I had an interesting off-season. After last year’s election, and the various things that eventuated from that, I just had to get my head away from Rugby League so I decided I’d follow my EPL side Tottenham with a little more vigour than I normally would. I even starting doing some blogging and posting on a Spurs fans site, and I’ve come away from the experience with quite a renewed perspective.
Firstly, I was amazed at how much deeper my appreciation and understanding of the sport and team developed by participating in a supporter’s forum. Having run 1Eyed Eel for more than a decade now, I’ve kind of forgotten what it was like to casually support a team from the sidelines. Once you start engaging with people, who clearly know a lot about the sport and your club, your whole engagement with both changes dramatically. I found myself feverishly checking online sites trying to track down teamlists so I could work out what formation Spurs might use for each particular match and then passing my own judgement as to whether that’s what I’d be doing. Post-match I would dive online again, despite it often being 4am in the morning for my hit of commentariat analysis.
However, on the flipside that, I found myself being amazed at the differing passion/loyalty/perceptions of many Tottenham supporters. While, I became far more engaged from an analytical point of view, I’ve never been at the point where you develop a blinkered, emotional attachments to individual players. To me, it was quite obvious that this player or that, had played well-below par. However, without fail a section of the supporter base would always back the player and find moments during the game to support why the player “wasn’t that bad”. Hence would begin the inevitable discussion of people questioning other’s people’s support of the side. From a relative outsider’s perspective, it was all very amusing.
I realised I was looking at the game and was supporting the side through a completely different lens to how I support Parramatta. With Tottenham, my loyalty is wholly towards the team result. I just want them to win. For the most part, I’m looking at the players at nothing more than mechanisms which are used to achieve a desired result - which is to win the football match.
Suddenly, my tolerance for mistakes and poor play drops to almost zero. I’m no longer content for a player just to play fairly. If you’re competing for the top places in the Premier League, it is an incredibly unforgiving sport. You have to basically win every match, and every mistake a player makes can have enormous ramifications for the result and subsequently a club’s fortunes. This is a League where if you have a bad year, you don’t pick yourself up and try again next year, you get relegated, lose most of your players and almost literally have to start again. On the forum I’ve been using, I think I’m just about the most negative blogger on the site.
In my support of Parramatta I do have a fierce emotional attachments to the players. I’ve watched many of them play since they were 15. I’ve talked many of them up, argued for their inclusion into the side, had many personal exchanges, and even gotten to know some of them personally. I find it really difficult to write anything negative about these guys, hence my card-carrying membership of the unicorn brigade.
So while I’m always going to lean towards the ‘1Eyed’ and be forever optimistic, this year I’m aiming to put a bit of objectivity back into my own writing and analysis. When I started the site, I deliberately tried to distance myself from everything so I could maintain some objectivity, and I want to get back to a bit of my journalistic roots this year. I’ve quite enjoyed being more of the passive observer in relation to Spurs and realise I’ve missed some of the writing that has allowed me to tackle. To be honest, I don’t know if I’ll be able to do it, I may be in too deep to pull out now, but already I’ve found myself being able to think differently about the side because I’m not just automatically assuming everything is going to suddenly be better this year because I want it to be. I want to maintain the passion but bring back a bit of objectivity.
And all of this has really rammed home to me the reality that everyone gets something different out of their support of a sporting side. For some, they love having something they can put blind faith into, for others it’s about analysing what’s wrong and what’s right, others just want to really experience that euphoria of winning over and above everything else. There is no right way to support your club. You support your club by backing up next week, no matter what happened this week. This site is, and always will be a forum for every Parramatta fan to have their say, voice their feelings and express their support for their club their way.
Footy is upon us, and it’s taken me a little longer this year to start getting the tingles of excitement that I know mean we're leading up to a big footy game, especially a home one. Consider this blog, official confirmation that the tingles are back. Bring on season 2013.
Replies
Don't worry Phil - get some topical cream from the pharmacy, and those tingles will soon go away....
Great blog though.
Aaaaah the first arrow in the shoulder of the unicorn has been struck, music to my ears..
So Snake, serious question for you. Have you ever done any introspection on your own model of support. Does it concern you that having been so vocally negative about so many aspects of the club that if things do turn around and we are suddenly successful that you'll not be able to enjoy that to the same extent because in some way you'll be more concerned about being proved wrong, then enjoying the success. And I'm seriously not trying to take the piss out of you here, it's something I've always never been able to reconcile about supporters who are largely negative. Sometimes I feel people seem to actually take pleasure out of us losing because they get to say I told you so. You know as things stand, all those who were critical of the coach, the board, the former CEOs, etc were proven to be the wise ones, but I struggle with the risk that I don't ever want being wrong to get in the way of any satisfaction gained from the side winning.
hahahah likewise with Chelsea! ;)
I totally understand what your saying, but i speak from the heart.
Ive backed ricky to the hilt, i think he is the right man for the job, certainly the best on offer at the time, im quite happy to be proven wrong about that.
I consider myself as a realist, im cynical through experience and dont suffer fools lightly.
Phil, we have been a rabble for a long time, when i judge something i always take into concsiderance the past, its the best judge of the future.
Im not concerned about being proven wrong, infact im happy to admit when im wrong, especially if it is to do with the success of our club.. but im very rarely proven wrong :) infact i cant remember the last time i was ;)
Yes i always use introspection about all of my views in life, thats an important way of personal growth.
Its not all about saying you where right or wrong its about speaking from the heart, but at present i have the points on my side, not the other way round.
We are bottom of the barrel phil, its not the time imo to be being positive for the sake of it, its time to put bias aside and get the job done.
We wont make the 8 this year, ive picked us for 10th, and thats a very unicorn call, id say in reality we are a last 4 team.
I pride myself on being to make an early call on situations, im sure you do too, and i think im a pretty good judge of a situation, the eels and RL, just as you would consider yourself.
Basically i have nothing to worry about because im very confident of my views :)
There will be no sudden success this year, take that to the bank.
But i still believe we will be twice as successful as last year, probably about 8-10 wins.
Im very cynical and miles from naive and i believe that serves me very well when it comes to footy.
Phil, you will know when things are on the up at the eels, because i will make the early call and let you all know :):)
Until then, just carry on as you will, i got a nose like a dog, i can sniff this shite comin from miles off ;)
I completely agree with your call about Ricky. People have bagged his record with the Sharks but he's won a Premiership, SOO series and International trophies. I'm someone who tries to see the positives in everything and I'm always looking to find an upside to a loss or in the case of last year an entire season.
Phil to add to that, lol ive always gotta add something :) during the brian smith years i was a happy eels supporter, and i still say he put us on the map again after 86.
You have only known me for a year, and a blind rabid dog could see last year that SK was a disaster, its been the lowest year for me as an eels fan in 37 years.
We need a massive culture change and i hope ricky is the start of that.
We have been soft on the park
Dramas with the running of the club
Fans treated poorly
Vested interests having a say in the club
Totally leaderless on and off the park
Mate anybody can see we have been a rabble, i believe being blindly positive only adds to the rabble in every way.
People power, acknowledgement of where we are at and a healthy dose of reality is what creates change for the better.
If you have a kid addicted to drugs what do you think the better option is?
Being soft and saying everythings ok and its gonna be a new year next year and lots of cuddles and kisses, and living in hope and dream
or
Getting real, being proactive, getting the kid to rehab, ITS CALLED TOUGH LOVE, its what works, same goes for a footy team
Funnily enough Phil I did something similar to you. I follow Liverpool in the EPL and so I hopped onto a couple of their forums during the off-season, even staying up to 2am to watch big matches. They absolutely hammer players if they under-perform but you always get the small selection who will still back the player. I agree that the EPL is completely cut-throat. And for LFC it's even more so given the success that is expected with such a huge club.
However, I did take out of it how much they support the team and the club. You can't really have an affinity with one player at the club as there are so many transfers although I do have my favourites being Gerrard and Carragher. The big thing with LFC is that they hammer the supporters who are negative and commonly quote Bill Shankly who famously said "If you can't support us when we draw or lose then you don't deserve to support us when we win."
I'm just glad that the Rugby League is back. I seemed to be seen as a bit of a negative supporter on their forums but always had someone who could see what I meant. I love the freedom of this site and the ability to air my view without it being reviewed and changed provided it's within the code of conduct. Hopefully the team goes well and we don't descend into anarchy. Bring on the footy for 2013. I'll be cheering from Europe all season.
Over the last 24 hours, I've developed my catchphrase for my current frame of mind.
"You will always have my support, but you have to earn my optimism"
P.S. Sorry in advance for the loss we'll be handing you next EPL match.
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