The Abridgment

23 August 2006
Arsenal 2 - 1 Dinamo Zagreb

12' Eduardo (A)
77' Ljungberg (F)
91' Flamini (F)

Consider this an abstract, or an argument, for those of you so inclined. I found out a couple years after the fact that the Jimmy Fallon-vehicle "Fever Pitch" was actually based on a book about Arsenal - so of course I ran to the nearest Barnes & Noble that I could find and bought it without so much as a second thought. In fact I had to put extra effort into buying it because I kept looking for it in the fiction section. Sometimes I don't think a lot. Anyhow, I found it and bought it and then read it, even though I had at least three other books I 'needed' to read (and probably should have read; sorry Hornby but Stendhal is, well, Stendhal). As I was finishing the book, staying up way later than I probably should have one night (much the same as I am doing now while writing this) it occured to me that his book was markedly British in approach. Captain Obvious, I know, but the point is that his scope is limited. I'm not faulting Hornby at all, in fact the narrow scope is quite critical to the success of the book. Yet I began to wonder about how some Americans cope with being fans of soccer - excuse me, football. My experiences are perhaps unremarkable but this work is envisioned as the American response to "Fever Pitch," an attempt at international dialogue on the undisputably most popular sport. Hornby framed his collection of short essays around two decades plus of life while my work is being held over a year or two. My modus operandi is more rushed and perhaps the worse for it, yet a conversation cannot wait twenty-four years for a response. Additionally, if I mirrored Hornby's method he might sue me, and I'm far too poor to risk that possibility. I am going to try and refrain from speaking of him too much but as he is the inspiration for the work it is going to be slightly impossible to completely remove him from all this. So let that knowledge sit in the back of your head and stew. It's funny because a lot of this smacks of counter-American-culture but I'm beginning to suspect that is an incorrect stance to assume because over the last couple weeks I've seen a surprising amount of football jerseys on American citizens. I've seen at least 10 in three weeks, compared to the 2 American football jerseys that I've seen (for the record, the jerseys were: Ronaldinho Brazil edition, Ronaldinho Barca edition, Rooney, Henry, Ballack, and a handful of nameless jerseys). I'm not complaining, just confused is all. Most likely it is popularity that accrued during an exciting and well-televised World Cup, cultivating fans out of credulous American viewers. I appreciate the apparent fandom, in fact I'm jealous of their jerseys because I haven't managed to buy one yet, and this obvious interest helped to fuel my desire to write these entries regarding football specifically and sport in general. I want to try and break football down for people who don't understand it yet, and I want to get to the heart of sports. This is an exploration of sport, of activity, of competition. Hornby explored fandom, and I want to take that inquiry a step further. In all likelihood, this great discussion of sport will never be over: much like sports themselves, there is always more to play - there is always more to say. You may never break any records but you can pick up a baseball bat and head out there to have some fun. These writings also find a parent in conversations I had with a friend a number of years ago. When I was really getting into baseball, my first love, I began having tete-a-tete's with a high school compatriot. We talked random statistics and philosophy, we waxed poetic about what baseball symbolized to us. It would be impossible to attempt to recreate those colloquies, I could never do them justice: they are lost forever. Yet those communions live in my head, they drive me every day. When I turn ESPN on and I see highlight reels, analogies to life flash in front of my eyes. Stories become visible, linking today to yesterday, yesterday to last year, last year to the 1990s, and the nineties to the forties. When I watch a baseball game, all that passes through my mind: there is so much more happening than just some strikes and base hits. But I'm getting ahead of myself. I can't throw all my paint on the canvas at once, that wouldn't yield a beautiful work of art. We have to start small, and flesh out the details as we go along. First we need this argument. The more accurate inspiration for this book is Robert Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. If you are not familiar with it, it's basically a huge text of philosophy weaved around a simple story about a guy and his motorcycle. For him, the motorcycle is the jumping off point for all his ideas, and he ends up talking about a lot of different things that have nothing to do with motorcycles at all. To be honest, I read the book about six years ago so I can't remember all of it now, but I do remember it was good and interesting and I'm a little presumptuous to compare my work to Pirsig's. Aim high, though, right? My journey is Arsenal's journey - they had an underachieving season in 05/06, way too far removed from Chelsea, Man-U, and Liverpool to make any kind of a run. On top of that, they had to bid farewell to Dennis Bergkamp and Sol Campbell (not to mention Ashley Cole and Jose Reyes - there's gotta be a jet always running, waiting to whisk them away from Ashburton), leaving our side younger and less experienced. They need to find their game if they have any hope of taking first place against stiff competition, and I need to buckle down if I have any hope of taking on the "real world," the post-college world. This match against a feisty Croatian team gave all Gunners some hope after the tie with Aston Villa. The beginning was nerve-wracking as it seemed our defense was about as porous as a sponge yet they kept attacking and some opportunities finally came through. The draw for the next stage of the Champions League is tomorrow (and I have an interview!), and until then all us Gunners can dream for a victory against Manchester City on Saturday.