So...Why Football?

Since I started writing this blog people have been asking me why I would pick Football/Soccer as a topic. This probably stems from the fact that not a ton of people I know really follow the game and its happenings as closely as I do, or frankly care as much. I can completely understand their line of thinking as sometimes the content I write about can make no sense to them. With this in mind I decided to make a step back and describe why I love this games so much and why I would waste time writing about it.

I have to start by saying at one point in my early life I despised soccer for reasons that are now beyond me. It was only in 1999 did I really give the game a real try. For those who know me I'm a Man United supporter and having family in Manchester at the time, plus the fact they were winning everything under the sun helped me make the red conversion. The other reason I started to become a fan of the team and the game itself was the movement of the players on the pitch and the speed of the game. I enjoyed the fact that there was a continuous flow of action unlike most major North American sports. Some writers on the game have described it as Haiku with a pitch and a ball. I find that analogy a bit much but I would say that soccer or football (which ever you want to call it) is like physical artistry with a ball. The best way I've seen this described is in Pele's autobiography in which he describes that when learning football in Brazil; the relationship between the ball and the player is of the utmost importance in the game. Meaning that to really become good at football and to understand the game you must become an artist with the ball. I believe no other sport has this type of philosophy around it.

I have also come to love the game because of its international appeal. This is truly a global game, no other major sport can claim this. Soccer transcends boundaries of Race, creed, wealth etc like no other sport, all one needs is a ball and a few friends and you have a game, and the ball can be made of anything generally which lends it self to the poorest of the poor all the way up. Kids with proper pitches and boots all the way to kids with dusty fields and a ball made out of rolled up socks can have the chance to learn a play the game, this cannot be said of other sports which need significant funds it order to play.

So without keeping you here for the rest of the night, these are some of the reasons I love the game and why I eventually would like to be able to write professionally about it (if you know anyone who needs someone to write about the game on a website or something point them this way!). I believe the best is yet to come for the game, especially here in Canada where some of the pent up demand is finally being addressed through MLS expansion. I hope this gave you some insight into my passion for the game and as always I appreciate your continuing support.

Cheers,
Jones