I like to grow as a person whenever I can. I try to improve myself little by little and maybe by the time i am 83 I will be halfway there. My new obsessing? International soccer. I love the passion of the fans, I love the high quality of play and I love the cool accents. What's not to love? I've even begun to call soccer football. (Which makes sense because you use the foot a lot more in soccer than in American football right?) Being that I am part English and I've seen more of the English Premier League than any other high quality football league, naturally it was a great fit for me.
I learned that one of my favorite columnists, ESPN's Bill Simmons, was also interested in pursuing this. I read oven some of his material and modified it slightly in order to come up with my own requirements to decide which club was going to be my permanently adopted club going forward. For better or worse, top flight or relegated, this is going to be my team for the rest of my life. I had to make sure that I really was making the best choice for me. I didn't have as many requirements as Bill Simmons; I was able to narrow it down to four.
Bandwagon Potential. I've always prided myself on the fact that when I choose a team I am very selective. All of my American sports favorites are teams that I inherited from family, are local, or struck me in a very personal way when I chose them. I've never been one to start liking a team because they are good or because they were on T.V. all the time. Could you imagine someone coming here from another country, deciding to follow baseball and then adopting the New York Yankees as their favorite team? Ridiculous. Therefore I cannot adopt one of the clubs that make up the "Top 4", so named because of their finishing in the top 4 spots in the league year after year. Those clubs are Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Aresenal. I absolutely excluded those clubs right away.
Good Team With History but Room to Grow. In making a lifelong commitment to an EPL club I want to make sure I will still be able to follow the club in top flight play years from now. Every year the bottom three clubs in the standings drop to the second league, which is called relegation. The top three clubs in the second league are promoted to the Premier League. I cannot follow a team in danger of being relegated soon. What fun is it to follow a club that will be sent to lower division play for who knows how long? Therefore, the club I follow must have averaged a top 10 (out of 20) finish over the last 10 years. This lets me know they will likely be around for the long haul. I also needed a club that had a bit of history but hadn't won anything of note in a little while. Winning league and club football titles in Europe in the past is important because it shows tradition and the potential to be a winning football club. The club I will follow would have to have not won anything in a while though, because it would make any future success unexpected and more appreciated. I need room to grow with my selected club so the feeling of elation when a title is won is genuine and hard earned.
Great Place to Visit on Vacation. If I am going to follow a club for life, odds are there is going to come a time when I may want to take a trip across the pond to see them in action live. I sure don't want to have to spend a week in a town with little or nothing to offer. Manchester is out. So is Blackburn and Yorkshire. London is ideal but there may be a long shot lurking out there.
Great Uniforms. What better way to support your sports team than to wear a jersey on game day. I simply cannot spend upwards of $100 on an ugly jersey. It needs to be something I would be proud to wear in public. Something that catches the eye and lets the seasoned fan know where my loyalties lie. Pretty straight forward; the jersey needs to look sharp.
So taking all of these things into consideration, I landed on the club which I will be supporting in perpetuity: Tottenham Hotspur. They really had everything I was looking for. They are popular but not one of the "Top 4", so nobody could accuse me of liking them because they are at the top of the standings. They have won 2 league titles and placed well in European club championships but have not won anything since I was a toddler. The highest they have finished in the last 10 years is 5th but they have not been close to relegation. Indeed, they have failed to be in the top Premier League only once in the last 60 years so they are not going anywhere. They are based in northeast London so if I ever wanted to travel to see them play a match or two there will be plenty to do when it is not match day. Lastly, the uniforms are SHARP. I would be very proud to wear the jersey on match days to show my support.
Beyond these points there were a few other wild cards. Tottehnam has a natural rivalry with Arsenal, one of the "Top 4", which lies just 4 miles west. To be able to beat one of the 4 and have it mean so much would be extremely sweet as a fan. There are plans to build a fantastic new stadium on the site of the old stadium which will be right at the top of the league in terms of features, proximity to the field and fitting into the surrounding neighborhood. It will be an excellent place to take in a match should I travel that way and will provide a very raucous atmosphere. Not to be underestimated are the celebrities which call Spurs their favorites. Among them are Salmon Rushdie, Jude Law, Shania Twain and, last but not least, Baby Spice Emma Bunton. Being that I had a huge crush on Baby Spice back in the day, that really clinched it for me. Also, you have to love a club whose motto is "To Dare is to Do". I look forward to following the progress of Tottenham Hotspur throughout this coming season which kicks off on August 15. Go Spurs!!!
I learned that one of my favorite columnists, ESPN's Bill Simmons, was also interested in pursuing this. I read oven some of his material and modified it slightly in order to come up with my own requirements to decide which club was going to be my permanently adopted club going forward. For better or worse, top flight or relegated, this is going to be my team for the rest of my life. I had to make sure that I really was making the best choice for me. I didn't have as many requirements as Bill Simmons; I was able to narrow it down to four.
Bandwagon Potential. I've always prided myself on the fact that when I choose a team I am very selective. All of my American sports favorites are teams that I inherited from family, are local, or struck me in a very personal way when I chose them. I've never been one to start liking a team because they are good or because they were on T.V. all the time. Could you imagine someone coming here from another country, deciding to follow baseball and then adopting the New York Yankees as their favorite team? Ridiculous. Therefore I cannot adopt one of the clubs that make up the "Top 4", so named because of their finishing in the top 4 spots in the league year after year. Those clubs are Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Aresenal. I absolutely excluded those clubs right away.
Good Team With History but Room to Grow. In making a lifelong commitment to an EPL club I want to make sure I will still be able to follow the club in top flight play years from now. Every year the bottom three clubs in the standings drop to the second league, which is called relegation. The top three clubs in the second league are promoted to the Premier League. I cannot follow a team in danger of being relegated soon. What fun is it to follow a club that will be sent to lower division play for who knows how long? Therefore, the club I follow must have averaged a top 10 (out of 20) finish over the last 10 years. This lets me know they will likely be around for the long haul. I also needed a club that had a bit of history but hadn't won anything of note in a little while. Winning league and club football titles in Europe in the past is important because it shows tradition and the potential to be a winning football club. The club I will follow would have to have not won anything in a while though, because it would make any future success unexpected and more appreciated. I need room to grow with my selected club so the feeling of elation when a title is won is genuine and hard earned.
Great Place to Visit on Vacation. If I am going to follow a club for life, odds are there is going to come a time when I may want to take a trip across the pond to see them in action live. I sure don't want to have to spend a week in a town with little or nothing to offer. Manchester is out. So is Blackburn and Yorkshire. London is ideal but there may be a long shot lurking out there.
Great Uniforms. What better way to support your sports team than to wear a jersey on game day. I simply cannot spend upwards of $100 on an ugly jersey. It needs to be something I would be proud to wear in public. Something that catches the eye and lets the seasoned fan know where my loyalties lie. Pretty straight forward; the jersey needs to look sharp.
So taking all of these things into consideration, I landed on the club which I will be supporting in perpetuity: Tottenham Hotspur. They really had everything I was looking for. They are popular but not one of the "Top 4", so nobody could accuse me of liking them because they are at the top of the standings. They have won 2 league titles and placed well in European club championships but have not won anything since I was a toddler. The highest they have finished in the last 10 years is 5th but they have not been close to relegation. Indeed, they have failed to be in the top Premier League only once in the last 60 years so they are not going anywhere. They are based in northeast London so if I ever wanted to travel to see them play a match or two there will be plenty to do when it is not match day. Lastly, the uniforms are SHARP. I would be very proud to wear the jersey on match days to show my support.
Beyond these points there were a few other wild cards. Tottehnam has a natural rivalry with Arsenal, one of the "Top 4", which lies just 4 miles west. To be able to beat one of the 4 and have it mean so much would be extremely sweet as a fan. There are plans to build a fantastic new stadium on the site of the old stadium which will be right at the top of the league in terms of features, proximity to the field and fitting into the surrounding neighborhood. It will be an excellent place to take in a match should I travel that way and will provide a very raucous atmosphere. Not to be underestimated are the celebrities which call Spurs their favorites. Among them are Salmon Rushdie, Jude Law, Shania Twain and, last but not least, Baby Spice Emma Bunton. Being that I had a huge crush on Baby Spice back in the day, that really clinched it for me. Also, you have to love a club whose motto is "To Dare is to Do". I look forward to following the progress of Tottenham Hotspur throughout this coming season which kicks off on August 15. Go Spurs!!!
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