By Joe Schackman
It's time to get into soccer, and you guys are coming along for the ride.
It takes years of playing, watching and studying a sport to reach that level of understanding. I like to think I have that when it comes to baseball, football and golf. Basketball and tennis as well, maybe. But I’m sure that with soccer, I don’t have it. Now, that’s about to change.
I’m not completely new to soccer. I played a bit growing up and then in high school, though that was never an astonishing feat. Regardless, I’ve played and watched enough to learn the tactics and grasp how soccer works in action.
Beyond that, though, I know very little about the broader game and the people who play it. So this marks the start of my education, and you’re coming along for the ride. I’m going to use this space as a running diary of my attempt to become a well-informed football fan.
Now that the European club season has drawn to a close, this is the perfect opportunity. I’ll start by dabbling in the MLS, which a friend described to me as the crack to the Premier League’s cocaine: cheaper and lower quality, but it’ll get the job done in a pinch.
Then it’s on to Euro 2012, a tournament for the continent’s national teams. I’ll learn about the transfer market and study the ways that big clubs spend and prepare for the upcoming season. And then, when the European club season begins in a few short months, I’ll be put to the test.
I have no idea what this feature, which I'm calling "Drawing Level," will look like, or how often it will come out (I’m shooting for every other week). Sometimes it’ll be a traditional column, other times it might be Hangover-style, or sometimes it might just rant about a bunch of things I don’t understand.
Which is why I need you. The idea is to learn about football (and hopefully help others do the same). The best way to learn is through you. So help me with the endless debates that are captivating the football world. Correct me when I’m wrong, and call me an idiot when I’m totally wrong. The only way, and the best way, to learn is if this is a a group effort.
There’s a wealth of topics to explore about a game that’s captured so many around the world. Hopefully, over the next few months I’ll touch on some that will interest even the most diehard football fans. My goal is to march into the “soccer bar” in my city and know what’s going on. We have a long way to go.
Joe Schackman is a co-founder and editor of Began in '96
Joe Schackman is a co-founder and editor of Began in '96
2 comments:
I did the exact same thing last year. Have grown up playing soccer and living the sport, but never following beyond knowing who teams were.
I decided I needed to start following it due to a complete lack of interest in pro basketball and needing a winter sport. I picked the EPL and then searched for about two months to "pick a team." I narrowed it down to four teams, Newcastle, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Blackburn. I tried to watch their games every weekend, and when I couldn't catch the games, I watched highlights of every scoring play. I played FIFA with each team to see which played the best and players I enjoyed.
Eventually I came to the conclusion that I'd follow Liverpool. Yes, Fenway Sports Group had just bought them. They sold that annoying "El Nino" Fernando Torres who I couldn't stand, and featured a few players who I really enjoyed watching (Martin Skrtal, Steven Gerrard, and Joe Cole who incidentally was put on loan almost immediately once I started following them).
I keep up on the daily happenings and transfer rumors, and watch every weekend's games or highlights if I can't make it in front of the tube.
It's a hell of a better option than watching grown crybabies flop on the hardwood 4 times a week.
If your goal was to learn about it, you may have picked the worst possible time. Between now and Euro, and then between Euro and mid-August, you'll get no news except trade rumors and the occasional drop on which teammate's wife Terry slept with most recently.
I think that Parker's comment about picking a team will really be the big plunge. In the US, picking a team is as easy as choosing the local squad. In Europe, it's a matter of class, family history and culture. Hell, even picking a league is a contentious and emotional decision that will lead you to become an enraged lunatic blinded by the absolute nature of your league's "supremacy."
But buckle up. If you thought the NBA and NFL had drama, you have no idea.
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