NAIROBI, May 22 – To start with, I do not claim to be an expert on all sport or any sport for that matter.
I am just a girl who happened to pick race cars over dolls and baseball gloves over lip gloss – so being athletic and loving activity can never be confused with actually knowing your sport – so you will hear it from me as from the head of many a woman out there who really cant be concerned with the details but strives not to be completely clue-less so ladies but especially gents – read on.
You see it all started with Manchester United being the team to support- headstrong and clue less was I, but not wanting to appear an outsider to this circus I immediately went ahead to pledge my allegiance with the reds.
The love affair turned sour when I chanced upon Rooney’s face. Now that may seem rather shallow but I know not how else I can make you see football through my eyes – The eyes of a woman and if I may say so one with not too low an IQ …
However – I digress.
Little by little I then began to understand the things that made football a world wide phenomena; the interesting fact that supporting the same team as the client meant the difference between you getting the deal or not sometimes!
The feeling of walking down a street in a red jersey and having a car full of enthusiastic ‘we just watched the match and cant believe our team won’ lads yell your team name and treat you like someone they have known their whole lives.
If you have a nay sayer amongst you it is always encouraged to take them to the local watering hole and watch a match with other supporters/rivals that is where the real beauty of the game lies – the collective sighs and yelps, grunts and curses, not to mention the advice that for some reason the players never heed!
Much as you are not the coach not even in the same continent viewers in the pub always seem to persist in telling the coach and the players what to do! It never ceases to amaze me!
But it’s the passion and ferocity of emotion that go through one as the game unravels and you feel the air become palpable, losing a game can feel much like losing a loved one and if one had money on it then obviously the stakes are even higher.
Then there is the phenomenon that as long as you have watched a minimum of 10 matches you are somehow an expert on all matters football! Suddenly the ‘game review’ that happens after the event is just as important as the match itself.
Witness men converge as If they were on super sport during half time to discuss ball possession, choice of team line up, goal keeper techniques and whether it was defensive or aggressive football and was it a boring game or one where the teams were out to entertain as well as keep the other team from scoring.
Either way what a way to spend your leisure time – so gentlemen keep giving me something to write about – ladies, get out there and start pretending to have a clue!
