Mark and I headed out to Rangers Stadium last night for our first International Football game, Australia vs. Denmark (aka AvD). We were told to wear yellow or green. We were going to root for Australia. No one told me we had tickets in the "standing only" section. Admittedly, there were rows of seats, but once people start standing in the front rows, it's a ripple effect causing everyone in the section to stand. We were in the only section of the stadium that stood the entire time, the Danes behind their goal had the sense to sit down. But, I was prepared, bundled up against the chill of the night air, hands clasped around my steaming cup of hot chocolate. We were seated right behind one of the goals amidst a boisterous crowd who were continually singing cheers the entire game. Most of the cheers were easy enough to understand for a newbie like me to join in. Imagine a slower tempo intro to "crocodile rock" and sing: LAAAA, LA LA LA LA LAAAA! LA LA LA LA LAAA! LA LA LA LA LAAA! AU-STRAL-LI-A! (lather, rinse, repeat...) Or to the tune of some Philip Sousa march: Green and Gold, Green and Gold, Green and Goooold! Green and Gold, Green and Gold, Green and Goooo-old! Green and Gold, Green and Gold, Green and Gold! (ad nauseum...) What was fabulous was hearing almost an entire stadium of 25,000 chanting "BULL-SHIT! BULL-SHIT!" in unison at the ref when a bad call was made. I'm so glad we went, even though I'm not really a football fan, even though Australia lost 0-3 to Denmark, it was a friendly game where everyone stayed till the end. It was fun and fascinating observing and participating in the whole crowd mentality, easily getting swept up in the excitement and garnering a better appreciation for the game.