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| Portsmouth fan |
The game in itself is a reasonable entertainment to me. Some very nice male legs are exposed. The repetitive use of jargon and cliché is a genuine comedy of the “Victory is not about getting the most goals” variety. Last week I heard a team manager comment, “They had a couple of exceptional players. It was them that won it for them, not the team.” Ah, I’m glad he explained that.
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| Southampton fan |
All this stuff is harmless enough. Recently vile racist chanting has marred the game and the level of spiky mockery between groups of fans is quite distressing. I suppose it’s all a form of externalised nastiness that real life suppresses. Just imagine some unfortunate office worker who made a small mistake suddenly being surrounded and jeered at. Surely most of us sing more when we are winning In the UK, I have been living near to Southampton whose team is the sworn deadly enemy of the nearby team of Portsmouth. Babies at the breast are told that they are either “Saints” or “Pompey”. I guess it’s all about tribalism too. I have added a couple of images of fans of both teams. I cannot imagine why David Beckham wants to stay in the USA.
Emma thinx: We only win when we’re singing
Emma Undercover 
Indeed. Insightful commentary, Emma!
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A brave comment, yet fair, spoken as always with the candor I have come to so enjoy in your writing.
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I don't understand “soccer” but I do understand this post – thanks for sharing it. Great writing.
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Yup. Winning. I shudder when I think of the post-Stanley Cup hockey riots in Vancouver (my hometown) last June.
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I wasn't raised in a sports environment so I've never understood the pull to be crazy over who wins and loses. Ahh, well. Wonderful post, always, Emma.
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Great post, Emma! I love sports but never liked the football/soccer variety. Actually I don't really like spectator sports…You know what? I find watching a sport very boring (I play golf and tennis but I can't stand to watch them on TV). So much better to go off practicing the sport instead of watching it! But it does so something profound about our society: we observe and prefer to observe rather than act! Hummmm….
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