Cool!
Well, it's about time for a new poll.
As many of my American fans know, I know nothing about football*. But I'm in England so I might as well learn.
Which is the Premiership team I should cheer for? Like the last poll, I'll weigh the pros and cons, using what little knowledge I have about each team.
Arsenal
Smashing: I only know three Americans who I believe are legit football fans. Two are fans of the Arsenal. There must be something about them that gets Americans excited. Plus, the Arseblog rules.
Bollocks: How the hell am I going to afford Arsenal tickets? The prices are insane.
Chelsea
Smashing: The team that is currently atop the Premier League standings. Why not just hop on the bandwagon?
Bollocks: Chelsea is the Yankees (or is it now the Red Sox?) of the English football world. Do I really want to root for the Evil Empire (hmm, perhaps)?
Fulham
Smashing: (From football lover/American Tony Kolt) Matt, forget the vote. Root for Fulham. Go to Craven Cottage and see a game. You will not be able to afford a ticket to Arsenal or Chelsea, and West Ham is in a dire situation so far. Fulham are a fun team, they have a history of American players (incl. Clint Dempsey currently), and they're cheaper to see live. Go do it.*
Bollocks: Currently, one of the worst teams in the Premier League standings. But, hey, it's early.
West Ham United
Smashing: Favorite direction is west.
Bollocks: Not a fan of ham. (Obviously I know nothing about West Ham United)
Screw Soccer. Go Gators!
Smashing: Out of the five Florida teams I was raised on - the Dolphins, the Heat, the Panthers, the Marlins and the Gators* - only one of them hasn't caused me constant heartache and frustration. Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeere come the Florida Gators!
Bollocks: Well, I'm in England so I should probably stop worrying about American football. If the Gators lose to LSU on Saturday, I'll have no reason to care anyway.
There ya have it. Which sporting event should I attend? Define my allegiance, please. And does anyone know where I can find some good rugby?
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Foot notes
*One thing I do know is that Peter Crouch is awesome. And I want to learn the Crouch Dance.)
*Of course, I can't really consider myself a Dolphins fan anymore. And I flat out don't like the NBA. The Panthers are nearing a decade long playoff drought. So truthfully, there's only two Florida teams I still root for. The Gators and the Fish. Oh yes, the Marlins. I wish I could quit you. Yet after each fire sale, I find myself watching still attached. In fact, last week in class I spent a half hour predicting the 2009 Florida Marlins roster. The one that's going to win the World Series. That's right. You heard it here first.
*If Tony's right, which he appears to be. Well, crap. I might just have to get the cheapest tix I can find. Go Fulham?
7 comments:
Chelsea are now the NY Mets of Premiership football: the second-richest team full of guys that came up through someone else's system. They came up through West Ham's system. Seriously, they have the best development system in the UK.
The Red Sox are more like Aston Villa or (gasp) Liverpool. Teams with some guys they've developed and some important signings from elsewhere. If you want to support a team full of Englishmen that is still good, look no further than Aston Villa.
Manchester City are the Yankees: they are now the richest club and will spend a ton of money on players that don't work out (see recent signings Jo and Robinho).
Please don't "support" Chelsea, we have enough foreign, bandwagon jumpers as it is.
Fulham.
It's all I gotta say.
Get yourself down to Fulham and ignore the miseries on our offical message board. Get a ticket as central in the Hammersmith End as you can. Oh - and for the full experience, .go to the pub before hand and go for a curry after. That's my advice. Chelsea are horrible - either nouveau football fans or thug throwbacks. Arsenal is expensive and not easy to get tickets for plus it's a bit kind of anaemic sometimes as they're in quite a sanitised ground these days. West Ham are a bit backwards and the area is really grim. Fulham is a very friendly club largely and does feel in many respects a bit more like football used to (and should) be as it's not as corporate. Your choice of pre match pub will probably depend on which station you come out of but if you're coming from Hammersmith I'd recomend The Chancellors on Crisp St. Just avoid the Eight Bells at Putney Bridge as it's an away fans pub. If you're picking a specific game I'd recomend Spurs on the 15/11. Every London club hates them (odious, self opionated wankers with a massive superiority complex) and, as it's a London derby, the atmosphere will be good. Enjoy it mate.
Thankfully, the Gators are still a viable choice, after Saturday's performance.
As for the teams you listed, if Chelsea is the Yankees of English football, don't root for them!
Based on what Tony said, I would go for Fulham.
Of course, you can always just forge the whole thing, go to the movies, watch "The Express", and think about how life at 'Cuse must have been when they actually had a great football team.
And also laugh at the thought of a statue of a player from the 50's wearing Nike's.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1046955/new_ernie_davis_statue_features_inaccurate.html
Thanks all for the comments so far. Especially FMDC.
No offense taken from the message board, I'm the naive American coming in asking about the most popular sport in the world. I kind of deserve a little vitriol.
Still, I'll be checking out a Fulham game sometime before I leave. Hopefully the Spurs game (Darren Bent got booed at the NBA game Sunday, that was fun.), although I don't see tickets for it on the Web site. Else Newcastle or Wigan.
And before the game I'll head to the The Chancellors (since I doubt I'll be let into the the Golden Lion).
Thanks again for the advice.
And Austin, The Express hits theatres here on Dec. 5. I'm surprised an American football movie got any release at all here. Though it is a pretty awesome story.
Yeah, if you had told me that 2 years ago, I would have been surprised it was even being released there, too. But after how quickly the two NFL games in England sold out, I'm not really that surprised anymore.
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