I can tell you exactly where I was on October 17, 2017.
It was a fall evening in Atlanta, and the United States men’s national team was in a must-win scenario as it took on Trinidad and Tobago in Couva. I remember the images of an overwhelmingly-flooded Ato Boldon Stadium days before the game because, of course, it’s Concacaf and that kind of thing happens, I guess.
But there I was, in a crowded Ri Ra Irish Pub (RIP) in Midtown Atlanta, at least confident that the USMNT would do its job. Simply put, a win would have put it in the World Cup.