Tuesday Musings

We all love football, we feel proud to be associated with it and to bask in its rich history but nevertheless remain vehement in support of our clubs (or countries) and belligerent in opposition to all those who don't. I often ponder about this madness, and my musings tend to give me a few grins.

What do we love so much about football  and our very own team's version or interpretation of it. Some claim to be advent supporters of free flowing attack but are quick to pulverize their team for a weak underbelly and being too naive when they take too much risk going forward, but is this not what it means to value attack above all else, such that nothing else is as important and nothing is too risky to try? Others say that defence is the best form of attack but are the first to scream for the managers head when team goes ahead to consistently "Park the bus". Some (at club level) go ahead to cry for marquee signings and extravagant outlays in the transfer market but heavily criticize the club hierarchy of fiscal irresponsibility and a lack of transfer shrewdness when the very same players they cried for turn out to be huge flops (careful what you wish for people).

All in all it would seem that the life of the football fan is marked by an unparalleled level of hypocrisy, polarizing behavior and even borderline myopic fanaticism. This would however be supremely parochial and a gross misrepresentation. Over the course of a season the football fan experiences the full range of human emotions, from profound optimism to extreme pessimism, a never ending whirlwind of contrasting and often conflicting emotions. Football affects us as individuals and the society at large in ways that can't be explained and builds hidden predilections that defies not only logic but illogic as well (apparently). This however is what makes football so amazing, it's ability to completely enthrall, intrigue, disappoint and build togetherness all at once. For in Football we find an escape from all other life realities, a common ground to set aside all and embody one emblem.

So my question to you today is what does the beautiful game mean to you?