ManUtd 1 - Bolton 0

Kevin Davies gets stuck in (photo from www.4thegame.com)

Tomorrow is a Big Day

I know Obama and McCain are going to be at Saddleback. I wasn't talking about that.

Tomorrow is the opening day of the 2008-2009 English Premier League.

Can ManUtd repeat as champions? Can Chelsea get back on track under Scolari? Will this be the year for Liverpool to win domestically? Will the young Arsenal players fulfill their potential from last year? Will Newcastle finally prove they are a "big" club by winning something?

Will Verizon FIOS stop advertising "The Manchester United Red Devils host the Newcastle Magpies" or "The Arsenal Gunners take on the Fulham Cottagers at Craven Cottage"?

Seriously, these are not American teams like the Packers, Devil Rays, or Dodgers.

These are football clubs with histories stretching back over a hundred years. They have roots buried deep in their communities.

Anyway, I'll finally have something to watch on TV again.

Glory, Glory Man United

Congratulations to Manchester United Football Club, winners of the 2008 UEFA Champions League and Premier League Champions.

Hey Arthur!

Newcastle United 1 - Manchester United 5

Ouch.

Photo from www.4thegame.com

Speaking of ouch, Arsenal's Eduardo suffered a potentially career ending double leg break in their game against Birmingham City. I've seen a still photo of the tackle. Bruuutal! I don't want to see the video.

Twigs and Berries

Vinnie - Paul. Paul - Vinnie. Have a great game fellas.

I Like Manchester United...

... but I don't like Manchester United the same way the red part of Manchester does. I can't. I wasn't born there. I've never been to a game with my grandad, father or my mates. I didn't grow up following them through the bad times of the seventies and the glory times of the nineties. I came to my love of ManUtd late and a continent away.

Football clubs in other parts of the world are not like professional sports teams in the United States. Football clubs in England grew organically in their community. Manchester United Football Club started in 1878 as the Newton Heath Cricket and Football Club, a sports club of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company. The name was changed to Manchester United Football Club in 1902. ManUtd have been playing their home matches at Old Trafford since about 1910.

I became aware of ManUtd when I was in college watching the UEFA Champions League, the European club championship. I saw players like Mark Hughes, Steve Bruce, Paul Ince, Andy Cole, and Ryan Giggs. When I started watching the English Premier League consistently in 2002, I struggled with deciding which team to support. ManUtd seemed an obvious choice but I didn't want to just jump on the bandwagon.

My father-in-law is from Birmingham. I always drink coffee from a Birmingham City FC mug when I'm at their house but he isn't really a soccer fan. The only soccer game he attended as a child was an Aston Villa match. He remembers the Aston Villa supporters, in an ale soaked rage, destroying the train on the way home from the match.

I thought about supporting Hartlepool United FC, a team known for their mediocrity. They have never won any major trophies, but have also never been relegated out of the Football League. They are not good and they are not bad. I like that. The problem with a club like Hartlepool United is I would never get to see them play. They play in the lower divisions and are seldom on television.

So, being free from the constraints of geography and familial loyalty, I chose ManUtd.

I know a little about the rivalries. As a ManUtd supporter, I am supposed to hate Liverpool. I don't hate them though. I want them to lose to ManUtd every time they play but I don't hate them. I'm supposed to hate Arsenal also. Okay, I do hate Arsenal. I'm supposed to hate Manchester City FC (the blue half of the city), but I can't get too worked up about them.

I'm not from England and I'm not from Manchester. I'm not even English. I'm an American who likes watching exciting soccer. ManUtd plays exciting soccer. ManUtd has exciting players - Rooney, Tevez, Ronaldo, Giggs, Anderson, Scholes, Vidic, and Ferdinand. ManUtd has an intense, interesting manager in Sir Alex Ferguson. Sir Alex always seems as if he is going to explode. ManUtd have won a lot of trophies but only a few since I started following them. They will probably win many more.

Can You Say "Mmmmm!" About a Sport?

I like soccer. There, I said it. I like soccer and I'm proud. I like to play soccer, I like to watch soccer being played, and sometimes I will even watch people watching soccer being played. I have a small collection of soccer shirts in my closet. They make fun of me when I wear them to work. I don't care.

I paid $200 for a pair of soccer shoes (don't tell Tab) that I only wore for a few months before I sprained my knee and stopped playing. I wore a pair of shin guards that the cat peed on. You can't get that smell out. I have many pairs of soccer shorts in the colors of the rainbow (blue, white and black). I have long soccer socks that stretch over my knees if I don't roll them down. I have generic soccer shirts that have grass stains and sweat stains on them.

I pulled my calf muscles twice. I pulled my hamstring twice. I twisted my ankle once. I sprained my knee twice. I broke my big toe once. I got a red card for tipping a ball over the cross bar with my hand (I wasn't the goalkeeper). I broke up fights. I started fights (little ones - with words). I kicked a guy on the ankle so hard I thought I broke something. I apologized.

I wasn't particularly good. But I wasn't terrible. I could break up plays and make good passes. I scored a goal with my left foot (I was trying to cross the ball into the box). I scored a goal with my right foot (I was trying to score a goal). I probably scored an own goal ( I don't remember). I gave away at least one penalty (they didn't score, at least once). I was enthusiastic.

For Arthur

ManUtd 6 - NewcastleUtd 0

Schadenfreude

I have a friend here at work who is from Scotland. We talk about football (soccer) on occasion. I like England, he doesn't. Scotland failed to qualify for the Euros when they lost to Italy. England needed only a draw against Croatia (at home, at Wembley) to go to the tournament. England lost 3-2.

My friend was disappointed Scotland didn't qualify but I don't think he really expected them to (his hopes have been dashed too many times). But he was really happy England failed to qualify. He was positively gleeful or at least as gleeful as Scottish people get.

Wikipedia defines Schadenfreude as "pleasure taken from someone else's misfortune." The Scots are very happy right now.