Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Top 4

I'm sure this has been discussed to death in the UK press and blogs and what not. But it kind of hit me in the last few months so i thought I'd bring it up here... why do football fans put up with the "top 4" as if it's a divine right? I mention this becuase I found myself extremely excited about the prospect of Villa breaking into the top 4 (or man city, or pretty much any team). Then something else occurred to me... as bad as it in for most american sports, and as much as we talk about dynasties and what not, I can't think of another sport where at the beginning of each season it's pretty much understood and 1st, 2nd 3rd and 4th place are locked up and everybody else is fighting for the UEFA cup spots or the Carling cup trophy (and fulham is trying not to get relegated).

So I guess the question is this - do you guys over in the UK feel the same way? Is it impressive that these top 4 teams stay on top? Are people excited about other teams breaking in? Do you all want to see Man U drop to 5th the same way baseball fans want to see the yankees miss the playoffs?

Again, it's probably an old topic but indulge a new football fan if you will.

- Tom "Boondock Saints" Lorusso
(aka: Imperialist American Sitting Atop the Table)
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4 comments:

Nick said...

Yes, this topic has generated lots of column inches on sports pages. I read a good book on this kind of thing, called The Beautiful Game, by a Guardian journalist called David Conn. It's about how hopeless the League and FA were in stopping the big clubs trousering all of the money when Sky Sports started paying billions for TV rights, leading to the predictability of the league each year. It's more interesting than it sounds.

When I read the book, I had a pious moment when I was going to renounce my support for a big 4 club (Liverpool), at around the time they paid stupid money for Fernando Torres that only a big 4 club could afford. But then the season started, Torres turned out to be an awesome player, and my piety ended there ...

1:58 PM
Nick said...

Oh, and I forgot to mention that I'd like to see the Dirty Mancs relegated, rather than finishing 5th.

1:59 PM
Nick said...

Oh, and here's one more thing.

(I love baseball too. Even though I'm a Pirates fan.)

2:08 PM
Charlotte said...

hmmm... you know, I hadn't really thought about this too much before now. I remember thinking when I moved to the US how strange it was that they go to so much trouble to avoid dynasties in sport. Why not just let it be?

But perhaps this all just comes from supporting a team that each year does its best to keep you guessing about whether this will be the year they're outside the top 4?! Thoughts from other liverpool fans?

4:53 PM

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