It reminded me of the World Cup 74 when Cruijff & Co. dominated the tournament but forgot to beat (who else?) Germany! The experience itself was fun. The stadium packed with mostly Dutch people, some Germans and a few Greeks who seemed to be lost. They had no clue what field hockey was about. They probably thought they had tickets to a NHL Ice Hockey final.
After the game it was straight to the HHH again. There the party had started with DJ Ronald Molendijk assisted by Judoka and Olympic medallist Dennis van der Geest, who plays a mean groove himself. The hockey girls arrived later and did some crowd surfing in there. Mijntje Donners (the captain) held s speech trying to sound satisfied with silver, but it was very obvious that she was being diplomatic. Her whole body language, face and intonation screamed out: "MALAKA! We should've taken the gold!"
Of course, the men did the same thing. Difference is that the expectations were lower and the Aussies were slightly better. So there was more of a celebration afterwards.
The HHH is now officially the Hottest Ticket in Town. I say officially because two days ago the largest newspaper here did a comparative study of all the national houses. Something like the Algemeen Dagblad Nationale Haringtest. In summary, the German House was stiff, the Canadians couldn't party and the Swedes were all too drunk. The HHH was rated highest in atmosphere, party fever, crowd and presence of athletes. Finally we got another gold!
(while I write this our Mountain Biker Bart Brentjes is in the leading group of 3)
The result of this "test" was that the HHH yesterday was full of foreign TV crews trying to capture the atmosphere. In between TV crews, athletes, artists, sponsors, politicians and the unavoidable me-is-so-important people there was hardly any room left for actual fans.
The athlete crowd is growing. Now also the Italian, German and Samoan athletes have found their way to the Beer Hut. Caimin Douglas, the last runner of the Dutch 4x100m relay team used to be my teammate at Willemstad 2 (a football club from Curacao) and he showed up at the HHH after their unfortunate Baton-Gate incident. We finally met, as he already knew I was there through his trainer. I think he must've been beaten up the head with the relay stick once too often, because all of a sudden he seems to remember having scored more goals than I at Willemstad... ;-)
We were having a chat when suddenly Edgar Davids appeared to greet him and discuss the failed handover. Davids flew in specifically to watch the relay team as he knows most of the guys. So there I am discussing athletics with a former teammate and Hollands captain. Believe me, anything they say about Davids and his media image is totally, completely besides the truth. A very relaxed and friendly guy who showed no annoyance at all when being asked for signatures or pictures. And that happened quite often.
A lot of people also approached me to request something. No, it wasn't my signature. That privilege seems to be reserved for tax auditors, court officers and project managers wanting approval of their project plan... :-)
No, the most common request is: "Can I buy your Volunteer shirt?". The funny thing is that this question is only asked at the HHH. Nowhere else! Mostly by middle-aged, Botox-stuffed, fake tanned women that think everything is for sale. NO, THE SHIRT IS NOT FOR SALE!
Phew, what a relief...
Roberto
PS: Just quickly checked the result of the mountainbiking. Bronze!
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