Fast forward to late July, right when my infatuation was beginning to blossom/become really annoying. I had known for a week that his soccer team, FC Dallas, was coming up here to play the Seattle Sounders (woohoo GO SOUNDERS, "Sounders 'Til I Die" and all that) in the semifinal of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup (for those that don't know it's a big fancy US soccer tournament. That's pretty much all you need to know). The special thing about this particular game was it was being played at the Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila, WA, outside of Seattle. Games at Starfire are great compared to games at CenturyLink Field (Qwest Field 'Til I Die!), because the complex is smaller and it's more intimate; you're closer to the action, and the potential of actually meeting the players before/after the game is far greater since they walk right past you to get to the field instead of going through a tunnel under the stadium. The only downside is that instead of selling 36,000+ tickets for a game at CLink, only about 4,000 tickets are available for Starfire...and these game tickets sell like hotcakes.
Naturally, it wasn't until ALL the tickets to the game had sold out that I knew I HAD to be at that game so I could possible get a photo with Brek Shea. So the hunt was on to find a ticket. I ultimately found a ticket on Craigslist that was only twice the original value of $16. I had to buy the ticket from a rando stranger, in downtown Seattle in a parking lot behind a restaurant no less. So I dragged my mom with me to lessen the chance to my getting mugged/raped/murdered. I got my ticket and I was psyched about going to the game.
As the game date gets closer and closer, I get more and more amped about Brek Shea (I always refer to him with both first and last name, otherwise it's just one syllable and that's weird) and I's first encounter. With a week to go before the game, I've got it all planned out. What I'm going to wear (a shirt with the FC Dallas colors of blue and red), when I'm going to get there, what I'm going to say...everything. Then...possible disaster!
Brek Shea gets called up to the US Men's National Soccer Team (which is a really big honor, so good on him) to play in their upcoming friendlies. Normally I would be really excited that a soccer player I liked got called up to represent his country, except this time the game fell a mere three days after the Seattle game - the very game where my Brek Shea encounter was to take place! This made me really nervous. I thought for sure there would be no way the National Team coach would let Brek Shea play in Seattle instead of attending the first days of training. It would totally be my luck that this would happen to me. A chance at "like" thwarted by the real world. In the end, the karma gods were smiling down on me or something, because Brek Shea was coming to Seattle and he was going to play in the game I had waited so anxiously for.
Finally, it's game day, and I'm a big pile of all kinds of nervous. I left work and went straight to the field, thinking that I could just chill out at a concession bench and wait until the players come out. I get to the complex around 3:15pm (and yeah the game starts at 7...I know, I'm weird) hoping that a) I wouldn't have to pay through the nose for parking and b) the field gates would be open. Neither of those ended up happening as I still had to pay $15 dollars to park (but got a wicked parking spot) and I couldn't get to the field to wait for the players. This wasn't good at all. What if the players came out while I was stuck behind the fence and I never got my picture with Brek Shea? This could not happen! I ended up waiting for two hours before they would let the spectators in and thankfully the players hadn't come out of the locker room yet. I parked myself along the steel barracade that separated the players from the animals. I waited for nearly another hour before players from both teams started to trickle out.
The Sounders came first and garnered lots of cheers and positive energy from the fans. Then the Dallas players starting coming out and the Sounders fans pelted them with boos and taunts. Every Dallas player got asked the same question as they walked by: "Where's Brek Shea?" No, they weren't asking where he was because, like me, they wanted to get a picture with him. They wanted to know where he was so they could arm themselves with yells and taunts about his hair or his overall "douchebag-ness." (If you're wondering why Seattle fans pack so much animosity towards Brek Shea, watch this video and you'll know the reason. Watch it! Do do do do...waiting waiting. THAT's why they're mad? Pretty silly, right?)
Finally, Brek Shea emerges from the locker room and is immediately bombarded with taunts and boos. He merely smiles and flashes the peace sign (that's the one with TWO fingers). Now comes the moment I have been waiting for - the chance to get my picture taken with Brek Shea. It was put-up or shut-up time for Ally Barrera...and I wasn't about to let all those hecklers ruin it for me. I call out to Brek Shea and ask if he'll come take a picture with me. He responds (ohmigod he just talked to me!) and asks if we can take it after warm-ups. He's probably afraid that I might end up throwing a beer at him or something. Meanwhile, the boos get louder. This was my opportunity to convince him to stay with the only way I knew how: the puppy-dog face (to achieve said face, just make your eyes big and pout out your bottom lip and voila! no man can resist your charm!).
He saunters over (yep, saunters!) and the boos get louder. The crowd is thinking "How dare he take a picture with one of our fair Seattle maidens...we shall yell at him and isolate our middle finger towards him!" I ask the security guy, who is doing absolutely nothing but staring at us, if he would take out picture. He shakes his head no because he's a moron. Luckily, a very nice man decked out in Sounders gear offers to take the picture instead. This gets the crowd even more riled up because apparently the only thing worse then a player from the opposing team posing with one of your ladies is to have a fellow Sounders fan volunteer to take the picture.
Brek Shea and I get all cuddly-wuddly for the photo op (in case you were wondering, yes his hand is touching my back eeeek!) and the nice Sounders fan takes not one but TWO pictures. Hello, prolonged contact with my man-crush! These pictures were the result, and yes, those are middle fingers being extended by the fans in the background:
When the photos have been snapped, I thank the 6'4'' man-beast with the angelic face and he responds with "You're welcome." Truly a southern gent! As he walks away I break out into a mini-panic attack over what just happened, and the 11-year-old girls standing around me keep telling me how gosh-darn lucky I am to take a picture with an actual boy. I did the one thing any girl would do after she met her crush slash soulmate for the first time - I immediately called my mom, who had bet me $20 I wouldn't actually ask for the photo. While telling her of my triumph, my hands were incredibly shaky and I found it really difficult to breathe. I hadn't even bothered to check if the picture turned out or not. Who says "like" isn't chemical?
After calming myself, I changed into my Sounders jersey (because despite it all I still love my Sounders) and watched a really exciting and heart-stopping game. If you were wondering, the Sounders won 1-0 thanks to a Fredy Montero goal and the lack of offensive production of one Mr. Brek Shea.
After calming myself, I changed into my Sounders jersey (because despite it all I still love my Sounders) and watched a really exciting and heart-stopping game. If you were wondering, the Sounders won 1-0 thanks to a Fredy Montero goal and the lack of offensive production of one Mr. Brek Shea.
After the game I rush home as fast as my Toyota Matrix can get me there so I can post the (in my mind) infamous picture of Brek Shea and I. I mean, I had been telling people for weeks that I was going to get this picture taken. I needed to post the proof. I loaded the camera card in and waited with baited breath, hoping that the picture wouldn't show Brek Shea next to the top of my head (there is quite a height difference). But on the contrary - the picture turned out much better than expected/feared. I wish I'd gotten my bangs trimmed before, but other than that it was perfect. I should also mention that it is probably among the best pictures that Brek Shea has ever taken, and you should trust me because I have seen a lot of Brek Shea pictures on his Facebook. I posted the picture on my Facebook and made it my default picture. I even tag him in the picture, because we're Facebook friends and all. I then told all my friends to go to my Facebook page and look at the picture and they all responded back to me say things like, "ohmigod you guys are so cute" and "wow, he is really cute" (they sure do know how to stroke my ego).
I can't say it's the best Facebook profile picture of all time, but that's only because I haven't seen ALL the profile pictures ever created. Sure, I'm proud that I was able to muster up the courage to ask my man-crush to take a picture with me and I'm really happy with the result. It's going to be hard to find another epic picture to take it's place.
How long has Brek Shea been with his girlfriend & who is she??
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