A Fans Perspective - Robert Peters
Filed under: A Fans Perspective
How I found your blog…
It all started during the fall of 1997, I was 12 and I was playing multiple sports and extremely happy after the epic ass whooping that was Clinton v Dole. I was playing for my undefeated AYSO team the “Orange Crush” (a nickname that I still feel the 2004-2005 Illinois basketball team stole from me) and we got the inside news that the city of Chicago was on the verge of getting its own MLS team. My team talked about how we couldn’t wait to go to the games and support a team that should have been an original member.
The next year many of us went with our parents to watch as the Chicago Fire with the great Peter Novak leading the charge went on to win the double. They had the gritty coach in Bob Bradley, the great veterans of Lubos Kubik, and the young attacking duo of Josh Wolff and Ante Razov. They represented Chicago in so many ways. It wa official, I was more than just a soccer fan, I was an American soccer fan. I decided at a young age that I would be an American Soccervangelist. Spreading the word of the game to both Eurofans and non-fans.
I was convinced that soccer could solve some of the worst global problems and that my belief in soccer would help shape my views of politics, race and foreign policy. I have seen countries stray away from war and watched as homeless from all parts of the world participate in an event that was more important to them then it could ever be for most of the kids playing on a plush field.
Though the ‘98 World Cup still stings for US soccer fans, I honestly believe it was one of the greatest and most important events for this country. The failed and disastrous World Cup gave us both a model and a drive that was really missing in this country. We went on to hire Bruce Arena (people seem to underrate everything that he has done) and invest in creating a stronger national side. Looking back now, US Soccer’s break happened when it was broken.
The summer of 2002, I was about to be a sophomore in high school and yet during that amazing World Cup the star of that US Soccer team was an 18 year old named Landon Donovan (if John Harkes is the Johnny Unitas of US Soccer, the Kandon Donovan is the Joe Montana). I ignored friends for weeks, committing myself to sleep during the day and staying awake at night. I remember as mu familywas sleeping, I yelled after Landon Donovan scored what would become several goals against the so called giants El Tri and woke my family from their slumber. It was this World Cup that led me to following soccer outside of the United States. I followed the trials and tribulations that was Beckham/ Ferguson or Donovan/all of Germany and what would become the rise of Chelsea.
Today I am a proud supporter of US Soccer, the Chicago Fire and Chelsea Football Club. I read blogs that are aimed towards the soccer fan in all of us. That is how I found your site, I was searching and I thank God that I have found what I was looking for; a sport that represented everything we look for in each other.
My name is Robert Peters and like so many people I see wearing soccer jersey and scarves…So, you like soccer too?
If you feel like sharing your story and participating in this, email your story and any images that you want to include to:
ben [at] theoriginalwinger [dot] com
Awesome. Right there with you.
Great perspective. Thanks for the story!
For all the scratching and clawing MLS and US Soccer has done, this story underlines how important simply having a league - be there - is to American soccer’s success.
With all the kids that play the game in this country, we’ve all talked forever about how huge the game will be in the next 10,20,30 years etc. That may never happen, but having young kids know American Professional Soccer as a norm is the biggest factor of the sport’s growth.
I was 14 years old during the ‘94 World Cup. Just being able to see games on TV and attend them in person was what hooked me. Before that, professional soccer, American or otherwise was an abstract concept.
There’s no magic bullet that will cause soccer to make ‘The Leap’ in the US. That next level is simply going to come through matriculation. For the past 15 years kids can turn on the TV or attend a game and say, “I want to be that guy. I can see myself as that guy. I want to play like that guy. I want to be on that team. I identify with this sport and that team. I want it to do well.”
We won’t get them all of those kids. Some of them will continue to view soccer as something you do between seasons to stay in shape, but eventually enough of them will become evangelical like Robert and then finally we’ll reach a tipping point.
To put it another way: Like that old saying, “Half of life is just showing up”… most, if not all of soccer’s success in this country is going to come from the sport simply showing up.
This guy is something else. Soccer means so much to so many people, and this guy really captured the spirit of the game. The emotional connection to the sport really comes through in his writing, and I wouldn’t mind sitting down and talking sports with him. Robert Peters seems to have a knack for conveying the feelings of US soccer fans, and I hope we hear more from this true US fan. Could we get a follow up? What has being a soccer fan meant over the years? How has his support evolved over the years? Reading this made me feel like I was talking to one of my friends, and I would love to hear more about what he has to say.
Great read! Wonderful story.
nice story, only downside is his unfortunate choice of club. good read and where are all the young WB Albion fans gonna come from?