Life's hardest Lesson
Gooners 0
East End Yobs 1
(Zamora 45th)
Some practitioners of the Japanese art of ikebana believe that perfection offends the gods.
Thus when they complete their work, they don't forget to introduce a minor (but almost unseen) defect so as to appease the said gods.
There was a good friend of mine who at one time had this peculiar problem.
No matter how careful he was, he would inevitably, during a meal, spill something from his plate.
Everyone found it funny but I knew he was getting embarassed about it - I mean, how would you feel when you're digging into a pizza with fork and knife in a restaurant and it went flying off your plate and coming to rest against your date's glass of water?
At 21, you'll probably wish the IRA had planted a bomb next door that would go off just then.
Anyway, after I read about this ikebana thingy, I decided to try an experiment on him on our next meal together.
Without telling him anything, I just took his hand and carefully made him spill a teensy bit of gravy from his fork onto the tablecloth.
He raised his eyebrows.
"Why did you do that?"
"Well, I'm thinking that since you're going to spill something during the meal, then it's better for you to do it on your own terms and keep it discreet."
He thought about it for a bit, shrugged and dug in.
And what do you know? It bloody worked.
I wish I could tell you that he never spilled anything during a meal ever again but then we're all human, innit?
And what are humans but born sceptics.
He tried doing it a few times, then he decided he was over the thing.
Except that the very next meal that he didn't spill something deliberately, he knocked over his (new) date's water glass.
After THAT, he was a convert.
How I wish I can figure out how to apply this to the Arsenal team and stop this current rot.
Again we dominated - 29 shots, 12 on target, all miraculously saved by Robert Green and the two that he couldn't save hit the bar and the post.
The yobs had 2 chances and put one away.
So much so that it is not even ridiculous anymore.
It has to be something else.
It's as if the Divine, in His Infinite Wisdom, has seen fit to decree that try as we might, we would not win anything this season - except accolades for our passing and praise for our off-the-ball movement.
But I am not pissed at the team - anyone can see they're trying their damndest best.
I feel sorry for them - because I think they're not really playing against any opponents.
It's because I think they're really going up against the Divine Will.
And if that is the case, what else is there to do but to continue plugging away - and prove to ourselves that we're never quitters. Never.
Probably that's what the Divine intends for all us to learn - club, team and especially fans.
As for those so-called Arsenal fans who booed the team off, you can just fucking piss off and stay away from our matches.
True fans stand by their team - regardless of rain, shine, win, lose or even marriage.
True fans keep reminding their team that they are there - FOR the team.
And not the other way round - like fairweather arseholes think, just because they had paid for their tickets.
That is why I will always salute the Scousers - win, lose or cricket score, they will still stand up and SING for their team.
Always. Even when we were spanking the chelsea out of them.
All that true fans ask from their teams is that win or lose, the team NEVER gives up.
And that is the hardest lesson - not just on the field but in Life itself.
The Highbury Squirrel
Probably the staunchest Gooner ever ...
8 comments:
i think life's hardest lesson would be learning that height and length are not always proportionate :D
what's the story about the squirrel again?
The Highbury squirrel made his appearance just before the kickoff of the last CL match to be held at Highbury.
The whole stadium roared when the cameras caught him and the papers carried him as a news item the next day.
They said he came out to join the crowd bidding farewell to Highbury.
:D
i think the only bit in this entry that i can faham is the picture of the green grass.
*moo*
babe,
U mean u missed the whole squirrel?
Sampai hati ... it took me half an hour to find a good picture of it ...
I like small, fluffy, furry things ... :P
I like you so I shall share with you an insight into what football is all about. Loyalty. Please dont salute the Scousers. They are just like the american rednecks but with a penchant for melodrama. To know what it means aboutloyalty you will have to go fans of Man City/Sunderland/Leeds/QPR/Millwall/West Ham. That my friend are loyal fans. Fans who travel for a hundred miles in foul weather knowing that the team will get a thrashing. That is loyalty. These fans support the their team not because the team is winning or Michael Owen or they play attractive football (on the telly) but the team represent their community. I would look at you lot differently if Arsenal or Liverpool was in no-man's land when you pledged your loyalty to team. But they are the top teams all the while.
~Sergei On Medical Leave~
For me, the two teams who plays football the way it should be played are Man United and Arsenal. Hate them as much as you want, United always had the same philosophy from the Busby days. Classy attacking football above everything else. My favourite is the Ron Atkinson's team. They could've played more defensive and win one title in the L'pool dominated 80s but they didnt know how. Arsenal had a similar style too esp during the Brady/Sunderland days but George Graham kinda tainted it with defensive teams. But Arsenal of the last 5 years just oozes class and style. They are just beautiful to watch. If Man Utd 99' team was like a Ferrari, Arsenal undefeated team was like a purring Maserati.
I find Chelsea and Liverpool boring. The former with their efficient style and the latter are only good at counter attacking. At least the 1st generation Houllier team took the game to the opponent. Using the car analogy, Chelsea is like a Mercedes Benz and Liverpool a Porsche.
Note: I have never driven a Ferrari nor a Maserati.
~Sergei on Medical Leave~
You're wrong Sergei. Arsenal finished 10th in '93 and 12th in '95 - pretty catastrophic for a club of its size (and if you've been supporting the club even longer, they're pretty much mid-tabblers in the 70's and early 80's). We're still here though.
OMG, Sir Gay likes me ... eeyuwwww
:P
But I hear what u say and u heard wot skiver said.
Before 89, we last won the League in 71. I became a Gooner in 79, when we showed enuff character to see off ManU even after they came back from 2 goals down.
So we won the league 10 years after I became a Gooner, the next FA Cup in 93 (14 years), Mickey Mouse 87 (8 years), CUp Winners Cup 93 (14 years) - it would be so easy to support Liverpool or ManU at that time - like so many others here.
And read the thing properly la - I said loyalty means being there FOR the team. Meaning you're there NOT for yourself or your ego.
(How they play is something else - as long as they give their all, they're MY team.)
Meaning SINGING for your team even when they're at the wrong end of a cricket score - which is what Scousers and no one else does.
I mean I wish the Ashburton crowd were more like the Kop End.
Tu jer ...
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