So - I hate my coffee maker. It's a trickster, and I fall for its deceptions almost on a daily basis. It beeps that it's done. I pull out the pot to pour a cup and a stream of scalding hot beverage continues to flow from the dispenser and onto the hot pad. Every time! I then curse as I have a coffee cup in one hand, the pot in the other and race to the sink to get a rag and, carefully avoiding the spewing liquid, attempt to mop up the coffee that is hissing on the base. I get burnt every time too. Of course the real question is...why don't I learn to just wait on the coffee?
That's the same question I would pose to Stuart Pearce et al as he once again a la Theo is going to play an under-21 player (Jack)after he's been called up to the Senior England Squad. Why can't they just wait - leave him alone as he matures on Arsenal's pitch. Why play him on both teams, tire him out for his club and of course double the chances of him breaking, bending, or twisting something? He has played in every game for us. We don't need a deja-vu-like experience. Can't Fabio and Stuart sit down and say "Remember how we screwed up Theo by playing him for both? Let's just have Jack on one team and not potentially hamper his development". That would be too wise of them. They're going to just keep pulling out the pot too soon...
Anyway, my last post I discussed how I got turned onto the Beautiful Game. Right after I posted, I was watching the latest episode of NCIS: Los Angeles and guess what? The dead guy and his best friend were...football fans. Real football. One was a Manure fan and one an ARSENAL fan. Seriously, that does not happen on American television. The one guy was even joking saying that they were the only soccer fans on the base and even though they were fans from rival teams, they were buddies because of that commonality. The character even went on to comment how Americans don't follow soccer unless it's a World Cup year (so true). Of course, the Arsenal fan turned out to be the murderer - but what can you do? Did any other soccer fan yelp outloud when the name of our club turned up in this episode? My shriek of surprise was so voluble, I made my cat jump.
It can be a lonely experience over here rooting for an English team in an arena that is at the bottom of the American sports chain. I can't tell you the amount of times I've heard "Oh - soccer...seems boring and a kind of a wimpy game". I've learned to stay calm (tirades do not convert the ignorant), explain the physicality of the sport and how watching a fast paced league like the EPL would seem less boring than many MLS teams. I even had to have a discussion with an idiot who deemed that soccer was not a real sport because one did not use one's hands...and this guy was a track coach! Hellooo. Sometimes it's better to let the ill-informed stay so...
Ignoramuses aside, another factor that adds to the lonliness is that, unlike most of our sports over here, you can't watch your beloved team on regular television channels. You have to have a terrifically expensive cable package. Luckily my friends in the Arsenal club pay for those stations, but it's not the same watching for two hours when I could have that All Day Long or maybe record it and watch it again...and again. On second thought, maybe not having cable is a good thing. Hmmm.
To combat the loneliness, I have begun converting the family members. I have to say they are very open to it. I was raised in a sports - crazed family and have three brothers who follow athletics to differing degrees. I've played many sports in school (other than soccer) and will watch almost anything (other than golf). So, my parents and brothers are almost as nuts as I am when it comes to following their teams. The least athletic brother totally got into the World Cup this year and texted me in despair when the US bowed out to Ghana - blaming me for getting him hooked in the first place. He's all the way out in San Francisco so getting him to watch Arsenal on a regular basis is tough - although he insists he reads my blog on a regular basis to stay up to date.
My brother Chris...he's a Gooner now. He got a soccer cable package free last year on a trial basis for three months and watched the EPL. We had a close call as he almost became a Manure fan due to Rooney's performance at the beginning of that season. Once I explained that Wayne is a thug who cheats on his wife with prostitutes, he was a bit turned off (my brother has three daughters and dotes on them). I encouraged him to watch Arsenal - and he did. He watched a variety of other EPL matches which helped as he loved the pace of the game. And when the free cable was turned off, he was not happy. He reads the blog, texts me for news, hates international play because of injuries, and even bought the new Arsenal away jersey. He's not quite obsessed yet which I'm sure my sister-in-law is grateful for...but he's not far off. We're currently discussing the possibility of pooling our money together so one of us can get Fox Soccer and Fox Soccer Plus. So, who knows? My loneliness may be waning soon. I could become even more of a fixture at Chris' home if he gets these stations...wonder how my sister-in-law would feel about that?
All in all, lonely or not, it's worth loving this game. Whether I'm watching the Gunners or the Chicago Fire, I don't really seem to have a choice about adoring it. There are very few things in life that I can say that about.
I guess that's all for now. I'm off to pour another cup of coffee as I'm absolutely sure the pot's finished brewing now...I think.
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