It palpably IS a hobby though. Those train enthusiasts who turn up at Crew station to watch a locomotive roll through on a Saturday. Having woken up at 0600 to get there on time would be as devastated as you would be having spurs lose a football game if the train was cancelled. The guy that loses an 8 pound trout just as he is about to land it and the line snaps. He will never forget it for his entire life.
Its the same thing. You just think football is cooler. You have pretty much the same level of influence in the outcome of your passion. None.
I remember us losing 5 1to Woolwinch In a carling cup match in extra time. It’s where they coined the song is there a fire drill as our fans left. I stayed to the very bitter ended because I cared about the players. I could see they were trying. I didn’t want them to be in their home stadium outnumbered by away fans. It was a magical end as the 5k of us left out sung the scum fans for 20 minutes. It confused the hell out of them.
This is different now. We are not fans. We are consumers. Marks to be rinsed in every way possible by a regime that are inept liars. Not worthy of our support .
Anyone with a brain can see Spurs are a joke club now. A banter club. I used to go to away games with a couple of anoraks. You sound like one of those.
No Offence intended. This is your passion. Your life. But excuse me if I see past the blind loyalty of ‘this is my one club, my only club’ bollocks.
You‘re not going to war. You’re paying to watch millionaires play football for a billionaire. For them all to earn money off your wages.
Don’t pretend you’re some sort of hero.
I totally get your point...
But the point I
think I was trying to make is that I love THE CLUB.... TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR F.C. not necessarily the hierarchy who dictate the direction my club is going in...
...don't get me wrong, I fucking hate the shower if shit that 'REPRESENT' the club right now, from top to bottom... Purely because they're tarnishing my view of the club, and making me question my love for what is now just a 'brand'.... For that, I can never forgive them.
The old Sol Campbell banner was never truer than now:
"We hate you because we loved you!"
That's how I felt walking out of the ground yesterday.... I hate them BECAUSE of how they've now made me question 45+ years of loyalty... For what?
Don't get me wrong, I'm a football fan, but a realist. (and please don't confuse me with the anoraks you used to travel to away grounds with, I love it, but I don't 'live it'... But while we're at it.... if you
had been on all those away days as you say, you'd know it's
Crewe not
'Crew'!!
anyway, I digress with pettiness...
The comparison with the passionate Angler and a football fan is fair, but I guess the difference is the Angler CAN sometimes directly control his ability to catch a fish or not... a football fan (as we all know deep down) can have no effect on the outcome of a game...
Though having said that, I did once start a passionate Chorus of
*When the Spurs go marching in" (slow version, obvs) at the Old WHL that culminated in us scoring as the song was in full flow....
For that brief moment, I thought I had directly contributed to us scoring a goal... Naive, maybe, but I'm sure other fans have had a similar experience... we know we can't affect a result, but on the odd occasion you get a feeling you did your bit to help, it's fucking magic!
Yes, it's as rare as it is unlikely, but it keeps us going, and coming back for more.
It's not blind faith, I go to a game with my eyes wide open... I know it's futile, and whether 11 millionaires win or lose SHOULDN'T affect my week, but it does.
Maybe the analogy is more with that of an addict... which I think many fans would openly admit we are...
We KNOW it's no good for us, yet we keep coming back for more, in the forlorn hope of that indescribable high, and maybe being the one who starts the song that leads to a goal!
