I dedicate this to Russell Brand. For when I was young and distracted, his book Revolution rekindled my love for sports… Even though he’s a West Ham fan… ;)
Nothing is more consistently communal than sporting events — nothing.
I grew up loving a wide range of sports. However, when I moved away from home at the tender age of 18 to study, life become blinding and I couldn’t focus on much of anything else.
I’m 23 now. Life can be just as glaring but I’ve learned to cope — I’ll leave it at that in hopes of saving the existentialism for the evening phone call with my mother. Sports, once again, play a huge role in my life, but for different reasons than before. When I was growing up, I viewed sports as a way to fit in — I now see it as a way to connect with a deeper, more emotional cause — and what’s more impassioned than Football?
The singing, the banter, the visiting supporters not being allowed to sit amongst the home fans (a completely foreign concept to western sports goers). It all just feels, and seemingly means, more. I just finished watching a mid-season game between 10th place (hurts to even say) Arsenal and 11th place Newcastle. Two struggling teams in the middle of a season in the NBA may very well be a fight in who can lose faster than the other, as they “tank” and try and get the best possible draft pick… (My second favourite sport. Still valid criticism). Though in this Football match, there were no shortage of headlines, narratives, passion and intrigue. Flags flying high and fans singing loudly.
The entertainment and tribal aspects of Football are obviously damn fun at times. But that’s not what brings me back and has me so incredibly hooked — it’s the fan analysis videos on YouTube, Twitter blowing up after every goal. Seeing and feeling the same things as so many strangers around the world can be incredibly moving.
I will 100% cry at my first Arsenal game — no shame.