My Foray into Futbol

I never have been what I would call a “soccer fan”.  I casually watched until the World Cup or maybe a Champions League final.  A couple of my friends had played competitive soccer growing up and through high school so I gained more interest but still not enough to avidly follow the sport.  However, I started an endeavor last summer that has brought me into becoming a “soccer fan”. 

Before I even start, I’m not going to act like I came up with this idea on my own.  Junior Miller of the Musers on The Ticket conducted this experiment and with his raving reviews of it, coupled with a few other firsthand accounts I decided that I should give it a shot.  I mean, I consider myself a true sports fan.  I used to be a football fan that watched other sports, and football will always be number 1 to me, but I have branched out.  I watch extensive amounts of tennis during slams, and I try to catch big matches throughout the year.  I don’t miss a major in golf and if Tiger is competing, I’m watching.  I’ve even gotten into the Winter X-Games because of a chance encounter with snowboarder Kevin Pearce.  So I decided to try my foot at being a soccer fan as well (do you see what I did there with that?).

The actual experiment is picking a professional soccer team to follow intently for an entire year (more on that in a minute) as if it were one of your NFL or NBA teams.  Being over halfway through the experiment, I’ve come across a few things that help the process and make it more enjoyable.

1.     Choose your team wisely

First off, don’t pick Manchester United or Barcelona.  It feels more like a bandwagon if you pick one of the top teams and just claim fanhood.  I’ve always thought that true “fans” of a team should have a tie to the team such as going to that school, living in that area, etc.  Well with European soccer teams it’s hard to find any sort of connection to any of the teams.  So if you are picking one, do some homework.  Figure out if you like certain players that you’ve seen in the World Cup or something.  See if they have had a rough history but might be on the break for something big (that’s what I did).  Either way, it is much more enjoyable to have some suspense in your following.  Picking Man U is like picking the Yankees: you know they will be in it in the end, so it defeats the purpose of the entire regular season.

With that in mind, I chose Manchester City.  Before you think that I just broke the first rule I set out, realize I made this selection about 9 months ago.  Manchester City has been the step-child to United for the good part of three decades.  Even before that, City didn’t have the richest of success in its history with the last relevance in the top tier being in the late 1970’s.  City was relegated all the way down to the third league at one point in 1998 before starting their comeback.  To me, this felt like one of the more enjoyable teams I have ever followed, the Texas Rangers of the last couple of seasons.  The team is full of budding young stars (Carlos Tevaz, Nigel De Jong, Edin Dzeko, Mario Balotelli and David Silva compared to Andrus, Kinsler, Feliz, Ogando and Napoli) with a few veterans who have bided their time with the team building for the moment of success (Gareth Barry to Michael Young).  I just got extremely lucky in the sense that I picked the exact year where City broke out and has stood atop the table for virtually the entire season. 

Now picking a team near the bottom might not be the best idea either.  While I agree that it would be an intense and excitingly stressful season (and isn’t excitement and entertainment what we all look for in sports anyway?) as your team teeters on the edge of relegation, if they did in fact get demoted to the second tier league, I feel like the experiment would have a negative effect.  I’m not sure a new soccer fan would want to follow the lower league just as a new football fan doesn’t pick the UFL to start his or her fandom. 

I also would suggest picking a team in the Premier League as opposed to the Spanish La Liga or Italian Serie A league (I’m not even considering the MLS just as you don’t watch the Polish American Football League).  The premiership has the most recognizable teams and the easiest ability to follow.  Fox now plays weekly games on their network programming and replays several games a week on their regional cable broadcasts.  There is also slightly more parity in the English league.  In La Liga, it’s Barcelona and Real Madrid.  If you pick a team under them then there isn’t much room to grow.

The best thing to do is look at the middle tier of the table (standings in the Premier League): find a team that might have a cool sounding name, or one you have never heard about.  Do a bit of research (I’m talking Wikipedia, not a senior thesis) to see if the team has what you are looking for in which to cheer for them.  Then, begin your journey into the land of soccer.

2.     Don’t try to follow every single game

One of the biggest differences between the Premier League and American professional sports is that there are different seasons and tournaments going on at the same time.  The league games are played one a week on either Saturday or Sunday.  However, throughout the week the other tournaments are played, including the Europa Cup, FA Cup, Carling Cup and the UEFA Champions League.  This is a great deal to take in especially for a new follower.  So I suggest just focus on the weekly league games until the final four or championship of one of the country/continent tournaments.  Then, if you’re lucky enough to have your team in these finals they can add excitement.  What you will learn though, is that these mid-week games don’t feature all of the key players on the team, as you can imagine how much 2-3 soccer games a week can take out of a person.  By listening to the commentary of the announcers for the league games, you can pick up which tournaments are meaningful (Champions League) or are not much more than a piece of hardware (Carling Cup).

The season also lasts longer than other professional sports.  Each team plays the other 19 home and home for a total of 38 games.  That’s over 9 months of solid action.  This isn’t a short term experiment as you’re looking at the better part of a year if your team makes into some cup finals.  So picking a team is significantly important and should not be done in haste.

3.     Don’t be an obnoxious fan

This is a personal suggestion, as anyone who knows me knows how much I can’t stand bandwagon fans.  Don’t tell me you’re a New York Giants lifelong fan as well as a Dallas Mavericks MFFL (pointing at you douche guy in my office who wore an Eli jersey the Monday after the Super Bowl, but have a Giants AND Mavericks decal on your car).  So don’t try to be overbearing with your new fandom.  The perfect example is my situation right now: if I’m outgoing and spreading avidly about how well my new favorite team, Manchester City, is doing then I am coming off as a douchey bandwagon fan.  I keep it mostly quiet, but do mention it in a more subtle way so that I have basis for liking them should they finish the season on top.  Even if they do win it all, I can’t act the same as when the Mavs won last year.  I can promise it won’t bring the same joy because I haven’t gone though the relegations or rough years like I have with the Mavericks.  So in short, be happy and prideful, but be mindful of your situation.

4.     Don’t give up on your team

Once again, I can’t stress how lucky I am to have picked Manchester City this season in particular, but I know that I was prepared for them to suck.  I’ve dealt with high expectations and little to show for it (Cowboys fans everywhere cursing Jerry Jones).  So I made a promise to myself that I wouldn’t give up on my team or switch it.  Going through the rough times makes the better times even better because you know how it feels.  It’s how you keep from being an ass-hole Yankees’ or Lakers’ fan who doesn’t know how to handle a losing season.  Now if you’re team does get relegated altogether, I can see why it might be tough to stick with them as following the Football League Championship (tier just below the Premier League) is quite difficult.  But if possible stick with your guys and treat them as you would your hometown teams.  I mean, I’m still a Tech fan through firing the best coach in school history (not to mention the perfect fit for Lubbock) for something he did not even do and hiring a guy who shuns the fan base and is using Tech as a stepping stone back to the SEC… maybe it’s time to go to grad school somewhere else.