Arsenal America

It is a rare occasion that an Arsenal game is not covered here in the States. Wednesday was one of those occasions. (many reasons were given , the best one I heard was the proximity of Mars to Earth last night.). No amount of money could have bought live video coverage of the game last night to the States and I’ve asked a few folk and large sums of money were offered to many a drinking hole to get the game live. Alas no cash changed hands.

So all of us who care and some who don’t (those who sit next to me at work) resorted to the Arsenal web site and their so called live coverage of the game on Arsenal radio. However, I quickly worked out that the Arsenal’s definition of live differs slightly to mine. The reality is it differs by 56 seconds to be precise .

I was on the phone with my brother-in-law at Highbury on his cell phone when Campbell put the first goal in. I heard a mass of cheering, screaming, cursing and general mayhem. I presumed one of two things. Either we had scored against Villa or the crowd had heard that Wolves had scored up at Old Trafford. The likelihood of the latter happening was obviously nil so I quickly assumed we had got one in. I turned up the volume on my speakers for Arsenal Radio and told Brian, my good colleague sitting next to me that I think we are going to score in a second. I told him I have this feeling in my gut and this warm kind of feeling happens very rarely to me but when it does something good always happens. Low and behold 56 seconds later I was up on my feet doing a merry jig and Brian gave me a look like I was some kind of freak with E.S.P.

The so called warm feeling came back to me in injury time of the second half, not because I did the same trick with the second goal but instead out of relief that we had collected three further points and kept pace with Man U at the top of the table.
I don’t know about the rest of you but when I perform average or below par at my job the results usually are reflected in my performance. If I communicate badly with my colleagues on a particular project or if I turn up to work a little tired and hung over it shows in my standard of work . I end up under achieving. Apparently, this theory doesn’t apply to the Arsenal. In two games out of three we have performed average at best . However, the results could not have been better. This could mean wonderful things if we start firing on all cylinders or a disaster if reverse logic kicks in. We have become accustomed to watching good, exciting football and winning titles as well. I love being entertained don’t get me wrong, but right now I care a lot more about winning than how we win. I don’t care if the whole team goes out the night before a game on a large binge around London and can’t see straight when they get on the pitch for kick off so long as they continue to win. Ask Tony Adams this was his philosophy for years and it certainly worked for him. (apart from his small spell in jail).

So if the entire team can escape being held at Her Majesty’s Pleasure and can eek out results like the ones against Everton and Villa I say this. “Cheers boys have another one for me and here’s to the title !”