Why Should I Care About the Champions League

The UEFA Champions League is the second most important competition in the world of professional soccer, overshadowed only by the World Cup. The reason the Champions League is so important is because it proves which Football Club is the best in all of Europe. The problem from an American fan’s standpoint is, how do you get other Americans to care?

To begin UEFA stands for, the Union of European Football Associates. UEFA is the largest of all of the groups that divide the world’s soccer teams. The reasoning for the Champions League’s importance comes from the fact that the group is the largest. It also includes the world’s most important and prestigious football leagues. These most important leagues include, England’s Barclay’s Premier League, Spain’s La Liga, Italy’s Serie A, and Germany’s Bundesliga. These leagues include the most powerful teams, with the best players, thus giving the competition it’s significance and appeal.

The way the tournament works is that each of the major leagues is given a number of teams that qualify to compete in the Champions League. For instance, in England’s Premier League, the teams that finish in the top four positions of the table are allowed to progress to the Champion’s League. This means that the best teams, from the best leagues in the world, with the best players, are all competing for this competition. Think of it like a World Cup where what country players are from doesn’t matter anymore. If you can afford them, and can convince them to join your team, you can have any player you want.

The problem comes with interesting an American audience in such an event. It can be easy to understand that unless you have a connection to a club that is involved in the competition, there is really no reason why it should be on your radar. The argument that can be posed to such a line of thinking is, if you don’t care about what teams are playing the Super Bowl, why do you still watch? Or even just with soccer, I know people who don’t really like the sport but still watch the World Cup Final.

The answer proves that sports are more than just games. We add meaning to them. The Super Bowl, the World Cup, the Olympics, the World Series, they all provide a common something that all people can identify with. These most summative games provide a way to bring people and ideas that would not have been brought together before together. For these moments, these games, it becomes more than just “a game.” It becomes a crucial part of our cultures.

So I challenge those who fail to find the importance in such an event as the Champions League, or someone who doesn’t see soccer as a sport worth watching to give it a try with the Champions League. It may open a new door for you and give you a new view of the world and what sports really mean.

There Ain't Room for the Two of Us

          Saturday, one of the most significant games of the Barclay’s Premier League season took place. It was the second Manchester derby of the year. The game was the second meeting of Manchester United and hated rivals Manchester City. After the first meeting, at Eastlands, ended in a nil – nil draw both teams were hungry for a win. After battling back and forth for the entire game and at its climax was the amazing score by Wayne Rooney. The goal was quickly touted as one of if not the best goal of the season so far.

            The goal came as the Portuguese winger, Nani came driving up field and sent a cross into the waiting Rooney. Seeing that he was not in the right position to head the ball in, Rooney instead jumped in the air, throwing his legs over his head and executing an absolutely beautiful bicycle kick that found its way almost in the upper 90 of the goal. Rooney seemed as if he was a trapeze artist flipping through the air with ease, seemingly suspended over the field and making the amazing finish look effortless.

            So the true reason why this is important comes from my experience later last night. While enjoying a beer and listening to some music, my friend and I happened to notice that the ESPN program SportsCenter was on and it was the best part of the program, Top Plays. Before the first play could come on the screen I looked to my friend and said, “Rooney is number one!” We watched with general disinterest as dunk after dunk consumed numbers ten through two. With joy I started into a Wayne Rooney chant as I saw the amazing goal gracing the number one spot. Just as my friend and I had begun to cheer our “glory glory Man United,” my friend comes up and says, “What the fuck is soccer doing on my top plays?”  The mood was crushed.

            This is a common scene for many soccer fans and especially myself on my campus. A large number of people just don’t see the value in soccer. To put it in perspective it is kind of like how my friends and I view curling during the winter Olympics. Its funny to watch but I don’t exactly enjoy it. So the question must be asked, is there a place for soccer in the United States?

True Fans and a Sport Misunderstood

            Being a soccer fan in America isn’t the easiest thing in the world. It is a feeling that is hard to relate to people who are outside the game. From what most of my friends have said growing up in Richmond, Virginia, and around my campus is that soccer is a sport for “whiney pretty boys who like to roll around on the ground when no one touched them.” In America, most people look at soccer as a sport that is severely lacking. Often when jumping up and down or getting excited around the lunch table I often get the response of “this is America, shut up about your stupid soccer shit.” It’s like seeing the awesome view from the top of a mountain. You are admiring the view, the beautiful idiosyncrasies as the land gently touches water, and then having some asshole come and push you off the ledge. When you hit the ground, you realize not that many people in your country care about the view.

Being a soccer fan in America isn’t easy. I have about four friends out of a large group that I feel I can chat soccer with. The recent events at the close of the January transfer window are something that many have been talking about. Fernando Torres moving from his long time home in Liverpool to reigning Premier League champions Chelsea, for 50 MILLION POUNDS! Such a huge event and who to talk to about it? That’s right. The wall, because trying to explain the significance of such an event to someone who doesn’t follow the sport is just as effective. Message boards exist online, but I love talking in person and arguing over a couple beers about whichstriker is the best in the world. I love having one or two too many and screaming GLORY GLORY MAN UNITED at the top of my lungs, and then quickly shutting up as I realize no one understands what the hell my close friend and I are doing. You know how in high school there were those kids who were a little off and kind of went to the beat of their own drum. They really didn’t give a shit what you thought because they were happy, but they still knew how much it sucked to be an outcast? They know what its like to be a soccer fan in a land the sees football and baseball as religion.

            Fans come in all shapes and sizes and from all over the world. Who is your club? One of the most essential questions a fan will be asked, and we ask it in such a possessive manner. Who is your club? MY club is the Red Devils, Manchester United. “Have you ever even been to England?” No. But why does that matter? In a sport where international players are a norm, and even Man U includes only three players out of almost 50 considered “first team” players who are actually from Manchester. Why does it matter that I haven’t been to Manchester? I feel in love with the tradition, the players, the flash, the stout defense, with the bullish Wayne Rooney. I fell in love with a kingdom I have never seen. I long to stand in a castle and gaze at the knights in their armor, but am I inferior because I’m not English? Do I deserve to be pushed away from the “world’s sport” because I’m not from Manchester? Because I’ve never been to a match? Because I haven’t stood in the shadow of the king and felt the power that is Old Trafford? I think not.

            Being a fan isn’t about being from somewhere. It’s about a connection to the sport a feeling you get while watching it. So get on your feet and cheer on your club no matter where you are. My fellow fans know you are not alone, with every cheer we build the castle here, one stone at a time.