Bill Simmons is a sports writer from Boston who does a near-daily column for ESPN.com under the name “The Sports Guy.”
One of his most famous articles included a list of rules fans of all sports should follow.
One rule in particular addresses fan behavior concerning championships. If your team wins their respective league’s championship, they immediately enter a five-year grace period - you can’t complain about them for a period of five years. If they should win back-to-back titles, the number goes up to seven.
Normally, this sounds like an excellent suggestion. Championships are a very special thing, and each one should be appreciated fully. A grace period of sorts allows that to happen. In fact, I often find myself feeling guilty whenever I groan in frustration after a lackluster Gunners performance.
So, why is it then, that I can apply this philosophy to US-based sports, but with Arsenal I find it completely impossible?!?!?!?!
I think part of the problem has to do with ManUre’s recent dominance. For years it was ManUre and Arsenal, ManUre and Arsenal. Every year, the SOBs from the north always came out on top. 2002 was supposed to be the sea-change, the shift of the balance of power from north to south. Arsene believed, and so did I.
Then came the crash of 2003. Many are quick to point out that we won the FA Cup that season. That’s as may be, but anyone who’s seen the End Of Season video knows it wasn’t only the fans/supporters who felt that it was a consolation prize.
Next came 2004, the” Untouchable Season,” remembered perhaps as much for the Treble that wasn’t as for the unbeaten league run.
Again. it’s not that I didn’t enjoy and appreciate the accomplishments Arsenal achieved, it’ s just that I wanted more.
I tell myself it’s not greed that drives that passion, it’s for a more noble cause….
History.
This current incarnation is without a doubt the greatest Arsenal team ever. Last year was the greatest club perfomance in the history of English football. Yet until we’ve won the league more than one year in a row, or win the Champions League, the commentators will always remind us that “Arsenal haven’t yet ascended to the stature of those Manchester United teams of a few years back.”
I don’t know about you, but I’m sick of hearing about “…those Manchester United teams of a few years back.”
As Stag has so clearly pointed out, the EPL is getting increasingly more competitive. What with clubs like Liverpool, Everton, “Boro and Spurs getting better, not to mention the Russian mobster spending billions of roubles on his playthings, the window for continued dominance by ManUre and Arsenal has passed us by. While that’s great for the neutral, I personally could have had it last for just a bit longer, obviously with Arsenal enjoying the majority of the dominance.
I wanted it for Arsene. For Thierry. For Paddy. For Dennis.
For us.
Alas, it was not meant to be.
What it does mean, is that it’ll be that much sweeter when we win the Treble this May.
As they used to say in New York back in 1973:
“Ya gotta believe!”
10 Responses to ““It was the best of times, it was the worst of times””
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January 4th, 2005 at 10:20 pm
True. Talking about US sports, hope my Eagles can win the Superbowl.
Then I can chill for the next five years. Move over EPL, here comes the playoffs!
But no deals with sporting god’s with Arsenal’s future. (hint, hint)
January 4th, 2005 at 10:33 pm
MikeK… I definitely operate on the above Sports rule… ummm maybe not 5 years… but hey, I am a lifelong Red Sox fan. They get a free pass this season… next season… and a few more at least. Carte Blanche. No complaints. I want them to win and to repeat as Champs, but no complaints.
I understand that its harder to adhere to the rule with the Arsenal for some reason… but I appreciate how amazing they have been in recent years… and LAST YEAR was truly unbelievable. We were Invincible.
We can still win the league this year. FA Cup is just starting… and we have a good shot at the Champions League. We are spoiled. By Success. That my friends, is fact.
Enjoy our team and its magnificent players… and spend a bit less time burying players and writing them off so quickly… questioning their motives, desire, heart… please, they want to win as much as we want them to win, if not MORE.
Its apparent by my writings… after the entire season unbeaten, the Arsenal have carte blanche this year… the above rule applies for me. Let the kids play and enjoy. We CAN win any and all the trophies still… there’s a long way to go.
January 5th, 2005 at 9:05 am
Nice piece, MikeK. An interesting point to ponder.
My first reaction is that I love The Arsenal more. AFC, and football in general, generates a much deeper passion in me. The pride associated with it holds over many months. I am an American fan so at some point in my life I’ve had to borrow their history. But with it, I also borrow as best an understanding of what a neighborhood football club means to those who grew up around it. AFC are, for many, what keeps them going for all intents and purposes. I may never be able to say I grew up down the street from the grounds, but I have informed my allegiance with that spirit.
But that being said, its funny how that “allegiance”, though, turns to high expectation.
I’m also an Eagles and Phillies fan, but the distance between the fans and the game has grown wider and wider, despite every effort by the marketing department to counter it. So my pride associated with the team has given way to a kind of recreational pastime. Somewhere, in the whole of English football, that alignment with fans has persisted, even with the big paychecks. Its more personal on the pitch and in the stands, and therefore, more personal in my heart.
But as you say, its also about building tradition, one that, especially as a US fan, we can incorporate into our own lives. That sense of being a winner in this day and age has never been so important, for good or bad. For me, its not glory so much that I seek, as much as quality. And being able to get your hands on that, no matter how far removed one might be, is addictive.
Validation in belief is a priceless commodity, which is why no amount of bought Championships can bring it. That’s the difference in my eyes.
January 5th, 2005 at 1:05 pm
Arse CL/Prem. of Philly Superbowl then?
January 5th, 2005 at 1:31 pm
Any chance anybody who’s paid ESPN’s fee can send the list. I’ve been following several different sports for 40 years now and up ’til now was blissfully unaware of these rules. Heaven only knows how many I’ve broken
January 5th, 2005 at 1:59 pm
Check you mail Bob!
January 5th, 2005 at 2:04 pm
I knew you were going to do that, A-G, since I saw you were an Eagles fan!
For me, its surprisingly easy: AFC to win the CL and/or EPL title over Eagles winning the Superbowl. And I just MIGHT take an FA cup alone with some help from the youngsters over an NFL title, too, considering what it could mean to our squad next season.
I’m forty minutes from the Linc and six hours by plane plus travel time to Highbury and I feel closer to AFC than the Eagles. Go figure. Sensibilities more akin, I suppose.
But I can say that an Eagles/Philly superbowl (just getting there would be nice), as unlikely as it may be without TO would help ease some of my pain of AFC dropping further behind…but only for a bit.
Now if we’re talking Phillies…eh, closer, but still AFC.
January 6th, 2005 at 12:42 am
I’m from the frozen north - Minnesota - and up here we might complain about the icy winters, but secretly we are proud of the toughness and resilience it takes to live here in bitter conditions. I wonder if that analogy doesn’t go some way towards explaining our real love of Arsenal - a team playing a sport which is generally given very short shrift in this country - and playing it thousands of miles away. I think we are all secretly proud that we have discovered a gem. And not just any gem, but a gem a half a world away. We know the rules. We know the plays. We know the language of the sport - and the country. We can love a game that ends in a tie if it was well played - and feel respect for an opponent (like Manchester City) that gives everything to hold, or even win, against our superior firepower. Nobody understands us - sometimes not even the English fans. Hell - my wife doesn’t even understand me - but she fully supports my addiction just the same. I just think there is something very special - and utterly lovable - about English football, and about Arsenal in particular. It keeps me toasty warm on the cold winter nights up here…
…well… that and my wife! }:>
January 6th, 2005 at 2:31 pm
IceOtter,
I really feel that you’re on to something here.
January 6th, 2005 at 7:08 pm
I noticed you had a website, so I visited. It’s really nice - maybe the nicest personal site I’ve seen. Beautiful photos. Keep up the good work!