WHAT THE BLOODY FAHKIN 'ELL!?!
and to all my friends who believe it doesn't matter, it's only one game, and various other "soothing" remarks... yah, you all get my favorite phrase!
Ok quick recap for those who couldn't, didn't or afraid of joining me at the pub. No offense to you lot, I don't make judgments. I just need to recap the day.
Friday evening, I decided to tuck in a bit early after remembering what happened to me on open weekend and the lack of fortitude my body has recently with the imbibing of alcoholic beverages. In short, I was in bed by 11PM. My plan was to make it to the pub by half-time on the Chelski game. I was hoping to witness the phenomena of what is called Burnley.
Saturday morning. 5AM...try and fall back asleep... 6AM try and fall back asleep... 7AM - fuck it, check email, check news, morning ritual, get down to pub by 8ish.
So far, ok but I should have been warned by the 5AM wake up for no real reason.
Mistake or Omen number 2, breaking with tradition, I listened to some NYHC (Sick of It ALL) on the way to the pub on the day of an Arsenal game. My usual musical foray on the drive is something English, preferably London based, no matter what genre.
I find parking with no major hassles, that's pretty standard fare at this hour in the morning. I lock the car up and my alarm starts going off.. click the button on my switchblade (VW key-thing) and nothing.. click it again and unlock the doors.. click it again to lock the doors... nothing... open the door, close it, click it again.. finally the proper acknowledgment of *beeepbeeepI'mLocked*.
I shake my head and walk on.
The pub was nicely crowded for an early match. Burnley, of course, did not surprise anyone. I shouldn't be too shocked but I was hoping for them to actually worry Chelski. Little to no luck on that one.
Chelski girl, who was sick, sent me a text, "...I would feel better if Chels would fucking score already!" They did, they did and they did shortly after.
The usual crowd was about and milling around during the day, many staying around through the mid-day Scouser match, awaiting the ManYoo-Arsenal tie.
Honestly though, there was a certain tension all day, at least on my part. I found myself sitting at the outdoor tables with Pretzels. Neither one of us were really interested in watching the Scousers and the pub was standing room only. SlainteLOSC stopped by and decided to give a lesson on bad words in French before heading off to the burger-wagon.
By the way, there is a great picture of Pretzels that I took with my phone. He has this big shit-eating grin staring at the screen.
Shortly before the main event, a lot of people started showing up. There ended up being a large African contigent about 60% MancScum and the rest Arsenal supporters. Which was interesting because shortly before they started showing up someone had mentioned earlier that the bistro had a rather non-diverse crowd.
Now that is not a big deal but it's kind of interesting how you get this huge cross section of people at the pub. That's one of my favorite things about football, the diversity of the supporters, players and teams. Each brings something different to the mix and it becomes this community, whether you love or hate your neighbor, you both speak a similar language.
I'll make quick mention of an instance at 2006 World Cup. There was the France - Brazil game. At least that is how I am recalling it currently. After the game, at one of the large tables we had people talking to each other, intermixing the languages (English, French, Spanish) and having a great time, just uniting over football. If you are wondering why Spanish, I think the Spanish speaking girls were in love with Kaka and who doesn't like Brazilian football.
It was a beautiful thing!
Back to Saturday 29 August 2009... now we have a full pub, United - Arsenal, an African contingent, and many onlookers (supporters of various other clubs, including my buddy ACMilan, the Chelski boys and Scousers)
The pub was filled with noise and singing... lots and lots of singing. The African contingent even came in with their own songs which were pretty interesting to say the least. When you add some of the football classics it became like a celebration.
It was so loud, at one point, MancKate had to put in ear plugs.
Arsenal was playing beautiful and United wasn't letting the game get out of hand. The sky was clear, birds were singing, bees were pollinating, One-Nil to the Arsenal and Who the Fuck is Man United had been sung and...
PENALTY!
My prediction was 2-1 and not naming the victor because it is hard to separate the two teams... but that call ruined my whole day.
2-1 is a good score. It usually means one team is good but the other was just better on that day. It's a respectable score but how you go about getting it should be respectable as well.
I know I have no reason to be on a high horse about taking advantage but Old Trafford has a way of brainwashing referees. It's not a conspiracy but answer me this, how come there is always at least 5-6 minutes at the end of the second half at Old Trafford? Everyone knows, don't pretend it doesn't exist. I'm also not going to mention the other dubious MancScum penalty that ended an Arsenal run.
In short, shattered was my good day. I tried to stay for the Italian Oscars but was so worn out and dejected. At least it wasn't as bad as 2006 World Cup, I can say that in reality. I had never been so sad at football, cheating Italians.
I said my good-byes and did the long drive home. I walked in, put my Ska station on Pandora and went to sleep for a couple hours before going for pizza. I get a message from ACMilan about the pub becoming a bit of a mess after I left.
After I had gone, the MancScum supporters from the African contingent started gloating about their win. I know they had a few drinks in them by that time but it doesn't excuse it. LilBlondeGooner and her man were there and took a great deal of the abuse. Completely unnecessary in my book but I didn't witness it. However I do trust the word of ACMilan on that one.
So the lesson for today... Most, not all but MOST ManYoo supporters really are scum.
I will officially make exception for a few that I've been close to over the years, as they are, in my opinion true supporters not only of their club but of football in general. Three in particular, I have been watching games with since 2003/4. GrumpyGooner mentioned that to me the other day.
A few bad apples can really spoil the bunch though. ManYoo seems to attract many bad apples unfortunately. At the end of the day, I say this as a supporter of the sport and nothing else, they are a good club with a lot of history.
Bottom line, when the two come together, Arsenal-ManYoo, it is always a good game.
Still annoyed.
~LeChat
Addendum - wanted to add this link from WDKF, nice to see a ManYoo supporter's perspective on the shit ejection of Wenger. It really was shit.
