A Leg Up

At about 3:20 Wednesday afternoon it hit me. Camped in front of my computer, as I usually am on match days, I needed to stand up and breathe. Spurs had held off Milan's offensive attack for 80 nail-biting minutes and were only 10 minutes away from advancing to the Champions League quarterfinals.
I looked out my window and into the dreary, overcast day. A school bus passed carrying middle school kids. Other than the lone bus, my outside surroundings were quiet -- not another person or car to be found. I suppose everyone was at work. If I remember correctly, that's what most people are doing at 3:20 on a Wednesday.
That's when it hit me. No one within a 30-mile radius is even aware of this game, let alone concerned about its outcome. I'm new to this international soccer thing, but I assume that sums up the ridiculousness of being a soccer fan in America.  Imagine your hometown NFL team tied up with two minutes left in their first round playoff game -- and absolutely no interest around you. No flags, hats, or sweatshirts bearing the team logo. No signs, news highlights, or talk radio. Nothing. Just nothing.
In a strange way, I'm attracted to the exclusivity. Spurs are my little secret in this neck of the woods, kind of like the people who claimed to love R.E.M in the early 80s. If rooting for them means I have to occasionally wake up at 6 in the morning, listen to games in Spanish, and yell at my computer as if it were a cashier that didn't give me correct change, then I'm all for it.
Perhaps a visual representation of what I looked like during Wednesday's game would be more helpful.

Here's me at the 25-minute mark. AC Milan was inches away from scoring. Three of the computers in this shot don't work. I keep them around to feel important.

I regained a little bit of composure in the 60th minute, as Spurs began to settle in. I even took off my tie to demonstrate how loose I was, and replaced my sweat-drenched shirt.

 
This is me in the 93rd minute, after Spurs came away with a 0-0 draw. I was so excited that I put a different tie on and raised the roof with clenched fists.

Besides being certifiably nuts, this match, and I think all 0-0 matches can help American fans towards a greater appreciation of sports. I think it's hard for some people to wrap their brain around 0-0. Why play the game at all, nothing happened, right? Wrong. The beauty of the game is found in its intricacies that don't always show up in the box score.
In America, we're conditioned to think the result is everything, and the result has to firmly place one team above the other. In other words: NO TIES! Good and bad games are often forgotten or excused because the desired result was achieved. Too often, we get caught up in the result, and forget about the process which got us to that point.
Take the 25th minute to illustrate my point. Spurs defender William Gallas (seen here beginning at the 3:44 mark) made a game-saving play that was just as spectacular and valuable as a sensational goal. Spurs goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes made a terrible challenge and ended up getting caught out of position. Milan's Pato slipped a pass to his streaking teammate Robinho, who promptly rifled a shot that deflected off Tottenham's Assou-Ekotto. Not anticipating the deflection, Gallas was trending left. He noticed the ball popped in the air, recovered, firmly planted his left leg on the goal line and cleared the ball mid-air with his right foot, about an inch in front of the goal line. It was an incredible defensive play from Gallas that took just as much skill and precision as a well-timed goal. I'll always remember that save.
Tottenham had won the previous match 1-0, so a 0-0 draw was basically a win. But what if they had lost 2-0 and Gallas made the same save? Many American-conditioned sports fans, myself included, probably would have looked at the game as a bad loss and left it at that.
I've noticed soccer fans seem to appreciate particular moments of a match, even if their team didn't come out victorious. I'm not suggesting they don't care who wins, but the end result isn't the only measure of success. At least that's what I've observed. Maybe I've been reading and interacting with fans and writers more concerned with the stylistics of soccer, which is entirely possible.
Either way, a bunch of wise thinkers have said that life is a journey, and the scenery we encounter along the way is more important than the destination. We can certainly apply this viewpoint to sports, and would be wise to.

Spurs vs. AC Milan And Other Soccer House Cleaning

I haven't written about soccer in a while now. Contrary to popular belief, I haven't stopped watching. It just took me about five weeks to realize no one wanted to read match by match breakdowns of an EPL team jockeying for a top four seed. What is the EPL anyway? Most people clicked the link expecting the San Antonio Spurs and wondered why they saw pictures of soccer.
Anyway, I've still been watching, and Wayne Rooney's goal to lift Manchester United 2-1 over City is probably the most aesthetically pleasing goal I've ever seen.  I've watched this video 20,000 times, accounting for two thirds of the YouTube views, and am still not sick of it.
"Wayne Rooney is back!" the pundits claimed. I never understood how a player could be "back" after one goal, albeit a spectacular one. But the assertion got me to thinking about all Rooney has been through the last year. He injured his ankle towards the end of the 2009-10 Premier League season, limiting his mobility, and still finished the season with 26 Premier League goals.
The English National Team followed with a poor showing in the World Cup, highlighted by Rooney's ineffectiveness. Citing his injury, some questioned whether he should have been playing at all. Then news of his extramarital affair was leaked, compounding his already sketchy public image.
Rooney returned to United and squabbled with Sir Alex Ferguson over a new contract, threatened to leave the club, and came off immature through out the entire process. All of this from Rooney despite being held goalless in open play for the previous eight months of the Premier League season.
I've tried to come up with a cross-sport equivalent of 2010 Wayne Rooney and there's absolutely no comparison. Rooney made Brett Favre's year look Sportsman of the Year Award worthy by comparison.
But hey, "Wayne Rooney is back, baby!" Unfortunately, it took his "return" to realize I liked the struggling, considerably less rich, and womanizing version of Rooney much better.
I've also changed my mind about the EPL schedule. A few months ago I whined about the lack of an end-of-the-year playoff. I thought they should assign seeds to the top eight seeds and let them battle for the league title. I argued that the mini-tournament didn't have to affect Champions League draws, as the top four seeds after the regular season would already clinch berths. I just thought something more needed to be done about crowning an official champion, rather than relying on regular season record.
Turns out that the pursuit of a top four seed is just as fun. Tottenham, Chelsea, and Manchester City are all currently in the hunt for the last two spots. Every game at this point is magnified. Dropping points to inferior teams is especially painful, and scoreboard watching is in full force. It reminds me of the end of the NFL season when teams are more concerned with making the playoffs, rather than what seed they are. I take playoff plead back, this is pretty fun too.

Tottenham's lone goal in their 1-0 victory over AC Milan in San Siro embodied everything that went right Tuesday afternoon. Aaron Lennon broke away from the pack after receiving an intercepted ball. Milan was sloppy with their passes all day, especially in the first half.
Lennon, who routinely beat his defender, was Spurs best playmaker. He made a couple good crosses to Crouch in the first half but they ultimately amounted to nothing. It was only fitting that the two would hook up to put the game away.
In the 80th minute, Lennon made Mario Yepes miss and delivered a perfect pass to Crouch, who tucked the ball inside the left corner. Milan midfielder Gennaro Gatusso attempted to goad Crouch into a fight the entire game, but Crouch left with the last laugh. Gatusso will miss the second leg after picking up a yellow card in the game. He even head butted Tottenham assistant manager Joe Jordan after the game, and could possibly face suspension. You have to love UEFA for that very reason--a head butt doesn't necessarily warrant a suspension.
I'm proud of Spurs. They went into a hostile environment, came out aggressive, and weren't intimidated by a side playing dirty in the second half. And they did it without Gareth Bale, who is still nursing an ailing back. A draw would have been a good result, but with the win, Spurs have set themselves up nicely to advance to the final eight.
That's the last time I'll talk soccer until March 9th. I promise.