I guess you could say I'm a fan of "the game" of soccer, although I don't really follow or consider myself a fan of any particular team.
My affection and respect for the game undoubtedly flowed from the fact that my two sons and my daughter all played in organized soccer leagues throughout grade school, and, in the case of one of my sons, throughout high school plus a year at the college level. His high school team won the state championship in its division for the first time ever, in 1998, when he was a sophomore, and took second place the following year. He will never call attention to himself, but I can say quite honestly that he was an incredibly gifted and hard-working player, and was a big factor in the team's success. He then played for one season up at Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, where he achieved his "sports dream" of scoring a Division One soccer goal (a game-winner), before hanging up the cleats due to accumulating injury issues.
Thanks for indulging my "proud papa" dissertation. Looks like maybe I should've posted this on the "Shameless Self-Promotion" thread!
My pertinent point, however, is simply that I used to be someone who didn't give the sport of soccer its due. But once it became such a prominent part of my kids' lives as they grew up, I came to realize what a great sport it is, and what great shape a person has to be in, in order to play it competitively! Mind you, I love good old regular American football too, though I don't understand it very well!
but I've watched the highlight reels on a loop, and am looking forward to the kind of career-retrospective film that Messi deserves coming soon.
