For the past eighteen years of my life, I've had the same six favorite professional teams. Well, only four of them are "pro" teams, but I do have a go-to team in every major sport (including college basketball and college football). The Browns, Irish (twice), Bulls, Penguins, and the Indians. That's the list. Excuse me, it used to be the list ... until now.
I've never traveled overseas, although almost all of my friends - including my brother - have visited another continent. The thing I've enjoyed the most upon their revival - besides their serene pictures and drunken stories of course - is how they have all adopted a new sport. Kevin passionately followed Aussie Rules Football when he spent a semester Down Under. Jared started wearing Scotland soccer jerseys after his brother came back from Europe. And D-Frank found a love of the EPL (English Premier League).
As a connoisseur of all sports, I have been following the United States soccer program since it burst onto the scene during the 1994 World Cup. I'm familiar with their players, coaches, etc. enough that when the World Cup takes place, I have a sound grasp on their roster. Please do not confuse this with an expertise of the sport. Soccer is the biggest sport in the world, but I do plead ignorance to the global impact soccer obtains. I know nothing about foreign leagues or foreign tournaments (besides the World Cup, the Champions League, and the Confederations Cup).
That last sentence has been bugging me recently, mainly because I should take an interest in those foreign leagues. I'm never going to know the middle-of-the-road European players, but I should know the super-stars. These are the guys that go on to excel in the World Cup. These are guys I should know. So, in order to quench my thirst for knowledge, I asked D-Frank to give me a brief run-down of the English Premier League (the biggest and best soccer league in the world). My ultimate quest was to find a favorite team.That's how it works. You pick a team, you follow them, watch them when you can, stay up to date on all transactions, and before too long you have a decent handling on the entire sport. This is how - through the Pittsburgh Penguins - I have gained some hockey knowledge. I'm hoping that by backing an EPL team, I will become a global connoisseur of sport.
Here is what I was looking for in a professional soccer team.
1) They like to bring up their own talent. Sure they might get a big name here or there, but they don't rely on it. Their core are players they have had for a long time.
2) They have a passionate ... and educated fan base. This would automatically throw out the Ohio State Buckeyes if you catch my drift.
3) They currently have some star players. Some guys who are world-class and easy to follow.
4) They play a fun-fast game, but can be physical with the best of them. In other words, they aren't boring and one-dimensional.
5) Their ownership and managing is easy to get behind.
6) Couldn't hurt if they have a history (could be current or decades ago) of falling just a bit short. The Browns have The Drive for example.
After looking at all the positives and negatives with each category, it came down to two teams ... Arsenal and Liverpool. They did not meet my entire criteria, but they did embody more than the other 18 EPL teams.
I found it rather easy to narrow down my choices and extremely difficult to distinguish between the two remaining squads. I found myself going back and forth, with pros and cons weighing heavily on both sides.
This continued for almost two weeks until I finally asked myself one question. Which team can I relate to the best?
See, I'm from a blue-collar town, and have a blue-collar personality when it relates to sports. I want my team to play hard, earn my respect, and lay everything on the line. Also, I have to be able to relate to their fan-base. I'm not a rich kid by any means, and actually don't ever want to be one. You lose a sense of reality when that happens.
After re-evaluating my criteria, the choice was easy.
They have a star player in Steven Gerrard. They have a rich history, but not the greatest in the last twenty years. Their fans are not nearly as rich as Arsenal, and the city of Liverpool itself reminds me of a Midwest town. They have had their fair share of tragedies (Heysel Stadium Disaster and Hillsborough Disaster), which reminds me of some Cleveland Browns moments. Lastly, I can simply just relate to them more so than all the others. Sure it helps that Devin's favorite team is Liverpool, and he can help me stay up to date on all of their daily activities. Passion is the most contagious disease of them all.I cannot thank Devin Frank enough for all the material and information he sent to me. I look forward to many more soccer conversations down the road. He is a much bigger Kopite than I am, but one day I might just catch up with him.
Even though Liverpool has their sights set on a league championship, they did just grab the biggest American fan free-agent available. So far so good for the Reds.
Until next time, "read it, roll it, hole it."
1 comment:
Its tough to type with tears rolling down your face and sadly this was even before I got to see which team. I hope you like the pick and I hope it brings you the same pain as it brings me! Haha.
Good time to join though, Premier league looks wide open this year and Liverpool will be an interesting team to follow.
Love the column.
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