Note: Managing editor Cathy Cobbs covers Brookhaven, Dunwoody, and edits the Rough Draft In Print monthly publications. Consequently, she has not had many opportunities to cover World Cup-related events. On June 17, she, along with her Rough Draft colleagues, attended an Atlanta Press Club and Metro Atlanta Chamber media reception at the former CNN Center, now called the CTR, and was determined to cram as many FIFA-related encounters into that night. Here is her story.
4 p.m.
I took the MARTA, along with regular commuters and a half-dozen FIFA fans, from the Dunwoody station. As we traveled south and the train became more populated, so did the police presence. Two Atlanta police officers strolled through the cars, engaging passengers and asking about their adventures. I saw them disembark at some point, and was surprised when they made another trip down the aisle a couple of minutes later.
“We never got off,” one of them told me, which immediately reminded me of “Groundhog Day” vibes. “We just move around between stops, but we never get off this train.” Heard.
A family sitting in front of me, Atlantans who told me they were originally from Colombia, was coming back from a satisfying day, where they immersed themselves in all the fan experiences at Centennial Olympic Park, which included waiting more than two hours in line to score a personalized Bank of America FIFA charm bracelet.
“Totally worth it,” the beaming nine-year-old told me. His parents also remarked that they were having to backtrack, having accidentally hopped on the gold line to get to their car instead of the red line.
“It’s okay,” they said. “We like MARTA.”
5 p.m.
During the changeover at Five Points, I met a decked-out, shiny-eyed volunteer, originally from Guatemala, who was heading to her first shift at the fan experience event. I asked her if she knew what to expect as far as her work duties.
“I don’t even care,” she said. “I get to be part of a big experience that I probably will never get to do again. It’s already amazing.”
After disembarking at the SEC District station, I waded through the aftermath of the cancelled Streamer University event, where I encountered throngs of angry people with selfie sticks, along with a lot of discarded water bottles, clothing, and broken lawn chairs. Note: When I looped back to get on the MARTA two hours later, most of the debris was gone.
5:30 p.m.
After some wandering around, I found the press event and achieved my ultimate goal of the outing, meeting a foreign correspondent covering the games. Romain Lafont did not disappoint.
A 17-year veteran at L’Equipe, which means “The Team” in French, Lafont is covering Spain’s national team, also known as Selección Española de Fútbol.
Lafont has worked for the paper ever since he snagged a three-month internship for winning a writing contest about a fictional 110-meter hurdles race. He worked as a copy editor, a graphic designer, and in other roles before reaching reporter status.
I asked him about the sports-writing process and how it differed from American journalism. Pretty shocking response: reporters don’t have any personal or locker room access to players or coaches.
In his decades of reporting, he has had a one-on-one interview with exactly one player.
“They don’t have to do it, and they don’t do it,” Lafont said. “So when we write stories, instead of reporting, we make a portrait of the game through the eyes of the fans, or by talking to former players or coaches.”
I asked him about the first Atlanta game – heavily favored Spain’s surprising nil-nil tie against underdog Cabo Verde.
“I truly believe that it will go down in history as the best match in the past 50 years,” he said. “It’s the beauty of soccer.”
Lafont emphasized that teams like Cabo Verde deserve as much respect as the overall favorites like England, Spain, and France.
“From number 50 to number one, these are all good, professional teams,” he said.
Lafont said Atlanta is just the first stop in his American adventures. He’s already been to Niagara Falls and Chattanooga, where the Spain team trains, and will travel to Kansas City and Toronto before he goes back to his Paris-area home.
7 p.m.
Heading back to MARTA, the tone of the crowd near the aborted Streamers University event was less hostile, and it seemed like my FIFA-adjacent adventure was coming to a close. Not quite.
The train emptied out with each stop until, between Medical Center and Dunwoody, I chatted up the only passenger in my car, a Jamaican man returning home from the airport after a trip to see his family. His son, he revealed, is an aspiring midfielder who is playing overseas in hopes of a shot at the Premier League.
When I mentioned that it must have been an expensive endeavor, he shook his head. “Hundreds of thousands of dollars,” he said. “You just don’t realize.”
“But it will all be worth it when he makes it to his dream team – Atlanta United,” he said.
Full circle.
