2000-2001 - A football Odyssey (Football in General)

Name: salgirl

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Product:	Football in General
Date:	13/05/01 (15 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Break your heart with joy

Disadvantages: Break your heart with sorrow

There's nothing worse than an average season of football. A season where everything goes according to predictions, the teams who have the money at the top of the league, those who don't, languishing at the bottom. No surprise scorelines, no farcical ironies, no shock transfers, no shock sackings, no shocks full stop. Life is sooooooo dull when all that happens.

Well, hurrah for the 2000/2001 season. This one wears the sash of honour for providing us with a whole rake of issues that have kept the sport bubbling furiously. It affords us excellent material for examining football in general - which is a very handy thing considering this sporting category.

**Why Do We Love Football So Much?**

If you're a football-hating woman reading this, then there's every chance that you're actually seeing the phrase, 'Why Does He Love Football More Than Me?' Well, it's quite simple really. This is a tribal thing. This is all about having found a team that represents everything that's deemed important in life, like Respect, Image, Success and Love, it's akin to a mini religion which should be worshipped at all costs. Football will give incredibly powerful doses of ego-massaging euphoria which, once exposed to, is hard to give up.

Case Study: Salgirl is a West Ham supporter. This means she loves the under-dog, admires grit, determination, and passion, and an entertaining style of football. Salgirl's moment of Glory comes when her flung together team (complete with one-legged goalie and injured forward) meets the might of Manchester United, THE team to defeat anywhere in the world (or so they like to think) and beats them with a bigger dose of cheek than Man U were giving out.

The game provided Farcical Irony, a Shock Defeat, a Shock Goal, and a display of True Love when 9,000 away fans outsung over 50,000 home fans.

Football In General Rating = 5 stars.


**Why is football so
exciting?**

Many games prove the rule that it aint over till the 'B****** in the Black' blows the whistle.

Case Study: Arsenal v Liverpool FA Cup Final 2001. No goals until the 73rd minute when the team that had dominated the entire match (Arsenal) took the lead. With only 8 minutes of the match remaining, Liverpool reply with 2 goals, to snatch victory and leave my husband with a lingering depression.

The game provided 2 out of 3 shocking goals, an unpredicted defeat and a fitting end to a superb FA Cup Campaign.

Football in General Rating = 4 stars.

**Why are seasons so different?**

That's the beautiful game for yer! When you're dealing with a sport that has to take into consideration the feelings and abilities of 11 men on each side, it's got to be changeable. Not forgetting the money factor of course. Or whether you manage to have consistency with the Managers and Coaches. Or whether you manage to keep the winning formula team together.

Case Studies: West Ham lose two key factors in their outfit, Rio Ferdinand (defender) and Harry Redknapp (manager), Rio at the early stages of the season, Harry at the latter. The loss in defence showed as the team gradually slump down the table, and the effect of Harry leaving has yet to be seen. A different season will surely follow, whether that be good or bad, but it'll be worth watching for.

Fulham were an indifferent club, going nowhere special, then a very rich man steps in to throw money at their problems. The resulting change is enough to take your breath away. Finishing top of the division, this is a massive turn around in their season, and they are relishing their belated return to top flight football, waving over 100 points gained in the faces of the premiership clubs. Yikes!

Tranmere Rovers and Wycombe Wanderers carry the standard for having provided the FA Cup run with some of the most stirring bulldog spirit see
n in many a year, yet their League positions portray nothing of those capabilities.

Football In General Rating = 4 Stars.



I've tried to give you just a flavour of what Football in general has been like this season. There's much more but hubby wants to get on the computer and the kids need their tent putting up, so I gotta go. But I'll be updating this I'm sure.

Football is a great game. Don't you just love it??

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