One Fan's Thank You To FC Barcelona
This wednesday FC Barcelona won the La Liga championship for the best team in Spain for the 3rd consecutive season. Today they paraded in the streets of Barcelona to celebrate in front of their adoring fans. Although I wasn’t in those streets, or in their Camp Nou stadium where they culminated this epic celebration, I am one of the millions of fans who have been able to root on and celebrate the epic achievements of the past three years and, by extension, the last seven to thirteen years.
Anybody who knows me as a sports fan knows that my sports loving heart belongs to the Oakland Raiders of the NFL. They’re my team, from my city. I’ve lived and died from Sunday to Sunday supporting the Raiders. I am a card-carrying member of the Raider Nation. I always will be and that’s just the way it is.
I always liked the game of world football (better known here as soccer) for its passion, its drive, its pace and its drama. Goals were so rare that I was glued to the TV in hopes I wouldn’t miss one.
I was a Juventus fan first. A Juventino I still am. But FC Barcelona presented football to me in a new way in which I couldn’t get away from. For the first time, football was an art to me. It started in ’97 when, being a fan of the Brazilian National Team and in particular, Ronaldo, I was introduced to Barça. I stayed after his quick departure and when fellow Brazilian, Ronaldinho arrived, it was ON! It was at this time when Barça became far and away my favorite soccer team. 2003-2008. Five years of Magic. The Camp Nou was ‘The Highlight Factory’ long before Atlanta’s Phillips Arena. With Dinho, Eto’o, and Deco, I didn’t think world football could ever be any better.
But from 2008 to today, this is different.
I love sports. I love sports a lot. But I’m smart enough to understand its proper perspective in the overall scheme in life. Sports is the 'toy department' of life. Its a place of leisure. Its a place where one can direct their passions and energies in a diversion from the toils and struggles of real life and into a game. We can feel ecstatic joy and heartbreak alike. But we know we'll be okay. In the end, its only a game.
Sometimes, however, sports can mean more. A game can be more than a game. A team can be more than a team, and a club can be "Més Que Un Club". The appeal of FC Barcelona is unmistakable. Anybody who has ever played there, or who ever supported them, feel it in a different way than any other team that they support. In such a way, the similarities in being a Barça fan and being a Raider fan are there in the way the fan base feels a part of the team. Funny part is, as a Raider fan, I revel in the 'Bad Guy' role. When we're good, we play one hell of a villain. We revel in it, and always will.
Being a Culé (Barça fan) is a polar opposite. FC Barcelona stands for class. We revel in taking the high road. We believe in the ideals and the morals that make the team a cut above the rest. Barça plays according to a style that makes it a priority to entertain the fans. I was personally raised in the ideals of "Just Win Baby" but Barça believes in winning in a certain yet special way: with class, with style, and with eye catching magic. What a paradox! Yet, in my sporting mind, they co-exist perfectly.
From its diminutive and unassuming superstar, Lionel Messi to its proud and tough leader Carles Puyol to its calm conductor, Josep Guardiola, I can't imagine this team being any other way anymore.
They haven’t always been perfect, however. I cringe when Sergio Busquets or Dani Alves goes flying, flopping, and rolling all over the grass after being tackled. I’ve never been a fan of flopping and diving. I come to grips with it because I know its a part of the game, but I’ll never like it.
And there are times when I turn into “Joe Sportsfan”. You know him. The irrational whooper and hollarer who cusses at the player who just effed up. The guy who screams that the team should get rid of the guy who just missed a wide open goal; or who made the defensive blunder. But as a man and as a rational human being, I say thanks to the team and the players who have given me so much as a fan. Thanks for entertaining me. Thanks for giving me something to feel good about when real life seems to let me down. Thanks for playing in a way that allows me to look forward in anticipation to your next game because I know I’m gonna be sitting on the edge of my seat waiting for another memorable moment. Thank you for allowing me to appreciate the game in a way in which I’ve never done before. Thank you for reinventing and redefining the game, for spoiling me with your total team play, your slick passing, your constant movement, and your many goals. Thank you for linking me to new and great friends all over the world with whom I connect and become at one with around you.
Thank you for giving me the joy of winning. At a time when my beloved Raiders have been at their record breaking worst, Barça has been at their record breaking best.
Nothing, from a sports perspective, will approach the allegiance that I have to the Raiders. Sundays in the autumn are like no other. And as my Raiders begin their return to the top of the NFL, my excitement at finally having just a ‘decent’ team is through the roof. That said, what Barcelona has given me in emotion, joy, awe, and excitement, especially in these last few difficult years on a personal level, I have nothing but gratitude for.
As we approach the Champions League Final in a couple of weeks, Barça could either win or lose. As legendary as this team is, beating Manchester United in a one game showdown for is nowhere near a sure thing. Win or lose, I thank them ahead of time. While a victory would give us all so much more, not winning would take nothing away.
So to this Barcelona team, I say “Thank You”. You have been a gift to me, and to all fans. We share in the joy of your victory, whether its to gloat over Madridistas or simply because we’ve grown to feel like a part of it in some small way. I thank you because 20 or 30 years from now I can look back and say I stood behind one of the greatest teams in history. Wherever I live, with whomever I live with, I can tell the stories, show the videos, and rehash how it all made me feel.
Anybody who knows me as a sports fan knows that my sports loving heart belongs to the Oakland Raiders of the NFL. They’re my team, from my city. I’ve lived and died from Sunday to Sunday supporting the Raiders. I am a card-carrying member of the Raider Nation. I always will be and that’s just the way it is.
I always liked the game of world football (better known here as soccer) for its passion, its drive, its pace and its drama. Goals were so rare that I was glued to the TV in hopes I wouldn’t miss one.
I was a Juventus fan first. A Juventino I still am. But FC Barcelona presented football to me in a new way in which I couldn’t get away from. For the first time, football was an art to me. It started in ’97 when, being a fan of the Brazilian National Team and in particular, Ronaldo, I was introduced to Barça. I stayed after his quick departure and when fellow Brazilian, Ronaldinho arrived, it was ON! It was at this time when Barça became far and away my favorite soccer team. 2003-2008. Five years of Magic. The Camp Nou was ‘The Highlight Factory’ long before Atlanta’s Phillips Arena. With Dinho, Eto’o, and Deco, I didn’t think world football could ever be any better.
But from 2008 to today, this is different.
I love sports. I love sports a lot. But I’m smart enough to understand its proper perspective in the overall scheme in life. Sports is the 'toy department' of life. Its a place of leisure. Its a place where one can direct their passions and energies in a diversion from the toils and struggles of real life and into a game. We can feel ecstatic joy and heartbreak alike. But we know we'll be okay. In the end, its only a game.
Sometimes, however, sports can mean more. A game can be more than a game. A team can be more than a team, and a club can be "Més Que Un Club". The appeal of FC Barcelona is unmistakable. Anybody who has ever played there, or who ever supported them, feel it in a different way than any other team that they support. In such a way, the similarities in being a Barça fan and being a Raider fan are there in the way the fan base feels a part of the team. Funny part is, as a Raider fan, I revel in the 'Bad Guy' role. When we're good, we play one hell of a villain. We revel in it, and always will.
Being a Culé (Barça fan) is a polar opposite. FC Barcelona stands for class. We revel in taking the high road. We believe in the ideals and the morals that make the team a cut above the rest. Barça plays according to a style that makes it a priority to entertain the fans. I was personally raised in the ideals of "Just Win Baby" but Barça believes in winning in a certain yet special way: with class, with style, and with eye catching magic. What a paradox! Yet, in my sporting mind, they co-exist perfectly.
From its diminutive and unassuming superstar, Lionel Messi to its proud and tough leader Carles Puyol to its calm conductor, Josep Guardiola, I can't imagine this team being any other way anymore.
They haven’t always been perfect, however. I cringe when Sergio Busquets or Dani Alves goes flying, flopping, and rolling all over the grass after being tackled. I’ve never been a fan of flopping and diving. I come to grips with it because I know its a part of the game, but I’ll never like it.
And there are times when I turn into “Joe Sportsfan”. You know him. The irrational whooper and hollarer who cusses at the player who just effed up. The guy who screams that the team should get rid of the guy who just missed a wide open goal; or who made the defensive blunder. But as a man and as a rational human being, I say thanks to the team and the players who have given me so much as a fan. Thanks for entertaining me. Thanks for giving me something to feel good about when real life seems to let me down. Thanks for playing in a way that allows me to look forward in anticipation to your next game because I know I’m gonna be sitting on the edge of my seat waiting for another memorable moment. Thank you for allowing me to appreciate the game in a way in which I’ve never done before. Thank you for reinventing and redefining the game, for spoiling me with your total team play, your slick passing, your constant movement, and your many goals. Thank you for linking me to new and great friends all over the world with whom I connect and become at one with around you.
Thank you for giving me the joy of winning. At a time when my beloved Raiders have been at their record breaking worst, Barça has been at their record breaking best.
Nothing, from a sports perspective, will approach the allegiance that I have to the Raiders. Sundays in the autumn are like no other. And as my Raiders begin their return to the top of the NFL, my excitement at finally having just a ‘decent’ team is through the roof. That said, what Barcelona has given me in emotion, joy, awe, and excitement, especially in these last few difficult years on a personal level, I have nothing but gratitude for.
As we approach the Champions League Final in a couple of weeks, Barça could either win or lose. As legendary as this team is, beating Manchester United in a one game showdown for is nowhere near a sure thing. Win or lose, I thank them ahead of time. While a victory would give us all so much more, not winning would take nothing away.
So to this Barcelona team, I say “Thank You”. You have been a gift to me, and to all fans. We share in the joy of your victory, whether its to gloat over Madridistas or simply because we’ve grown to feel like a part of it in some small way. I thank you because 20 or 30 years from now I can look back and say I stood behind one of the greatest teams in history. Wherever I live, with whomever I live with, I can tell the stories, show the videos, and rehash how it all made me feel.
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