06/22/2002
Let me tell you what it was like at 5 a.m. on Friday. It was dark.
And it was quiet.
That was before Ben's Half Yard House on Greenville Avenue opened again 35 minutes later. Ben's had closed at 3:45 a.m. to restock its wares and tidy the place at the conclusion of the televised World Cup match between Brazil and England.
Customers were shooed outside. But many didn't go far. They walked out the door, turned around and formed a line to get back in. At 6:30 a.m. a saucy U.S. team would meet mighty Germany in a World Cup quarterfinal.
Ben's began to fill. Then it did. Inside was SRO with people packed tighter than slices of cheese. An overflow spilled outside to a patio.
They came by the hundreds, some drawn by national pride. Most were hard-core fans who brought drums, a bugle and cow horns and wore red, white and blue color schemes on shirts, painted faces and flags. They cheered and chanted "U...S...A."
Emotion increased at 7 a.m. with an announcement while the match remained scoreless: "I'll give you guys something to cheer about. The bar is open."
All went for naught, which was our side's score. The Germans won, 1-0, a result that disappointed but failed to prevent generous applause for a good-try American effort at game's end.
"They fought hard. That's all you could ask," said a departing fan.
Another spoke to a friend in mock anger over a cell phone. By the tone of his remark, his pal was German.
"I'm a little upset that your guys are five feet taller than ours," he grumbled.
Eric Jean-Francois Randall spoke highly of the U.S. side from a more technical background than most. A 40-ish native of Paris, he has studied soccer since infancy. As a Frenchman, he had no fondness for Germany and pulled for the underdog Yanks.
"I was impressed with the Americans. They never gave up," he said. "They had four occasions to score and very sharply. I really believe in four years they can go to the semifinals."
Randall is aware that a majority of Americans don't understand the nuances of soccer.
"Soccer isn't about piling up scores. It's a game of frustration. You wait an hour and half to get the first score. Americans have to understand that it's different from the culture of their games."
Someone asked Randall why he thought soccer wasn't more popular in the United States.
"Baseball got here first," he explained.
Not all Americans downgrade soccer. Christine Watt, who's on the mature side of the calendar, has lost more than her heart to the game.
"It's my second religion. ... Roman Catholic being my first," she said from beneath a red, white and blue felt top hat. "I thought after our women did so well in the World Cup that things would be better.
"Our boys are not well-known for playing good World Cup soccer, but they did today. I plan to go to Germany for the next World Cup in 2006 if I have to be there in a wheelchair or on a walker. I won't miss a game."
The future of local soccer has been discussed since the 1960s when the Lamar Hunt-owned Dallas Tornado played at Turnpike Stadium, the former minor league baseball park in Arlington. Will it ever gain a foothold on our sports landscape?
Maybe someday a toehold, Keith Phildius thinks.
"Soccer in this country will never take over other sports. It'll be a niche sport for those who've grown up with it. If you understand the game, you like it.
"Sure, there's a lack of scoring. What people talk about is the game within the game. It's like chess."
World Cup exposure will surely expand that niche, said Phildius, who sported painted national colors on his 30-ish face.
"I've played soccer since I was a 6-year-old. Kids now have heroes to shoot for. We didn't have that. They also have a major league to look up to. This will do wonders for the sport."
World Cup play also proved a financial bounty for Ben and Debra Williams, owners of Ben's Half Yard House. The drawback has been a marathon pace, since the last time either had slept was before Thursday afternoon's regular opening hour. Landslide business compensates, judging by Debra's reply to a question.
Has she always been a soccer fan?
"I am now," she said, speaking from a seat located behind the cash register.