This is part two of the two part series that I began in the
first posting I did in this blog. As part of me is angry for waiting so long to
re-post, another part of me is grateful as I have been witness to some of the
most incredible soccer in the past two months. I realize that some will
disagree with me when I say that I loved watching the way Chelsea played during
the last three or so months of their season, so let me explain.
Part of this portion of the series is to explain why I love
watching soccer so much. Why I am willing to wake up at 5 AM to watch a Premier
League match live, or why I put effort into requesting certain days off work
just so I can watch soccer. It all began with the 2006 FIFA World Cup. I had
been playing soccer for a number of years at that time and was fairly confident
that I had found something I loved doing, but I still had no desire to watch
the sport. I, with the majority of the rest of the country, found the sport dull
and uneventful for most of the ninety minutes played. After all, how could it
be exciting to watch a sport where scoring only happens, on average, two or
three times in an hour and a half; sometimes not happening at all? Because I
had a few friends that enjoyed watching it, I spent the month of June engrossed
in the most spectacular sporting event that occurs in the World (In 2010,almost half the world tuned in to watch the Finals in South Africa). There was
so much passion, so much vision and heart in those players that it was
impossible for me to not feel the ole’s when they happened, the beat of the
drums, the chanting of national anthems throughout the course of the matches.
This feast of football was something that I could not take my eyes off of. The
World Cup is still my favorite to watch and waiting four years for the next one
is almost more than I can bear. 
It was all history after that. I found myself getting soccer
wherever and whenever I could. When I reached High School age, because
Champions League games were held during the day on weekdays and that so
unluckily coincided with school, I found myself skipping class with friends to partake
in the history that was made every night in the Champions League. Because of
the disinterest most of this country shows in the sport, it is not easy to find
a place on television that shows games on a regular basis. Fortunate enough for
me, I worked at a job for three years where I watched soccer for the majority
of the day at work (although I was keen that my boss not find out it was so, I am
fairly confident he knew all along).
Because I was once blinded by the misconception that this is
a boring sport to watch, I would like to clear some falsehoods from the way of
those that are still missing the pure joy of watching this beautiful game. The
complaint I hear the most among these people is how you can watch a game that
has so little scoring and sometimes ends scoreless. I have had many wonderful
opportunities to explain that the only reason they think like that is because American
sports have trained them to. With basketball scores reaching into the hundreds,
football measuring progress in terms of ten yards so those watching can feel
like something happened even when the score is staying the same, and baseball
allowing basically the same with every hit and runner on base, it is easy to
understand why a lack of visible progress can be so detrimental to a viewer’s
attention span. But once you learn how intricate the passing plays are, how
much calculated movement every player in the team is making while they don’t have
the ball, how to appreciate a breathtaking save from a keeper or a pinpoint pass or shot, the practice that goes into the perfect free kick, soccer is no longer 22 men kicking a ball back and forth hoping
it goes in the net. It is a spectacle of enormous proportions as each
individual player moves into correct position and continually evolves into a
team unit that works out in every separate match how they are going to unlock
the opposition’s defense to score the goal that brings victory. When you can
watch football like that, every second is as tantalizing as the next, and the
suspense of wondering when that stroke of brilliance will come will leave you
on the edge of your seat for the entire 90 minutes.
Returning to another point that I feel I must defend, I will
explain why my blood is blue, and why Chelsea FC is the one and only club I will
ever support. During the 2006 World Cup mentioned earlier I saw a defender that
displayed every trait that I wanted to have as a center back. He was an unparalleled
leader, commanding the best from his teammates. He was always in the right
place at the right time. He was strong and vicious, making those opposing
strikers think twice about entering his territory to score a goal. And when I saw
John Terry clear that ball off the line with an overhead kick, I realized that I
always wanted to play the game of soccer with as much heart as he did. After
the World Cup ended, I realized that I wanted to watch him play more and learn
from him. I found he played for Chelsea and I began to watch all their games
that I could. This time coincidentally coincided with the Abromavich era at the
club and I began to enjoy watching the other Chelsea legends as well. The likes
of Lampard, Drogba, Joe Cole, Arjen Robben; these were men that personified
Chelsea football and made me a supporter for life. 
Over the years I watched
them win numerous cups and league titles. They always seemed to play with heart
that many other clubs lacked. Although they spent considerable money on
players, they always seemed to come together in a Chelsea family that I loved
watching. The epitome of why I love Chelsea can be seen at the end of the 2012
season. After being left for dead by much of the media, Chelsea fought back to
claim an FA cup title and their first, ever elusive, Champions League title.
Having overcome deficits in both the FA cup and Champions league round of 16,
each new obstacle brought with it a declaration of unavoidable failure from the
media. Playing on what I believe was pure heart they beat Barcelona and scored
in the final minutes against Bayern Munich to win on penalties. Regardless of
what others will say to discount them of their win, they deserved it. They had
only themselves to blame for their struggles earlier in the season as well as
their triumphs in the closing stages. That grit, heart, and team-spirit is what
has led to my love of Chelsea Football Club and has made them my Club forever. Joga Bonito
Dallin
