Arsenal America

Over the years Arsenal America has brought you interviews with people like Nick Hornby and the Fox Sports World Report crew. Today, we add to that illustrious list with Sports Illustrated columnist Steve Rushin. Steve recently was named the National Sportswriter of the Year, an award bestowed by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association. His Air and Space column is always worth a read. In fact, that’s how I learned he supported Arsenal. A couple of years back he referenced our old ‘Schadenfreude of the Week’ feature. I remember people sending me emails saying we were in Sports Illustrated. Well, I tracked Steve down and he confirmed he was a Gooner. Recently Steve was kind enough to answer some questions. As you’ll see, he’s a legit Gooner from some time back…

Q: How/When did you become a Gooner?

I was assigned by SI to cover an “American football” game at Wembley in the early 90s. Dallas vs. Detroit. I was taking a cab directly to the stadium from Heathrow and the driver wanted to make sure that I knew what a special place Wembley was — and not because it hosted NFL pre-season games. So he began giving me a crash course on English football with a special emphasis on his favorite club, Arsenal. Near the stadium, we passed a Nike billboard of Ian Wright. I believe the caption was “Behind every great keeper is a ball signed by Ian Wright.” So this Gooner/cabbie — who had lived in New York for ten years and was versed in American sports — began to tell me how Wrighty was “a bit like your Charles Barkley” in that he was controversial and a showman. I don’t remember anything about the NFL game that day but I knew I wanted to get back to Wembley for an England match or Cup final and I knew I wanted to see Wrighty at Highbury.

Q: Ever been to Highbury?

Thank God, yes, or I’d have to buy one of those flats that are going up there. I’ve been about half a dozen times. I went to a Cup-Winners Cup semifinal against Sampdoria there in 95 and I took my brother from Minneapolis to his first match there. He loved it. And if you can love a scoreless draw against Norwich, you know it’s a cool place. I also saw Arsenal play at Elland Road a few years ago. And I got back to Wembley many times, including for England v. Germany in Euro 96. I was in London covering Wimbledon for SI that week. Can barely recall who won Wimbledon — Richard Krajicek — but vividly recall sitting one table over from David Seaman in a Thai restaurant. Can’t remember what he ordered. I was too transfixed by the ponytail.

Q: Best Arsenal memory?

This isn’t my best Arsenal memory but it’s probably my most indelible one. 11 years ago, I flew from Minneapolis to New York. I spent the day in New York, then joined a bunch of buddies for a flight to Scotland. We arrived in Glasgow and immediately drove several hours north to Dornoch, where we played 36 holes of golf and then checked into a hotel. I was exhausted from 24 hour without sleep, but nevertheless went down to the bar just in time to see the end of the Arsenal-Zaragoza CWC final, in which my Thai-restaurant-table-mate was beaten by a midfield strike from ex-Spur Nayim. It took me several minutes to realize I wasn’t hallucinating.

I also had a surreal experience in Rovaniemi, Finland, a town literally ON the Arctic Circle line. (They even have the dotted line painted across the Santa’s Village there.) I was there in mid-summer, when there’s 24 hours of sunlight, and I ran into a Finnish guy in an Arsenal shirt and I asked him if he was a fan and he said yes. He then told me that he once saw Dennis Bergkamp in a golf shop in London. I replied that I once saw David Seaman in a Thai restaurant across from the Fulham Broadway tube stop. There ensued, between the Finn and me, an eternity of awkward silence, after which we went our separate ways, each thinking, no doubt, that the other guy was pathetic. Or insane. Or both.

Great stuff Steve, thanks for taking the time to share your experiences and memories.