To paraphrase Charlie Dickens, ?it was the best of seasons, it was the worst of seasons?. Back in September suggesting that Arsenal weren?t going to win the title was laughable. The team was on such a role, only the margin of our victories were in question. Now eight months later we?re left scratching our heads wondering, ?what happened??
Arsenal?s fortunes in March were as schizophrenic as a BBC documentary on Lord Byron starring Eddie Izzard, directed by Guy Ritchie and written by Irvine Welsh. When the month began the club were still on target for a treble and a piece of footballing history. Our subsequent exit from the Champions League was a bit of a ?buzz kill? but the stirring victories over Everton and Chelsea in the FA Cup replay ended the month on a high note.
Over the years that I?ve worked in sports I?ve had the opportunity to be up close to some of the biggest trophies in sports. In 1996 I worked for the New York Yankees. It was the 8th inning of game six and there I was, sitting in a small room underneath the stadium, just me and the World Series trophy. Last year, I poked my head into a conference room at work and there was hockey?s Stanley Cup. And just last week I got a look at an Olympic gold medal up close. But the Gooners in Southern California got one up on me during the first week in March as the FA Cup and English Premiership trophies...
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As fans of Arsenal, we hold Highbury, the Home of Football, in very high regard, as well we should. During the last week of January I had the opportunity to visit another football shrine, the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, home of Real Madrid.
Recently 17 members of Arsenal America traveled to The Home of Football for an amazing holiday football feast. With the assistance of Arsenal?s Supporters? Liaison Jill Smith, they were able to not only see the games against Liverpool and Chelsea, they also got a fantastic tour of Highbury and sampled some of the local drinking establishments. Here are some comments from those that went?
As the Arsenal enter the middle part of the season, it?s still all to play for despite a rocky patch there in October. I don?t think anyone is quite sure how a side that looked as if it would sweep all before it could turn around and lose to Everton, Blackburn and Southampton. Not to take anything away from those clubs, but surely most Arsenal fans did not expect losses to be the result of those matches. But as we head towards the New Year, Arsenal are still a good bet to be there in the end.
Some of you may not be aware of this, but we play professional soccer here in the States, too. In fact, I had the opportunity to attend MLS Cup 2002, the championship game for our top league.
Are you ready for some football!
September saw the season kickoff of a sport we call football here in America. You know, the sport where foot hits ball about two dozen times over a three-hour period. The rest is a bunch six foot eight inch, 300-pound men in tight pants banging into each other, punctuated by all the action stopping every eight seconds or so in order for these fantastic athletes to catch their breath.
Here in the States we generally don?t get much of a chance to see top quality football, but living in New York City I see my fair share. Back in July Glasgow Rangers played pre-season friendlies against River Plate of Argentina and Santos of Brazil ? Pel??s old club. I was a bit disappointed as I sat in the stadium with, charitably, 10,000 other fans for the Rangers-Santos match. It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon and only 10,000 people could be bothered to come out. And this was part of a double-header with our own New York/New Jersey MetroStars. Maybe football will never catch on here,...
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It?s an incredible time to be an Arsenal fan, isn?t it? In the last 12 months Arsenal has (deep breath in) had a new stadium approved, signed a new shirt sponsor, unveiled a new kit design, presented a new crest and, oh yeah, won the Double! That?s really enough excitement for about three years. This remarkable season also saw the birth of something special for Arsenal fans here in North America. Back in August of 2001 we started Arsenal America, a supporters? club for Gooners in the United States and Canada. The response has been beyond my expectations as people from all over North America...
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