Lesson 10: You can't compare apples to apples that look like oranges.

Last night I went to my first soccer -excuse me, football- game ever, at least since I last played when I was 12. It was loud. It was exciting. And it also included, arguably, the best player and team in the world.

If you haven’t discovered from my other posts, Bilbao is proud of everything Bilbao, especially their football team. In fact, Athletic Club Bilbao only has players from the Basque Country. While that could make them less competitive they have more chemistry than teams with twice as much talent. However, they had their work cut out for them as they were competing against FC Barcelona, the reining Champions League winner (best club team in Europe), and their standout Lionel Messi (FIFA Player of the Year two years ago).

Before the game, people traditionally hang out on La Calle Poza (left), just outside the stadium, for some European tailgating, which includes drinking heavily in the streets and chanting team fight songs. The stadium itself is also full of tradition. Built in 1913, San Mames is the oldest built stadium in Spain. Though it only holds 40,000 people, they know how to make some noise.

We had some pretty good tickets. We entered next to the President’s box, where all the owners of the teams and celebrities sit together. So they couldn’t have been too terrible of seats. But that didn’t stop us from jumping a railing to find something a bit closer to the field. We settled for a nice spot on the steps of the 10th row, inline with the front of the Box (right).

The first half wasn’t too special, besides Messi getting kicked to the face and bleeding. Both teams had a couple of chances to put it in the net, but neither capitalized. The game had gone on like most sports games I’ve been to. Everyone snuck in food and alcohol. I even saw an old lady with a flask, and an old man with a bota. The most peculiar was that everyone brought the same snack for halftime. Once halftime hit, people reached into purses and bags and began pulling out large aluminum-wrapped bars, which contained giant sandwiches (left). I even got one, with pork and peppers.

The second half was a bit more exciting. Barcelona scored less than ten min after the half, but Athletic responded just a few minutes later to equalize it. Then mayhem ensued. One of the Mames Mad Men jumped on the field waving an Athletic flag and was chased around for several seconds before finally being tackled into the goal. Though I was far away, I got most of it on video. I also got great shots of Thierry Henry (right) who was warming up right in front of our place on the stairs. This was his first game back since the infamous Hand-Ball, and when he finally walked on the field he was greeted with some “Boos.”

The game finished tied, which may as well have been a win for Athletic. Afterward I got pictures with a couple players from the team including the team captain, Etxeberria (left), then went back to join the people on the streets in celebration. It was an amazing experience live, but it’s hard to compare a football game in San Mames to, lets say, a football game in DKR. Some things that are consistent are that the people love their teams, the atmosphere is overpowering in both venues, and of course, how much fans cuss at the referees. Rather than that, it's too much trouble trying to compare football to football. Like apples and oranges, they are both good on their own.