Boosters Bring a Little Anaheim to Germany

WEST BERLIN —  Jason Pedro couldn’t believe his luck.

Not only had the 22-year-old soldier received a citation for outstanding inspection at his U.S. Army base in Darmstadt, Germany, he’d won a ticket to American Bowl ’90 to boot.

Sitting in Olympiastadion before Saturday’s game between the Rams and the Kansas City Chiefs, the former Cypress resident said he missed Orange County and missed the football games at Anaheim Stadium.

When his commanding officer addressed him during formation recently, Pedro thought he might be getting a promotion. Instead, he was informed that he would be going to see the Rams.

It took him eight hours on a train to get to West Berlin.

“It feels great to be here,” said Pedro, who has been stationed in Germany three months. “I look forward to watching the Rams win.”

Pedro and Robert Huntly of Garden Grove were among a few hundred members of the military sitting near members of the Rams Booster Club in the stadium built for the 1936 Olympics.

Huntly, 31, a first lieutenant based the past 16 months in Germany, attended the game with his wife, Grace, formerly of Garden Grove.

“My sister Jenny Kim is one of the Rams’ cheerleaders,” Grace Huntly said. “She lives in Buena Park. It’s fabulous to see her.”

Robert Huntly was pleased 15 men from his battalion were able to come to West Berlin for the game. “I think it’s a great idea to bring a little (of) America over here for the soldiers,” he said.

While Huntly readied his video camera to film the game, the boosters unpacked their blue-and-gold paraphernalia: pompons, horns and banners. One banner proclaimed, “Smile, you’re in Rams country.”

“Go Rams!” yelled the boosters after queuing up to buy grilled bratwurst and pretzels out of straw baskets perched on milk crates.

The boosters dress in blue and gold for Ram games. Carroll Connett wore a blue knit cap that featured fur Ram ears. Michael Redfearn had plopped a pompon on his head and topped it with a Rams’ cap. But Joyce McHattie outdid them all. She wore gold tights, football helmet earrings and had painted Ram horns in her hair with gold gel.

Amid their cheering, some boosters yelled: “Georgia! Sign the check!”

“We want (Ram owner) Georgia (Frontiere) to sign Kevin Greene’s check (renew his contract),” Connett said. “Kevin is an animal. Beautiful.”

The weather gods smiled on the Ram fans Saturday afternoon. The rain that had drenched the city earlier in the day cleared and a California-like blue sky hung over Olympiastadion. “It feels like we’re in Anaheim,” Ron Lais said. “Amazing.”

After the Ram victory, booster president Judy Matthews stood in front of the 90 boosters and said, “This is our third American Bowl win. Maybe we should play all of our games out of the country.”