29th October 2007
Hi all,
In the mid 1990s during his time as Crystal Palace captain Gareth Southgate (one of the more thoughtful footballers of his era) pondered why people would come to watch Palace when they could instead go to a West End show and be just-about guaranteed of seeing a good performance.
A little over a week ago I saw one of only two Carter USM reunion gigs at Glasgow Barrowlands. As promised by a member of their crew I know (surprise, surprise, a Palace fan), the show was fabulous. I enjoyed just about every minute of it.
Yesterday I was at Wembley Stadium to see the Miami Dolphins play the New York Giants. The 0-8 Dolphins, the team I've supported for over twenty years and who have given me precious little to celebrate in that time. Yet I wouldn't have missed it for the world. If the cost of buying a ticket had required me to get a second job I would have happily done it.
So why on earth do I persist in preferring live sport to live entertainment? It isn't like I'm in it for the glory (there's a reason why one of Lorraine's catchphrases is, "You need to support winning teams."). And yet if Sky hadn't have intervened to make the Palace-Watford game a weeknight affair instead of a Saturday afternoon meeting I would have had a bumper weekend of sport in the capital (and probably seen two of my favourite teams lose in all likelihood).
It isn't just about seeing the latest and greatest of modern stadia. For every Wembley Stadium and Turner Field I've been to I've also seen the likes of Boghead and The Stoop (pre-renovation). There's just something about being at a live sporting event, something which exceeds a dislike for any given commentator (yes, Dan Dierdorf, that means you).
When you are there you notice little things that TV cameras don't pick up. For instance yesterday prior to just about every Dolphins third down the team's punter Brandon Fields approached the sideline, helmet strap already fastened so that he could take the field at any instant. Maybe all punters do this, but to me it clearly looked like a lack of confidence in his team-mates.
In addition to that there is the interaction with other fans around you. Maybe you get this at home, but it is to a far lesser degree. There are times that I wonder if I'm the only person I know who loves watching the NFL. On Sunday night I was among 80,000 people watching the Dolphins try to make a comeback. When Ted Ginn caught his first touchdown pass as a Dolphin I got handshakes from the two guys sitting to my left and a high-five from the fellow Fins fan behind me.
Such actions aren't exclusive to a one-off NFL game. When Palace beat Arsenal at Highbury in October 1994 the stranger sitting next to me and I hugged at the full-time whistle because the moment of redemption meant that much to every Palace fan there. It was just seventeen months after we had been relegated at the same venue, and we hadn't forgotten that. Sport becomes a matter of highs and lows, and without the lows the highs aren't anywhere near as special.
One of the few e-mail lists I'm still on is the Ducks-n-Pucks list of Anaheim Ducks fans. I'm still a member because it has some of the funniest people I've ever read on it. In the early part of this decade, with the team struggling and Disney ownership seeking success on the balance sheet instead of the standings one e-mailer suggested the team's motto should be "It sucks to be us!" In a few short years the team reached a Stanley Cup Final, broke the chains of corporate ownership, built from within and eventually won a Stanley Cup. At the moment they're probably the most professionally-run team that I support.
Needless to say that's the kind of journey I hope every team I support undertakes. Some show signs of promise (the Braves and Bulls), while others appear to never learn the lessons from prior mistakes (that'll be the Dolphins and Palace then). Regardless of where the road winds I'm in it for the long haul.
Speaking of the long haul, I think this is an appropriate moment to mention the queues for food and drink at Wembley. They were a bit like a roll of Andrex, but without being soft and strong. To add insult to injury when I went to get Lorraine a hot dog early in the second quarter the concession stand I waited at had run out of hot dog rolls. I wish I was joking. I tried to remember any queues I'd seen in any American stadiums I've visited, or any occasions where a stand there has run out of stock. I couldn't think of any such occasion. Goodness only knows what any visiting Americans thought of it. When the NFL takes a game to Germany I imagine the Germans will put us to shame.
Have a good week!
Tony
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