My concerns were viable before I arrived here, but luck has me living in an apartment that is exactly one block away from Casabar, one of the few American sports bars in the city. The hidden entrance to this place makes it appear to be quiet and relaxed, and on the weekdays, it is. On Sundays, however, it transforms, with the help of the crazed Americans that always go to support their teams. A few Argentines come every Sunday as well, sometimes with their American friends and sometimes voluntarily. This intrigued me, as American football can be difficult to follow, and they informed me they became hooked after being introduced to it by a friend from the States. All of them self-taught the rules of the game, which shocked me, and some of them even have their own fantasy football teams.

While everyone gets into the classic sports bar arguments, all consisting of reasons why their team/quarterback/defensive line is the best and why yours is awful, there one thing that bonds us together: how terrible the replacement referees have been.

Since the NFL referee lockout, there have been numerous bad calls by the replacement referees. When I was procrastinating, I looked up where some of these men previously worked to get their qualifications, and quite a few have been fired from supervising some college conferences, such as the Pac-12. Even worse, some were denied from reffing the Lingerie Football League.

I admit that I surely am no professional, but I was shocked when I saw Wayne Elliot, the ref for the Packers vs. Seahawks game, point in the wrong direction to assign a penalty to Green Bay and help Seattle win.

I feel slightly bad for the new officials—they came into a bad situation and are ridiculed by fans, players, and coaches—and maybe the person that should be held more accountable is Commissioner Roger Goodell for allowing these people to make important “game-time” decisions.

Soccer has also had its fair share of bad referees. One man at Casabar, who was making fun of the new American football officials, told me the story of the Argentina-England quarterfinal in the FIFA World Cup of 1986. Although he was young when this World Cup occurred, he recounted what he claimed as “the best worst call in sports history,” as it was in Argentina’s favor and enabled them to continue playing and ultimately win the tournament.  At the beginning of the second half, when the score was 0-0, Argentine forward Diego Maradona accidentally scored a goal with his hands, and the refs did not call against it; not only did he score the first goal illegally, but also this mistake gave Argentina a 2-1 win over the English.

The 1986 Argentina soccer team was full of talent and could very well have won the World Cup without this call, but this “Hand of God” play really changed the pace of this specific match.

Initially I was not sure how to react to this story: this man was making fun of horrible referees and bad calls and then informs me about the handball that was made in Argentina’s favor. It made me realize that worse calls have been made in sports, that I should enjoy the temporary humor these replacement refs have provided me (unless it’s against the Giants), and continue hoping that Goodell and the previous NFL referees come to an agreement soon.

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Within the city of Buenos Aires lie six major soccer teams in the Primera División  (All Boys, Argentinos Juniors, Boca Juniors, River Plate, San Lorenzo, and Vélez Sársfield), and within this division there are major rivalries.  The first night I met my host family, they expressed that they were fans of Boca Juniors.  My five-year-old host brother showed me his card collection of last-season’s team players. He made sure to point out his favorite, and immediately after, my host mother said that she is unsure what she feels most passionate about: her love for Boca or her hatred towards River Plate. The amount of loyalty everyone has to his or her respective team is indescribable but can outdone only by the country’s undying devotion to FC Barcelona striker and Argentine-native Lionel Messi.

When walking around the city, you are bound to run into some form of memorabilia of a club team, the national team, or the sport in general.  The parks are abundant with soccer matches—although significantly smaller than an actual field, the parks generally have 6-8 turf playing grounds with different games going on from early in the day until midnight.

Soccer is very much a part of the Argentine arts scene, as well.  For the past two weeks, various tango and ballet companies have come into Buenos Aires for the Tango – Festival y Mundial de Baile.  This past Sunday, a company performed a piece called “El Tango y el Fútbol,” managing to tie together two of Argentina’s most well known attractions.  While I’m still trying to figure out how they managed to connect the two into a 90-minute routine, it is just another case demonstrating how soccer is inescapable in this South American nation state.

Sometimes, though, that passion gets out of control.  While I’ve been abroad, the National Football League recently expanded its 2008 Fan Code of Conduct to include a four-hour online course an ejected fan must complete in order for them to re-enter the stadium’s stands.  Darren Rovell, author of the online ESPN article NFL gets serious about fan conduct, explains further “the course, designed by psychotherapist Dr. Ari Novick, in tandem with the MetLife Stadium security director Daniel DeLorenzi, focuses on alcohol abuse, anger management, and crude behavior.”

This struck me as an unusual way of dealing with belligerent fans at games, and it will be interesting to see how it will succeed back in the States.  Then I considered how the new rule would fare in soccer-crazed Argentina.  Here, violence is almost a guarantee at a soccer match due to the presence of the organized fan groups, or “barras bravas,” that correspond with each club team.

While the first barras bravas—which literally means “hooligans”—were organized starting in the 1950s, violence relating to soccer in Argentina dates back to 1924 when a murder was committed after Argentina fell to Uruguay during the final match of the South American Championship.  Most recently during the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, members of the Boca Juniors and Independiente barras bravas got into a fight the day before the quarterfinal match between Argentina and Germany.  A member of the Boca Juniors barra brava was fatally injured during this fight, passing away the next day in the hospital.

While such acts of violence in sport may seem horrific, aggressive sports-induced outbursts don’t always occur outside our borders.  A 2011 NFL football preseason game between Bay-area rival San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders tallied a total of four attacks: two men were beaten unconscious, one was shot four times, and another was killed in a parking lot outside of Candlestick Park. Violence struck again this past month after a Raiders-Cardinals preseason game where a Raiders fan was shot in the face by a Cardinals fan.

What I’ve learned is that no culture is superior. Whether it’s football or fútbol, sport is sport. Though I take no comfort in violence, it was really eye-opening to see that a love for sports teams is something that occurs across cultures. Fandom is universal.

While I have yet to attend a soccer match in my six weeks here in Argentina, I’m looking forward in immersing myself in the culture in a country as passionate about their teams as we are. That, and I’m excited to yell “GOAL!” at the top of my lungs.

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Following a loss against No. 20 Johns Hopkins University, where the Blue Jays won 16-12, the Blue and Grey were looking for a win against a tough opponent. Head Coach Ricky Fried used that loss to create new strategies for his team.

“We obviously came off a big loss to Johns Hopkins, so the biggest thing that we tried to focus on was outplay and our confidence, and not to get too caught up in what we didn’t do but what we are capable of doing,” he said.

Going into the game, Fried felt confident in his team.  “I [knew] we were able to play with them athletically,” he said.  “It’s just a matter of whether we believe we can play with them.”

The Hoyas were able to use that confidence and outplay during the last 15 minutes of the game.  While they were down 8-5, the women staged a huge four-goal comeback.  Their defense put huge pressure on the Tar Heels that ultimately disabled them from using their offense.

The team’s success was due to individual players’ smaller efforts throughout the game, according to Fried.

“I think that as the game went on, even though we weren’t necessarily leading, we knew we could compete at that level,” he says.  “Once that happened, I think the confidence level rose [as we were] consistently doing the little things instead of the big things, and letting [them] cumulatively set us up for success.”

After competing against four nationally-ranked teams in the top 20 lacrosse programs while maintaining a .500 record, Fried said he is proud of his team and their season thus far.  “[The win against UNC] shows what we are capable of playing,” Fried said. The challenge now is to do that on a consistent basis, focusing on improving each game, making sure we pay attention to small details.”

The confidence from this win certainly helped the Hoyas as they travelled to No. 8 University of Pennsylvania (4-1) this Wednesday.  Coach Fried knew that the Quakers would be a very competitive match for the Blue and Grey, but he is still hopeful for his team.

“I think [the win against UNC] gives us a bit of confidence going into [the UPenn] game,” said Fried before the game.  “UPenn is a very good team who has historically been in the top 10.   They are very deliberate and smart…While we don’t want to minimize our athleticism, we want to be very patient during the course of the game to execute our game plan and not get caught up in their game plan.”

Shortly after the interview, the Hoyas went out and upset the Quakers, 11-9, in Philadelphia. Junior Sophia Thomas scored six goals and freshman Caroline Tarzian chipped in one goal to go with three assists.

With the team’s victory Wendesday night, Fried was validated in asserting the team’s record so far shows its ability to play among the nation’s best.

“I think that…we are athletic and skilled enough to compete with anybody,” he said.

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For the DMR event, junior Rachel Schneider led off the Hoyas for the first 1,2000 meters. She was followed by junior Amanda Kimbers, and sophomore Chelsea Cox ran the third leg before Infeld anchored the team with an impressive finish time of 11:05.53.

“We followed our same routine for the entire day of the race,” said Infeld.  “We approached this meet as we did any other meet.  Coach [Chris] Miltenberg always tells us to follow our same routine and not do anything different.”

That strategy has been a part of the women’s track and field program for the duration of the season, and has proven successful in their meets.

After the DMR event, Infeld looked forward to the 3,000-meter run, which provided her a chance to prove her speed.

“I felt really good going into the 3,000 [meter] on Saturday,” she said.  “The DMR was tactical, so I did not split a very fast time.”

As a means of preparation, the All-American stuck with the team’s mantra of not changing tactics.  “I didn’t do anything out of the ordinary,” she said.  “I tried to stay relaxed and have fun with the race.”

But Infeld did identify specific parts of her performance that she wanted to improve before the big race. “I was really looking to work on certain areas, such as my kick, which I was lacking [during Friday’s event],” she said. “I was fired up to race and learn from the mistakes.”

The senior completed the event with a time of 9:15.44, breaking the facility record by 14 seconds. The run earned her the title of NCAA Champion, as well as All-American status for the tenth time.

“I am still very shocked and excited,” she said.  “I have strived to win for a long time and am…excited that my training paid off, but I am more so excited that I was able to work on the mistakes of my race [from Friday’s race].”

On behalf of the Hoyas, Infeld is proud of their overall success, but it also looking forward to the final chapter of her senior season.

“I am very proud of my teammates,” she said.  “Our team works so hard, and we have so many talented girls that will get to compete in outdoors.”

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The women are led by Emily Infeld, who won three Big East titles during her races earlier this season.  The senior has high hopes for the Hoyas in the NCAA Championship after this past weekend, saying the team thrives off Associate Head Coach Chris Miltenberg’s strategy.

“We have continued training hard and keeping our normal training routine,” she said.  “Coach [Miltenberg] has been great at teaching us to treat this as any normal meet.”

Though they didn’t win the Indoor Championship like the women, the men’s team also raced well in the Big East Championship.  The runners placed in the top 10 in many of the individual categories against top competitors, ultimately placing them eighth overall with 42.5 total points.

Director Patrick Henner, for one, said he is excited for the upcoming meet.  “I think we’re putting out a great team,” he said.  “We just want to go out there and race well and compete, and if we do that then we’ll have a good outcome.”

Like Miltenberg, Henner will not be changing the Hoyas’ strategy before Nationals.

“We’re just doing standard-type training that we would do this time of year regardless,” he said.  “[Our team] has proven great results, so we won’t really change anything.”

Despite the strong competition in the Big East, the Blue and Grey are in for their toughest test next weekend, facing off against other top teams at the NCAA Championship.  Miltenberg and Henner agree that University of Washington will be a tough contestant to beat for their teams. Henner mentioned Oregon as another top contender, and Miltenberg noted BYU.

Infeld added Tennessee and Stanford to that list, and also noted Big East rival Villanova.  The Wildcats placed third overall in the Big East Championship with a total of 89.5 points, while their men’s team placed fourth overall with 83 points.

“There are so many great teams and individuals,” Infield said.  “There is such great competition throughout the NCAA and it should be an exciting race, and close for a few teams.”

Anybody who has a team [in the NCAA championship] is going to be very good,” Henner added. “What we have to focus on is what we do every day and I think if we do that, we’ll have a great outcome.”

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Head Coach Gordie Ernst was proud of his team’s effort against the Panthers, who have historically been a thorn in the Hoyas’ side.

“Pittsburgh, they’re always tough,” Ernst said. “But we were ready, we matched up great throughout the lineup.”

For the singles matches, senior Lauren Greco defeated Pitt’s Jocelyn Lu in a close match of 6-2 in the first set, 3-6 in the second, and 10-7 in the third.  Sophomore Tina Tehrani beat Pitt’s Gabrielle Catanzariti 6-1 in both played sets.

Greco and Tehrani, both nationally ranked, give the Hoyas a formidable pair to lead the team, something Ernst has not had in the past. He’s especially proud of the sophomore’s progression after a stellar freshman campaign.

“Tina’s really coming on strong,” he said. “A one-two punch of Tehrani and Greco, they’re both nationally ranked, and they give us so much strength at the top.”

Sophomore Kelly Comolli fell to the Panthers’ Taylor Washington in a close match, losing the first set 7-5, winning the second 6-4, and losing in the third 10-8.  Junior Victoria Sekley in the fourth singles position beat Amanda Wickman of Pitt 6-3, 6-1. Freshman Sophie Panarese won against Kimmy Borza 6-2 in the first set, and while the second set presented more challenges, she came out on top 7-5. Ernst said Panarese, one of the highest-recruited freshmen in the country, provides excellent balance for the team in the sixth spot.

The Hoyas also performed strongly, winning two out of three doubles matches.  The first doubles players from Georgetown, Greco and Comolli, lost to Pitt’s Lu and Washington in a close 8-7 match.  Second doubles Tehrani and Sekely defeated Borza and Catanzariti of Pitt 8-2, and third doubles Jaegar and Panarese won 8-4 against the Panthers’ Wickman sisters.

The Blue and Gray (3-1 overall, 1-0 Big East) are starting their season off on a higher note than they did last year.  During the 2010-2011 tennis season, the women’s record for their first four games was 2-2.  While last season the women started their season competing with other Big East rivals Syracuse and DePaul, this extra win gives the Hoyas an edge over their competitors.

The men’s team, meanwhile, is coming off a 6-1 loss against Penn yesterday. Ernst was disappointed in the result, calling it a “tight match” despite the final score, but called losing their trip to Philadelphia “tough.” One bright spot was sophomore Andrew Dottino’s gritty two-set singles victory.

The men look to rebound versus Old Dominion on Saturday. Meanwhile, the women travel to Williamsburg, VA, for their next match against William and Mary this Friday at 4 p.m., and the team gets some time off before their next Big East conference game against Rutgers on February 23. The Hoya coach is not looking past William and Mary, though, as the Tribe almost beat nationally-ranked Washington.

“We have to play our very best tennis and we’ll have a shot,” he said.

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The squad is looking to add fresh talent after ending last season with a 10-5-4 record (4-3-1 Big East), and the six players who have signed National Letters of Intent—Brandon Allen, Keegan Rosenberry, Cole Seller, Melvin Snoh, Josh Turnley, and David Witkoff—are all gifted athletes who have been nationally recognized for their skill on the field.

Allen scored a total of 118 goals during his high school career at St. Joseph High School in Old Bridge, N.J.  Liberian-born Snoh started his games over his four years at Malvern Prep High School in Coatesville, Pa., and captained his club team, Penn Fusion. Turnley scored 101 goals over his career at Beaver Area High School, where he was also recognized as the NSCAA Pennsylvania State Player of the Year.

Georgetown Head Coach Brian Wiese is content with the recruiting efforts, but he says that the process is not over.

“We still have more players we want to be adding to it,” he said. “That being said, it’s a very exciting group of players.  We got the guys to come to Georgetown that we wanted.  It’s an exciting time for the program and I’m excited for these men to come visit and start contributing to Georgetown soccer.”

This influx of talent might mean that the returning Georgetown soccer players will have varying playing time, but Wiese sees this as a positive for the program.

“For every position on the field, we want someone to play,” he said. “We want guys to be pushing for playing time.  It also helps protect against injuries…so I think this group of guys is going to do all of those things.”

Wiese recognizes the profound capacity that these players have to offer.  “From a needs point of view and from a quality of kid…and impact player, it will be six guys that have the ability to play as freshmen,” he said.  “This group of guys [has] a potential to play…and that’s exciting for us.”

The coach also feels that one commitment can have a domino effect of sorts, as today’s recruiting involves high schoolers who know each other going into the process.

“There’s a certain amount of momentum that can be built upon a recruiting class,” Wiese said.  “Soccer is a small world.  When all of these players know each other, they get excited when they know when players go somewhere they’re interested.  This group of six players is a solid group.”

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During the fall, the men’s team ended with a record of 7-10, and lost their first two matches in the Big East Tournament. The Hoyas graduated two seniors from last year’s squad, and are as a result left with nine players as opposed to last year’s 11. However, the squad still remains very confident, led by senior Andrew Bruhn and junior Charlie Caris.

“I have a lot of confidence in our squad this year,” Caris said. “And it’s my job as an upperclassman to project that confidence during each match of the season. My goal for the team this season is for everyone to show up ready to play for every match.”

Head Coach Gordie Ernst said he wants the men’s squad to have a winning record this season.

“We’re just looking for more wins, especially against teams that are close to us,” he said. “Two of the teams we play this weekend are both pretty good teams that beat us in the past.  Those are the teams that we can beat, the ones that are kind of close.”

The men’s squad begins its season at Virginia Commonwealth this Saturday at the 4+1 tournament.  At last spring’s VCU 4+1 Tournament, the Blue and Gray performed disappointingly, also falling to both Virginia Commonwealth and Campbell University.

To prepare for this tournament, the teams have been having normal practices, with a heightened sense of urgency only days before the beginning of their spring campaign.

“We’re just trying to get as sharp as we can,” Ernst said. “We’ve hit a lot of tennis balls around…we’re just trying to get everyone in that frame of mind that [the season] starts this weekend.”

Caris feels that this year’s Hoyas will be able to sustain themselves throughout the season, especially with their extensive offseason regimen.

“Our new assistant coach, Matt Brooklyn, has put together a great program of agilities and running that has elevated the team to its best fitness level in my three years here,” Caris said.

In line with his view on getting his team in the right mindset, Ernst is not concerned about their loss last year.

“VCU is very, very good,” he said. “They’re very tough and 10 years ago … they were one of the top teams in the country.  Obviously we’re not going to win all [these matches this weekend], but what we want to improve on are teams that are somewhat equal to us, so we want to go out there and get those wins.”

The women’s team will also participate in the 4+1 tournament, with their matchups beginning this Friday.  The women lost to both VCU and Campbell last year.

Ernst is confident in the women’s team, especially with the addition of sophomore Cornell transfer Kelly Camolli, and because sophomore Tina Tehrani and senior Lauren Greco are now nationally ranked.  This type of individual success has inspired team success.

“We have two girls who are nationally ranked for the first time,” he said. “How about the team gets nationally ranked?  That is the common goal.  If we can knock off a [ranked] team [early] on the women’s side, we could be in the national rankings.”

During the 2010-2011 season, the women’s team finished the regular season with a winning record of 11-6. They made it into the fourth round of the Big East Tournament, where they had a 2-2 record and fell to conference rival Syracuse. Like the men’s team, the women cut two players from their eleven members last season, but only had one student leave the team due to graduation. The women, led by senior Lauren Greco, are all fairly experienced, as eight out of the nine players participated in NCAA matches last season.

“We had a slow start last year, and then we really picked it up strong,” he said. “We want to build on confidence a little earlier in the season.”

As for both teams, Ernst places a strong focus on being in top competitive shape.

“We want that reputation that we’re just so tough to beat,” he said.  “Throughout the lineup we’re mentally and physically tough.  That’s what we’ve had a hole in, but now we have a bunch of kids on both teams that are really, really dedicated.”

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Miltenberg began his career at Georgetown in 1999 as a runner.  He is a two-time All American and the 2001 Big East champion in the mile event.  While on the team, he helped bring the Blue and Grey to four conference team championships, and led his team for two seasons as a captain.  Now, Miltenberg enters his fifth year coaching for the Hoyas, and was recently voted Cross Country Coach of the Year by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

Miltenberg credits his experience running for Georgetown as a major influence on his coaching.

“I … understand what life is like here, being able to really understand the challenges our student athletes are dealing with,” he says.  “Because I ran here … I have such a different connection to what I do, to what this place is.  It’s so much more than a job to me.”

During the 1999-2003 seasons, Miltenberg ran under Director Ron Helmer and Coach Patrick Henner.  He truly respects Henner, the current director of men’s and women’s track and field, who he feels shaped him as both a coach and a person.

“The biggest aspect of my coaching is individualization,” he says.  “The biggest thing we’re built on is having fun at practice every day.”

He even applies this individualization towards strategizing for races.  As opposed to comparing themselves to other schools, the women’s runners simply look within themselves and to each other.

“Our focus for the last five years has been being the best us we can be,” the coach said.  “If we do that, then we won’t be worried about expectations and the outcome … we try to stay consistent with that.”

With a team as hard-working as this one, Miltenberg is not entirely surprised that it won the NCAA national championship.  Miltenberg has certainly fostered his “best us” mentality with the obvious success of this fall season, but he is more proud of the way the Hoyas ran together.

“What our team did was run really, really well,” he said, “but most importantly they all ran [together] … I think that’s great cross country, getting a whole team to all run together.”

The triumph of the women’s cross country team can certainly be attributed to the runners, but the influence of Coach Miltenberg has helped the program immensely.  However, Miltenberg still maintains that “this isn’t about win or loss … it’s about being the best team we can be right now.”

This season, that was good enough for best in the country.

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