It turns out that tango and food are not the only things Argentians are passionate about. I couldn´t leave Bs. As. without seeing a soccer game, Racing v. Independiente. The game itself was not that interesting. Our team, Racing, lost by two points, both of which were scored within minutes of each other and in the second half. Only one other kick even came close to scoring.
Now, I should note here that my decision to support the losing team was not based on skills, team colors, or team name, but instead on the desire to live. Not only are opposing fans not allowed to sit in the same section, they cannot sit in adjacent sectionsand from leaving the stadium at the same time. Instead there is at least one vacant section between the fans, guarded by cops in riot gear, and one team´s fans are completely evacuated from the stadium and given a fifteen minute headstart before the other fans are allowed to leave.
The fans were, by far, the most interesting part of the game. EVERY fan was wearing the appropriate color, armed with the matching balloon, streamer, and smoke bomb. They all knew their team´s cheers by heart and did not cease from screaming them through the entire game. When it was clear that our team was going to lose, our fans went ballistic. They started tearing apart the stadium and throwing the pieces into the moat that seperated the fans from the field. I´m sure that this rage would have been turned against the opposing fans, but when the crowd started moving in that direction, the riot cops did not hesitate to fire rubber bullets into the advancing mob. CRAZY!
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