flat·u·lence 1) The presence of excessive gas in the digestive tract. 2) Self-importance; pomposity.

Tuesday, June 21, 2005

Liverpool Football Club

Liverpool Football Club - 2005 European Champions' League Winners

I know it's kinda late to talk about it - it's been almost a month since the unthinkable happened. And like a disgustingly fat kid in Willy Wonka's Choco Factory, I've been devouring every Liverpool related article - trying to relive the experiences of fellow Reds that made the trip to the Bosphorus. Checkout this site - for the fans, by the fans - good shit.

I think alot of you ppl out there do not know wat Liverpool Football Club means to me. Why I'm such a big fan of LFC since I don't even play the game (yup, the big secret is out, sorry to all adoring sexy flatu-natics, I'm no sportsman, no bronzed greek god physique, just a disgustingly fat 27 yr old chinese dude...go on, move on, nothing to see here...)

To understand wat LFC means to me, we have to take a trip back in time, back to where it all started...brace yourself, it's gonna be pretty darn pathetic...bear in mind, I never actually bared my soul b4 and this story was never told in completion to anybody ever...maybe Loe or Rod or Mel (Melvin, not slutty Mel) heard bits & pieces...but not the complete version...

Now, I'm no long-time Liverpool fan. 9 years is such a short time compared to other Reds fans, they boast of seeing Liverpool in their tight adidas jersies, candy jersies, the past glories, conquering Europe, Shankly Paisley Grobbelaar Souness Keegan Toshack Daglish Barnes Rush...

My love affair with the Reds started back in VJC, in 1996, about 9 years ago. 2nd year JC student, had a galfren, grades are not bad (by VJC's standards, confirm a few As no problem)....I was the king of the world! nothing could go wrong....I read about soccer but know nuts about Liverpool. Back in my SJI days, the mamas and mats were soccermad, the name Liverpool came up a few times but my priorities were set on getting good grades and not dissappointing my parents...haha, give it up for filial jo...thanks for the applause let's move on...

Then she dumped me. Right there in July of 1996, the night of VJC College Day, a few months before the final exams. I was devastated. I was down. I couldn't think straight. I couldn't come to terms with the breakup. It was bad, real bad. I dunno if it was evident to the ppl around me, but I tried not to show it, cos only wimpy boys cry...

I knew I had to forget about her but I couldn't. I told myself I had to focus my energies on something else... I had to find things to do, I had extra time to kill since now I don't have her anymore....if you were observant enuff, you would have noticed I started to frequent the gym...hongkie classmate Chung was there, sometimes Jerm joined him, so I tagged along. I tried to work it away...but the gym didnt work. It just me more tired, made me more shitty...more frustrated

I made a few weakass attempts to get her back, asked her out, remembering her bday etc, she shot me down everytime...it's not her fault, I was the one that couldn't let go.....

Then, it was one of those boring, hot afternoons.... I was sitting at the canteen, at our regular S32 tables (the ones near the pull-up bars), after another unsuccessful session at the gym... I thought to myself - I got to do some shit, the gym thing is not working...and suddenly CRASH! I looked up and saw this half naked chinese dude, tears in his eyes, shouting some unintelligible crap to himself. He had flung his soccer boots at the pull-up bars and proceed to kick the hell out of the bars. I was like WTF man, shit man, so old still throw tantrum...at least wear the bloody boots then kick lah, at least not so painful....most prob he got kicked out of the team or something cos this fella was a VJ jock, quite athletic. I never knew what happened to him, but as I was walking out of the school later that evening, I asked myself - hmmm can soccer be the key to my problems...

Now, I was definitely not gonna play soccer...I was born without any athletic DNA, my body do not react well to physical exertions - haha, which is why the gym thing didn't work out. Anyways, I was thinking, if that idiot can be so passionate about soccer why can't I? I dun have to play, just support a team. Soccer is a man's game, it's macho and it beats taking up knitting or flower arrangement to forget about her... So here's my selection process:

Which league?
EPL is by far the most watched league in the world. Back then, there was regular telecast of matches and news about the EPL were readily available. And everything is in English, so I dun have to pickup new languages. Serie A was boring (it still is!) so that's out. La Liga was not really shown on TV so that's out. So EPL chose I did.

Which team?
I needed a team that I can support, to pour my passion and energies into the team, to invest my pent-up angst into the team...to follow its ups and downs, I want the team to be successful but at the same time I want to be there and support them when they are down.

Arsenal sounds dope. Wat kind of team is called a "supply of weapons"? Chelsea sounds girlish. Newcastle sounds ok but there's no potential there, the jersey looks like a Juve rip-off. ManU. Everybody knows ManU was the top team in the 90s. Beckham was winning girls with his looks and winnning matches with his pinpoint crosses & freekicks. ManU did their marketing well, cashing in on their merchandising and their star posterboy. To support ManU it's just too easy. Where's the challenge? They would win almost every game and everything would be hunky dory.

In the end, I decided on Liverpool Football Club. I did my research. There was a rich history behind the club, players came to play and left as legends. They played kickass football and conquered Europe in the 70s & 80s. In 1996, they were crap. But I knew a club with such legacy could once again rise up or at least I hoped it would...

Well, they were crap. There was the Spiceboys shit, defence was non-existent. As I wallowed in self-pity, they were there with me, down in mid-table purgatory. It was frustrating watching them play but when they registered a win, the feeling was fantastic. I spent the rest of my JC days cramming for the exams and supporting LFC. As time went by, my bittersweet memories of her faded...just like LFC's hopes of winning the EPL that year.....

When I entered NUS, I forgot about her, I didn't see the need to "use" LFC. I'm ashamed to say this but I discarded LFC like a used rubber....Fortunately I met some LFC-mad hall friends in NUS, they guided me back into the red path. Damn that was corny. As I hang out with them more, I took to the game and I officially adopted LFC as my team.

Anyways, thats how and why I will always be a RED...
err....abit awkward now....somehow feel naked...errr....paiseh....bye bye

2 Comments:

Anonymous said...

Arsenal rocks!!

Anonymous said...

darn, U poseur!
At least i started watching Beardsley and Barnes play everton and cyrstal palace on Sunday afternoons on RTM2; and Nottingham Forest was a div 1 team

It was also the time when Larry Bird leads the Celtics (talking abt hoops now).

So i had supported Pool 10 years more than U!

larry