DECEMBER 5 = The Brooklyn Theater Fire

“'There is no danger; the flames are a part of the play.' As she spoke,a burning piece of wood fell at her feet, and she uttered an involuntary exclamation of alarm. This broke the spell which had heretofore held the audience.”

- Actress Kate Claxton as reported in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle,
Dec.5, 1876.

Kate Claxton's attempts to quell the incipient panic that she was afraid would rush through the audience sadly went for naught. For in spite of attempts by Claxton, and several other members of the cast to calm the theater crowd, most of them did rush for the exits, and as a result, nearly three hundred people perished that night, on today's date, December 5, in 1876.


The Brooklyn Theater's Exits

The Brooklyn Theater first raised it's curtains on October 2, 1871 at the south east corner of Washington and Johnson streets, a single block

north of what was then Brooklyn's City Hall. The proprie- tors of the Union Square Theater, Albert M. Palmer and Sheridan Shook had assumed responsibility in August of 1875, and were now in charge. By the standards of the day, the exits for the Brooklyn were not bad. The stairwells exiting the second floor were seven feet wide, and that leading from the third floor was almost as wide. Unfortunately, the fire which spread smoke to the ceiling first, lead to these escape routes being filled with a panicked audience, and thus to great loss of life.

KEY to the diagram above:
Progress of the fire: 1. A border catches fire from a gaslight border lamp. 2. Actors attempt to calm audience; they fail and panic erupts. 3. Though panic-struck, patrons evacuate the lower portions of the theater successfully. 4. The balcony suffers from clogged stairwells (orange) filled with panicking, frenzied patrons, but police and firemen restore order in time. 5. Choking, deadly smoke hits the gallery before half the people can evacuate via a single stairway (red), which has also become jammed by too many people trying to exit at once. Diagram from "Wikipedia".

Kate Claxton Tries to Calm the Audience

It was later determined that the flames began when a gaslight being used back stage evidently caught onto some of the scenery that was therein stored for another part of the play. The peformance that night with Kate Claxton (below) was of a melodrama called "The Two Orphans." At that point in the

production, at about 11:00 in the evening, a small set was being used to represent a small little shack sheltering the orphans from the elements. There were normally paint buckets filled with water kept backstage for this very eventuality, but that night, they were not there. At first, the flame was very small. But it quickly spread. Stage hands attempted frantically to quell it, as the final act of the play had just commenced, and they were worried that the audience would panic. As the play went forward, someone whispered to Claxton from behind the set "Fire. The flies (referring to the next line of curtains)are on fire." All of the actors then onstage heard the warning and attempted to go on with the performance. But it was impossible. Claxton attempted to calm the audience as quoted above, but it soon proved impossible.

The Brooklyn Theater Audience Panics

The audience members on the first floor, as well as the members of the orchestra were able to effect their exit from the theater fairly quickly, as they had the exits right there, and had no stairs to negotiate. But at the exclamation "FIRE!" the audience members in the balcony headed for the exits and found themselves in a mad crush of panick-stricken humanity. It was a bad scene for those on the second floor, but firefighters who soon arrived and members of the theater staff were soon able to restore order and get these exits emptied. Unfortunately, such was not the case with those poor unfortunates caught on the third floor. They ran for the exits, and the smoke which quickly reached the ceiling rendered the one stairwell leading from that area nearly impassable. Human beings crushed each other to the floor, and most died from being crushed, while those who had not so perished would die of smoke inhalation.

The dead who were discovered mostly the next day were placed in coffins and stored in a nearby market building. Most of them were unrecognizable, and wound up being placed in a common grave near the theater site. Many years later, Miss Paxton would remember that terrible night in an interview with the New York Times:

Kate Claxton Remembers:

“We thought we were acting for the best in continuing the play as we did, with the hope that the fire would be put out without difficulty, or that the audience would leave gradually or quietly. But the result proved that it was not the right course… The curtain should have been kept down until the flames had been extinguished, or if it had been found impossible to cope with them, the audience should have been calmly informed that indisposition on the part of some member of the company, or some unfortunate occurrence behind the scenery compelled a suspension of the performance, and they should have been requested to disperse as quietly as they could. Raising the curtain created a draft which fanned the flames into fury.”

On a much HAPPIER note:

An important birthday to note today -

Richard Wayne Penniman, known to the world as "Little Richard",

was born on today's date in 1932. American singer, song- writer, musician, recording artist, and actor, "Little Richard has brought us such tunes as "Good Golly Miss Molly", "Tutti Frutti", "Slippin' and Slidin'", and a host of other rockin' tunes! Considered a key in the gradual move from rhythm and blues to rock and roll in the 1950s, he was also the first artist to put the funk in the rock and roll beat and was also an important contributor to the development of soul music in America.

READERS!! If you would like to comment on this, or any "Today in History" posting, I would love to hear from you!!  You can either sign up to be a member of this blog and post a comment in the space provided below, or you can simply e-mail me directly at:  krustybassist@gmail.com  I seem to be getting hits on this site all over the world, so please do write and let me know how you like what I'm writing (or not!)!

Sources:

Darkest Hours: A Narrative Encyclopedia of Worldwide Disasters from Ancient Times to the Present by Robert Jay Nash, Nelson Hall Publ.,
New York, 1976, pp. 68 -69.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooklyn_Theater_Fire

Picture =

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:BrooklynTheatre_From_Johnson_Street_
Looking_East.jpg

+ 54.
+ 74.

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Mid-Week Historical Newsbreak -- Danger! Bridge Out! Edition

Reading Eagle August 12, 1925

 After taking the week off last week for Thanksgiving (yeah, that's the reason), the Mid-Week(ish) Historical Newsbreak is back, this time featuring an on-the-job accident from the Roaring Twenties. It comes from the Reading Eagle, dated August 12, 1925. As you can see, it states that four men were seriously injured while removing the old covered bridge over the Red Clay at Kiamensi. The old bridge was about to be replaced with a new concrete bridge, which probably was in place until updated with a newer bridge relatively recently. The covered bridge the workers were dismantling can be seen below in a photo taken only a few years earlier, in 1921. If you look closely in the background, you can see part of the Kiamensi Woolen Mill, as well as the railroad bridge that still spans the creek.

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Jimin Fancafe Güncellemeleri | Jimin'in İsyanı

[24.11.2013] JIMIN'İN İSYANI 1.BÖLÜM

Şimdi ~~~ !
Burada ARMY’ler için hazırladığım bir hediye varㅎㅎ
Bugünden başlayarak yavaşça açıklamaya başlayacağım~~~
Geçen seferki V postundan ilham aldım ve bu, çok sıkı çalıştıktan sonra ortaya çıkan final ürünü!!!
Projenin adı "Jimin’in İsyanı"!
Başlangıçta, Monnie hyung ve şeker hyung var!
Monnie hyung ve şeker hyung uyurken çok çekici görünüyor~
Ah Monnie hyung’un kalın dudakları!
Suga hyung’un pürüzsüz çenesi!
Gerçekten söyleyecek hiçbir şeyim yok, dilim tutuldu~~

Pekala, geri döneceğim~~~^^ Bye~

[26.11.2013] JIMIN'İN İSYANI 2.BÖLÜM

Çok beklediniz değil mi? Hehe~~
Ben de buraya gelmeyi bekliyordum~>_

Bugün~~~Jin hyung ve Jungkookie!!!

Jin hyung~~ Başın düşecek~~

JungKook, devrileceksin~~~~~~

Bu ikisinden intikamımı alacağım günü hayal ediyordum
Şimdi bu fotoğraflara tekrar baktığımda, tatlı görünüyorlar değil mi?...yo………….
Fotoğrafları çekerken çok eğlendim fakat çoğunda ben garip görünüyorum………ㅠㅠ
Fakat hala anlamlı çünkü bunları gizlice çektim~~^^


3.Bölümü bekleyin~~ 

[29.11.2013] JIMIN'İN İSYANI 3.BÖLÜM

ARMYler~~~
Sizler için hediyemin sonuna ulaşıyoruz.
Sonuna kadar çok çalışan bir Jimin olmak için hediyemin 3. bölümünü takdim ediyorum!~~
Bugün, (sıradaki) atlet Kim TaeTae~~~
Gözleri... Süper ışıltılı ve büyüleyici?!ㅋㅋㅋ
Bu fotoğrafı sabah erkenden, uyandıktan sadece birkaç dakika sonra çektim, bu yüzden gözlerimiz şişti...haha
İyi olduğum için bazı sevimli göz etiketleri ekledim. 
(V,bu abine minnettar ol ㅡ.,ㅡ^;)
Sanırım bir sonraki bölümden sonra son bölüm olacak ~~~~çok moral bozucuㅜㅜ
Hepiniz iyisiniz, değil mi?
Ben, Tayland'da olduğum için hepinizi özleyen Jimin.

Çok yakında döneceğiz bu yüzden bekleyin~~~ birazcık~~~daha ㅎ

[02.12.2013] JIMIN'İN İSYANI SON BÖLÜM!

ARMY~ Son hediye geldi!
Son kişi Jj~~Hope'dan başkası değil!!
Ah~~~Hobie hyung'kini diğer üyelerden 3 hafta sonra çektimㅜㅜ 
Çok zordu ㅜ Tamamen zorlu!!!!
Uyuyor musunuz…………
Her neyse sıkı çalışmam sonunda Hobie hyungumuzun masumca uyurken fotoğrafını çekebildim..
Gerçekten çok iyi çektim..ㅜㅜHepinizin bana minnettar olması gerek!!!Çabukㅜㅜ hehe

Ayrıca!
Programımızı güzelce bitirdik ve Kore'ye dönmek için uçağımızı bekliyoruz!
Ah~~~ Bekliyorsunuz değil mi? heh biraz endişelendiniz değil mi?ㅎBunun farkındayız~~
Çok yakında Kore'ye döneceğiz birazcık daha bekleyin sadece hehe

Eng Trans cr; BTS_Trans

Tr Trans: BTSTurkey

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IMOBISPY REVIEW

ImobiSpy is new arriver join in to cell phone tracking software world, and ist getting more popular every passing days. imobispy has 2 versions like spybubble , even its price is same to spybubble. Imobispy basic 39,95$ and Imobispy Pro 74,95$.

Especially the pro version of imobispy includes all major features from call listening to surround listening but we are not quite sure yet if mobispy as good as other popular cell phone spy softwares like mspy, highster mobile or spybubble pro.We check official imobispy website for you, website is quite good designed but some of the related links like online demo was not directing any web page. So we couldn't manage to try online demo yet. Hope they will correct this broken links very soon. But you can check by yourself from official website link below.

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The Jeans- Body Workout

The Jeans- Body Workout

Jeans have the ability to make you feel yoursexiest…or to squish you in all the wrong places. These easy exercises will reward you with a flat stomach, tight butt, and slim thighs so you can rock any pair with total confidence.

Most women would rather eat nails than try on a bikini under the soul-crushing glare of dressing-room lights. But shopping for jeans can be almost as traumatizing. Unlike slipping into a skimpy two-piece that lets everything hang out, shimmying into a pair of jeans means squeezing everything in. And all too often, one of three culprits keeps you from a perfect fit: muffin top, thick thighs, or a flat butt. While you can’t solely target your trouble spots (no amount of crunches will instantly or effectively zap your belly fat), the right fitness routine can significantly help reshape your body. The moves here are meant to build

and define your backside, strengthen and flatten your core, and blast fat toslim your legs.

They’re also designed for your busy schedule: Each workout takes only 10 to 15 minutes, and all you need is a pair of dumbbells (try starting with five to 10 pounds and increasing as that becomes too easy).

Choose your top priority and complete the workout on its own (or as an add-on before your regular routine), or put all three together into one master total-body workout.

Build Slim, Sexy Stems

Carrying extra weight on your thighs? That could point to a dependence on steadystate cardio. To lean out your legs, you need to supplement your slow-and-steady routine with fast-and-furious interval strength training. Along with burning calories, you’ll also be building lean muscle, which sets off a chain reaction that boosts your metabolism, fires up your fat burners, and sculpts the lean, toned legs you crave. 
Perform 10 reps of each move without resting between exercises. Do as many rounds as you can in two minutes. Rest two minutes; do two or three rounds.

A. Dumbbell Squat to Overhead Press

Hold a pair of dumbbells at shoulder height with your elbows bent and feet hip-width apart.

Keeping your chest upright, bend your knees and lower until your thighs are at least parallel to the floor (a).

As you stand, press the weights overhead until your arms are straight (b).

 Return to start. That’s one rep.

1B. Alternating Lateral Lunge

Holding a pair of dumbbells at your sides (a), step out to the left with your left leg; bend your

knee and sit back to lower into a side lunge, keeping your back flat as you lower the right

dumbbell to the inside of the left foot (b). Press through the left foot to return to start. That’s

one rep. Repeat on the other side and continue alternating for five reps on each side.

1C. Straight-Leg Deadlift with Row

Hold a pair of dumbbells in front of your thighs and stand with your feet hip-width apart (a). Bend forward and lower the weights until your back is parallel to the ground, keeping your back flat and weights close to your body (b), then bend your elbows and pull the dumbbells up towardyour chest (c). Return to start. That’s one rep.

1D. Dumbbell Squat Jump

Holding a pair of dumbbells at your sides, sit your hips back and lower into a squat (a),

then push through your heels and jump as high as you can (b).

Land softly. That’s one rep.

Trim and Tone Your Waistline

the muffin top is one of the most common gripes among women, but this workout will free you from spanx. First, it focuses on stabilization and rotational moves that strengthen your entire core. it also stretches your hip flexors (when these muscles are tight, they can exaggerate a belly pooch), and the intervals skyrocket your calorie burn and keep your metabolism lifted long after yourworkout. Do as many reps of each move as you can in 30 seconds, resting 30 seconds between exercises. rest one to two minutes; repeat two or three times.

1A. Pushup Row

get into a pushup position with your hands resting on dumbbells and your feet slightly more than hip-width apart (a).

Brace your abs, then pull one dumbbell to the side of your chest (b).

 Lower the dumbbell, then repeat with the other arm. That’s one rep.

1B. Rear-Foot Elevated Split Squat with Overhead Press

Holding a dumbbell in your left hand at your shoulder, stand about two feet in front of a step or bench and place the top of your right foot on it (a).

Bend your knees to lower into a lunge until your right knee grazes the floor, keeping your chest upright and hips directly under your body (b).

Push through your left heel to stand, pressing the dumbbell directly overhead. That’s one rep. complete as many as you can in 30 seconds, then switch sides and repeat.

1C. Golf Squat

stand with your feet more than hip-width apart, holding a dumbbell with both hands in front of your body. Keeping your chest upright, bend your knees to lower into a squat (a).

 As you stand, rotate your torso to the left as you raise the dumbbell over your shoulder (like you’re swinging a golf club) (b).

 Return to start; repeat, rotating to the right side. That’s one rep.

Sculpt a High, Tight Tush

Women tend to be quad dominant (thanks to hours behind a desk and the endless squats and lunges demanded by boot-camp instructors) and suffer from what’s known as gluteal amnesia—your butt literally forgets how to work. this workout wakes up your glutes and loads your posterior chain (the group of muscles running down the back of your body) to strengthen, lift, and shrink your derriere. Perform 10 reps of each of the four exercises, resting when needed. complete as many sets as you can in 10 minutes.

1A. Double-Leg Hip Bridge

Lie faceup with your feet flat on the floor, arms at your sides, palms facing up (a).

Lift your hips off the floor, keeping your weight on your heels, until your body forms

a straight line from shoulders to knees (b).

Pause, then lower to start. That’s one rep.

1B. Single-Leg Romanian Deadlift

stand with your right foot raised off the floor, and hold a dumbbell in your right hand (a). Bend forward, keeping the dumbbell close to your body (b).

Return to start. That’s one rep. Switch sides and repeat.

1C. Plank with Leg Lift

get into a plank position with your elbows on the floor directly beneath your shoulders (a). Brace your core and lift one foot off the floor, keeping the rest of your body perfectly still

(b). Return to start, then repeat with your other leg.

1D. Bent-Knee Dumbbell Deadlift

set a pair of dumbbells on the floor in front of you. squat, keeping your chest up, and grab them with an overhand grip (a).

 contract your glutes and stand up with the dumbbells, straightening your legs and thrusting your hips forward (b).

 slowly lower the dumbbells to the floor. That’s one rep. n

All Fitness

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Healthy Food to Indulge at Diet Times

"This, shipmates, this is that other lesson; and woe to that pilot of the living God who slights it. Woe to him whom this world charms from Gospel duty! Woe to him who seeks to pour oil upon the waters when God has brewed them into a gale! Woe to him who seeks to please rather than to appal! Woe to him whose good name is more to him than goodness! Woe to him who, in this world, courts not dishonour! Woe to him who would not be true, even though to be false were salvation! Yea, woe to him who, as the great Pilot Paul has it, while preaching to others is himself a castaway!"

He dropped and fell away from himself for a moment; then lifting his face to them again, showed a deep joy in his eyes, as he cried out with a heavenly enthusiasm,—"But oh! shipmates! on the starboard hand of every woe, there is a sure delight; and higher the top of that delight, than the bottom of the woe is deep. Is not the main-truck higher than the kelson is low? Delight is to him—a far, far upward, and inward delight—who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self. Delight is to him whose strong arms yet support him, when the ship of this base treacherous world has gone down beneath him. Delight is to him, who gives no quarter in the truth, and kills, burns, and destroys all sin though he pluck it out from under the robes of Senators and Judges. Delight,—top-gallant delight is to him, who acknowledges no law or lord, but the Lord his God, and is only a patriot to heaven. Delight is to him, whom all the waves of the billows of the seas of the boisterous mob can never shake from this sure Keel of the Ages. And eternal delight and deliciousness will be his, who coming to lay him down, can say with his final breath—O Father!—chiefly known to me by Thy rod—mortal or immortal, here I die. I have striven to be Thine, more than to be this world's, or mine own. Yet this is nothing: I leave eternity to Thee; for what is man that he should live out the lifetime of his God?"

He said no more, but slowly waving a benediction, covered his face with his hands, and so remained kneeling, till all the people had departed, and he was left alone in the place.

Returning to the Spouter-Inn from the Chapel, I found Queequeg there quite alone; he having left the Chapel before the benediction some time. He was sitting on a bench before the fire, with his feet on the stove hearth, and in one hand was holding close up to his face that little negro idol of his; peering hard into its face, and with a jack-knife gently whittling away at its nose, meanwhile humming to himself in his heathenish way.

But being now interrupted, he put up the image; and pretty soon, going to the table, took up a large book there, and placing it on his lap began counting the pages with deliberate regularity; at every fiftieth page—as I fancied—stopping a moment, looking vacantly around him, and giving utterance to a long-drawn gurgling whistle of astonishment. He would then begin again at the next fifty; seeming to commence at number one each time, as though he could not count more than fifty, and it was only by such a large number of fifties being found together, that his astonishment at the multitude of pages was excited.

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Riding the Rails: Montreal to New York City

August 18, 2013 -- After spending time in the wonderful cities of Montreal, Quebec City and Ottawa it was time to head back to the States. So I said au revior to Quebec, Canada and hopped aboard the Amtrak Adirondack train heading south from Montreal for the eleven hour journey to New York Penn Station.

A big difference between the trip north to Montreal and this return trip south was that the Great Dome Car was available until the engine change in Albany when the observation car was removed. With wrap-around windows, the Great Dome Car offers spectacular views of the Quebec and New York State countryside passing by. It was particularly stunning seeing Lake Champlain spread across the landscape.

While I was riding in the Great Dome Car, I struck up a conversation with an Orthodox Jewish man who was returning to New York with his family and explained to me that Canada was too socialistic for him and that he liked that America was more capitalistic. I could have gotten into an argument about why it is actually good that Canada is more socialistic and bad that America is too capitalistic, but it wasn't the right time or place.

I also got into a good conversation with a man named Phil from Connecticut who was riding the rails with his family -- his kids, parents, wife and sister. He said he had been wanting to take the Adirondack ride for a long time and spent two days in Montreal. He took a lot of pictures as did I.

We passed through the same scenic countryside and small towns as on the way up to Canada. As we neared New York City the sun was setting across the Hudson River and by the time we rolled through the Big Apple and into Penn Station it was nightfall.

After arriving at Penn Station, I waited a few hours for another train that would take me back to my final destination of Washington, D.C. As I write this blog post many months later, I'm still in a Montreal state of mind. Thank you Canada for an amazing trip! I look forward to returning to your great nation soon.

Here are photos of the train trip from Montreal to NYC:



Here is video riding the rails from Montreal to NYC:



Here is video of the engine change in Albany:

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Hanging by a thread

WARNING: This post will consist of complaining, being emotional, and crying through my words. Read at your own risk.

This week is draining me.

I thought I was tired two weeks dealing with Divisional Meetings at my job. Ha. This week makes that week look like a vacation. 

As you guys probably know, I lost 8 pounds last week. I am experimenting with a new weight loss plan, and I really enjoy it, but it is hard. And I need hard. I have slacked off most of the year, so now it is time to work. I am OK with that, but it is still hard. Part of my nutrition is low carbohydrates. I am talking extremely low; maybe 20g a day, at that. It will not be like this for long, for right now it is. 

That alone will make one feel like a zombie.

I move Saturday, and I am working all week. I work 8-5. I have a "desk job" at a "corporate place" but I am never ask my desk. I run around our office the entire day. Our office occupies 75% of the fourth floor in a corporate building so it is really big. All day long I run around, answer the door (which alone is constant), manage/inventory our two huge break rooms, assist my President and 2 other executives, take care of accounting, checks, and be the "office mom" for the other 35 people in the office. It is all part of the job and I love it, but this week it is draining the life out of me. Every time I turn around I have 3 people coming up to me with questions, concerns, tasks, and I just feel like I cannot keep up. And that really bothers me. It really makes me psycho because I want to do a great job and when I feel like I am not keeping up, it breaks my heart.

Today one of my co-workers was standing at my desk talking to me and I was so deliriously tired that I had no idea what she said. She talked to me for at least 2-3 minutes and I completely zoned out. I looked up at her finally and just bluntly told her "I literally did not just hear a word you said". 

After work, I just want to go home, shut off all of the lights and wrap myself under my covers in bed. But no, I go to the gym. Since my caloric intake is low and my carbohydrate even lower, I am not working out as hard. I still have to train though. Me not working out is like someone not breathing. It just doesn't happen. It has taken every ounce of strength and faith to push through my training this week. That is even with taking Monday off.

Finally, I get home. I immediately throw myself into packing. I have a one bedroom condo and I am moving into a one bedroom apartment, so why do I have so much freaking crap! And for me to have so much crap, I keep making lists of items I am going to need for my new place! I started packing Sunday and have packed every night, but damn I feel like I am not even making a dent.

After I pack I go take a quick shower and I am so tired and sore that I can barely even lift my arms to wash myself. The thought of shampooing and conditioning my hair and shaving makes me cringe. I am roughing it and I don't care. If winning a beauty pageant was a life or death situation for me this week, I would gladly hand whomever a gun.

When I get out of the shower, I finally make a small dinner - inhale it, then lay out my clothes for the next day, make sure meals for work are packed, and everything is cleaned and straightened up. 

After that is finished, I get 20 minutes to sit on the couch and stare blankly at the TV, because at this point I am not even sure what my name is. And the next thing I know it is 10:30 and I need to get in bed because 6:00 AM comes early.

It has been such a hard week, I am in tears writing this. I am just so tired. I know I may sound crazy, but I am just venting. This is me. I am one part awesome and 594 parts crazy. It's almost 8:30 and I am going to get in bed. I need to forget this day, put on my game face, and push through the next couple of days. Saturday is almost here. My goal is to see the good in everything going on and make the best out of the situation. At least I am working hard towards something better.

Marty is staring at me as I write this blog entry, he makes everything worth it, too. 

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Canada Summer 2013: Montreal Impact Game at Saputo Stadium

August 17, 2013 -- After spending the day in Ottawa, I took the train back to Montreal, the subway back to the hostel I was staying at, changed clothes and headed to Saputo Stadium in Olympic Park -- the home of the Montreal Impact Major League Soccer club -- for an evening game against my hometown D.C. United.

Along the way to the station I was passed by some D.C. United supporters from La Barra Brava fan club who were riding Bixi bikes. I got off at the Viau metro station and walked across Olympic Park wearing my U.S. soccer jersey among a sea of royal blue Impact jerseys.

Saputo Stadium is an impressive soccer-specific stadium that is a model for how other stadiums should be built, including a potential new D.C. United stadium that is in the planning stages for Buzzard Point in Southwest Washington. The stadium opened in 2008 and with a seating capacity of 20,801 it is the second-largest soccer stadium in Canada after BMO Field in Toronto.

My ticket was for a seat behind the goal next to the loud and raucous Impact supporter club waving their flags and chanting. So I eventually walked around the stadium and found a great seat on the field level right at the middle of the pitch behind the home and visitor benches.

After the player intros and American and Canadian national anthems, the sellout crowd was fired up and kickoff was about to begin. The game had a great pace to it but Impact were clearly the better team as United were having an historically bad season and Impact were having one of their best seasons as a franchise. Plus, the Impact had lost 3-1 to United at a rainy RFK Stadium in a game I attended so they were looking for revenge.

Impact star striker -- Italian international Marco Di Vaio -- finished United off with a wonderful goal in the second half that sent Saputo into a soccer frenzy.

At halftime, children from the town of Lac-Mégantic, Quebec were honored. Lac-Mégantic is where last summer a freight train carrying crude oil derailed, causing fire and explosions that killed at least forty-two people.

During the second half I had a front row seat as the two animated Impact and United coaches argued over a controversial play and were both ejected. At one point they got so close it looked like they were about to exchange blows. But cooler heads prevailed and they walked to their respective locker rooms, but not before United Coach Ben Olsen taunted the Impact fans on his way off the pitch with a bit of theatrics.

All in all it was a fantastic experience with a world-class stadium, great fans and exciting soccer action. There is no doubt that soccer is here to stay in Montreal and will only get bigger and better.

Here are more photos from the Impact-United game:



Here are more photos of Saputo Stadium, including from the observation deck of the Montreal Tower:



And here is video of fans chanting, the national anthems, player introductions and action from the pitch including an Impact goal and the altercation between United Head Coach Ben Olsen and Impact Head Coach Marco Schällibaum:

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