I cannot recall offhand the last time I wrote about football. But here goes nothing.
Like most anyone, I went through the "passionate fan" phase, donating an enormous amount of wishful prayers up & above to ensure that Manchester United won. The gods, being the smart cookies they undoubtedly are, seem to have spent their time answering prayers of the kind of people who peddle chaos on a daily basis, which is one way of understanding the state of the world today.
But man, was I into the whole EPL scene! Looking back, it seems rather droll that I cared so much, or at all. But, yes, it hurt when MU lost, particularly to Arsenal, Leeds or Liverpool (back then, there weren't too many other teams to worry about). I certainly felt a kick in the teeth when Chelsea won those 2 titles under JM. Watching the team get dismantled so casually in 2 Champions League finals made me sad though the pendulum swung the other way when Owen scored that spine-tingling last minute goal against MC. But, truth be told, I'd stopped caring too much long before Aguero's last minute goal gave MC the title.
Why did that happen? Well, real life takes over, for one. You move cities and countries, prioritise people you know over people who will never know you exist, start working, struggle with how different this phase of life is, and so on and so forth. We grow up and old and our sporting heroes grow old with us. Then, one day, they fade away, leaving us behind with a sackful of memories and the choice of whether to re-enthuse ourselves with yet another generation of athletes. More often than not, we don't.
I also feel like caring about a football team on another continent needs one to be slightly batty. And, after a point in life, one always finds plenty of other things to be batty about. So, it only makes sense to follow teams from a distance, appreciating the wins and not chucking toys out of the pram during defeats. Besides, it's been easy to not bother too much about MU for a while now.
After SAF's retirement and the wasteland of 3 seasons, last year was going nowhere until the Europa League win and Champions League return. Honestly, the team finished 24-freakin-points! behind the leaders. But JM is ruthless and relentless in some ways and has 'spent' the summer putting a good squad together. Losing to Madrid may have been the best thing to happen, not so much for the players, but certainly for the average fan. A reality check is useful particularly thanks to this new, endless footballing brouhaha. I say 'new' because it wasn't like this 10 years ago. When a season was over, things quietened down for 2-3 months, gave people a chance to focus on other areas and got them refreshed and recharged by August. That was a healthy deal.
Now, all one sees on a daily basis, is content. The footballer's uncle's gardener makes an innocuous statement and the media happily devotes 3 days of fraudulent and downright meaningless think pieces to it. It reeks of desperation and does the game no favours. Everything is a rumour or a misquote. The whole carnival of madness may be putting food on the table for countless alleged sports journalists but only serves to turn older fans away even faster.
Anyway, losing to Madrid before the season began helped stave off doom and crisis articles till at least September, I reckon. Though, on the strength of MU's first EPL game, it just could be an interesting season. There are quite a few exciting and attacking options in the team, supported by a bevy of stolid, no-nonsense chaps. If the team can avoid losing their heads over the deluge of hysterical reactions that follow every result, maybe 2017-18 will be a genuinely good season.
Sadly, there are a couple of nutters at the workplace who are serious MU fans. The type who are liable to text at 2:30 am about a potential signing, a win, a loss, an ingrowing toenail, yada, yada, yada. So, while I'm not expending my energies caring about football, I do spend quite a bit of time pretending to. Such it goes.
Song for the moment: Barfly - Ray LaMontagne
Like most anyone, I went through the "passionate fan" phase, donating an enormous amount of wishful prayers up & above to ensure that Manchester United won. The gods, being the smart cookies they undoubtedly are, seem to have spent their time answering prayers of the kind of people who peddle chaos on a daily basis, which is one way of understanding the state of the world today.
But man, was I into the whole EPL scene! Looking back, it seems rather droll that I cared so much, or at all. But, yes, it hurt when MU lost, particularly to Arsenal, Leeds or Liverpool (back then, there weren't too many other teams to worry about). I certainly felt a kick in the teeth when Chelsea won those 2 titles under JM. Watching the team get dismantled so casually in 2 Champions League finals made me sad though the pendulum swung the other way when Owen scored that spine-tingling last minute goal against MC. But, truth be told, I'd stopped caring too much long before Aguero's last minute goal gave MC the title.
Why did that happen? Well, real life takes over, for one. You move cities and countries, prioritise people you know over people who will never know you exist, start working, struggle with how different this phase of life is, and so on and so forth. We grow up and old and our sporting heroes grow old with us. Then, one day, they fade away, leaving us behind with a sackful of memories and the choice of whether to re-enthuse ourselves with yet another generation of athletes. More often than not, we don't.
I also feel like caring about a football team on another continent needs one to be slightly batty. And, after a point in life, one always finds plenty of other things to be batty about. So, it only makes sense to follow teams from a distance, appreciating the wins and not chucking toys out of the pram during defeats. Besides, it's been easy to not bother too much about MU for a while now.
After SAF's retirement and the wasteland of 3 seasons, last year was going nowhere until the Europa League win and Champions League return. Honestly, the team finished 24-freakin-points! behind the leaders. But JM is ruthless and relentless in some ways and has 'spent' the summer putting a good squad together. Losing to Madrid may have been the best thing to happen, not so much for the players, but certainly for the average fan. A reality check is useful particularly thanks to this new, endless footballing brouhaha. I say 'new' because it wasn't like this 10 years ago. When a season was over, things quietened down for 2-3 months, gave people a chance to focus on other areas and got them refreshed and recharged by August. That was a healthy deal.
Now, all one sees on a daily basis, is content. The footballer's uncle's gardener makes an innocuous statement and the media happily devotes 3 days of fraudulent and downright meaningless think pieces to it. It reeks of desperation and does the game no favours. Everything is a rumour or a misquote. The whole carnival of madness may be putting food on the table for countless alleged sports journalists but only serves to turn older fans away even faster.
Anyway, losing to Madrid before the season began helped stave off doom and crisis articles till at least September, I reckon. Though, on the strength of MU's first EPL game, it just could be an interesting season. There are quite a few exciting and attacking options in the team, supported by a bevy of stolid, no-nonsense chaps. If the team can avoid losing their heads over the deluge of hysterical reactions that follow every result, maybe 2017-18 will be a genuinely good season.
Sadly, there are a couple of nutters at the workplace who are serious MU fans. The type who are liable to text at 2:30 am about a potential signing, a win, a loss, an ingrowing toenail, yada, yada, yada. So, while I'm not expending my energies caring about football, I do spend quite a bit of time pretending to. Such it goes.
Song for the moment: Barfly - Ray LaMontagne
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