Earlier this week I did something that I’ve
never done before: I followed a live blog of a sporting event online. What’s
more, I was interested in it.
I should start by admitting that sports are
not my thing. Not even a little bit. I have distinct memories of watching the
NCAA basketball tournament as a kid, wondering why my dad was yelling at the
athletes when they obviously couldn’t hear him through the television. I just
didn’t get it. I still don’t really get it. So, naturally, I wound up dating a
sports fanatic who is on a one-man quest to turn me into a football fan. And by
football, I mean soccer, so keep up, fellow Americans. It really is the more
logical term, let’s be honest. The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship
(Euro 2012) has given him the perfect opportunity.
After learning the roster and being quizzed
on all of the players (I failed fairly spectacularly, but I’m still learning),
it was time to watch my first match, England versus Sweden (naturally). I made
it to Murphy’s, a wonderful Irish pub in Old Town Alexandria, about twenty
minutes into the first half. As I walked into the comfortable, dimly lit room,
I saw a surprising number of people sitting at the bar, eyes glued to the men
in shorts running around on the television screen.
It took me a while to get into the game and
to get warmed up to anywhere near the level of the rather vocal English
contingent surrounding me. Between the young man next to me who alternated between
tearing his hair out and yelling victory cries that would have made Braveheart
proud, and the older gentleman behind me who was wheezing, “C’mon, one more!
One more – ah, you’re useless,” I was as much swept up in the fans as I was in
the football. As I watched the people around me, all hanging onto the action
thousands of miles away with bated breath, I began to wonder if it was possible
to become a football fan even if you weren’t raised watching “men in shorts
kicking a pig’s bladder,” as my boyfriend has so eloquently described it (I mean,
how could you resist?). Maybe it was the pint I was nursing, maybe it was the
atmosphere, but even as I wondered this I found myself being drawn into the
game. I clapped when England scored, I held my breath whenever Ibrahimovic got
too close to the goal. I was actually getting into it.
What I learned in that pub is that a huge
part of the world is following what’s going on in Poland and Ukraine right now.
Rosie Spinks makes a really good point on the Matador Network
when she points out that football is the lingua franca of the sports world, so
even non-sports fans should try to at least stay on the periphery. Need more
convincing? Goal.com has some “alternative” reasons to follow the tournament.
Keeping up with what’s happening at Euro
2012 is keeping up with current events and knowing what’s going on in the
world. And it can be addictive, as I found out while I was cringing (quietly)
at my desk on Tuesday as BBC Sport (British coverage is delightful because the
commentators do things like call the stadium “a cauldron of noise” and
characterize a poor showing by saying, “England aren’t on the rack yet, but
they are on the steps to the dungeon.”) informed me that John Terry had blocked
yet another Ukrainian attempt to get to the goal.
Is it possible to become a football fan? I’m
still not sure, but I think that I’m on my way to finding out. See you at the
pub on Sunday.
No comments:
Post a Comment