Santa Ana Planning Commissioner Sean Mill scored us a pair of VIP tickets at yesterday’s Chivas USA soccer match against the Dallas team. So we drove up the 405 Freeway and arrived early at the Home Depot Center in Carson to take it all in.
The Home Depot Center is something else. The parking is shared with Cal State Dominguez Hills. There is plenty of parking and security. The lot was quite clean and everyone was well behaved and having a good time.
You might recall that the NIMBY Usual Suspects here in Santa Ana are screaming about trash and diapers, with respect to the prospect that the Chivas USA might move here to Santa Ana. But Mill and I didn’t see ANY trash, or diapers. What we saw was a lot of families having an awesome time.
There were a lot of Latino families at the game but we also saw a lot of Caucasians too. That made sense as the Chivas USA squad is majority non-Latino and the Chivas Girls are pretty diverse too.
There was a Chivas themed family area that was really busy with vendors including State Farm Insurance, Sprint, Juanitas and other big companies. They were giving away all sorts of stuff including hats, t-shirts, water bottles, etc. There was also a number of stages with live music and dancing.
The Chivas Girls signed free posters and the Chivas mascot ran around taking pictures with the kids and their parents. The whole event was one big community celebration.
The VIP section we sat in featured hosts and servers that brought food right to you. We also won two seats each for a future game, from State Farm Insurance.
The Chivas USA team also celebrated AIDS Awareness Day, as you can see in the picture above. They are also hosting a Diversity Day at an upcoming game – they appear to be huge supporters of the gay and lesbian community. Again, the Usual Suspects haven’t even noticed that.
As you will see in the picture slideshow embedded above, the Chivas USA games are fun for all and there are no security issues whatsoever. The NIMBY Usual Suspects are wrong again, as usual.
The fact however is that the Chivas USA may never come to Santa Ana. They play in a beautiful facility in Carson. The only reason I could see them leaving was if we could guarantee to sell out the games. I think we could do better than Carson, where the Chivas USA play second fiddle to the Galaxy, but it is still a long shot. That has not of course stopped the Usual Suspects from their usual screaming and racist attacks. Par for the course…
