I stumbled across this video in an older BBC Ideas e-mail I hadn’t yet deleted (and needless to say, finding it now isn’t gonna do much to encourage me to clean up my e-mails any time soon!)
One of the best lines in this video – in fact the whole reason I’m sharing it – is this:
Paranoia and pessimism are, after all, central to the enjoyment of football.
It’s always a bit tense watching a game with my dad but also lots of fun too. Game 1, Spurs v. Aston Villa is today!
And of course there’s a book! But it’s not out until September 2019. Sooooo soon…
I grew up with sports around the house – my father is from Malta and soccer was a big deal. Somehow or other he fell in love with curling on TV so that’s long been a family favourite too.
Then my older brother started playing hockey and I spent a lot of time goofing around in rinks during practises and games. My brother played american football, hockey and curled in high school and then fell in love with golf. I wasn’t very sporty myself but I tried my hand at field hockey in school and I did end up on the ice, in front of a net, eventually. (My current goal is to get back there!) I did play a little bit of soccer – again, mostly right in front of the net, but I never really knew what I was doing.
And soccer is my dad’s one true love and so I’m going to see what I can learn this year – and hopefully have some of it rub off on The Mighty Q as well.
And there we have it – we all joined the local supporters club for my dad’s favourite team:
As I learn stuff, I’ll share it here. There will be history, there will be rules, there will be silly trivia I am sure. Mostly from a keeper’s perspective because that’s my bias. And definitely pro-Spurs (And Toronto FC too!) 😉
If you have a favourite source for soccer info definitely share that!
