Come On You Blues!

Written 1-10-08

Last week a meeting of epic proportions occured in the Skies.
The Gods converged.
Conversed.
Blessed.
A single Diety stepped forth.
Pointed his mighty finger towards the Earth.
With a booming voice, he said, "She will go to Goodison Park."

And she that was blessed was me.

The message from the Heavens came to me not in the form of a burning bush or angelic light, but a text message from my friend Alex. It read, "You are the luckiest girl alive. We have tickets to the Merseyside Derby in Liverpool next Saturday!"

The Merseyside Derby, a football game played every year between Everton FC and Liverpool FC, is one of the most important games of the year for fans who hail from Liverpool, or support one of the teams in the city. This being my first Premiere League game, and also being against our biggest rivals, my trip to Goodison Park, Everton's field, is comparable to a trip to Mecca.

So my friends and I drove up from London last Friday and spent the weekend in the glorious city of Liverpool. We got in late and were up early for the match, my body buzzing with enegry and delight. Getting down to the field early, I set off with Alex, Rob and Mitch to grab a pre-game Guinness, partly for tradition, partly to calm all our nerves. I was amazed to be surrounded by so many Everton shirts, as I've never experienced that before. Usually I get a lot of inquisitive or amused looks when I wear my blue and white jersey about and spend a lot of time staunchly defending Everton honor. That Saturday afternoon I smiled like it was going out of fashion.

Into the stadium and the game began. I was sitting in the same building with David Moyes, Tim Howard, Mikel Arteta, Tim Cahill, Joleon Lescott, Phil Jagielka and countless others I have watched and supported religiously for three years. It was Heaven. And Hell. An hour and a half of stressed out excitement of what will happen next. I have small bruises circling my knees because I was gripping them too hard with my fingers. I screamed words I did not know existed in my vocabulary. I befriended a six year old sitting next to me who was yelling cuss words I didn't know existed. I comforted Alex, who was sitting on my other side and went back and forth between moods of depression and rage. And in the end, we lost.

Losing is something Everton fans are used to. People often ask me why I support them, why I don't pick a better team. But what these people don't understand is that it wasn't my choice, I was born an Everton fan, just like they were born to support their team. There's a mile of difference between the football I know in England and the sports I know in America. Here football isn't a game, it's a way of life. You live and die by your team, no matter how many times they might falter. Once your team has picked you, you cannot change. I am an Everton fan because when we actually win something, it's the most beautiful feeling in the world. Because it calms me down when David Moyes, the coach and the scariest guy in the world, looks like he might die of a stress-induced stroke and the vein in his forehead pops out because he's yelling so much for my team. Because I sat there in Goodison park with thousands of other Everton fans, and even after we lost to out biggest rival, there wasn't a single person who took off their jersey or denounced the team for losing. Their loyalty was unwaivering and always will be, and I find that admirable. That is why I am an Everton fan.

Thank you Alex Lowe for teaching me about football and introducing me to Everton.
I hope you are proud of me.

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