A
Astro78
Guest
This has been much longer in the making than it should have, but my work has been hectic to say the least. I can even add a building evacuation and office fire to the list of items that have delayed my musings.
To say that my trip to Liverpool was a dream come true is an accurate description but fails to convey the true depth of it all. It was a quest. I had a wonderful go of it from the flight to the check in at the hotel. In the taxi from the airport to the hotel, my driver was a red. A nice enough guy, but he was trying to convert me to becoming a red ****e like my soul depended upon it. I stayed at a hotel in the City Centre and it was more than adequate.
I was only a few hours in town before I had the true pleasure of meeting the one and only LCAB. I have been conversing with him on GOT for going on a year. The Sunday Sermons he produces have been the core curriculum of my Evertonian Education. In person, he is every bit the persona he exudes online. Answering all my questions regarding Everton and the city with a smile, I can truly say that he is a giant among men. I enjoyed every second spent in his company. Also, I got the pleasure of meeting THT and Everton Tony. THT is a rock solid guy, who is a superstar just like LCAB. I can say that it is an honor to call these men my friends. The are the best in Blue and the are truly awesome. Everton Tony is the true definition of “Top Shelf”. He is utter class and I am forever in debt for the tour of Goodison Park he took me on with LCAB. Between the two of them, I learned so much. I wish I had recorded it for the permanent record to play back every second to make sure I missed nothing. THT made sure I got to visit my non-Everton related landmarks (Beatles and others) early on match day. There are many other details of this trip which I will keep and treasure as mine and mine alone. The tour was nothing short of breathtaking. The city was intoxicating and I fell in love with Merseyside and her people(Well, those that don’t wear red).
The match day was all I had expected. Because of the time, I got the best of both worlds: A day time start, night time finish. I was surprised no one sang ‘If You Know Your History”. I sure as hell did. When Zed Cars erupted from the speakers, the hairs on my arms and neck stood up and I got goose flesh and my stomach got all weird. Truly a moment to savor and remember. Saha scored in the Park End, and Seamus scored so I was happy. Watching the match with LCAB was icing on the already sweet cake. THT and I strolled around Goodsion before the match and every Blue I met and got to speak to were absolute class. “It gets no better than this”, is what I kept telling myself. I got to hang out with LCAB and THT again on Sunday and had a blast. I left on Monday knowing I had had a truly excellent adventure.
I would be remiss if I didn’t thank Landon Donovan for his loan spell at Everton. I started following Everton because of him. I like to tell people, “I came for Landon, but I stayed for Everton.”
I would like to share a few observations with you all. They are meant to inspire and encourage, not inflame and agitate, even though I am afraid they will do just that.
I have visited four continents, too many countries to list and I can tell you that out of all the outstanding people and things I have had the pleasure of viewing and interacting with, they pale in comparison to the awesome people I had the pleasure of spending time with on Merseyside, and the sight that was Goodison Park. Whether she was bathed in sunlight, or whether draped in light, she was breathtaking. I know that many say she is holding us back, but I say she holds us up.
A war chest to buy mercenary footballers, and a modern monstrosity of steel and glass oozing with corporate bunting we don’t have. What we do have is a home that has always been ours, that rises out of the houses of a proud community as a monument to what truly is a Grand Old Team to play for and a Grand Old Team to support. We have a badge that is beautiful and worth fighting for and screaming and singing for.
The players on the pitch feed off you in the stands, make no mistake about it. They take us to our highest highs and drag us to dark depths. But we go with them, up or down. There is a reason we can get by with a smaller ground, because one Evertonian is worth 20 red ****es. Brian Labone said that, and I ‘ll be damned if he wasn’t right. We can out yell them, we can beat them in believing our side is better and we can top any fans in any other kit or color because we are Evertonians and they are not.
Our spirit and our desire for the thick of the fight and the belief our boys will emerge the victor set us apart. Or used to. If I may offer an observation. I lived in Germany from 2002 to 2005. I had a horrible go of things, and never learned the language or embraced the culture. Instead I focused on what I didn’t have, things that were stateside that I missed, and could not have. I blew a chance most people would kill for. It hit shortly after I moved home to the States just what my immaturity and lack of vision had cost me. I fought to get it back. Five years later, I am in Germany again, I am striving to learn the language, I am traveling when I can, and I am generally soaking up every minute and trying to stay as long as I can focusing on what I have in front of me, not what I don’t have.
As a fan of this club, I will from now on focus on what we have, not what we don’t. A true gem of a ground, who though showing her age can still make a 32 year old man feel a jolt of boyhood excitement and wonder, the likes of which are so hard to come by as age robs us of our innocence and replaces it with cynicism. A manger who is a warrior for the colors, and players that on the whole truly get it and represent the club well. Players who probably would give more for fans that scream their asses off in support than boo them when they fail. They are our champions, our boys in blue, and shame on anyone who booed them in the first place and shame on them if they ever do it again. We are Everton and we are better than that. WE ARE BETTER THAN THAT. We show it in the stands and I have a sneaking suspicion that they’ll show it on the field too. To all who get to go to the match every week, remember it is a privilege, one any blue like me would kill for. Anyone who likes can assail me for being naive, new to the fight, or whatever. Just had to get that off my chest. COYB!!!!!!
To say that my trip to Liverpool was a dream come true is an accurate description but fails to convey the true depth of it all. It was a quest. I had a wonderful go of it from the flight to the check in at the hotel. In the taxi from the airport to the hotel, my driver was a red. A nice enough guy, but he was trying to convert me to becoming a red ****e like my soul depended upon it. I stayed at a hotel in the City Centre and it was more than adequate.
I was only a few hours in town before I had the true pleasure of meeting the one and only LCAB. I have been conversing with him on GOT for going on a year. The Sunday Sermons he produces have been the core curriculum of my Evertonian Education. In person, he is every bit the persona he exudes online. Answering all my questions regarding Everton and the city with a smile, I can truly say that he is a giant among men. I enjoyed every second spent in his company. Also, I got the pleasure of meeting THT and Everton Tony. THT is a rock solid guy, who is a superstar just like LCAB. I can say that it is an honor to call these men my friends. The are the best in Blue and the are truly awesome. Everton Tony is the true definition of “Top Shelf”. He is utter class and I am forever in debt for the tour of Goodison Park he took me on with LCAB. Between the two of them, I learned so much. I wish I had recorded it for the permanent record to play back every second to make sure I missed nothing. THT made sure I got to visit my non-Everton related landmarks (Beatles and others) early on match day. There are many other details of this trip which I will keep and treasure as mine and mine alone. The tour was nothing short of breathtaking. The city was intoxicating and I fell in love with Merseyside and her people(Well, those that don’t wear red).
The match day was all I had expected. Because of the time, I got the best of both worlds: A day time start, night time finish. I was surprised no one sang ‘If You Know Your History”. I sure as hell did. When Zed Cars erupted from the speakers, the hairs on my arms and neck stood up and I got goose flesh and my stomach got all weird. Truly a moment to savor and remember. Saha scored in the Park End, and Seamus scored so I was happy. Watching the match with LCAB was icing on the already sweet cake. THT and I strolled around Goodsion before the match and every Blue I met and got to speak to were absolute class. “It gets no better than this”, is what I kept telling myself. I got to hang out with LCAB and THT again on Sunday and had a blast. I left on Monday knowing I had had a truly excellent adventure.
I would be remiss if I didn’t thank Landon Donovan for his loan spell at Everton. I started following Everton because of him. I like to tell people, “I came for Landon, but I stayed for Everton.”
I would like to share a few observations with you all. They are meant to inspire and encourage, not inflame and agitate, even though I am afraid they will do just that.
I have visited four continents, too many countries to list and I can tell you that out of all the outstanding people and things I have had the pleasure of viewing and interacting with, they pale in comparison to the awesome people I had the pleasure of spending time with on Merseyside, and the sight that was Goodison Park. Whether she was bathed in sunlight, or whether draped in light, she was breathtaking. I know that many say she is holding us back, but I say she holds us up.
A war chest to buy mercenary footballers, and a modern monstrosity of steel and glass oozing with corporate bunting we don’t have. What we do have is a home that has always been ours, that rises out of the houses of a proud community as a monument to what truly is a Grand Old Team to play for and a Grand Old Team to support. We have a badge that is beautiful and worth fighting for and screaming and singing for.
The players on the pitch feed off you in the stands, make no mistake about it. They take us to our highest highs and drag us to dark depths. But we go with them, up or down. There is a reason we can get by with a smaller ground, because one Evertonian is worth 20 red ****es. Brian Labone said that, and I ‘ll be damned if he wasn’t right. We can out yell them, we can beat them in believing our side is better and we can top any fans in any other kit or color because we are Evertonians and they are not.
Our spirit and our desire for the thick of the fight and the belief our boys will emerge the victor set us apart. Or used to. If I may offer an observation. I lived in Germany from 2002 to 2005. I had a horrible go of things, and never learned the language or embraced the culture. Instead I focused on what I didn’t have, things that were stateside that I missed, and could not have. I blew a chance most people would kill for. It hit shortly after I moved home to the States just what my immaturity and lack of vision had cost me. I fought to get it back. Five years later, I am in Germany again, I am striving to learn the language, I am traveling when I can, and I am generally soaking up every minute and trying to stay as long as I can focusing on what I have in front of me, not what I don’t have.
As a fan of this club, I will from now on focus on what we have, not what we don’t. A true gem of a ground, who though showing her age can still make a 32 year old man feel a jolt of boyhood excitement and wonder, the likes of which are so hard to come by as age robs us of our innocence and replaces it with cynicism. A manger who is a warrior for the colors, and players that on the whole truly get it and represent the club well. Players who probably would give more for fans that scream their asses off in support than boo them when they fail. They are our champions, our boys in blue, and shame on anyone who booed them in the first place and shame on them if they ever do it again. We are Everton and we are better than that. WE ARE BETTER THAN THAT. We show it in the stands and I have a sneaking suspicion that they’ll show it on the field too. To all who get to go to the match every week, remember it is a privilege, one any blue like me would kill for. Anyone who likes can assail me for being naive, new to the fight, or whatever. Just had to get that off my chest. COYB!!!!!!
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