Istanbul

Warning: This is my longest post yet, by far. It has to be though, in order to do this night full justice! Finish reading it and you will see why. 

Timing is a very important aspect of life. Initially I thought my timing of coming to Istanbul was unfortunate, because a lot of my friends had to leave almost immediately after I arrived. After a few weeks I realized my timing probably couldn't have been better. Those who know me well, actually even those that don't know me so well...know me to be a sports fanatic. I posted pictures of my first Galatasaray game a few weeks back. My first month here in Turkey directly overlapped with the Turkish football (SüperLig) championship playoffs. 

Galatasaray was in clear control and the favorite to be champions very early on in the playoffs. Then a series of bad results by Gala and victories by rivals Fenerbahçe made the title race as close as it could be. It all came down to the last game...Galatasaray vs. Fenerbahçe (Turkey's most intense, and one of Europe's most intense derbies)...in Fenerbahçe's stadium, a place Galatasaray hasn't won in in over 20 years. Luckily (notice my bias as a Gala fan), they didn't need a win though and a tie would secure them as champions.
This season was often times overshadowed by manipulation/cheating allegations against many SüperLig teams, most notably including Fenerbahçe! Their president is even in prison at this very moment. So the pre-game atmoshpere was already very, very heated. Now to the game...a fierce battle with 2 red cards, leaving very little room for any real football skill...and it ended 0-0. GALATASARAY was ŞAMPYION!!!! MADNESS ensued...

The calm before the storm

Here we go

Intensity rising

ŞAMPIYON?

ŞAMPIYON!!!

Celebration INFERNO

The flames have to come from somewhere

Helping Jett onto a bus

Jett on the bus!!

ŞAMPIYON CIMBOMBOM!!

 Meanwhile in the Fenerbahçe stadium...

To be fair. Galatasaray did win in Fenerbahçe's stadium...which is a HUGE deal! If the reverse would have happened, I'm sure Galatasaray fans would have probably reacted similarly...

It was almost not going to be allowed for Galatasaray to receive the trophy in the stadium. Fatih Terim (Gala's coach) finally convinced the league and the trophy was presented to the team after the stadium was cleared and there was no one there besides the team and the photographers!