state of affairs at the 2010 World Cup.

Oh, and I didn't even mention Bob Bradley's idiocy in the game itself . . . more on that later.