Thousands of soccer fans converging on Colorado had a chance to whet their appetites a day before the Sierra Mist MLS All-Star Game as downtown Denver turned into the MLS Soccer Jam Wednesday afternoon.
Filling two long blocks of Denver's celebrated 16th Street pedestrian mall, the Soccer Jam featured everything from live music and a beer garden to "futvolley" and funnel cakes. The four-hour celebration turned the heart of downtown Denver into a gathering place for green-and-white-hooped Celtic supporters, burgundy-and-blue-clad Rapids rooters, and the occasional innocent passers-by, drawn in by the festivities and the frequent soccer-celebrity sightings.
From a soccer standpoint, the highlight of the celebration had to be the half-block field set up in Skyline Park, playing host to a roster of current and past soccer stars from the MLS and beyond.
Rapids Hall-of-Famer Marcel Balboa was prominent in the "Futvolley Tournament," claiming victory on a four-man team that also featured MLS All-Star coaches Steve Nicol and John Spencer and All-Star midfielder Juan Toja.
For the uninitiated, "futvolley," also known as "soccer tennis," is a hybrid sport, played on grass with a net at midfield. The players formed four-man teams, kicking the ball back and forth over the net and trying to score by landing unreturnable shots at the feet of their opponents.
In the final of the tournament, Balboa's foursome defeated a squad that included All-Stars Brian Ching and Dwayne De Rosario.
To make the day even more interactive, the net was lowered for the "World Supporters' Cup," a mini-game of soccer featuring Celtic FC supporters taking the field against hometown Rapids supporters. Celtic took the cup, dominating the struggling Rapids supporters by a score of 12-4.
At the other end of the Soccer Jam, fans were treated to an array of outdoor music concerts, as bands took the stage throughout the afternoon and evening. The final two acts also offered a preview of the on-field entertainment scheduled for Thursday's All-Star Game, as the Monterey, Mexico band Kinky played a short set and The Academy Is..., a Chicago-based band heralded by Rolling Stone as an "artist to watch," closed the show, brining the soccer enthusiasts to their feet with a 45-minute set that ensured an aerobic finale for the football fans. Kinky will perform as part of the pre-game show Thursday, and The Academy Is ... will be featured as part of the half-time entertainment.
The streets of Denver ended up looking like the inside of a soccer locker room, with the vast majority of the pedestrians wearing some kind of soccer garb. If they didn't arrive in their favorite kit, there were plenty of giveaways, and many fans were able to fill their new shirts with the autographs of the All-Stars, mingling in the midtown oasis of the soccer celebration.
Owen Perkins is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
