Something about soccer today? (a post for DK and Miguel)

So there is some humongous soccer game today. In Moscow. Russia eased its visa requirements so that thousands of English football fans could fly to Moscow to watch the UEFA Championship game between Chelsea and Manchester United (Man U).

I marginally understand what it all that means. I jest; I actually understand a lot thanks to Miguel, who explained how English football and how the Premier league works over a scrumptious brunch right before I left New York. DK has also been feeding me pointers and tidbits on various football clubs in England.

Obviously there are other sports played in this country; obviously, the only one that matters is football. It is obsessive. There is a championship game here every other DAY it seems. You go to the train station, and you see people dressed up in ridiculous outfits. If you thought tailgating and American football fans looked stupid, painting their bare chests in -10 degree weather in, like, Green Bay, WI, come to London and check out the football fans. Unbelievable. They have these chants that, once the fans are drunk and shouting in unison, are unintelligible.

Because of the absolute enormity of the sport, it's impossible for anyone in London not to support a football club. Who one supports is a very important decision; it can not be made lightly, or retracted; like baseball in the US, once you pick a team, you never go back on it. Even if you picked your team when you were 5, that's your team.

So, in this very public forum, I'm going to announce that I've picked my team: The Tottenham Hotspurs. I've picked them for the following reasons:

1. I like their rooster logo (recently redrawn)
2. I like calling them the Tottenham Hotties
3. They seem like a bit of a scruffy underdog (like my Mets!)
4. They are the historically Jewish team so half of me likes them more than the other clubs.

So! Now I can move on to my typical M.O. of not actually following a sports team of any type until they make it to the playoffs (but reserve the right to grumble when thy don't).