Balls come in different sizes and basically one shape. They are set into motion in various ways; with stringed instruments called rackets, or with firm objects called bats. Sometimes it is with a stick called a cue or simply with your hands or feet. No prize for guessing which is the most popular.
It’s amazing how a man’s life can be ruled by this game. As a kid, all you live for is the break time bell so that you can either go and play or watch a game of football. You buy comics with dreamy stories which you try and project into your own life. I remember wondering where I could get “Thunder” Balogun’s boots so I could be like Billy of the “Billy’s boots” fame! In this era the computer version has taken over for those who don’t know of exercise and spend their youth in front of a screen. At least they are not left out.
If you are lucky you get to enter a stadium to watch a well publicised game. Watching a live game with 40,000 equally football crazy fans like you is not quite the same as watching it on TV. If you are luckier, you get to meet the stars. I met Emmanuel Okala when I was 7 years old and my week was not the same.
Growing up, you form a football team and name it after your location, an animal or your favourite team; Apapa Mountain Lions, Flying Tigers, Tammandu Bombers, Form 2C Devils, and Femo’s Demolition Squad were some of my clubs. On the playing field you adopt the names of the stars and your alias changes as you grow older. I went from Adokie to Zico to Scillachi and finally to Giggs in my non-professional career. The peak of many such careers is at the inter class, inter house, principal’s cup, inter hall or NUGA levels. I got to play for my school in the Principal’s cup with an outing in the FAMOUS Onikan Stadium. My kids will hear of that one time over and over again, then, their children will!!
As time passes, the demands of an academic and professional career set in. You are relegated to the bench and restricted to watching football or retiring to the Sunday 5 a side group. You become a fan of Manchester United or one of the insignificant others. You tithe to World Soccer and Complete Football magazines and soccer websites are listed as favourites on your laptop. You become a soccer analyst from the bus stop to the office, at the club, even at church meetings and to your poor wife who nods in agreement, even if she does not understand or give a damn about what you are saying!! May God bless the wives. A generally quiet guy can become very loud and vocal when football is the topic. You make new friends based on common associations and you dislike some people because of their preferences (for Chelsea)!!
If you are a Nigerian like me, you remember Nigeria 1980, Tunisia 1994 and Atlanta 1996 with a big smile, and you cringe when you hear the name Cameroun. You know how best the national team can play as you argue with those analysts on TV who talk too much, not too mention those sports writers who twist your views with their “stories”. You are the best coach and spending 7.45am – 8.00am with Larry was once your idea of quiet time.
“Football is a spirit”, someone once said, and I think it may have some spiritual inclinations. The legendary Bill Shankly also said, “Football is more serious than a matter of life and death!” I do not agree with him. It is a beautiful game and that’s why it generates such passion. To see the likes of Maradona, Zidane, Okocha, Ronaldinho, Henry and even Barthez do their stuff can stimulate goose pimples (but goose bumps and palpitations in Barthez’s case)! The feeling of exhilaration when your team scores a goal is almost unsurpassed. Ask a hundred million Nigerians how they felt when Kanu scored “that goal”.
I’ve seen poor men arguing in support of increased match allowances in dollars from the National purse for rich over paid footballers. I’ve seen students dipping into their meagre allowances to watch a training session or buy the latest edition of Kick Off. I’ve seen ladies, desperate not to be left out, trying to master the “who is who” and “what is what” in football. The passion soccer generates is indeed spiritual and often of good spirits.
However there is a dark side to the lovely game. Crowd violence, assaults on referees and players, drunken hooligans, racism, poor crowd control with stampedes and gangster supporters clubs, not to mention juju fights and bribery scams all try to give football a bad name. Well, we are on earth and there is good and evil on this planet. Indeed life can be viewed as a serious football game between these two forces. We all know which team we belong in, I hope.
A season ends and another starts. A competition ends and preparations for another one start. Those who make monetary gain from this lovely game have found a way to keep us hooked on it. We really don’t mind, because life is short and contains few pleasures in its routine. As human beings we go about our duties, continue in the struggle and chase whatever our ambitions are. However some of us wait for the weekend or that midweek game so we can sit back, relax and be entertained by the artistry and strategizing involved in the game of football. The anticipation makes us feel good as football is a way of expressing ourselves and our passions.
That is why we love the game.
if you love the game, you can join me and other friends in the facebook group "in the pub.....soccerfans have your say" where we discuss football on this linkhttp://www.facebook.com/inbox/readmessage.php?t=1113325199428&f=1&e=-12#/group.php?gid=49391700954
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