Hey guys. At the end of this I am pretty sure I am going to get ripped for this but here is the story of one so called glory hunter.
1st and foremost I was a basketball player and am a full-time college basketball coach. I was born (1982) and raised in seattle washington and am a huge supporter of our local teams: UW Huskies (college), Seahawks (american football), and Mariners (baseball).
In 2008 my heart was ripped out and with the help of the NBA commissioner our NBA team, the Supersonics, was moved 2000 miles to Oklahoma City. I am still not over it. That being said i dont follow an NBA team anymore just the NBA. I needed something to fill that hole. NFL and MLB are too "stop and go for me". My little brother was always a big soccer man and played in college. Quite frankly, I often mocked the sport. But he kept telling me how great the Premier was. The crowds, the rivalries, the stars, the promotions, the relagations etc. I decided, ok, I gonna give this a chance. Watch a few games.
He was a chelsea fan. So Im not gonna follow them. United? Ha, I'm not rooting for the Yankees. Arsenal and liverpool seemed like Lakers and Celtics to me, so no go there. So as a basketball fan I've always loved guys with flair, flash, and style (Vince Carter, Shawn Kemp, Stephon Marbury, Steve Francis, Gary Payton etc) even if that meant they didn't end up as hall of famers.
As an an american with the just a passing interest in soccer I enjoyed the Brazilian National Team for the same qualities I liked certain basketball players. Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, etc.
So when looking for a premier league team outside of the top four I looked for who had "Brazilians". And who had that flair. At that that it was City and Robinho. Later is was adebayor (not brazilian i know but a still a player with some "flair"). I had no idea who owned City or what their story was but they were fun and seemed to be on the up and up. They had fun entertaining players (craig bellamy, SWP, JO).
Now, I would watch the Champions league final before I'd watch Game 6 of last years NBA finals (and that finals was aaaaaamazing.)
I'm on Bluemoon at least 5 times a day (too scared to post due to my lack of soccer knowledge). Im checking out goal.com, bleacherreport, epltalk, teamtalk (for the paper rundown) for all the news.
But i really do love following Man City. I can't wait to up at 4:30 am and silently cheer at the top of my lungs so as not to wake up my roommates. I was over the moon when they came to vancouver to play in the preseason. I consider myself a fan in the best way I can be. It pains me to see Ade, Bells and SWP on the way out cuz THOSE are the guys that really truly made me a fan. When I showed my roommates Ade's celebration vs Arsenal, they immediately said, "Yeah, thats your guy, and thats your team".
And this is where I get ripped. You guys sound like an indie band's fans who finally have a hit and our the radio now and are successful and therefore generate worldwide fans, which helps them be even more successful. But now, no one can be a fan of this band/team unless you were born and bred in Manchester. If one of you guys was a Seahawks fan, I would be like WHOA. I would wanna know how and why you became fan, (BTW the hawks literally had moving vans at their training camp ready to move out of town until Paul Allen, microsoft billionaire, bought them. So I know a thing or two about being the worst team in the league then being saved and becoming a 1st class org)
I just think the more the merrier. You have a team FULL of rockstars (Aguero, Silva, Yaya, Hart, Tevez, Balotelli etc). Let them be rockstars. Help fans like myself with intelligent conversation on blue moon. Educate me on soccer, the positions. Why Nasri is a better fit than Modric. Why Robinho sucked and Aguero won't. Post the songs on youtube so I can sing them at 4:30 am. A slap on the back and a welcome to the rollercoaster that is being a city fan would go a lot farther than the condescension im seeing here. I'm doing the best I can. This year is the 1st year Fox is making all games HD (WOOT WOOT!!!!!). Almost every premier league game on the tube. It getting easier to be a fan. Embrace us, dont push us away.
Thanks guys.
(And yes I go to sounders games and follow them a little but its low low level soccer. I love american football but I wont watch the CFL or the Euroleague when they had it. I wanna watch the best play the best play the best. And thats EPL and Champions league. Sorry for the length. Proceed to with the ripping)
