HumblePieEyed

Grew up Down South (Alabama, Florida, South Carolina) in the 50s and 60s so never even heard of soccer as a kid. While in London in 1977 I was taken by a friend to White Hart Lane for my first ever football match, with Manchester United the visitors. I loved everything about it, especially the crowd SINGING, and even though I thought "Hotspur" was the coolest name ever, watching these long haired rock star looking guys in red made me a fan then and there. Even bought a United kit at a sporting goods store in London afterward ;-)

Back then, in the States, there was no way to see English games, in fact the only games on TV were a one-hour recap of a Bundesliga game every week on Public Television. But I faithfully followed United all those years by going to the library and reading the Manchester Guardian. Went to NY Cosmos games, since I lived in NYC, but just not the same aura.

A couple of years ago the miracle known as Fox Soccer Channel let me finally see United again, almost every week, and now NBC lets me see every single game. I haven't missed a game in 4 years (record lots of them like midweek or Cup, CL, etc, during work hours)) even though I usually have to get up at daybreak on the weekend to watch them live.

I could never have been a footballer, I played ice hockey for 20 years and love the rough stuff, and probably would have played rugby if I grew up in UK, but I truly love watching United play.